We have been informed in the Curia of a number of significant events taking place throughout the Carmelite world in preparation for the 500th anniversary of the birth of Saint Teresa of Jesus. Our General Curia, through its International Formation Commission, will hold an on-going formation course in Spain from the 7th - 17th of September 2014. Details of this course will be sent to the provincials, commissaries and delegates in the near future.
In the English speaking countries, the Carmelite Forum of Britain and Ireland (O.Carm./O.C.D. friars and nuns) are holding a series of important events, including conferences in London and Dublin. The former Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Rowan Williams, is among the speakers taking part. A joint letter of the provincials and presidents of the two nuns associations can be read at www.teresaofavila.org. The Carmelite Institute in the United States has already begun a programme that will lead up to the 500th anniversary, entitled “Walking in her shoes for a day”. The will also hold a symposium on St. Teresa in Chicago in June 2015.
The Neapolitan Province held a congress in Bari on the 12th of October, 2013, with the title "Il Cielo è dentro di te" (Heaven is within you): Five lay people gave a presentation of the “Way of Perfection”, from the stand-point of lay people. The previous year, in the month of October, as always, a congress was held on "L'attualità pastorale del Libro della Vita di S. Teresa" (the pastoral relevance of the Autobiography of St. Teresa) with talks by Aniano Alvarez Suarez, O.C.D., in Bari, and Luigi Borriello, O.C.D. in Foggia.
In Portugal, a committee was set up for the Centenary. This committe includes the O.C.D. Province of Portugal, and O.Carm. General Commissariat of Portugal, and other Carmelite Congregations. The first event to be organised was a congress held in Fatima from the 17th to the 19th of October, last, on the Carmelite-Teresian school of prayer. A very good number of people from various Portuguese speaking countries attended.
Similarly, with a view to the Centenary, the publishers of the collection, Textos para un Milenio (Texts for a Millennium) published the work of Tomás de Jesus (d. 1582), the “Suma y compendio de los grados de oración” ( Summa and Compendium of the Stages of Prayer), one of the first attempts to systematise the thought of St. Teresa, as well as the "Sermones en honor de Santa Teresa de Jesús” (Sermons in honour of St. Teresa of Jesus) by the Carmelite Cristóbal de Avendaño (d. 1629). In addition, Edizioni Carmelitane in Rome, published the second edition, with many additions, of “Santa Teresa, San Juan de la Cruz y los Carmelitas Españoles” (St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross and the Spanish Carmelites) by Pablo Garrido, O.Carm.
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.
God loves you today as He loved you yesterday and will love you tomorrow.
Written byGod 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
Influence of St. John of the Cross in the 17th Century
Written by Carmelitana CollectionThe first disciples of St. John of the Cross, unaffected by the scholasticism which was to prevail afterward, follow his Trinitarian schema. José de Jesús Maria (Quiroga) wrote Subida del alma a Dios (Madrid 1656-59) and Inocencio de San Andrés (d.1620) wrote Teologiá mística y espejo de la vida eterna. Cecilia del Nacimiento (1570-1646) wrote De la transformación del alma en Dios.
There were others who did not depend as closely on John of the Cross but who were nevertheless outstanding and influential in their own right. Among these were Juan de Jesús Maria (Aravalles d. 1609) who redacted the Instrucción de Novicios for the Discalced Carmelites. The great mystic Juan de Jesús Maria (Sampedro 1564-1615) played an important role in the spiritual formation in the Italian Discalced congregation. His three volume Opera omnia, was edited by Ildefonso de S. Luis (Florence 1771-74). More eclectic and somewhat influenced by St. John of the Cross was Tómas de Jesús (Díaz Sánchez de Avila 1564 -1627), author of numerous and profound mystical treatises, such as De contemplatione divina libri sex. (Jerónimo) Gracián de la Madre de Dios (d.1614), although without scholarly pretensions, was a most effective interpreter of Carmelite spirituality. He was devoted to the eremitical origins of Carmel and fond of the “cave” of Pastrana. To his contemplative fervor he added an indefatigable zeal in preaching and writing (Obras del p. Jerónimo Gracián de la Madre de Dios, 3 v., Burgos 1932-33). Driven from the Discalced by the Doria faction, he spent his final years in the Ancient Observance where, at the request of the Prior General, Enrique Silvio, he wrote Della disciplina regolare … dell perfettione e spirito con che si ha de osservare la regola… particolarmente quella sotto la quale vive l’Ordine della gloriosa Vergine del Carmine (Venice 1600). This work had a wide diffusion among the Italian Carmelites, partly because of the interest Silvio took in it. For many years it was standard reading in the refectory.
St. John of the Cross also had eminent followers in the Ancient Observance, most notably Miguel de la Fuente (1574-1626), who borrowed his psychological structure in Las tres vidas del hombre: corporal, racional y espiritual (Toledo 1623). Another Carmelite of the Ancient Observance who showed himself a follower of St. John of the Cross was Pablo Ezquerra (1626-96), author of Escuela de perfección, formada de espiritual doctrina de filosofía sagrada y mística theología (Saragossa 1675; new edition, Barcelona 1965).
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Liturgical memorial of the Carmelite Martyrs of the Twentieth Century in Spain
Written byThe liturgical memorial of the Carmelite Martyrs of the Twentieth Century in Spain has been established for the present, according to the Church’s General Calendar, for the 6th of November.
On that date we celebrate all the martyrs beatified up until now, that is the three groups of Blessed Angel Prat and his 16 companions, Carmelo Moyano and his 9 companions and Alberto Marco Aleman with his 8 companions.
The Order, in agreement with our provinces of the Iberian Region and the Spanish Discalced Carmelites, has asked the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments to move the memorial to another date in order to be able to celebrate a memorial shared by all these blessed Carmelites. We are awaiting the reply of the Congregation, and as soon as we receive it we will inform you.
Holy Father's Prayer Intentions for November 2013
Suffering Priests. That priests who experience difficulties may find comfort in their suffering, support in their doubts, and confirmation in their fidelity.
Latin American Churches. That as fruit of the continental mission, Latin American Churches may send missionaries to other Churches.
Lectio Divina November - Noviembre - Novembre 2013
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