My mission to make God loved will begin after my death. I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will send a shower of roses.

(St.Therese of Lisieux)

Sisters and Brothers in Carmel,

As you know, Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines last weekend.  As the Carmelite Family, we want to express our solidarity and closeness to our Brothers and Sisters in this tragic situation.  The Prior Provincial of the Province of Blessed Titus Brandsma, Christian “Toots” Buenafe, has let us know that our Carmelites are safe, but there is destruction to some of the convents and priories, along with devastation to the people they serve.

The Carmelites in the Philippines have set up Task Force Carmel Cares. If you wish to donate through the Curia in Rome please send your donations via your provincial bursar and we will make sure it reaches our Carmelites in the Philippines.  We recognize some provinces and countries will be donating through their local charities.

Please keep all the people of the Philippines in your prayers as they work to rebuild their lives and mourn the loss of loved ones.

General Council

The life of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, a Carmelite who lived her vocation to the fullest. She is my inspiration because of her great love for Christ. Even in suffering she grew to overcome herself and learn from her experience to grow closer to Jesus.

Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity…her very name means “house of God”

Although she lived on for twenty-six years, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity had an extraordinary sense of the three persons of the Trinity dwelling within her.

God loves you today
as He loved you yesterday
and will love you tomorrow.

Elizabeth of the Trinity

October 2013

Initium Novitiatus

• 01-10-13 Emmanuel Roland Poo Onana (Ger-Cam), Efoulan, Cameroun
• 01-10-13 Barthélemy Fouda (Ger-Cam), Efoulan, Cameroun
• 01-10-13 Nicolas Blaise Owono (Ger-Cam), Efoulan, Cameroun
• 01-10-13 Marie Victoire Bibake Alipe (Ger-Cam), Efoulan, Cameroun
• 01-10-13 Diudonne Benon (Baet-Bur), Efoulan, Cameroun
• 20-10-13 Bladimir Ramos Ramos (Cat-Ven), Salamanca, España

Professio Temporanea

• 23-10-13 Ana M. de Jesús Govea Niño (VAL), Valencia, España

Professio Solemnis

• 05-10-13 Janer Fernando Gomez Torres (Ita-Col), Roma, Italia
• 12-10-13 Jorge da Costa (Pern), Recife, Brasil
• 12-10-13 José Adriano Gomes (Pern), Recife, Brasil
• 19-10-13 Paul Jenkins (Brit), Aylesford, England
• 19-10-13 Luc Janssens (Neer), Nijmegen, Nederland

Ordinatio Diaconalis

• 01-10-13 Paulo Luiz Fernandes da Silva (Pern), Icó, Brasil
• 01-10-13 Daniel Marie Abada Zengue (Ger-Cam), Yaoundé, Cameroun
• 12-10-13 Guy Martial Djomandji Zofiet (Ger-Cam), Yaoundé, Cameroun
• 15-10-13 Francesco Ciaccia (Neap), Palmi, Italia
• 20-10-13 Tobias Kraus (Ger), Mainz, Deutschland

Ordinatio Sacerdotalis

• 06-10-13 Wilibaldus Gebo (Indo), Maumere, Indonesia
• 06-10-13 Yohanes Wilson Bei Lena (Indo), Maumere, Indonesia
• 06-10-13 Ferdinandus Tay (Indo), Maumere, Indonesia
• 06-10-13 Yohanes Martinianus (Indo), Maumere, Indonesia

*foto: Ordinatio Diaconalis di Tobias Kraus (Ger), Mainz, Deutschland

Fr. Josef was born in Tesov, Archdiocese of Olomouc (Moravia), Czech Republic, on 22nd May 1951. He entered the Carmelite Order in secret during the Communist regime while he was pursuing his studies at the interdiocesan seminary in Litomerice. Fr. Josef did his masters in theology at Charles University, Prague. He was ordained to the priesthood on 25th June 1977 in Olomouc. Because religious orders were officially suppressed at the time and functioned only in secrecy, Fr. Josef ministered officially as a diocesan priest in various parishes in the Archdiocese of Olomouc. When the Communist regime fell in 1989 and religious life experienced a renewal, Fr. Josef was appointed General Delegate of the Delegation of Bohemia and Moravia. He held this office for six years and in 1997 went to Rome to specialize in Canon Law at the Lateran Pontifical University. In 1999 he obtained his Licentiate degree and a diploma in Iurisprudence et Praxis I.V.C.S.V.A. from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life as well as in Praxis Administrativa Canonica from the Congregation for the Clergy. From 1989 to 2013 Fr. Josef was a Procurator General of the Order.

Fr. Kevin was born in England in 1958 and after secondary school, studied history at the university of Oxford. He joined the Carmelite Order in 1979, completing the noviciate in Aylesford and studying in Rome from 1980 to 1982. Then he decided to work as an English language teacher, working for the Berlitz Schools and eventually becoming Director of Studies of the Italian operation. In 1995 he returned to the Carmelite Order, completing his studies with degrees from the Catholic University of Leuven and Heythrop College, London. He took solemn vows in 1999 and was ordained a priest in June 2001. As a member of the British Province he worked in the field of vocations and then as director of St. Jude’s Shrine in Faversham. In 2001 he was appointed Secretary General and in the period from 2002 to 2007 he completed a doctorate in Medieval Church History. From 2007-2013 he was Bursar General of the Order.

Fr. Albertus was born in Yogyakarta on 19th November 1958. After graduating from St. Peter minor seminary he joined the Carmelite Order in 1979 and ordained priest in 1987. He taught at St. Albert Senior High School in Malang (East Java) for 3 years. He holds a master's degree in Educational Management from the Catholic University of America in Washington. In 1994 he was appointed to teach at St. Paul Senior High School in Jember (East Java) where he became Headmaster of the school from 1997-2002. He was a Provincial Councillor from 1997-2003 and the Director of the Indonesian Carmelite Institute where he initiated an Indonesian Carmelite publication, Karmelindo. In the year of 2002 he was appointed Headmaster of St. Albert Senior High School in Malang. From 2007-2013 he was a Councillor General for Asia-Australia-Oceania. His main subjects of interest are education, management and leadership.

Fr. Désiré was born on March 10, 1959 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. After finishing his scholastic formation he joined the Order, thus becoming one of the first Congolese young boys in Carmelite Religious life. After the Novitiate he made his first profession on September 16, 1979.  He followed his studies in Philosophy and Theology in Kinshasa and Bunia (in Congo) and was ordained a priest on July 3, 1986.  Father Désiré, obtained a degree in Sacred Liturgy from the Pontifical Institute of Saint Anselm in Rome.  In the following years he has held several responsibilities in the Order both in the Congo and in Italy, among which: Vice Master of Novices, Vice Parish Priest, local Bursar and Prior, animator for Vocation Promotion, Rector of the students, Counsellor of the Provincial Commissariate of the Congo, and the third Provincial Commissary of the Congo from 2003 to 2007.  In the General Chapter of 2007, he was elected General Counsellor, responsible for the geographic area of Africa and for Evangelization to serve for a six year term 2007-2013.