Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., Prior General.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Another year gone by, and we are again looking forward to the feast of our Lady of Mount Carmel.  On account of that I would like to say a word to you all, first of all, to wish you a happy feast day and to express the wish that the novenas, liturgies, prayers and celebrations of the coming days may help all of us to give new life to our charism and make it more present and more alive in our hearts. There is no doubt that the Marian dimension is one of the constitutive elements of all Carmelite spirituality. Even though we give it many different forms and expressions, depending on the different places and cultures, it is something that unites us and indeed, fills us with joy. With this in mind, I offer you, this year as in others, the Novena that Fr. Joseph Hung Tran, O.Carm. has written based on the texts provided by the different Carmelites who very kindly support our web page.

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This year I would like to highlight four topics that affect us as an Order and religious family and which we might keep in mind during our celebrations. Firstly, this year we are celebrating the 5^th Centenary of the birth of St. Teresa of Jesus. Throughout the Order there have been numerous events, conferences, and publications, and we still have a few months left in which there will be more activities of different kinds. Teresa is a key figure in the history of Carmel and one of the high points of its spirituality. Woman, writer, pilgrim, mystic ...  and many things more,  she invites us to return to her writings and to her example, and to find in them insights (inspirations, models, creativity) for our life as Carmelites today.

On more than one occasion, Teresa displays in her writings her devotion to the Blessed Virgin. As a child, in Avila, she entrusted herself to Our Lady of Charity asking her to be her mother. When she entered Carmel, she absorbed the spiritual traditions and deep devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which would remain with her for the rest of her life. Thus, when she began to write the Way of Perfection Teresa pointed out, with humility,  “If there should be anything good in this work, may it be for the glory and honor of God and the service of his most Blessed Mother, our Lady and Patroness, whose habit I wear, despite my being very unworthy to do so”, (Way of Perfection, Introduction).  Then, at the end of her round of foundations, Teresa cried out in joy, “We were happy to be able to serve in some way our Mother, and Lady and Patroness” (Foundations, 29,23)

These are texts that move us and at the same time invite us to serve “our Mother, Lady and Patroness” who leads us to the heart of the Gospel and of Christian life. May this saint from her place in heaven help us to live in joy and authenticity that Carmelite and Marian devotion and piety.

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As a second point, it is worth remembering that we are in the middle of the celebration of the year of consecrated life in the Church. As you know, Pope Francis proclaimed this year and invited all religious to celebrate it as a time of grace, reflection, and discernment, indeed, a time for renewing our life in joy, generosity and creativity. At first sight, it might appear that this topic has to do only with religious (friars, cloistered nuns, religious women of the apostolic life), however, as Pope Francis has pointed out on various occasions, consecrated life is not intended to exist for itself, but for the entire Church. Therefore, as we now prepare to honour Mary as the Mother and Advocate of Carmel, we ask her to help us to renew our consecrated life and renew each one of us, in order to put our lives at the service of the Gospel, in communion with the whole Church.

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A third point is that this year we celebrate the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Simon Stock. Of course it is true that the figure of Simon Stock is enveloped in the shadows of the Middle Ages, and historians have found plenty of material to study and debate. However, according to the tradition, and without getting into any controversy, Simon died in Bordeaux on the 16^th of May, 1265. That is why this year we record the 750^th anniversary of his death. Simon Stock is tied to the tradition and piety of the Carmelite scapular, and for that reason, it is not out of place to be reminded of this central element of our charism that unites us to Mary, Mother and Sister of all Carmelites.  Please God, we, like Simon Stock, may turn to Mary, in our moments of sadness and discouragement, in our trials and disappointments, so that she, first teacher and first disciple of our Lord, may help us to journey as disciples and witnesses of the Good News of the Gospel, especially in our proximity to the poor and needy. The Carmelite scapular, in all its lowliness and simplicity (and perhaps, precisely for that reason) continues to be a reminder of our commitment to the values of the Gospel and is a seed of hope.

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As a last point, I would like to share with you that on the 23rd of May just gone by,  Bishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, assassinated in March 1980, was beatified. The reason for including Oscar Romero here is that during his ministry as a bishop, on at least three occasions, he spoke very beautifully about the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel and about the July 16th celebrations. As you know, Romero had the habit of recording his sermons, that were then broadcast on the radio in order to reach as many people as possible. On the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in 1976, 1977 and 1978, the Archbishop praised this devotion and asked that it might become a platform for evangelisation and liberation. With a pastoral style that reminds us very much of the document of Aparecida and Pope Francis as well, Romero invites us to discover the evangelising power that lies behind popular devotion, which, even if in some instances it needs to be purified of certain risks, such as, its fleeting sentimentalism, its exterior folklorism, or the absence of commitment in the way people live, still contains an enormous wealth for the whole Church. In these devotions, the simple people very often find the form in which to express the great truths of faith, as well as their great trust in God through the Virgin Mary. Romero, who always wore the scapular, asked people to wear it, no matter what the consequences, with Christian authenticity, healthy devotion, and childlike affection for the Mother of Carmel.

            Even though I cannot spend much time on it, I would like to share with you two expressions of Romero that fill us with a healthy pride and encourage us to continue to tirelessly promote this very popular devotion, so full of beauty in terms of its spirituality and its theology. He said: “There is no preacher more attractive to our people than the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel” (1977). “Our people feel that Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, is the great missionary for the people. (...)  We unite our reflection then to this affection of the people, of religious and of priests, for Our Lady of Mount Carmel” (1978). Not long after, the Archbishop was shot while he was celebrating the Eucharist and he died not far from the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in the “little” hospital.

I pray that Mary, our Mother and Sister, will always accompany us and guide us in the very complex and fascinating world in which we live, and may she help us to share with everyone the Good News of salvation.

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel,

Fraternally,

Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm.

Prior General.

Pope’s Prayer Intentions for July 2015

Universal: Politics - That political responsibility may be lived at all levels as a high form of charity. Evangelization:

The poor in Latin America - That, amid social inequalities, Latin American Christians may bear witness to love for the poor and contribute to a more fraternal society.

Lectio Divina July - Julio - Luglio 2015

The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, was held 22 June 2015. The following were elected:

• Prioress:  Sr. Lourdes M. De Jesús Crucificado Avilés Calderón, O.Carm.
• 1st Councilor:   Sr. M. Antonia De Jesús Sacramentado Acevedo Lorenzo, O.Carm.
• 2nd Councilor:  Sr. M. De la Trinidad Rodríguez Barbosa, O.Carm.
• Director of Novices:  Sr. M. Antonia De Jesús Sacramentado Acevedo Lorenzo, O.Carm.
• Treasurer:  Sr. M. De la Trinidad Rodríguez Barbosa, O.Carm.
• Sacristan:  Sr. Monserrate M. del Corazón Crucificado de Jesús Lugo Millán, O.Carm.

During the Provincial Chapter of the Irish Province held on 21-25 June 2015 following earlier elections were confirmed:

• Prior Provincial:  Fr. Richard Byrne, O.Carm.
• First Councilor:  Fr. Brian McKay, O.Carm.
• Second Councilor:  Fr. Fintan Burke, O.Carm.
• Third Councilor:  Fr. Éanna Ó hÓbáin , O.Carm.
• Fourth Councilor:  Fr. David Twohig, O.Carm.
• Commissary Provincial of Zimbabwe:  Fr. Vitalis Tendai Benza, O.Carm.

During the Provincial Chapter of the American Province of Saint Elias held on 9-12 June 2015 were elected:

• Prior Provincial:  Fr. Michael Kissane, O.Carm.
• First Councilor:  Br. Robert Chiulli, O.Carm.
• Second Councilor:  Fr. Paul Denault, O.Carm.
• Third Councilor:  Fr. Joseph Nguyen Do, O.Carm.
• Fourth Councilor:  Fr. Sean Harlow, O.Carm.

ENCYCLICAL LETTER LAUDATO SI’
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME

1. “LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”.

2. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.

Nothing in this world is indifferent to us

3. More than fifty years ago, with the world teetering on the brink of nuclear crisis, Pope Saint John XXIII wrote an Encyclical which not only rejected war but offered a proposal for peace. He addressed his message Pacem in Terris to the entire “Catholic world” and indeed “to all men and women of good will”. Now, faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every person living on this planet. In my Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, I wrote to all the members of the Church with the aim of encouraging ongoing missionary renewal. In this Encyclical, I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home.

4. In 1971, eight years after Pacem in Terris, Blessed Pope Paul VI referred to the ecological concern as “a tragic consequence” of unchecked human activity: “Due to an ill-considered exploitation of nature, humanity runs the risk of destroying it and becoming in turn a victim of this degradation”. He spoke in similar terms to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations about the potential for an “ecological catastrophe under the effective explosion of industrial civilization”, and stressed “the urgent need for a radical change in the conduct of humanity”, inasmuch as “the most extraordinary scientific advances, the most amazing technical abilities, the most astonishing economic growth, unless they are accompanied by authentic social and moral progress, will definitively turn against man”.

5. Saint John Paul II became increasingly concerned about this issue. In his first Encyclical he warned that human beings frequently seem “to see no other meaning in their natural environment than what serves for immediate use and consumption”. Subsequently, he would call for a global ecological conversion. At the same time, he noted that little effort had been made to “safeguard the moral conditions for an authentic human ecology”. The destruction of the human environment is extremely serious, not only because God has entrusted the world to us men and women, but because human life is itself a gift which must be defended from various forms of debasement. Every effort to protect and improve our world entails profound changes in “lifestyles, models of production and consumption, and the established structures of power which today govern societies”. Authentic human development has a moral character. It presumes full respect for the human person, but it must also be concerned for the world around us and “take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system”. Accordingly, our human ability to transform reality must proceed in line with God’s original gift of all that is.

6. My predecessor Benedict XVI likewise proposed “eliminating the structural causes of the dysfunctions of the world economy and correcting models of growth which have proved incapable of ensuring respect for the environment”. He observed that the world cannot be analyzed by isolating only one of its aspects, since “the book of nature is one and indivisible”, and includes the environment, life, sexuality, the family, social relations, and so forth. It follows that “the deterioration of nature is closely connected to the culture which shapes human coexistence”. Pope Benedict asked us to recognize that the natural environment has been gravely damaged by our irresponsible behaviour. The social environment has also suffered damage. Both are ultimately due to the same evil: the notion that there are no indisputable truths to guide our lives, and hence human freedom is limitless. We have forgotten that “man is not only a freedom which he creates for himself. Man does not create himself. He is spirit and will, but also nature”. With paternal concern, Benedict urged us to realize that creation is harmed “where we ourselves have the final word, where everything is simply our property and we use it for ourselves alone. The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves”.

United by the same concern

7. These statements of the Popes echo the reflections of numerous scientists, philosophers, theologians and civic groups, all of which have enriched the Church’s thinking on these questions. Outside the Catholic Church, other Churches and Christian communities – and other religions as well – have expressed deep concern and offered valuable reflections on issues which all of us find disturbing. To give just one striking example, I would mention the statements made by the beloved Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, with whom we share the hope of full ecclesial communion.

8. Patriarch Bartholomew has spoken in particular of the need for each of us to repent of the ways we have harmed the planet, for “inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage”, we are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation”. He has repeatedly stated this firmly and persuasively, challenging us to acknowledge our sins against creation: “For human beings… to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; for human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands; for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins”. For “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God”.

9. At the same time, Bartholomew has drawn attention to the ethical and spiritual roots of environmental problems, which require that we look for solutions not only in technology but in a change of humanity; otherwise we would be dealing merely with symptoms. He asks us to replace consumption with sacrifice, greed with generosity, wastefulness with a spirit of sharing, an asceticism which “entails learning to give, and not simply to give up. It is a way of loving, of moving gradually away from what I want to what God’s world needs. It is liberation from fear, greed and compulsion”. As Christians, we are also called “to accept the world as a sacrament of communion, as a way of sharing with God and our neighbours on a global scale. It is our humble conviction that the divine and the human meet in the slightest detail in the seamless garment of God’s creation, in the last speck of dust of our planet”.

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On the 18th-22nd May 2015, the International Formation Commission convened at the General Curia in Rome.  P. Benny Phang, O.Carm., General Councilor for Formation chaired the meeting with P. Noel Rosas, O.Carm. (Administrative Secretary for Formation); P. Onesmus Muthoka, O.Carm. (Ken); P. Krispinus Ginting, O.Carm. (Indo); P. Jose Alex Valanattu, O.Carm. (Ind); P. Desiderio García, O.Carm. (ACV); P. Wayne Stanhope, O.Carm. (Aust); P. Quinn Conners, O.Carm. (PCM); P. Albeiro Luis Romero, O.Carm. (Ita-Col); and P. Giampiero Molinari, O.Carm. (Ita).

The first day included reflections facilitated by Dr. Donna Orsuto, professor from the Gregorian University, and P. Jose Cecilio Magadia, S.J., General Councilor for Formation. During the following days, the commission identified its vision and direction for the work in various areas of formation. To help every Carmelite and community appreciate the revised RIVC, the commission will publish a Companion to the RIVC later this year. Within this sessenium, the commission will organize programs for formators, vocation promotors, and students. For better participation, ongoing formation program will occur in regional geographical areas. The next international formators’ and vocation promoters’ gathering will be in Malang, Indonesia in 2016.

During the Provincial Chapter of the Italian Province held on 1-6 June 2015 were elected:

• Prior Provincial:  Fr. Giovanni Grosso, O.Carm.
• Vice Prior Provincial:  Fr. Tiberio Scorrano, O.Carm.
• First Councilor:  Fr. Giuseppe Midili, O.Carm.
• Second Councilor:  Fr. Matteo Palumbo, O.Carm.
• Third Councilor:  Fr. Luca Sciarelli, O.Carm.
• Fourth Councilor:  Fr. Giampiero Molinari, O.Carm.

Friday morning saw the conclusion of the Holy Father’s Lenten retreat with the senior members of the Roman Curia, at the Divine Master House in Ariccia. Before returning to the Vatican the Pope addressed his thanks to Carmelite Father Bruno Secondin, who this year led the meditations on the theme: “Servants and prophets of the living God.” “It is not easy to give exercises to priests,” said Pope Francis, “we are all a bit complicated, but you managed to sow seeds. May the Lord make these seeds that you has given us grow.”

The Pope’s Prayer Intentions for June 2015

Universal: Immigrants and refugees - That immigrants and refugees may find welcome and respect in the countries to which they come.

Evangelization: Vocations - That the personal encounter with Jesus may arouse in many young people the desire to offer their own lives in priesthood or consecrated life. 

Lectio Divina June - Junio - Giugno 2015