On December 4, the triennial chapter of the Carmelite nuns of the Monastery of the Incarnation of the Divine Word in Valencia, Spain, took place beginning at 10 o'clock in the morning.

On October 6, 1502, seven women, (Sister Francisca Estaña, Sister Ofresina Caldesa, Sister Isabel Moragues, Sister Ana Heredia, Sister Angela Heredia, Sister Juana Gomis and Sister Isabel Ameller) gathered in Valencia-- although not at the current location of the monastery to live the life of Carmel. Present at the ceremony were Father Luis Mercader, prior of the monastery of Vall de Crist, visitator and reformer of the Kingdom of Valencia and later bishop of Tortosa and general inquisitor in the Kingdoms of Aragon, and Master Pedro Estaña, prior of the convent of Carmen de la Ciudad del Turia. Sister Francisca Estaña was elected prioress.

The Carmel was originally dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. The house and orchards that Pedro Ramón Dalmáu bought were enclosed. However, the Poor Clares of the Royal Monastery of Santa Isabel and Santa Clara complained to King Ferdinand the Catholic about the damage that would be done to the old Chapel of La Puridad with the foundation of the new convent. Ferdinand agreed and the works of the new convent were stopped. This forced the Carmelites, in order to move forward, to give in and a year later, in September 1503, they changed the name of the monastery from that of that Conception for that of the Incarnation.

During the Civil War in 1936-1939, the monastery was destroyed and a new one built following the war. It was completed in 1961.

For more information about the history of the monastery of the Incarnation in Valencia (in Spanish), go here

The results of the elective chapter were as follows:

Prioress | Priora | Priora:  
Sor  M^a del Sagrario Lorite Beltrán, O. Carm.

1st Councilor  | 1ª Consejera | 1ª Consigliera:
Sor M^a Norayma Coromoto Morales Montilla, O. Carm.

2nd Councilor | 2ª Consejera | 2ª Consigliera:
Sor M^a Mercedes de la Cruz Medina Zárraga, O. Carm.

Treasurer | Ecónoma | Economa
Sor M^a Mercedes de la Cruz Medina Zárraga, O. Carm.

Formator | Formadora | Formatrice
Sor M^a Norayma Coromoto Morales Montilla, O. Carm.

Sacristan | Sacristana | Sacrestana
Sor M^a Manuela de Jesús Medina Triguero, O. Carm.

In 2023, the Carmelites in Bamberg, Germany, are celebrating their 750th anniversary of Carmelite presence in the city. The proposal was to celebrate with several smaller events being held throughout the year. The year started on February 2, the day of consecrated life, with a meeting of all the religious of the diocese.

On the Sundays of Lent, various Carmelite saints were presented. In May, there were spiritual tours of the monastery church. On July 16, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Bishop of Bamberg celebrated with the community.

 On November 3rd, an exhibition opened in the Diocesan Museum. This show will run through the  end of January 2024.

Two days later, on November 5, there was a concert with works by baroque musicians from Carmel to celebrate the anniversary. These included the Dutch Carmelite Benedictus Buns and Justinus Will, as well as selections from Handel’s Carmelite Vespers.

On November 12, the Carmelites of the German province came together to celebrate St. Theodore, the patron saint of the Carmelite church in Bamberg. This marked the ending of the formal  celebrations of the anniversary.

5 December Optional Memorial

Bl. Bartholomew Fanti, born in Mantua where a great Carmelite reform started, became a member of the Carmelites in the congregation of that reform. He was ordained priest sometime before 1452. He is remembered for his love of the Eucharist and of the Virgin Mary. Humble and generous he quietly lived an existence consummated in faithful regular observance and attentive assistance, including as a legislator to two lay confraternities in the Carmelite church of Mantua.

He was a well-liked figure. He occupied no posts of great importance within the Order. He is sometimes mentioned as a novice director, but this is not accurate.

He died a model of holiness on December 5, 1495. Devotion began immediately after his death. His cult was only acknowledged and approved on March 18, 1909, by Bishop Giuseppe Sarto who would become Pope St. Pius X.

In recognition of his love of the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Hours for his memorial offers a selection from the encyclical Mysterium Fidei of Pope Paul VI as the second reading. This is intended to promote some reflection on the Eucharist. The prayer, which is proper to Bartholomew, praises the Lord for having granted the Blessed Fanti the grace to promote devotion of the Eucharist and devotion to the Virgin Mary, and asks that we may imitate him in these two adorations.

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Stay Awake!
(Mark 13:33-37)

• pdf Celebrating At Home - 1st Sunday of Advent [PDF](3.14 MB)
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• pdf Celebrando en Familia - Primer Domingo de Adviento(1.15 MB)
• Celebrando in Casa - Prima Domenica di Avvento
• pdf Celebrando em familia - Primeiro Domingo Do Advento(1.14 MB)

• pdf Lectio Divina December 2023 [Pdf](723 KB)
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"Lectio divina," a Latin term, means "divine reading" and describes a way of reading the Scriptures whereby we gradually let go of our own agenda and open ourselves to what God wants to say to us. In the 12th century, a Carthusian monk called Guigo, described the stages which he saw as essential to the practice of Lectio divina. There are various ways of practicing Lectio divina either individually or in groups but Guigo's description remains fundamental.

Blesseds Dennis (priest and martyr) and Redemptus (religious and martyr)
November 29 | Optional Memorial

Meetings of the General Commission for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons

Members of the Commission met for the first time from November 20 to 22, 2023, at the General Curia. The meeting was organized by commission president Michael Farrugia O. Carm., the procurator general. The full commission participated. Members are: Ms. Julie McCullough, a laywoman from Ireland; Ms. Julie Courtney, a laywoman from England; Fr. Quinn Conners, O. Carm., from the PCM Province; and, participating via Zoom online, Fr. Babu Payikkattu, from St. Thomas Province in India. During this first meeting, three areas were the focus of the discussions: the nature, mandate, and competencies of the Commission, the policy and standards for the Order to have regarding safeguarding and the strategic plan to assist the general council and the whole Order.

Information about the members

Quinn R. Conners, Ph.D., a member of the PCM Province, is a licensed clinical psychologist. He has been associated with Saint Luke Institute for many years, serving on the clinical staff, as vice-president and COO, associate director of clinical services and currently as consultant for clinical services. Previously he served as the prior and director of formation at Whitefriars Hall and was director of novices, and prior provincial of the province. He has served as a consultant to the USCCB Committee on Priestly Formation and the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse. He is a member of Misconduct Review Boards of several Catholic entities. He is also adjunct clinical associate professor in the School of Theology & Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America.

Julie Courtney, from England, works as a youth and community worker. She is also very involved in the field of safeguarding with religious orders and diocesan safeguarding offices to implement national policies. She has worked with the Carmelite’s British province for nearly 20 years. She ministered some time as a prison chaplain. She currently works for the local government authority supporting struggling families.

Julie McCullough, from Ireland, is the director of safeguarding and the designated liaison person for safeguarding in the Irish province of Carmelites. Julie is a qualified CORU registered social worker with over twenty years’ experience in safeguarding in community, paediatric, and church settings.

Babu Payikkattu, a member of the Province of St. Thomas in India, is a clinical psychologist working in a general/psychiatric hospital, as well in communities, schools and colleges. Currently he serves as deputy director, principal of Sweekaar Academy of Rehabilitation Sciences in India, as well as the head of the Academy’s Department of Clinical Psychology.

Being the Living Presence of God
(Matthew 25:31-46)

• pdf Celebrating At Home - Christ, King of the Universe [PDF](2.79 MB)
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• pdf Celebrando en Familia - Jesucristo, Rey del Universo(638 KB)
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• pdf Celebrando em familia - Jesu, Rey Do Universo(642 KB)

First Lt. Edward T. McGuire, a graduate in 1939 of Mount Carmel High School, the Carmelite school in Chicago, died on Aug. 1, 1943, when his B-24 Liberator bomber went down near Ploiesti, Romania, during Operation Tidal Wave in World War II. His plane was hit by flack and, even with wounded crew members, they pressed on to their bomb targets. To allow the crew to bale out, the pilots increased the plane's altitude. The plane then crashed. 

Lt. McGuire was only 22 years old. While his death was presumed when he did not make it back to the Allied base following the operation, his remains were only recovered in 2017, which began a multi-year identification process.

On a recent Saturday, 80 years after his death, Lt. McGuire was laid to rest at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery, following a memorial mass at Most Holy Redeemer Church. Representatives from the U.S. Department of Defense, police and fire departments, hundreds of community members and dozens of veterans came to pay their respects.

Lt. McGuire is one of 58 Mount Carmel alumni who died while serving in the Second World War.

The Feast of St. Martin of Tours Celebrated at the Carmelite Church in Rome

Since November 2018, the Carmelite parish of San Martino ai Monti in Rome has celebrated its patron’s feast day in the traditional way.

“In September 2016, I was made pastor of SS. Silvestro and Martino ai Monti parish,” explains Fr. Lucio Zappatore. “Delving into the figure of one of our patron saints, St. Martin, I dicovered his importance on the European level. In particular I discovered the procession in other places of St. Martin on horseback, followed by children with lanterns (recalling the transport of St. Martin's body from Candes, where he had died on November 8, 397, to Tours, the city where he was bishop). And this procession on the feast is the most popular processions in Europe. It was missing here in Rome, so it seemed important to us to establish it here as well.”

This year Bishop Rino Fisichella, the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and the man responsible for organizing the 2025 Jubilee Year, presided. This year’s Mass was extremely crowded; extra chairs provided and then people either sat on the steps of the side altars or stood. This year the 500 lanterns prepared were not enough. In addition to the children from the parish  community, children from German schools here in Rome joined in with their own lanterns.

The procession started in the square in front of the church. It moved along to Via Merulana, a large tree covered street that connects the papal basilicas of St. John Lateran and St. Mary Major. At the square in front of St. Mary Major, the procession paused. As a surprise to the participants, the head of the basilica, Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas, invited all the children to climb, with their lanterns, to the central balcony of the basilica's facade to greet St. Martin from above!

“It was a wonderful sight,” said Fr. Zappatore.

The procession then returned to the square in front of San Martino church. There “St. Martin” met a poor man and gave him half of his cloak. This recalls an episode from St. Martin’s life. This was followed with the distribution of St. Martin's cake to the children and chestnuts with new wine to the adults. The families concluded the feast in the nearby Brancaccio Palace. The manager offered complimentary refreshments to the children and their parents.

One of the characteristics of the figure of St. Martin was his concern for the poor and the least among us ("gli scarti" as Pope Francis calls them) so the Carmelite parish community, for many years, has kept this aspect of charity in the forefront: twice a week the parish provides showers and a change of clothes to those living on the street. The parish also distributes food packages and linens to needy families who are referred by the parish Centro d’Ascolto.

The parish is working on establishing a Confraternity of St. Martin to carry out all the charitable activities of the parish. This will be connected to the large family of Confraternities of St. Martin Brotherhoods scattered around Europe.