Today, February 4, is the memorial of our newest beatified friar, Bl. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus. As a diocesan priest who entered Carmel five years after my ordination, I received much guidance from the writings and example of this great man who shared with me a common path...
Speak of strange and unexpected fulfillment of prophetic pronouncements. Edith Stein wrote that "what did not lie in [her] plan lay in God's plan." Years later as a contemplative nun living in a cloister in Cologne Germany she helped her Jewish sister Rosa prepare to follow her into the Catholic Church by receiving the sacrament [...]
One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the exchanging of Christmas cards. There’s a joy-filled wonder in checking the mailbox and seeing a colored card-sized envelope. No matter who it’s from, we love receiving personal notes of affection, awkward family photos, and assurances of prayers and love in the coming New Year...
Saint John of the Cross is widely known for his spiritual writing. He is a Doctor of the Church, master of prayer, and expert of the spiritual life. His writings cover a wide range of subjects and themes, but John is seldom acknowledged for his teachings on the Blessed Virgin Mary. How is it that a man known for his spiritual wisdom, who devoted his entire life to achieving union with God in a religious order dedicated to living in imitation of Mary, is rarely recalled in relation to Our Lady?
Today we celebrate the 450th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Discalced Carmelite Friars at Duruelo, Spain. The humble beginnings of the friars are truly something to marvel at when we consider the ways they really lived...
“Let us understand most clearly the real fact: God gives [gifts] to us without any merit on our part. And let us thank His Majesty for them, because, if we do not acknowledge we are receiving them, we will not awaken ourselves to love."
Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Raphael (Kalinowski) of St. Joseph, O.C.D. He is the only other Discalced Carmelite friar that has been canonized after St. John of the Cross...
Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity was a talented, passionate, and vivacious young woman who lived in France from 1880 to 1906. At age 21 she left behind a life of music, parties, and travel to enter the silence of a Carmelite convent...
Like the Samaritan woman at the well, Teresa knows by experience the liberation of having been loved by Christ. She knows the liberation of being freed of one’s enslavement to sin. She knows the liberation of being freed of licking one’s own wounds and repeatedly tearing them open again in the desire for justice. At the CORE of Teresa’s spirituality is the experience of ENCOUNTER with Christ...
The question Teresa asks all of us today Is: Do you feel wearied at times by the burdens of earthly relationships? Do you thirst for something greater? Is it possible that God might be calling you? Not simply to say some prayers each night and come to church on Sunday, but to be open to His healing love which he wants to pour out into your life; to let go of those things that you know are holding you back from him? Maybe Teresa’s relationship with God is for you too.
