O.Carm
General Council Holds Plenary Meeting
The General Council met in plenary session from the November 28 to December 9. The first day was devoted to a common recollection, led by Fr. Alexander Vella, O. Carm., of the Maltese province. This took place at the Passionists house in Rome, located near the colosseum.
The next days of the meeting were taken up with the appointments to offices in the Curia, CISA, and the General Delegation in France.
- In the General Curia community, the Vice Prior General, Benny Phang Khong Wing was reappointed for a second three-year term. Roberto Hasudungan Sianturi, the Secretary General, was appointed subprior. Christian Körner, the Bursar General, was appointed treasurer of the house.
- Tadeusz Popiela of the Polish Province will continue as prior of the community of St. Albert’s International Center (CISA) in Rome. Jose Deepak Aracka of the Indian Province was appointed subprior. Jan Wozniak of the Polish Province continues as community treasurer.
- Appointed as General Delegate for the French Delegation was Martin de la Croix Gilloux. Martin is the first Frenchman to hold the position in modern times. Also confirmed were two councilors to assist Martin: Gianfranco Tuveri of the Italian Province and François Sulistya Heru Prabawa of the Indonesian Province. They will serve a three-year term.
During the meeting, reports from the various regions of the Order and the departments within the Curia such as the postulator general, the delegate for the nuns, and the director of communications were also received.
The plan for a meeting with the various Superiors General of Affiliated Congregations, scheduled for May 2023, continues to take shape. There was also discussion of the program for a course for the prior provincials and leaders of delegations. To accommodate the time differences between east and west, the course will be conducted online in two sessions. This is scheduled for the end of September.
The Carmelite General Council and the General Council of the Discalced Carmelites was able to meet together for a second time, returning to a practice of biannual meetings that had been in place prior to the Covid pandemic. This meeting was held on December 10th at the Discalced Curia in Rome. Much of the sharing revolved around the upcoming centenary of the canonization of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. The two councils made some initial plans for a longer meeting in Lisieux in 2024.
Christmas Message from the Prior General
Fr. Míceál O'Neill, Prior General of the Carmelite Order, sends his annual message to the Carmelite Family on the occasion of the Nativity of the Lord, 2022.
You can watch it here or on the YouTube channel @CarmelitesOCARM.
Celebrating At Home - Nativity of the Lord
God is with us!
(Matthew 1:18-25)
We began Advent with the cry, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’.
Now we end it with the joyful shout, ‘God is with us!’ Reflecting on the historical birth of Jesus, the Church proclaims the truth that God is, and has always been, with his people. And if God is with us, then God is for us. God is on our side.
God has no desire to live in houses made of wood, stone or gold. God’s deepest desire is to live in human flesh. Just as God did that in the human flesh of Jesus Christ a long time ago, God continues to do so now in us.
Like Mary, we accept God’s invitation, allowing Jesus to become flesh in us, too; to be seen and experienced in good thoughts, good words and good actions, in deeds of loving kindness which bring life, not death, to God’s people.
Celebrating At Home - 4th Sunday of Advent
The promise fulfilled
(Matthew 1:18-24)
The great Christmas feast is almost here. As always in Advent, what is promised in the first reading is brought to fulfilment in the Gospel reading. We began Advent with the cry, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’. We will end it with the joyful shout, ‘God is with us!’
Our Advent journey has called us to:
stay awake to the coming of God,
prepare ourselves to receive the Lord,
rejoice that he is not afraid to make his home with us, and to
receive him with faith and love.
At Christmas we will hear the call to give birth to him in word and action so that the saving power of God may be seen and experienced through our every thought, word and action.
The promise of the first reading from Isaiah that, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with us’,” is fulfilled in the Gospel which tells how Joseph received both Mary and Jesus into his home.
Following Joseph’s example, we joyfully welcome Jesus, and Mary, into our hearts.
The great gift of Jesus to the world cannot be confined only to one moment in history. Through us, the Body of Christ, the Gift is given again and again; born into every moment of human history. The presents we exchange at Christmas are meant to be symbols of our readiness to give and receive Christ, the eternal gift of God’s love.
As, year by year, we travel the liturgical journey of the Church’s feasts and seasons we touch ever more deeply the living presence of Christ in us that we may become ever more deeply the living presence of Christ in the world.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 4th Sunday of Advent [PDF](2.55 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 4th Sunday of Advent [ePub](7.84 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - Cuarto Domingo de Adviento(669 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - IV Domenica di Avvento(536 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em Família - O Quarto Domingo do Advento(669 KB)
Assembly of the Lay Carmelites of Pernambuco, Brazil
On the Sunday of the Solemnity of Christ the King (November 20, 2022), the Assembly of the Lay Carmelites of the Province of Pernambuco was held in "Camocin de São Félix", where a common project for the formation of the laity was elaborated and the new Council of the Carmelite Tertiaries of the Northeast was elected. This new Council will be the decision-making body, accompanied by the delegate of the laity of the Province of Pernambuco.
Retreat of the Carmelite Laity in Brazil
The secretary of the Carmelite Family for the Americas organized a retreat for the Carmelite laity with the theme: "The Lay Carmelite in search of holiness". This retreat was held from November 18-20 at the Convento do Carmo in Sao Paulo, with the presence of Carmelite Tertiaries belonging to the Province of Rio and the Commissariat of Parana.
It was a moment of grace, where the brothers and sisters of the Third Order learned more about the vocation of the lay Carmelite, committing themselves to continue with these meetings-retreats to learn more about the Carmelite charism.
Meeting of the Carmelite Family in Bolivia
On November 10 and 12, 2022, two meetings of the members of the Carmelite Family were held in the cities of Tarija and La Paz (Bolivia). In both events, there was a good participation both in the Eucharist and in the formation: "The lay Carmelite listens to the Word of God”. These moments of fraternity help us to increase the fraternal bonds between the different sectors of the Carmelite Family.
John of the Cross and His Eucharistic Spirituality
14 December Feast
With all that the Eucharist is for a Catholic Christian, does John of the Cross have a Eucharistic spirituality? His devotion to the Blessed Sacrament or the Mass is not immediately evident. But, if in fact the Eucharist holds central importance for him, why is this obscure in his writings?
Well, there is evidence of his Eucharistic spirituality in some of the testimonies given by those who knew him during the canonical processes for his beatification and canonization. There are approximately thirty published works addressing John’s Eucharistic spirituality. Interestingly two-thirds of these (19 out of 27) focus exclusively on John poem La Fonte: Que bien sé yo la fonte que mana y corre.
John of the Cross focuses on the interior life in his writings. His exposition of spiritual, passive purification and his illumination of Christian mysticism eventually earned him the accolade “Mystical Doctor.” John devoted most of his writings discussing the interior life. A combination of factors contributed to a kind of breakthrough in the ability to understand and articulate the psychological, interior experience of being united to God, above all, in love.
His audience may also be a reason John’s works contain a small number of Eucharistic passages. His letters and “Sayings” were given to his closest friends. The Canticle and The Living Flame were written “at the request” of two women very close to him. He concludes the prologues of The Ascent explaining he is addressing “only some of the persons of our holy Order of the Primitive Observance.” His poems are written for himself and his Beloved. The people he wrote to went to Mass daily and received Communion frequently. So, the Eucharist was one point upon which John’s readers did not need extended instruction.
The fact that John of the Cross held the Eucharist in great esteem colors, it seems, his doctrine of “nada,” and adds a new consideration in the debate about the kind of purgation John recommends. The documentation associated with the Church’s declaration of John as “Mystical Doctor” is focused on his four treatises—explanations of his poems—and almost none of John’s poetry. Systematically looking at John’s poetry will, perhaps, modify the frequent perception of his theology as narrow and of limited value and application.
Seventy-eight primary sources offered approximately one hundred seventy-five different testimonies, and twenty-six different passages from John’s works declaring that John of the Cross has a Eucharistic spirituality. It can be stated with confidence and irrefutable certainty, and in John’s own words: the Mystical Doctor found his Eternal Bridegroom “within this living bread.”
Edizioni Carmelitane is proud to offer a new book on John of the Cross’ Eucharistic Theology:
Dr. John D. Love’s Within This Living Bread: Exploring the Eucharistic Spirituality of St. John of the Cross. Dr. Love is a professor at Mount St. Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland (USA) since 2008. He received his doctorate from the Angelicum in Rome.
This book costs 22 euros and can be purchased at https://edizionicarmelitane.org/. To place your order, send an e-mail to: Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.
Read more here
Seminar on Spirituality in Prison
Spirituality in Prison: Resisting the Logic of War
December 10 | 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM | Warren Borg Ebejer
In light of the fact that war and violence are increasingly on the rise in our world, on our own European doorstep, but not just, what is a Christian response to war and persecution? Specifically, what goes on in one’s mind when they have been unjustly imprisoned? Where lies the Christian hope in an otherwise bitter and anguished condemnation of war? In this seminar, we shall look at how three men of the 20th century faced imprisonment and the harshest conditions of war first-hand; three men who incarnate a spirituality in war, not comfortably from behind the safety of their desks, but hellishly from the darkness of prison.
By stepping into their shoes and walking their personal Via Crucis, we may understand (1) what is means to be trapped in war; (2) how they resisted the logic of war, and (3) how they transformed their suffering. While the three men were not impervious to despair, we will observe how they gave witness to their faith with great fortitude. Through prayer and righteous action, Br. Raphael Tijhuis, O. Carm. (1913-1981), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1904-1945), and Cardinal Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan (1928-2002) discerned the science of the cross and gave peace to a world that could not return their love.
Venue:
Zoom
How to Register:
Send an email to Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.
Cost:
The seminar is free of charge. However, if you wish to make a donation, you can do so:
- Via bank transfer to our account
[IBAN. MT 28 VALL 2201 3000 0000 400 1797 9621
[Beneficiary “Carmelite Institute”]
- By cheque addressed to “Carmelite Institute” for amounts greater than €20 (as per directive n. 19 issued by the Central Bank of Malta)
- Via bank transfer to our account
Celebrating At Home - 3rd Sunday of Advent
Are you the one?
(Matthew 11:2-11)
This Sunday marks the turning point in the Advent Season. Traditionally called Gaudete Sunday it is a day of rejoicing that the Saviour is near. The focus shifts from the final coming of Christ at the end of time to the first coming of Christ at Bethlehem. The note of joy is symbolised by the inclusion of the colour rose among the purple of the Season.
The joyful first reading from the prophet Isaiah proclaims that God is on his way to save his people.
This coming brings healing and rejoicing and an end to sorrow and lament.
Using images of farmers and prophets, the letter of St James urges patience in our waiting for God. A kind of patient certainty is the attitude of the disciple.
Perhaps it is actually us who are slow in responding to God; slow in letting the message of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit transform our lives so that we too might have power to bring healing and joy. In the Gospel Jesus fulfils the prophecy of the first reading about the Messiah. John the Baptist asks, “Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?” The words of Jesus clarify his identity and that of John the Baptist. Jesus comes, not as the kind of warrior-messiah, slaughtering and slashing, but as ‘the kindness of God’, tending the sheep, healing and liberating the needy - the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor.
But is Jesus the ‘one’ for us, or are we really waiting for someone or something else to save us?
Our Christmas can’t simply be about Jesus’ birth a long time ago, celebrating an historical anniversary. It has to be more than that - the celebration of a fresh discovery of an ever-deepening presence of Christ in each of us.
Rejoice! God is not only ‘on his way’, he is already here!
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 3rd Sunday of Advent [PDF](957 KB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 3rd Sunday of Advent [ePub](4.08 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - Tercer Domingo de Adviento(463 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - III Domenica di Avvento(462 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em Família - Terceiro Domingo do Advento(462 KB)
