During the recent floods that affected India (mostly in the State of Kerala), producing 1000 fatalities and damaging thousands of homes, Carmelites, both of the Province of St. Thomas and the General Delegation of St. Therese and St. Albert, have been providing assistance to the people most affected by the floods. One example is in Chris Cappell College where shelther and all their basic necessities have been offered to some 650 people. The college buildings can be reached only by boat. Even though the level of the water is going down, many families are unable to return to their homes, and in some cases have lost their homes and continue to live in a state of emergency.
If anyone wishes to offer financial assistance to the work of the Carmelites in Kerala, that may be done through the Carmelite Curia, using the normal channels.
Carmelite course on Preaching in Fatima (Evangelization and Mission Commission)
Written byThe Carmelite General Commission for Evangelization and Mission is offering a workshop on preaching based on the section entitled: Proclamation of the Word from the 2014 Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium of Pope Francis. All provincials, commissaries and general delegates have been informed of this in May 2018.
While the course is open to the whole Carmelite Family, the one condition is that all the participants should have a clear reference group (province, community, Third Order Chapter….) for whom the participants afterwards can organise a course similar to the one that the Commission is offering. This ought to be done with the support of the local province and approved by the provincial.
The course will deal with the meaning, the mission and the art of preaching. Among the principle speakers are Timothy Radcliff, O.P, Professor Donna Orsuto, and Carmelites, Alexander Vella, Huub Welzen, Miceal O’Neill and others.
The four-day course will take place in Fatima (Portugal) at the Casa Sao Nuno, from the 15th (arrivals 14th) to the 18th of January 2019 (departures morning of the 19th). The letter of convocation and application forms can be found on the Order’s website at this link.
For those who have not yet made application, this ought to be sent before the 30th of September 2018.
During the Provincial Chapter of the Province of Indonesia held on 12-18 August 2018 were elected:
- Prior Provincial: Fr. Ignasius Budiono, O.Carm.
- Vice Prior Provincial: Fr. F.X. Hariawan Adji, O.Carm.
- First Councilor: Fr. Barnabas Krispinus Ginting, O.Carm.
- Second Councilor: Fr. Yosef Arnoldus Devanto, O.Carm.
- Third Councilor: Fr. Aditya Permana Perangin-angin, O.Carm.
- Fourth Councilor: Br. Antonius Sumardi, O.Carm.
The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Aracena, Spain, was held 13-14 July 2018. The following were elected:
- Prioress: Sr. M. Remedios Alvarez Soriano, O.Carm.
- 1st Councilor: Sr Elena M. López Font, O.Carm.
- 2nd Councilor: Sr M. Leonor Parrilla de la Cruz, O.Carm.
- 3rd Councilor: Sr. M. Sampedro Corchero Sánchez, O.Carm.
- 4th Couniclor: Sr. Mª Winfred Nzisa Mutua, O.Carm.
- Director of Novices: Sr. M. Elena M. López Font, O.Carm.
- Treasurer: Sr. Elena M. López Font, O.Carm.
- Sacristan: Sr. Elsy Arackal Inasu, O.Carm.
Course for Carmelite students in initial formation on Bl. Titus Brandsma
Written byCarmelite Students in Initial Formation, from twenty-five countries around the world, gathered in the Netherlands and Germany to find inspiration and learn from the life of Bl. Titus Brandsma. The course took place in Nijmegen - Mainz - Dachau, from the 22nd of July to the 3rd of August 2018. The theme was Bl. Titus Brandsma as a Carmelite, Academic, Journalist and Martyr “Contemplation as the Dynamic Element that Unifies them All” (RIVC #28).
The course was planned and organized by the General Formation Commission: Frs. Benny Phang, Noel Rosas and Quinn Conners; in collaboration with the local organizers: Hettie Berflo and Sanny Bruijns from the Dutch Province and Br. Andreas Scholten from the German Province. Both provinces provided support to the course with the presence of the Priors Provincial, Frs. Jan Brouns and Peter Schröder, who offered great hospitality to the participants. The translations were aided by Frs. Raul Maravi and Nico Hofstede.
The students were guided and enriched by a series of presentations from Anne Marie Bos, Sanny Bruins and Fr. Kees Waaijman from the Dutch Province, Fr. Benny Phang, Fr. François Manga, Br. Andreas Scholten together with the Prior General Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral, The participants were offered the opportunity to personally integrate the information through group discussions and reflection. Together with the talks, the participants made pilgrimages to important places connected with the life of Bl. Titus, including Megen, Boxmeer, Oss, Nijmegen, Mainz, and the concentration camps at Amersfoort, Netherlands, and Dachau, Germany.
They were very grateful for the opportunity to build up the international community of simple professed Carmelites.
Pope's Prayer Intentions for August 2018
Universal: The treasure of Families
That any far-reaching decisions of economists and politicians may protect the family as one of the treasures of humanity.
Lectio Divina: August - agosto - agosto 2018
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The Carmelite Formators from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, DR Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe met at the Mutare Diocesan Pastoral Training Centre, Zimbabwe from 21-29 July 2018 for a conference under the theme: Vision of African Carmel - Experiences, challenges and responses - towards establishing a vibrant Carmel in Africa. The meeting was organised by the General Councilor for Africa, Fr. Conrad Mutizamhepo, O.Carm. and the Key speakers were drawn from different Congregations.
A statement agreed upon by the participating formators underlines the importance of joint formation programmes, exchange programmes between students within African countries, be they Philosophy or Theology students and that formators may be assisted and surrounded in formation communities by brothers who have a vital interest in the ministry of formation. They also recommend that formators themselves receive formation.
The formators are deeply grateful for this opportunity and for the vision, concerns and resources allocated them, which show that formation is a central concern for African Carmel, and indeed, of the entire Order.
On this past 2 August, a commemorative ceremony took place in the concentration camp of Dachau, Germany, to honor the ten Carmelites buried there, among whom were Titus Brandsma and Hilary Januszewski, beatified in 1985 and 1999 respectively.
This ceremony concluded the international course of formation for Carmelite students which took place in Holland and Germany, and which Citoc-online will presently describe. The celebration began with a welcome by the prioress of the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Dachau, called the Carmel of the Precious Blood (“Karmel Heilig Blut”). She illustrated for the participants the history and the motive of the nuns’ presence in such a place: reparation and prayer for reconciliation and peace.
The Carmelites present were then led in procession to the Memorial of the camp, where the Prior General, Fernando Millan Romeral, O.Carm., unveiled a stone which recalls the ten Carmelites, eight Poles and two Dutchmen, who had been in this place of suffering and oppression. There, they had the opportunity to greet the director of the Dachau memorial, Doctor Gabriele Hammermann.
Afterward, the participants experienced a touching moment of common prayer at “Barracks 26” (where most of the Carmelite prisoners lived), and then celebrated the Eucharist in the chapel of our Discalced Carmelite Sisters, who hosted this large group of young Carmelites with great joy and fraternity. In the name of the preparatory commission, Father Benny Phang Khong Wing, O.Carm., General Councilor for Formation thanked the sisters for their presence in the camp, and for their incisive witness.
The Prior General concluded the celebration asking that “the witness of Blessed Titus Brandsma and Blessed Hilary Januszewski would help the Carmelites of the Twenty-first century to be men and women of reconciliation and signs of God’s love for every human being.”
Visit to the Curia by the Ambassador of the Netherlands to the Holy See
Written byThis last July 19, the Ambassador of the Netherlands to the Holy See, His Royal Highness Prince Jaime Bernardo of Bourbon-Parma, accepted the invitation of the Prior General Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., and paid a visit to our Curia in Rome. The Ambassador was welcomed by the prior of the community, Fr. Christian Körner, O.Carm. He was interested in the process of canonization of Blessed Titus Brandsma, and in different topics about the Order and its presence in various parts of the world. After dinner, together with the community members present in Rome, the Prior General gifted the Ambassador with a selection of books on Blessed Titus Brandsma, and with the Carmelite Monasticon of the Netherlands. The whole encounter took place in a delightful and relaxed atmosphere.
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Flos Carmeli, vitis florigera,
splendor caeli, Virgo puerpera singularis.
Mater mitis, sed viri nescia,
Carmelitis esto propitia,
stella maris.
IN SOLLEMNITATE B.V. MARIAE DE MONTE CARMELO
Fernando Prior Generalis
Domusque Generalis Communitas
16. VII. 2018
Image: Madonna del Carmine, Curia Generalizia, Roma, Italia
From June 29 to July 2, 2018, the 24th Assemby of the Carmelite Family of the Iberian Region took place in Tarrassa. It was prepared and coordinated by the Carmelite Province of Catalonia. The theme for reflection was: "Carmel is committed to the care of our common home."
The lectures were given by: Eduardo Agosta, a Carmelite religious from Argentina, who addressed the theme: "The Genesis of Laudato SI" (how we got to this work, why this topic, the global crisis and its structure). With scientific data Eduardo made us reflect on the urgent importance of taking care of our mother earth. José Luis Gutiérrez, a lay Carmelite from Madrid, in his lecture entitled, "Conversion in the midst of the people", encouraged us to take a stand in caring for our common home through with daily gestures that are within reach. Pedagogically and dynamically he made us see the importance of opening ourselves to an authentic conversion, individually and in communally, to be protectors of God's work. Llorenç Puig, SJ, spoke about approaches to Laudato SI from the faith, from three points of view: rupture, eschatological and just. Later he coordinated group work to answer some questions about the motivations that act as resistance to achieving an integral ecology in each of our environments.
The environment of fraternity and communication was evident to all. The celebrations of the Eucharist were led by Fathers, Paco Daza (Bêtica Provincial, Luis Maza (Catolonia Provincial) and the last day by Fr. Desiderio García (ACV Provincial).
The meeting closed in a spirit of joyful renewal, for having experienced Carmelite fraternity and always with the commitment to put into practice all that was offered to us at this meeting, thereby, to make our common home, our Mother Earth, more habitable.
