Blog by-the-Sea

Congress on Liturgy and the Teresian Carmel

The Discalced Carmelite Curia has announced that the order will hold a Congress on from October 3 to 5, 2008 at the Teresianum in Rome, titled "Liturgy in the Teresian Carmel: The Effect It Has on Enhancing Our Personal, Community and Apostolic Lives". 

Reprentatives will be drawn from throughout the world.  The objective will be to understand the relationship between liturgy and life, with a focus on these themes:

a)The experience of liturgical prayer in the teresian Carmel;

b)The effect of the liturgy on our personal, community and apostolic lives (Const. 56);

c)The actual relationship between liturgy, Word and the contemplative dimension of our lives.

Nine conferences to be offered will include such subjects as the relationship between architecture and the liturgy, symbolism and the liturgy, and a musical presentation and animation of a typical Carmelite liturgy.

New Edith Stein Centre in Barcelona: Searching for God through Reason Thought and Experience

Today's edition of Communicationes from the Information Service of the Discalced Carmelite Curia reports that the Barcelona Delegation for University Pastoral Work has inaugurated a new "Edith Stein" Centre directed at graduate students and university professors.  The centre's director, Francesc Grané, said that they chose St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) because her search for God through reason, thought and experience "is most illustrative of the present situation with its lack of meaning, its searching, its failed and pertinent attempts."

The same edition also reports on Pope Benedict XVI's time spent praying before the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux following the general audience on November 14.  I have added that to an earlier post about the November 14 general audience.

Homily for the Beatification of 498 Martyrs

The Vatican has now posted an English translation of Cardinal José Saraiva Martins' homily for the beatification mass for 498 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War.  See more at this earlier post, which has been updated accordingly.

The Beatification of 498 Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War

Here are links to some articles and blog posts about today's beatification (updated November 9 with the homily now available in English translation):

The Holy Father's words at the noonday Angelus were about martyrdom.  A separate post is devoted to that address. 

His apostolic letter raising the 498 martyrs to the glory of the altar is not yet available in English on the Vatican's website.  I will add a link later as it probably will be translated into English soon.

Cardinal Martins' homily from the Mass is now available in English translation on the Vatican website.  Here is an excerpt from it:

The Martyrs scaled the peak of heroism in the battle in which they gave their lives for Christ. The heroism to which God calls us is hidden in the thousand skirmishes of our life each day.  We must be convinced that our holiness - this holiness, let us have no doubt about it, to which God calls us - consists in achieving what John Paul II called the "high standard of ordinary Christian living" (Novo Millennio Ineunte, n. 31).

The message of the Martyrs is a message of faith and love. We must examine ourselves courageously and make practical resolutions to discover whether this faith and this love are expressed heroically in our own lives; heroism also of faith and love in our action, as people inserted into history like the leaven that causes dough to rise properly.

Discalced Carmelite Curia

This significant statement about forgiveness is a portion of the Curia's news coverage of the beatification:

The splendid beatification ceremony took place on Sunday 28^th October at St Peter’s Square in Rome. In preparation, the Provincial of Castile sent a pastoral letter to the Province. In it he emphasized that the Carmelite martyrs died pardoning their executioners. It was this that inspired the hymn composed for the occasion by Fr Luis Miguel Sánchez, from the Toledo community, titled “Witnesses of pardon in a world thirsting for peace …” The Provincial recalled in his circular letter the words written by Fr Tirso de Jesús María in the letter sent to his family on the eve of his execution: “Pardon them and bless them and amen to everything, just as I love them and pardon them and bless them.....”

Associated Press

Reuters

UPI

BBC

Vatican Radio audio report yesterday on preparations for the beatification.

Vatican Radio audio report today on the beatification.

Moniales (a blog by Dominican sisters) has a post from yesterday about a Dominican contemplative among those beatified.

Tucson Priests beatification blog concerning two of the 498 martyrs beatified today, with entries by Fr. Jose Luis Ferroni, OCD.  The two Tucson priests were Discalced Carmelites who were among a group of Spanish Carmelites living in Tucson.  They returned to Spain and were martyred after their return.  Fr. Ferroni is now studying Church history in Rome.  He was formerly at El Carmelo Retreat Center, where he was the Carmelite priest assigned to the Secular Carmelites here in San Diego.

Rorate Caeli post from October 25.

Zenit article from October 24.

ICS Tribute to Father Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D.

As much as I have obviously benefited personally from the Carmelite writings published by ICS Publications, I would be greatly remiss if I did not draw attention to the Fall 2007 ICS Publications News now online.

It is a tribute to ICS author and translator Father Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D., who has now has published modern translations of all of the works of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.  Volume 2 of the Letters of St. Teresa of Avila is his most recently published translation, just published.  Having devoted a lifetime to this work, he is still doing more, working on a Study Edition of St. Teresa's Interior Castle.  That follows a study edition of The Way of Perfection published by ICS since 2000.

Father Kavanaugh's work has contributed so much to those who read the writings of the Carmelite saints that Volume X of the ICS Carmelite Studies series is a collection of essays celebrating his work: A Better Wine: Essays Celebrating Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D..  The ten essays in the book are a tribute to his 50 years of ordination as a Catholic priest. 

His collection of writings about the Carmelite saints includes works published by ICS Publications and elsewhere.  The ICS books can be found and purchased online from the ICS website.  Those with other publishers include (among many others) Teresa of Avila: Interior Castle (editor, author of the Introduction, and co-translator with Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D. of the Paulist Press' Classics of Western Spirituality series volume);  John of the Cross: Selected Writings (editor, author of the introduction and translator, Classics of Western Spirituality series); John of the Cross: Doctor of Light and Love (author, Crossroad Spiritual Legacy Series); and Francisco de Osuna: Third Spiritual Alphabet (author of the preface, Classics of Western Spirituality series).

A Letter for the Centennary of the Rule of St. Albert

The Carmelite Superiors General (from O.Carm. and O.C.D.) today posted a Letter on the Centenary of the Formula Vitae on the website of the Information Service of the Discalced Carmelite Curia.  This year was selected for the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the Formula Vitae written by St. Albert of Jerusalem (1205-1214). 

The Letter discusses implications for our lives today, drawn from the Rule of St. Albert as reflected in the writings of the Carmelite saints.  Here is an excerpt from that Letter:

A relationship with Jesus Christ is the defining influence on the spiritual life of the consecrated religious, and indeed of all the faithful, and for this reason we wish to underline the importance the universal call to holiness. Our experience as Carmelites, marked by our intimacy with God, on one hand expresses a great passion for the Church, and on the other, an attentive and generous consideration of the individual. Our Saints hand down to us this double mission, which is the result of a mystical experience, that enlarges the heart and makes the proclamation of the Word efficacious.

St. Teresa of Jesus is prepared to give her life a thousand times for a single soul, encourages the sisters to pray, and tries to inspire them with love for the wellbeing of souls. Their life in the Carmel is for the Church and for humanity.

 

A Photo from the Novena of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Here is a photo of the San Diego Carmelite Monastery from tonight's Mass, which was the final Mass of the novena of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, today's feast day.  (I now know how to adjust the color on my new camera phone!)

Spanish Carmelite Martyrs to Be Beatified October 28

The Information Service of the Discalced Carmelite Curia July 1 newsletter includes a list of names of some of the 498 martyrs of the religious persecution in Spain, including 2 bishops, 24 diocesan priests, 462 religious, 1 deacon, 1 subdeacon and 7 lay people.  The persecution  followed Spain's Marxist revolution of 1934 and civil war of 1936-1939.  They will be beatified on October 28, 2007 at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.  Others have already been beatified who were persecuted during that outbreak of hatred toward the Catholic faith, including 3 Discalced Carmelite nuns from Guadalajara.  The beatification process is continuing for still others, including martyrs from the Tarragona Group and martyrs from the Province of Aragon-Valencia.

Among the Carmelites to be beatified on October 28 is Lucas of St. Joseph, the renowned author of "Holiness in the Cloister", a commentary on the "Cautions" of St. John of the Cross (published in English under the title The Secret Sanctity of St. John of the Cross).

The Arizona Daily Star previously published an article about two of those to be beatified who were Discalced Carmelite friars in Tucson who returned to Spain during the crisis.  They are Rev. Lucas Tristany and the Rev. Eduardo Farré.  The Daily Star quotes a local deacon:

"It is a very historical moment. These men went back to Spain knowing full well they were going to risk their lives and face death in the face of religious freedom," said Deacon George Rodriguez of the East Side Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church."

Since that time, in 1964, the Catalonian Carmelite friars in Arizona affiliated with the Discalced Carmelites in California forming what is now the California-Arizona Province of Discalced Carmelites.

   

The Canonization of Four Witnesses to the Holiness of Christ

On today's Feast of the Holy Trinity, Pope Benedict XVI canonized 4 new saints at a Mass in St. Peter's Square, including one tertiary from the Carmelite Order. 

Asia News has an article.  Full translations of the homily are available from the Vatican and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum.  The Vatican also has an English translation of the Pope's very short statement at the praying of the Angelus.

The Vatican's page on the saints includes a photo and biography of each of the four (scroll down to June 3, 2007).  They include St. George Preca, St. Simon of Lipnica, St. Charles of St. Andrew, and St. Marie Eugene of Jesus.

St. George Preca was a priest and Carmelite tertiary.  He formed a society committed to a life of prayer and catechesis of the young.  An article about his affiliation with the Carmelite Order (O. Carm.) is available from the Carmelite Web Site.

St. Charles of St. Andrew was a Passionist priest who lived most of his life at a monastic retreat near Dublin, Ireland.  He was dedicated to spiritual direction, especially through the sacrament of confession.  See much more at the Laus Crucis blog.

St. Simon of Lipnica was a Franciscan priest and evangelist, who comforted the suffering during an outbreak of the plague in 15th century Krakow.

St. Marie Eugenie of Jesus was founded the Religious of the Assumption in 19th century Paris, devoted to a life of prayer, study, and education.  They sought to communicate the Gospel values in the context of their 19th century industrial society, and they were especially committed to the education of girls.

In his homily for the canonization, the Pope spoke of being wrapped in the mystery of the Holy Trinity as we admire the glory of God reflected in the lives of the saints, including the four today canonized.  Here is an excerpt from the homily:

"Every single saint takes part in the richness of Christ, coming from the Father and communicated at the right time. It is always the sanctity of Jesus himself, it is always Him, the 'Holy', whom the Holy Spirit imprints in 'holy souls', making them friends of Christ and witnesses to his holiness."

Carmelite Missionary Fervour

"The Carmelite Mission in an Era of Evangelization and Globalization" was the them of a conference held from February 26 to March 1 in the Nevarre Province of Spain, reported in the March 15 newsletter of the O.C.D. Curia in Rome.  The meeting's objective was "to reactivate the missionary awareness of the order"  as a component part of the Carmelite image, not only in theory but also in practice.

The full text of the conferences, in English translation, is available on the web page of the Secretariat of Missions.

Luis Arostegui, the Superior General of the Order of Discalced Carmelites ("OCD"), spoke on the topic "The Missionaries of St. Teresa Today: Sense, Actuality, Means."   Here is an excerpt:

"Our renewed laws after Vatican II recognize and transmit the missionary spirit of the Teresian carmel: 'The evangelization of the world, so intimately part of the very nature of the Church, inasmuch as it is to be accomplished primarly through love and prayer, has always been a priority in our Order’s apostolic work.  Our Holy Mother St. Teresa passed on to the Order the ardent missionary zeal that burned within her heart, and it was her wish that her friars should also undertake missionary activity.  This missionary zeal should be faithfully fostered, all should have the missions very much at heart, and vocations to the missions should be encouraged throughout the Order."

An earlier quote from Fr. Arostegui is featured at the top of the newsletter, taken from his "Address" to the Extraordinary Definitory, Chile, September, 2005:

"The missionary fervour of the Order is the measure of its interior fervour (…) The spirit of our Holy Mother, Teresa, does not allow us to withdraw into ourselves and be isolated. For this reason I think that in formation, that is to say in the communication of our vocation, the missionary spirit should be more fervent and occupy a more central position."