by David Travers, OCDS

All our Carmelite teaching is designed to make us docile to the workings of the Holy Spirit as our Constitutions and Ratio show. These documents teach us that the Holy Spirit is our principal educator to whom:

the one called to life in Carmel, aware of the indwelling grace of the Spirit, should strive to become ever conscious of that ineffable Presence. It will lead us to knowledge of truth, especially with regard to a personal vocation (Ratio #16).

So the purpose of discernment is quite simple: to help us make good life decisions. And discernment requires us to do two things: listen and respond. And what better example of this do we have than our very own St. Therese who told us:

Jesus has no need of books or teachers to instruct souls; He teaches without the noise of words. Never have I heard Him speak but I feel that he’s within me at each moment ... guiding and inspiring me with what I must say and do. (Story of a Soul, Pg 179)

These words of Therese refer to her ability to perceive the language of the heart ... God’s voice within us. Her intuition was heightened to a very profound degree.

Notice the type of words we are using in the context of discernment: hearing ... listening ... awareness ... perception ... consciousness ... intuition ... inspiration. How do we get to the point where we become more in tune to these characteristics of our soul? This is no easy task.

Discernment is a spiritual art form requiring grace upon grace so that we may come to listen and respond correctly. So first we should begin by examining some of the conditions required for us to become docile to the workings of the Holy Spirit. Father Garrigou Lagrange provides this wonderful synopsis on Carmelite teaching:

To be docile to the Holy Spirit, we must first hear His voice. To do so recollection and detachment from the world and from self are necessary as are the custody of the heart, the mortification of self will and personal judgment. If silence does not reign in our soul,  if the voice of excessively human affections troubles it, we cannot of a certainty hear the  inspirations of the interior Master. For this reason the Lord subjects our sensible appetites to severe trials and in a way crucifies them that they may eventually become silent or fully submissive to our will animated by charity. If we are ordinarily preoccupied with ourselves, we shall certainly hear ourselves or perhaps a more perfidious, more dangerous voice which seeks to lead us astray. Consequently our Lord invites us to die to ourselves like the grain of wheat placed in the ground. (Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol 2, pg 233)

Thus, to hear divine inspirations we must learn to cultivate an attitude of silence; but even then the voice of the Holy Spirit will remain mysterious. At first we perceive it as indistinct and obscure, in St. John of the Cross’ terms. Later, with time, practice and grace, the workings of the Spirit may become more clear and certain as we enter the light of His illumination ... the fruit of contemplation.

As Father Garrigou Lagrange alludes, in discernment we must learn to distinguish three distinct spirits: the thoughts and feelings that originate in our natural self, those that are of God and those of the devil.

Theologians show us our natural spirit is a consequence of original sin and leads us to seek self in all things. In Carmelite teaching, it predisposes us to sensory excess by resisting mortification, fearing trials and seeking pleasures of all kinds. And our spirit suffers too through deeply ingrained egoism that must be pulled up by the roots so that we become less reliant on our personal opinions and preferences which so often lie at the root of our conflicts with others. In short, we must learn to be wary of trusting too much in self.

The devil, recognizing our weakness, seeks to exploit our natural self to his advantage. He appeals to our pride by inflating our opinion of our self and he causes charity to grow cold by inducing us to acts of self love. His spirit is marked by anxiety ... fear ... agitation ... dissension ... confusion ... doubt ... insecurity ... even despair. We can always tell his presence in our soul for he enters, as St. Ignatius teaches “like a banging gong.”

The spirit of God, on the other hand, is the opposite of this. He inspires us to humility not pride; selfless giving not selfish seeking. His spirit fosters charity, zeal and all the virtues to blossom ... growth in which St. Teresa teaches is the only true test if a prayerful experience is from God. He gives us patience in trial, love of the cross and love of enemies. His gift is peace   with our selves and others. More so, He gives a peace that is grounded in true interior joy.

So how can we begin to sort out the various spirits that are continually at work in our souls? Well, St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises are one of the Churches greatest teachings on the discernment of spirits ... a wonderful complement to what our own Carmelite masters show!

Following is a brief overview of some of the basic principles of discernment from the Ignatian and Carmelite traditions; the purpose of which is to help us “distinguish inspiration from instigation and grace from temptation so as to be able to respond to the one and resist the other.” (Fr. Hardon, Discernment of Spirits)

from the Ratio

23. Journeying towards our goal

"Contemplation is the inner journey of Carmelites, arising out of the free initiative of God, who touches and transforms us, leading us towards unity in love with him, raising us up so that we may enjoy his gratuitous love and live in his loving presence. It is a transforming experience of the overpowering love of God. This love empties us of our limited and imperfect human ways of thinking, loving, and behaving, transforming them into divine ways"(40) and enables us "to taste in our hearts and experience in our souls the power of the divine presence and the sweetness of heavenly glory, not only after death, but during this mortal life."(41)

The contemplative dimension is not merely one of the elements of our charism (prayer, fraternity and service): it is the dynamic element which unifies them all.

In prayer we open ourselves to God, who, by his action, gradually transforms us through all the great and small events of our lives. This process of transformation enables us to enter into and sustain authentic fraternal relationships; it makes us willing to serve, capable of compassion and of solidarity, and gives us the ability to bring before the Father the aspirations, the anguish, the hopes and the cries of the people.

Fraternity is the testing ground of the authenticity of the transformation which is taking place within us. We discover that we are brothers journeying towards the one Father, sharing the gifts of the Spirit and supporting one another through the hardships of the journey.

From the free and disinterested service which only the contemplative can give, we receive unexpected assistance in our spiritual journey; this helps us to grow in openness to the action of the Spirit, and to allow ourselves to be sent out again and again, constantly renewed, to serve our sisters and brothers.

24. An inner journey

Through this gradual and continuous transformation in Christ, which is accomplished within us by the Spirit, God draws us to himself on an inner journey(42) which takes us from the dispersive fringes of life to the inner core of our being, where he dwells and where he unites us with himself.(43)

This requires a constant, radical and lifelong effort, through which, inspired by God's grace, we begin to think, judge, and re-order our lives, in accordance with God's holiness and goodness as revealed and poured out in abundance in the Son.

This process is neither linear nor uniform. It involves critical moments, crises in growth and in maturation, stages where we must make new choices - especially when we have to renew our option for Christ. All this is part of the purification of our spirits at the deepest level, by which we may be conformed to God.(44)

The inner process which leads to the development of the contemplative dimension helps us to acquire an attitude of openness to God's presence in life, teaches us to see the world with God's eyes, and inspires us to seek, recognise, love and serve God in those around us.(45)

25. An evangelical journey

The Carmelite way assumes that life in accordance with the evangelical counsels is the most appropriate path towards full transformation in Christ.(46) He chose this lifestyle for himself, and he proposes it to his disciples in order that they may become less self-centred and more open to the gift of God, who conforms them to himself for the building of the Kingdom.

Obedience, which requires us to listen to the will of God and to implement it both personally and communally, enables us to attain genuine freedom.(47)

By living poverty, we recognise and accept our frailty and our nothingness, without seeking compensations, and open ourselves increasingly to God's lavish gifts.(48)

Through chastity, our capacity to love is freed from selfishness and self-centredness so that, drawn by God's tender love for us, we become increasingly free to enter into intimate and loving relationships with God, with our brothers, with all people and with all of creation.(49)

Thus, the practice of the evangelical counsels is not a renunciation but a means by which we grow in love(50) so as to attain fullness of life in God.

26. An ascetic journey

The process of transformation in Christ demands from us a continuous striving to "offer to God a holy heart which has been purified from every actual stain of sin. We attain this goal when we become perfect and in Carith - that is to say, when we are hidden in that love (in charitate) in which the Wise One says 'all guilt is covered over' (Pro 10, 12b)".(51)

This process cannot take place if we rely merely on our own willpower, unaided by the experience of God's transforming love, poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.(52) This experience gives us the strength to respond to Christ's radical invitation: "Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it."(53)

However, this process also requires "our efforts and the practice of the virtues."(54) Sustained by grace, we engage in a process of gradual transformation: in the encounter with Christ and in the process of union with him, the new self replaces the old self, we are clothed in Christ(55), and we bear the "fruit of the Spirit"(56).

27. A journey through the desert

The first Carmelites, in tune with the spirituality of their time (the 12th - 13th centuries), attempted to live out this ascetic commitment by withdrawing into solitude. Their desert was more than a physical reality; it was a place of the heart. It was the context in which could be lived the commitment to focus one's being on God alone. They had chosen to follow Jesus Christ, who denied himself and emptied himself to the point of dying naked on the cross. People of pure faith, they awaited the gift of new and eternal life, fruit of the Lord's resurrection.(57) The desert, a place of solitude and aridity, blooms(58) and becomes the place where the experience of God's liberating presence builds fraternity and inspires us to service.

In the footsteps of the first Carmelite hermits, we too journey through the desert, which develops our contemplative dimension. This requires self-abandonment to a gradual process of emptying and stripping ourselves, so that we may be clothed in Christ and filled with God. This process "begins when we entrust ourselves to God, in whatever way he chooses to approach us"(59) . For we do not enter the desert by our own will: it is the Holy Spirit who calls us and draws us into the desert; it is the Spirit who sustains us in our spiritual combat, clothes us in God's armour(60), and fills us with his gifts and with the divine presence, until we are entirely transformed by God and reflect something of God's infinite beauty.(61)

In speaking of this process of transformation, Carmelite tradition uses other expressions and images besides this symbol of the desert: for example, "puritas cordis" (purity of heart), "vacare Deo" (becoming free for God), the ascent of Mount Carmel, the dark night.

28. Ways leading to contemplation

It is important, not only to be familiar with the theory of the contemplative process and to have a constantly renewed understanding of the vows and values of Carmelite spirituality, but also to acquire and to incarnate a contemplative lifestyle and contemplative attitudes.

In prayer and in the constant encounter with the Word of God, we learn to meet God in daily life and to entrust ourselves to him on the journey of inner transformation. In this way, we become capable of receiving accomplishments and joys as gifts, and crises and deserts as moments of growth; thus we become able to harmoniously integrate the fundamental values of Carmelite life.

40 Costitutions 17; see also St. John of the Cross, Canticle B, 22, 3-5; 26, 1; 39, 4.
41 Institutio primorum monachorum, 1.2.
42 Among the many texts of the Carmelite tradition, see in particular Institutio primorum monachorum, 1.2-8.
43 Cf. St. Teresa of Jesus, The Interior Castle, I.1.3; 7.1,5; St. John of the Cross, Canticle B, 1, 6-8.
44 Cf. St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night, 1.11, 3.
45 Cf. Constitutions, 15; 78.
46 Cf. Institutio primorum monachorum, 1, 3-5.
47 Cf. Constitutions, 45-49.
48 Cf. Constitutions, 50-58.
49 Cf. Constitutions, 59-63.
50 Cf. Institutio primorum monachorum, 1, 6.
51 Cf. Institutio primorum monachorum, 1.2.
52 Cf. Rom 5:5.
53 Mt 16:25.
54 Cf. Institutio primorum monachorum, 1.2.
55 Cf. Rom 13:14; Gal 3:27; Eph 2:15; 4:24; see also EE, 45.
56 Gal 5:22-23.
57 Even the place they had chosen, with their cells spread out around the oratory, can be seen as an expression of this miracle of the rebirth of life in the desert, effected by the presence of the Risen One; the liturgical rite of the Holy Sepulchre, which was celebrated for a long time in the Order, also testifies to this.
58 Cf. Is 32:15.
59 Constitutions, 17.
60 See Rule, 18-19.
61 Cf. St. John of the Cross, Canticle B, 36, 5; see also 2 Cor 3:18.

The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Madrid, Spain, was held 22-23 April 2013. The following were elected:

• Prioress:  Sr. M. Inmaculada Ochoa, O.Carm.
• 1st Councilor:   Sr. M. Noemí Temprano, O.Carm.
• 2nd Councilor:  Sr. M. Antonia Dominguez, O.Carm.
• 3rd Councilor:   Sr. M. Carmen Almonte, O.Carm.
• 4th Couniclor:   Sr. Maria del Carmen Ruiz, O.Carm.
• Director of Novices:  Sr. M. Brunilda Rodriguez, O.Carm.
• Treasurer:  Sr. M. Antonia Dominguez , O.Carm.
• Sacristan:  Sr. M. Noemí Temprano, O.Carm.

John Welch, O.Carm.

The Searching Heart

The Carmelite tradition begins in searching hearts. "Where have you hidden, beloved?" writes the Carmelite poet and mystic, John of the Cross. "You fled like the stag after wounding me." (The Spiritual Canticle stanza 1) We fragile humans have an aching heart, a hunger, a desire which we seek to nourish and fulfill. Chasing after our desires in an effort to find happiness and peace, we live fragmented and dissipated lives. We are compulsive about our search, and we compulsively cling to what promises relief.

Our restlessness makes us dissatisfied with our lives. "I wanted to live...but I had no one to give me life..." wrote the Carmelite reformer Teresa of Avila. For many people, the fire at the core of their lives has been poorly tended. We learn to speak with others' voices and see with others' eyes, to the neglect of our own voice and eyes. We often become puppets and functionaries, wasting away, victimized by over-domestication. John of the Cross complained about his ghostly existence, "How do you endure O life, not living where you live...?" (Canticle, 8)

We have a vague idea that somehow God is the answer to our longing. At least we have been told so, and we want to believe. But who is this God? Where is this God?

The Carmelite tradition speaks to those who long to be apart, to separate from a smothering existence. The tradition offers the lure of wilderness, mountain retreat, vast expanses of desert. In solitude, in a place apart, we searchers hope to hear our heart's desires more clearly, to reassess life, to dream, to be nourished by hidden springs, to meet the One whom others speak of with great assurance. Those who are drawn by the Carmelite tradition are often pilgrims to places unknown, trusting the testimony of others who have taken the same ancient path.

The First Carmelites

The first group of people to be called Carmelites made such a journey to a place apart. When history first takes notice of them, they are a group of men living in a valley cut into the ridge of Mount Carmel in Palestine. Arriving just before the turn of the thirteenth century, they had clustered together in caves and huts to live an isolated existence. We do not know their names, nor what precipitated their coming to this remote place. The reasons for such a radical life were probably as numerous as the number of men. Usually such a radical shift in life is not the result of an unpressured decision. In their home countries they may have encountered deep disappointments, personal losses, estrangements of one kind or another. Their decision to come to this mountain may have been the result of years of dealing with slow-healing scars, or gnawing guilt, or the unquenchable desire for a saner life. Perhaps a deep faith drove them to live in a holy place where God might be met more simply. Some of the men may have come from other locales in Palestine which were now unsafe because of Crusader and Moslem warfare. For whatever reason, these westerners from European countries made a pilgrimage to the periphery of society and the church. They

became hermits, living where Jesus lived, knights in service of their liege Lord. They pledged to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ.

We may not know their personal reasons for coming into the wadi on Mount Carmel, but we do know the appeal of Mount Carmel itself. This mountain ridge was the scene of a great contest between prophets of a false god, Baal, and the prophet Elijah, champion of Israel's God, Yahweh. This contest provided an underlying theme for Carmelite spirituality: in which God will we place our trust? On this mountain, and in the confines of this wadi, the first Carmelites took their stand on behalf of the God of Elijah and Jesus.

Crusaders and Moslems fought around them for control of the Holy Land. Within the wadi, the men put on the armor of faith and opened their hearts and minds to an inner warfare. They opened themselves to the full force of their desires. They reflected on their lives. They ruminated on scripture, rehearsing its lines throughout the day. Silence pervaded the valley, as they kept guard against the demons, and listened for the approach of a merciful God.

This desert existence became a key theme in the Carmelite tradition. Carmelites continually described being led by the Spirit into a desert place. In the desert life is met on stark terms; one either succumbs, or finds hidden sources of new life. When lived in, and carefully tended, the desert became a garden, verdant with life.

Those who come to the Carmelite tradition are often people who have been thrown into the desert, who have had to face life on stark terms, who found nourishment and support where none was expected, who no longer fear being in an isolated, vulnerable place, and who, on the contrary, want to go deeper into the desert to find the One who awaits them. "And then we will go on to the high caverns in the rock...." (Canticle, 37)

Life with Others

A hermit rarely lives entirely alone. As an early church writer observed, "If I live alone, whose feet do I wash? If I live alone, compared with whom am I the least?" Medieval hermits often lived with others in communities of solitude. The early Carmelites clustered together, much as the first Christian communities described in the Acts of the Apostles: "They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers." (Acts 2:42) The first Carmelites lived in proximity to one another, and took responsibility for one another. When they asked Albert the Patriarch of Jerusalem to draw up their way of life in a Rule, the relationships among themselves and with their leader, the prior, played an important part. They are reminded to celebrate the Eucharist together each day in an oratory located in the midst of the cells. They are told to gather regularly on a weekly basis to correct and encourage one another. They are to elect and reverence a prior, and he is to see to the needs of each, according to their individual situations. What they owned, they owned together. These independent hermits were encouraged, eventually, to pray together and take their meals together. The fraternity dimension of Carmel strengthened over the first decades of Carmel's existence.

The contemplative prayer of the Carmelites resulted in an ever renewed appreciation for those with whom they lived and for those whom they served. The human tendency to over-estimate, or under-estimate, one's virtues and gifts is

continually corrected through a prayer which undermines such judgments. True prayer continually dislocates the one who prays from a judgmental stance which perceives others as lower or higher, and inserts that person back into the circle of humanity as one equal with the rest. The one who prays begins to see others through God's eyes, and learns to appreciate and value what had previously gone unnoticed.

Teresa of Avila reminded us that Carmelite communities are meant to be communities of friends who are friends with Jesus Christ. Distinctions which create divisions or hierarchies, whether secular or religious are to be vigorously shunned. Carmelite life undermines any claim to privilege other than the supreme privilege of being loved by God. Teresa challenged her sisters to strive for a high ideal: "all must be friends, all must be loved, all must be held dear, all must be helped." Philip Thibault, leader of a 17th century reform of Carmel, offered as his motto: "More unity, less perfection!"

Whether one lives in a religious community, or in a marriage, or in another lifestyle, the grand gesture is often not the most difficult. The magnanimous, admirable service of one's neighbors may not be the hardest task. The truly heroic actions often involve accepting and appreciating the small, daily inconveniences necessarily involved in life with others. The most difficult assaults on one's patience, time, energies, forbearance, do not usually come from strangers, but from loved ones, friends, colleagues with whom we share the struggles of daily existence.

The Carmelite nun from Normandy, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, gained many admirers when she identified a little way to God. One may or may not be able to do great things in the world's eyes; most of us live small, undramatic lives. But, we can live those lives with love, a love which expresses the truly great drama of God's nearness and care for us. With loving eyes, our mundane existence opens to its depths revealing a dynamic, healing Presence in those lives. The "allegiance to Jesus Christ", sworn by Carmelites, is lived out among the "pots and pans" of everyday life.

The Prayer of the Carmelites

If Carmel has anything to say to a contemporary world, it is about prayer. All humanity is on a spiritual journey, acknowledged or not. The writings and structures which make up the history of Carmel were the result of attending to the Mystery met deeply within searching lives. Attentiveness to this Presence has been the continual goal of Carmelites.

The first Carmelites carried the lines of Scripture in their minds and hearts and regularly rehearsed them, opening themselves to the One whom they met through their mystical reading. They eventually prayed this scripture together as they took on the obligations of the Divine Office.

When this community moved to Europe and took its place among the mendicant Orders who were serving the poor and others in the emerging cities, the prayerful beginnings on Mount Carmel were never forgotten. Carmelites understood themselves to be a contemplative Order. Whenever they attempted to define themselves, or re-define themselves when reform was needed, they claimed contemplation as their primary activity and greatest priority.

Contemplation commits a person to complete confidence and trust in the love of God which is continually breaking into our lives. The contemplative stance is an openness to that love and the demands it makes on us to change our lives. To be a contemplative is to be a watch in the night for the approach of Mystery. And it is a readiness to be transformed in an engagement with that Mystery.

Carmelites offer no single method or approach to prayer. They learned that prayer was the Spirit's work in us. God speaks us into life, and continually addresses us in our lives, for greater life. Our effort, then, is one of listening. All our words are an attempt to speak the one Word which is God's.

Carmelite saints and writers are compelled to express their experience of prayer. Teresa of Avila described it as conversation with a friend, with one who loves us. Thérèse of Lisieux spoke of simply gazing at God. Lawrence of the Resurrection spoke of an habitual turning of his eyes to God. John of the Cross encouraged a silent attentiveness to where our heart is struggling and experiencing exhaustion. This "dark night" is an experience of transforming love which first deeply unsettles.

The challenge for Carmelites and other Christians is to become regularly aware of this loving Presence, in good times and in bad. Teresa of Avila pictured her Friend alongside her, or inside her in one of the scenes from the Gospel, especially where He was alone and might welcome her approach. She also spoke of using a book, or flowers, or water to draw her into the presence of God, who is offering friendship, freedom, and greater life.

Eliljah and Mary

Carmelites continually drew inspiration from the two great biblical figures of the prophet Elijah and Mary, the Mother of God. In the Bible, Elijah is the solitary figure who is not only true to God and defeats the prophets of the false god, Baal, but he is also the defender of the poor and disenfranchised. He stands with the dispossessed and against the oppressor. In the Order's mythical memory of Elijah, he is also the one who gathers other faithful servants of Yahweh into a community. He settles the community on Mount Carmel where they live a peaceful and just existence. In the Order's myth of its origins this prototypical Carmelite community eventually responds to the preaching of John the Baptist and the first disciples of Christ. The "carmelites" become Christian and, in time, form the Order of Carmelites.

The Order remembers that Elijah foresaw the coming of Mary, the spotless virgin whose faithfulness would lead to the birth of the long-awaited Messiah. Carmelites remember Elijah and Mary as the first man and the first woman to take a vow of virginity. This "purity of heart" meant they were free from the enslavement of idols, and fertile ground for the seed of the Spirit.

The first chapel in the wadi on Mount Carmel was dedicated to Mary. The Carmelites became known as the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Mary is the contemplative who ponders in her heart. She is the disciple who follows her Son, the Wisdom of God. Her surrender to the working of God's Spirit in her life is captured in her Magnificat, a song of praise and thanksgiving for the mercy of God which raises the lowly of the earth. The scapular, a brown cloth worn over the shoulders, is a traditional Carmelite expression of devotion to Mary and, in imitation of her, our surrender to God's salvific plan.

Serving God's People

Carmelites seek the face of the living God not only in prayer and fraternity, but also in service. The Carmelites' primary pledge is "allegiance to Jesus Christ". This allegiance, then, takes the form of continuing the mission of Christ to tell of the nearness of God's love and to celebrate the inestimable worth of every human being. Camel has taken seriously the Gospel imperative: go to the ends of the earth and there proclaim the last are first. This mission has been expressed in innumerable pastoral situations though the centuries of Carmel's existence. Even on Mount Carmel men would occasionally leave the wadi to preach in adjacent areas. In Europe they were called to take their place with the mendicant communities who were ministering in various levels of society, teaching in universities, and crossing national boundaries in missionary efforts. No ministry has been judged incompatible with Carmel's charism. But any ministry is suspect if not anchored in a contemplative openness to that which God is bringing about.

In particular, it is the contemplative dimension of Carmel which impels the community to pay special attention to the "little ones" of the world, those left out of the world's attention and care. Contemplation leads one into an awareness of one's own poverty of spirit and the need to wait on God. From this self-knowledge it is possible to be in solidarity with and have concern for all who have to wait in hope for God's mercy and compassion. Contemplative prayer should be the deepest source of concern for the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized of our world.

The Mythical Land of Carmel

From the very beginning Carmelites had to live within tensions. They may have preferred to stay in their quiet, isolated valley, but it was impossible. They wound up in the middle of the mendicant movement in Europe, but describing their life as though they were still living in the valley. Nicholas the Frenchman, an early general of the Order, admonished them to abandon the noisy, dirty city streets where they were ministering, and retreat to the quiet beauty of pastoral settings for contemplative prayer. This admonition, too, was impossible to follow.

Carmelites began to understand themselves as inhabitants of two homelands. One homeland was where they lived in community and ministered among God's people. The other homeland became a metaphorical place where God pursued humanity in love. Carmelites lived on the border, and carried dual citizenship.

The initial threads of Carmel's story were woven from the memory of Mount Carmel itself and the biblical imagery which surrounded the mountain. In that late 14th century foundational myth of Carmel, The Institution of the First Monks, Carmel's story was no longer a story confined by historical conditions and a specific time. It was a mythic story, truer than a mere recitation of facts. It traced its outlines back to the source of all stories, a plot in God's mind. It was a story told, as it were, through God's eyes.

And so the story of Carmel stretched back into pre-christian history where the community witnessed the emergence of the one true God of Israel. Carmel's story also projects forward to a future time on the mountain when God's peace will reign, men and women will live justly, and all will gather at an eschatological banquet. Later Carmelites confirmed the essential truth of the vision: "My beloved

is the mountain," wrote John of the Cross, "the supper that refreshes, and deepens love." (Canticle, 14)

To "enter Carmel" is not simply a matter of entering a building, joining a community, and taking on a ministry, whether of prayer or apostolic mission. It is that, certainly, but "entering Carmel" is also entering a drama playing out deep within every human life. That drama of the human spirit encountered by God's Spirit is essentially inexpressible. Carmelites are explorers of an inner place of intimacy with God, a fine point of the human spirit where it is addressed by Mystery. Carmel honours that pristine, privileged relationship between creature and Creator. Carmelite mystics have used bridal imagery to capture the intimacy of this encounter. Some Carmelites told of visions and voices which they experienced as momentary forms of grace. Sometimes, even their bodies reverberated to the impact of God's love.

The Carmelite imagination describes a landscape whose topography has become a primordial wording of the soul's adventure.

Carmel is a land of paradox, exposing the Carmelite to living within tension. It is a land of desert and garden, of heat and cold, of dark and light, of hunger and abundance. It is a place of God's absence which surprisingly reveals a compassionate presence. It is a place of suffering, a suffering which is healed by the same flame that hurt. It is a starless, trackless space in which the pilgrim is somehow led unerringly home.

The pilgrim plunges more deeply into an empty vastness, and arrives at the heart of the world. The world, seemingly left far behind, becomes fully present and truly known for the first time. The "cell" of the Carmelite becomes more and more spacious.

This tradition gives words and images to the hope that is constitutive of being human. "The soul's centre is God," wrote John of the Cross. Carmelite saints and mystics experienced transformation in engagement with that Centre. They thought they were seeking God, but learned that the Centre had been approaching them all along. Humanity's story is not the story of our search for God, but of God's pursuit of us in love. Carmel's saints concluded that everything is a grace. The love they encountered deep within their searching lives invited them more deeply into their own life, gave them freedom from their idols, drew them into a divinizing union, and propelled them outward in service of heir brothers and sisters.

The Constitutions

The 1995 Constitutions of the Carmelite Order are a rather remarkable testimony to 800 years of wrestling with identity, values, and world view. Battered by the winds of history, and at times in danger of extinction, this community has not only survived but now finds itself energized to live into the next phase of its story. Time has only deepened Carmel's ability to identify its core values and find an expression satisfying not only to Carmelites but perhaps to all who look to this tradition for help on life's journey.

Fr. Miceál O'Neill, O.Carm.

This reflection on the elements of the Carmelite charism leads us to a consideration of what lies at the heart of our way of life. The formation document of the Carmelite Friars called the Raio (Ratio Institutionis Vitae Carmelitanae) made great strides in clarifying what is this heart. From a stage when the thinking of the Friars was that the desert, and our openness to God, were at the heart of the Rule, the latest thinking sees contemplation itself as the heart. The contemplative dimension is not merely one of the elements of our charism (prayer, fraternity and service): it is the dynamic element which unifies them all. The desert on the other hand is the process by which we become more open to the gift of God.

Contemplation and open attentiveness go together. There is so much going on in an average day. We are never able to pay attention to everything. We try perhaps to pay attention to what is most important. In prayer we pay attention to the things of God and relate them to our own lives. We might give the name cry to all that relates to our own life. The Scriptures in different ways assure us again and again that God hears the cry. In specific terms it says that God hears the cry of the poor. In this context the poor are clearly those who turn to God in prayer, honest prayer, unpretentious prayer, humble prayer that recognises that we are sinners and God is God. This is a way of understanding our open attentiveness to God. It bears the marks of some desire to be heard, some urgency in wanting to know.

Once we have established this relation of prayer and attentiveness between ourselves and God, we then begin to see that my being attentive is not entirely my own decision. I am not in a position to say that now I will be attentive, now I will contemplate. Somehow we recognise that there is something else going on. It is the action of God. It is in the nature of God to be working all the time. It is in the nature of the Holy Spirit to be offering communication to us all the time. The more we accept that communication the more we become God-like. This then is our understanding of contemplation: God's action that transforms us and leaves us transformed as little by little we grow into god-likeness. The Ratio puts it this way:

Through this gradual and continuous transformation in Christ, which is accomplished within us by the Spirit, God draws us to himself on an inner journey which takes us from the dispersive fringes of life to the inner core of our being, where he dwells and where he unites us with himself. (Ratio, 23)

The Ratio goes on to say:

The inner process which leads to the development of the contemplative dimension helps us to acquire an attitude of openness to God's presence in life, teaches us to see the world with God's eyes, and inspires us to seek, recognise, love and serve God in those around us. (Ratio, 24)

A contemplative way of life

One of the contemplative processes of attention with which we have become more familiar in recent years is the process called Lecio divina. We have now learned to use this method of prayerful attentiveness as we pray with the Scriptures. What if we apply this same method to the rest of our lives, particularly the way we deal with situations and people? We are talking to someone: will we listen attentively to what they are saying? Will we ask ourselves, what does this mean for them, and for us? Will we accept the truth of what they say? Will we allow that to change our mind, our life, our decisions in some way? Will we believe that this encounter has something to do with ongoing salvation? There are situations that we look at everyday in our lives. Will we look at them attentively so that we can see what is really going on? Will we ask what this means for us? Will we accept the truth of what we see and allow it to change or influence our minds, our lives, or our decisions? Or will we apply to every situation that confronts us the ideas and categories and prejudices that are already in our minds and so lose the opportunity to grow? A line I remember from a talk I heard some time ago goes as follows: Be present, pay attention, make connections, speak your truth and release the outcome. This is a contemplative way of life.

A life of deepening motivations

The more we grow into the contemplative way of life we recognise that in every human life there are different levels of motivation in our lives. Today we live with a much heightened sense of the importance of spirituality. Everyone has a spirituality. Everyone has a spiritual life that is worthy of attention and care. Our spiritual growth may be understood as a process of deepening motivations.

The conflicts in our lives indicate that there are different motivations at play within us. These motivations are not all of the same depth. There are clearly different levels of motivation in the human person ranging from the very superficial to the very profound.

The spiritual doctrine of Saint John of the Cross suggests ways that help to distinguish deeper levels of motivation from the more superficial. The Dark Night of the senses, The Dark Night of the Spirit, and Union mark stages in the purification of motivations. Growth into the maturity of the Christian life is a growth into deeper levels of motivation.

Take any aspect of our lives and examine the motivations that shape it. For example, an examination of how we pray will show that it is possible for people to pray simply because they like to pray. They like the words they read, the songs they sing, the people who share their prayer, the feeling of goodness it gives them, the encounter with God in peace. To pray in this way is a great gift, but prayer is not always like that. It does not give us immediate satisfaction. It can be very dry.

Some people pray because they are convinced of the value of prayer. They believe that prayer is effective: it changes their lives, it brings them into a relationship with God, and it moves them beyond themselves. They believe they have a duty to pray, even when it is dry. To pray in this way is a great gift. It can give meaning and direction to life, but it can also become a source of pride, a system of defence or a false source of security.

Some people pray because God prays in them. It is no longer simply their own desire, or their conviction that is at work. God speaks words to them and draws them into such union with him that all their own faculties are caught up in God. They come to something deeper than all that they like, and deeper than all that they believe. They come to union of mind and will with God. This is the contemplative dimension that is capable of affecting every aspect of human life and shapes all human faculties and endeavour.

This same kind of thinking applies to all that we do: our life in community, our commitment to the poor, our work for justice and peace. It is helpful to know why we chose to get involved in the Carmelite family, just as it is important to know from where our energy comes for this work. The deeper our motivations, the more long-lasting and enduring will our commitment be. The Dark Night of the justice and peace worker comes from the need to grow from more superficial motivations into deeper and deeper motivations.

A prophetic way of life: intense involvement with God, intense involvement with people

The Second Vatican Council speaks very clearly of the vocation of the lay person as a call to live out the gospel in the midst of the affairs of daily life in the world and by so doing to transform the world and harness it for Christ. The document on the Church in the Modem World (Goudium et spes) from Vatican II was a statement of a Church that wanted to engage with the world because of its engagement with God, and to engage with God because of its engagement with the world. The prophets of old engaged with the people because of their engagement with God, and with God because of their engagement with the people. In the lives of our saints we see the same dynamic which leads us to two conclusions: (a) that those who believe in God and know God must come to have the same care for the world that God has, in so for as that is humanly possible, and (b) the only voice that can ultimately help the world is the voice of the one who knows God. Every other voice, on its own, will fall short because of its partiality. But in the community of believers, with each member supporting the others and all members open to the gratuitous, generous, overflowing and transcendent nature of God's justice, there will be a voice that is capable of bringing peace and hope to all. The world needs to hear the Gospel as told by Carmelites.

Statements to think about

• I have the Carmelite charism.
• The grace of God has transformed me.
• The world needs to hear the Gospel, told by Carmelites.

Attentive to the events.

Jesus teaches to read the signs of the times

Luke 12, 49-59

Opening prayer

Shaddai, God of the mountain,

You who make of our fragile life

the rock of Your dwelling place,

lead our mind

to strike the rock of the desert,

so that water may gush to quench our thirst.

May the poverty of our feelings

cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night

and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence

until the dawn,

wrapping us with the light of the new morning,

may bring us,

with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute

who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,

the flavor of the holy memory.

1. LECTIO

a) The text:

Jesus said to his disciples: "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." He also said to the crowds, "When you see (a) cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain - and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot - and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time? "Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny."

b) A moment of silence:

Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.

2. MEDITATIO

a) Some questions:

- I have come to bring fire to the earth: Fire presupposes a vehemence of sentiment and a center of life because where there is light, heat, force, movement, there is life, and not a life which is stagnant, but a life which is continuously nourished. Does the fire of the life of God burn in me?

- Why not judge for yourselves what is upright? The invitation to discern personally is even more urgent in a world in which opinions run after each other and form a “mass”… How much do I allow myself to be conditioned by the judgments and criteria chosen by others?

- Make an effort to settle with him on the way… You are walking to go to the tribunal because you think you are right, but the opponent also has the same certainty. How do I feel before the one who I feel is hostile toward me? Do I feel sure of myself to the point of going to the tribunal or rather do I try to agree with my opponent on the way?

b) Detailed Analysis of the Text:

v. 49. I have come to bring fire to the earth; and how I wish it were blazing already! The fire which is not extinguished comes from Heaven, it is the fire of the Spirit which makes of all things that exist, the luminous and warm expression of the divine Presence among us. The Baptism of love. The light is born, the bread is born, the water is born, God is born! The cross, a new Bethlehem, house of the perfect bread, a new Emmaus, the hostel of the broken bread, a new Bethany, house of the perfumed bread offered to men forever.

v. 50. There is a baptism I must still receive; and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Anguish, the symptom of those fears which from within get hold of one and disfigure, distort and leave without breath, Jesus also experienced this. What can one do against anguish? Nothing can be done but only wait so that what is good is fulfilled and that the fears be involved in the event itself. Anguish clasps tightly and can demolish every possibility of interior movement. The anguish of the one who trusts and accepts life, even if it clasps the person tightly in a terrible vice like grip, does not demolish, but rather fortifies in so far as it renders the waiting free or devoid of illusions and of easy hopes.

v, 51. Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. Man seeks peace. But what peace? The peace of “do not disturb me”, the peace of “let us not make problems”, the peace of “everything is fine”, a superficial peace. This peace is the earthly peace. Jesus has come to bring us the true peace, the fullness of the gifts of God. This peace then, is no longer called peace, but in so far as it is against the apparent peace, it is called, in the eyes of man “division”.  It can well be said that the peace of Christ elects or chooses and in so far as it elects, it distinguishes, like a magnet which with its magnetic field attracts to itself what is of the same “nature”, but it does not attract anything which is not of a similar nature.

vv. 52-53. For from now on, a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; father opposed to son, son to father, mother to daughter, daughter to mother, mother-in-law to daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law to mother-in-law. Everything which divides does not come from God, because in God there is unity. But, in His name it is possible to go beyond the natural commandment. Honor your father and mother, says the ancient law, and the new law, which is that of love without limit, even says: He who loves father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. Division in this case can be understood as the priority of love, a hierarchy of values. To God, the source of life corresponds to the first place. To the father and the mother who have accepted, welcomed life, goes the second place… Such an order is in the logical nature of that order. It is not an honor to the father and the mother to disobey God or to love Christ less, because the love for father and mother is a love of response, the love of God is generating love.

vv. 54-55. He said again to the crowds, “When you see a cloud looming up in the west you say at once that rain is coming, and so it does. When the wind is from the south you say it is going to be hot, and it is. Before reproaching the crowds, Jesus appreciates the good that they are capable of doing. If a cloud comes from the west, it is rain that comes. Man has this certainty as a result that he has been observing the natural phenomena up to the point of formulating laws. If the wind comes from the south, it will be hot. Confirmed and reflected upon, it regulates the consequences for us.

v. 56. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the face of the earth and the sky. How is it you do not know how to interpret these times? Why not use the same criteria for the events of the present moment? History speaks for itself. Why not evaluate it on the basis of experience? The logic which binds premises and consequences is the same one on human events and on supernatural ones. The world of relationships, the world of religious convictions, the world of human expectations… everything is subject to the same law. Then, if Christ has been expected for centuries as the fulfillment  of the promises of God, and if this Jesus of Nazareth fulfills the works of faith with the finger of God, why doubt that the Kingdom of God has arrived? This is hypocrisy. It is not to want to admit God’s fidelity and to insist and persist in waiting for the fulfillment of what we have seen.

v. 57. Why not judge for yourselves what is upright? What is upright can always be judged. It does not serve to wait for the judgment of others, and just the same, we are always bound to the thought, and the words, of others, to what happens and to what is projected, to perspectives of success and to thousands of hesitations. To trust one’s correct judgment is wise!

v. 58. When you are going to court with your opponent, make an effort to settle with him on the way, or he may drag you before the judge and the judge hand you over to the officer and the officer have you thrown into prison. The wisdom and the judgment of Jesus are directed toward something truly useful. Do not expect to receive justice, because no one is just to the point of being able to avoid being condemned to prison. We are all sinners! Therefore, instead of appealing to a false justice, that for which you consider yourself worthy to be absolved, it is better to appeal to harmony. Try to reach an agreement so as not to be led before the judge. You judge the facts and conclude that it is always better not to feel oneself free from guilt. Saint Paul says it: Neither do I judge myself… my judge is the Lord.

v. 59. I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the very last penny. Who has no debts? Why do we want to live our life in a court to constantly decide who is guilty and who is innocent? Would it not be better to live simply, in agreement and harmony with everyone, since all seek to want what is good and all have fragility and weakness as the coin with which to pay?

c) Reflection:

If we too could bring fire to the earth of our heart! A fire capable of extending itself without causing a great fire, but creating cordial bonds of union and a lively exchange… The one who plays with fire will certainly have his hands burnt, but what a great benefit for all. Fire divides, it creates circles of encounter and barriers of inaccessible passages. Like in all divine things we find ourselves in at a crossroads: with Christ or against Him. Yes, because we must never forget that He is a sign of contradiction for all times, a stumbling stone for those who look to the top expecting miracles and prodigies and a corner stone for the one who looks at His tired hands and grasps tightly the hands of a carpenter trying to construct the house of hope,  the Church. A time of grace: How not recognize it? If you go by a lighted fire, you feel the heat. Christ is the lighted fire or flame! If you cross a torrent flowing with water, on a suffocating hot day of summer, you feel the freshness and feel attracted by the movement of the water which comes toward you to quench your thirst and to give you moments of relief.  Christ is the water which gushes out for eternal life! If at night you listen to the silence, you cannot but feel anxious waiting for the light of the new day which will rise.  Christ is the Sun who rises! It is the word which at night is silence and in the East it becomes a syllable of a new dialogue. Why not become aware that it is just that all hostility falls and walk with anyone recognizing him as a brother? If you consider him an enemy, you are going to seek justice… If you consider him as a brother, the thought comes to your mind to take care of him and to walk together on a part of the road, to share with him your anguishes and your anxieties, and to listen to him about his difficulties.

3. ORATIO

Psalm 32

How blessed are those whose offense is forgiven,

whose sin blotted out.

How blessed are those to whom Yahweh imputes no guilt,

whose spirit harbors no deceit.

I said not a word,

but my bones wasted away from groaning all the day;

day and night Your hand lay heavy upon me;

my heart grew parched as stubble in summer drought.

I made my sin known to You,

did not conceal my guilt.

I said, "I shall confess my offense to Yahweh."

And You, for Your part,

took away my guilt,

forgave my sin.

That is why each of Your faithful ones

prays to You in time of distress.

Even if great floods overflow,

they will never reach Your faithful.

You are a refuge for me,

You guard me in trouble,

with songs of deliverance You surround me.

I shall instruct you

and teach you the way to go;

I shall not take my eyes off you.

Be not like a horse or a mule;

that does not understand bridle or bit;

if you advance to master them,

there is no means of bringing them near.

Countless troubles are in store for the wicked,

but one who trusts in Yahweh

is enfolded in His faithful love.

Rejoice in Yahweh,

exult all you upright,

shout for joy,

you honest of heart.

4. CONTEMPLATIO

Lord, You who search into my heart and make of my fears the paths to create the newness of gifts, enter into my anguish. There where I lose my hope and where the tremor devours me, there where every spark of grace burns my securities and makes of me a pile of ashes, there enkindle anew the fire of Your love. Give a look or gaze capable of penetrating reality and of fixing it on Your gaze which waits for me beyond the veil of all appearances. Do not allow that I be driven away from my desire of communion. And also there where in Your name I would find opposition, resistance, adversity, may be able to enter into the anguish of division to maintain alive the flame of the encounter with You!

he Raising of the Widow’s Only Son Jesus was moved with great compassion
Lk 7,11-17

1. OPENING PRAYER

O Holy Spirit, soul of my soul, I adore you. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me, teach me always to do the will of the Father. Help me to know what you desire: I promise to submit to everything that you want from me and to accept all that you allow to happen to me.

Amen.

 (Card. Désiré Mercier)

2. READING

 a) A Key to the Reading

Today’s gospel gives us the story of the raising of the son of the widow of Nain. A look at the literary context of the 7^th chapter of the Gospel of Luke will help us to understand this episode. The evangelist wishes to show that Jesus opens the way for us by showing us something of what is new about God as it comes to us in the proclamation of the Good News. This is how  transformation and openness come about: Jesus listens to the prayer of a foreigner, a non-Jew (Lk 7:1-10)  and raises the son of a widow (Lk 7:11-17) The way in which Jesus reveals the Reign of God comes as a surprise to the Jewish brethren who were not used to this kind of openness. It is a surprise also to John the Baptist who sends messengers to ask, Are you the one who is to come or are we to  wait for another (Lk 7:18-30). Jesus mocks the fickleness of his contemporaries: They are like children sitting in the market-place and calling to one another,“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.”’(Lk 7:31-35). At the end we see Jesus’ openness to women (Lk 7:36-50)

b) Reading

From the Gospel according to Luke (7:11-17)
11 Soon afterwards^* he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.¹²As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town.¹³When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’¹⁴Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^* gave him to his mother.¹⁶Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’¹⁷This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

c) A division of the text that will help our reading

Lk 7,11-12:    The meeting of the two processions

Lk 7,13:        Compassion in action

Lk 7,14-15:    "Young man, I say to you, rise!"

Lk 7,16-17:    The repercussions

c) The Text: Luke 7,11-17

11 Soon afterwards^* he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.¹

²As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town.

¹³When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’¹⁴Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’

¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

¹⁶Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’¹⁷This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

3. A MOMENT OF PRAYERFUL SILENCE

So that the Word of God may enter us and give light to our lives.

4. SOME QUESTIONS

To help our meditation and prayer.

 - The text tells us that there were two groups of people. Which of them caught the attention of Jesus?

- Compassion moved Jesus to raise the son of the widow to life. Does the pain of others move me to the same kind of compassion?

- What do I do to help others to overcome their pain and open out to a new life?
- God visited his people. Am I aware of the many visits of God in my life and in the life of the people?

- Am I appreciative, and do I praise and thank God for the very many good things I have received?

5. FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO HAVE A DEEPER GRASP OF THE TEXT

a) Commentary on the text

Lk 7,11-12: The meeting of the two processions

” Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town”.

Luke is like a painter. With very few words he manages to paint a very beautiful picture of the meeting of two crowds or processions, the funeral procession that leaves the city and accompanies the widow bringing her only son to the cemetery; the procession of the crowd that was heading for the city accompanying Jesus. The two meet in the small square near the gate of the city of Nain.

Lc 7,13: Compassion in action

“¹³When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep”.It was compassion that moved Jesus to speak and to act. Compassion means, literally, to suffer-with, to take on the pain of the other person, to be identified with the other person and to feel the other person’s pain. It was compassion that ignited the power in Jesus, the power of life over death, the power of creation.

Lc 7,14-15: "Young man, I tell you, rise!"

Jesus went nearer to the bier and said, “Young man, I tell you, rise”. The dead man “sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother”. Sometimes, when there is great suffering because of the death of a loved-one, people say, “In the time of Jesus, when Jesus walked on this earth, there was the hope of not losing a loved-one because Jesus could bring people back to life”. Such people think of the raising of the widow’s son in Nain as something that happened in the past, that makes us think about the past and have a certain envy. However the intention of the Gospel is not to get us thinking about the past or to produce any kind of envy, but rather to help us come to a better experience of the living presence of  Jesus among us. It is the same Jesus, who has power to overcome death and the pain of death, and who continues to be alive in our midst. He is with us today and in the face of the problems that are capable of dragging us down he says again, “I tell you, Rise!”

Lk 7,16-17: The repercussions

“¹⁶Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ ¹⁷This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country. This was the prophet that was foretold by Moses (Dt 18,15).The God who comes to visit us is “the Father of orphans and the protector of widows” (Ps 68,6; cfr. Jud 9,11).

6. PRAYER – Psalm 68,4-8

⁴ Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds^*—
his name is the Lord—
be exultant before him.

⁵ Father of orphans and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
⁶ God gives the desolate a home to live in;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious live in a parched land.

⁷ O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,
⁸ the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain
at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

 

7. CLOSING PRAYER

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your Word that has helped us to see the will of the Father more clearly. Let your Spirit enlighten our actions and enable us to carry our  what your Word has helped us to see. May we, just like Mary, your Mother, not only listen to your Word but also put it into practice. You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

Holy Father's Prayer

Administrators of Justice. That administrators of justice may act always with integrity and right conscience.

Seminaries. That seminaries, especially those of mission churches, may form pastors after the Heart of Christ, fully dedicated to proclaiming the Gospel.

• Wednesday, May 1, 2013  
  Lectio: John 15,1-8
• Thursday, May 2, 2013  
  Lectio: John 15,9-11
• Friday, May 3, 2013  
  Lectio: Sts. Philip and James, Apostles - Jn 14,21-26
• Saturday, May 4, 2013  
  Lectio: John 15,18-21
• Sunday, May 5, 2013  
  Lectio: 6th Sunday of Easter (C)
• Monday, May 6, 2013  
  Lectio: John 15,26 - 16,4a
• Tuesday, May 7, 2013  
  Lectio: John 16,5-11
• Wednesday, May 8, 2013  
  Lectio: John 16,12-15
• Thursday, May 9, 2013  
  Lectio: John 16,16-20
• Friday, May 10, 2013  
  Lectio: John 16,20-23a
• Saturday, May 11, 2013  
  Lectio: John 16,23b-28
• Sunday, May 12, 2013  
  Lectio: The Ascension of the Lord (C)
• Monday, May 13, 2013  
  Lectio: John 16,29-33
• Tuesday, May 14, 2013  
  Lectio: St. Matthias, Apostle - Jn 15:9-17
• Wednesday, May 15, 2013  
  Lectio: John 17,11b-19
• Thursday, May 16, 2013  
  Lectio: John 17,20-26
• Friday, May 17, 2013  
  Lectio: John 21,15-19
• Saturday, May 18, 2013  
  Lectio: John 21,20-25
• Sunday, May 19, 2013  
  Lectio: Pentecost Sunday (C)
• Monday, May 20, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 9,14-29
• Tuesday, May 21, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 9,30-37
• Wednesday, May 22, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 9,38-40
• Thursday, May 23, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 9,41-50
• Friday, May 24, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 10,1-12
• Saturday, May 25, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 10,13-16
• Sunday, May 26, 2013  
  Lectio: The Most Holy Trinity (C)
• Monday, May 27, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 10,17-27
• Tuesday, May 28, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 10,28-31
• Wednesday, May 29, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 10,32-45
• Thursday, May 30, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 10,46-52
• Friday, May 31, 2013  
  Lectio: Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

During the Provincial Chapter of the Province of Australia and East Timor held on 22-26 April 2013 were elected:

• Prior Provincial:  Fr. Denis Andrew, O.Carm.
• First Councilor:  Fr. Paul Cahill, O.Carm.
• Second Councilor:  Fr. Hugh Brown, O.Carm.
• Third Councilor:  Br. Sean Keefe, O.Carm.
• Fourth Councilor:  Fr. James Des Lauriers, O.Carm.

News from the Province of Australia and East Timor

The Province of Australia and Timor Leste held its Chapter at Santa Teresa Spirituality Centre in Ormiston, Brisbane, from 22-26 April. With its modern facilities, extensive grounds and wonderful view of the bay, Santa Teresa provided an ideal setting for the Chapter.

During the Chapter Fr Denis Andrew was re-elected Prior Provincial. Fr Paul Cahill, Fr Hugh Brown, Br Sean Keefe and Fr Jim Des Lauriers were elected to the Provincial Council.

Fr Fernando Millán Romeral (Prior General) and Fr Albertus Herwanta (General Councillor) joined the twenty five members of the Chapter. Also present were Fr Augusto Da Costa Galhos, Br Angelino Dos Santos and Br Martinho Da Costa, members of the Timor Leste Region of the Province. Br Agostinho Exposto and Br Camilo Felix, two East Timorese Carmelites in simple vows, also attended the Chapter at the invitation of the Preparatory Commission.

Present for the first three days of the Chapter were seventeen invited guests from the Lay Carmelite National Council, the various Commissions and ministries of the Province and members of the Provincial Office staff.

One of the most significant decisions of the Chapter was to formulate a five year development plan for the Province. This plan will involve finance, facilities and strategies for the ongoing development of the Province through consultation with members of the Province, Provincial Commissions,   agencies and ministries.

The Opening Liturgy of the Chapter was held in the Chapel of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, next door to the Spirituality Centre. The liturgy included a welcome from the Prioress of the Monastery, and prayer for the success of the Chapter. A special Chapter candle, a book of the Gospels, images of Our Lady and the Prophet Elijah, the Carmelite Rule, the Constitutions, Provincial Statutes and a Tais (traditional woven cloth from Timor Leste) led the procession of Chapter members and guests from the Chapel to the Chapter Hall.

You can download a copy of the Prior General's address here:  Prior Generals Address 2013 Provincial Chapter

On the 1st of January 2013, the provinces of Upper and Lower Germany, after many years of intense cooperation, especially in the field of formation, and after a processof preparation that involved numerous meetings, were united into one German Province. This decision was the result of the desire of the German Carmelites to respond to the needs of the present times and to unify their resources in order to better live the Carmelite charism and therefore to act in a more effective way.

It is not the first time that this kind of unification has happened. Indeed, it is the third time that these provinces have been united in a history that goes back several centuries. It is always a question of responding to the demands of the times. On this occasion too, the desire is to be attentive to what is happening and to the changes that are taking places at this point in history. In the most ancient Constitutions of the Order that have come down to us (1281) the Province of Germany was in eighth place among the ten provinces then existing. Following the erection of the first German province in 1265, two divisions (1291 and 1318) and two unifications (1312 and 1327) took place. A third division took place in 1348, which lasted to the suppression of both provinces at the time of the Napoleonic secularisation at the beginning of the 19th century.

Before the secularisation the Province of Lower Germany stretched from the Rhine to Belgium and Holland. The Province of Upper Germany covered a vast area that included not only southern Germany, but also Bohemia, Austria, Hungary and Poland. This enormous territory was reduced in 1411 with the establishment of the Province of Bohemia, made up of the houses of Bohemia, Poland, Prussia, Saxonia and Thuringia.In 1440 the houses remaining in Bohemia, Poland and Hungary passed over once more to the Province of Upper Germany. The houses in Saxonia became a separate province and, in 1462 the Province of Poland and Bohemia was re-established.

In the 16th century, during the Lutheran Reform, the province of Lower Germany, which had its principal house in Cologne, suffered very little in comparison to its sister province which lost fourteen of its existing sixteen houses. By their adherence to the Reform of Touraine in the following century,both provinces saw a kind of rebirth. In 1803 the suppression of religious orders by the emperor Napoleon meant that the house in Straubing, belonging to the Upper German province was the only house to remain and in it the remaining friars were allowed to live. When, in 1841 King Louis I of Bavaria gave permission for the house to be re-opened, one lone Carmelite was found there. Yet, in 1864, it was two Carmelites from Straubing that set out for North America, and these two laid the foundations for what would become the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary.(PCM). Sometime later, Carmelites from the Netherlands went to Germany to help their German brothers and this cooperation in 1879 gave rise to the German-Dutch province. In 1922 the Upper German Province was erected again through the unification of the General Commissariat of Austria and the Vicariate of Bavaria.

The sixteen flourishing houses of the Lower German Province that had disappeared without trace during the Napoleonic suppression in 1803 and the subsequent years, found a future when in 1924, the Dutch province, with the support of Blessed Titus Brandsma, took back the ancient house in Mainz. In the years that followed other foundations were made that led first to the Provincial Commissariat and then in 1969 to the Lower German Province which came back to life.

In addition to all their work in the houses and in the parishes under their care, and in retreat houses, in teaching and in the various institutions, both provinces had a strong commitment to missions. The foundation by the Upper German province in Brazil (1951) and India (1882) bore fruit in the establishment of the Province of St. Thomas of the Siro-Malabar Rite (2007) and the General Commissariat of Paraná (2012), Since the year 2001 the Lower German province is involved in the new foundation in the Cameroon.

At the time of unification 100 friars belong to the new united province. At the moment there are 71 solemnly professed Carmelites and two simply professed, in eight canonically erected houses. In the two houses in Cameroon, there are thirteen solemnly professed friars and fourteen simply professed. The Carmelite presence in Germany also includes two monasteries of Carmelite nuns, one of which is in the Province of Upper Germany, erected first in 1948, in Schlüsselau, and then transferred in 1969 to Erlangen, the other, in the Province of Lower Germany, erected first in Duisburg in 1961 and transferred to Essen in 2002.

for more information about the Provincce

Deutsche Provinz der Karmeliten
Provinzverwaltung
Knöcklein 13
96049 Bamberg

Tel. 0951 / 509866-0
Fax 0951 / 509866-29
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