Quote of the Day, 17 January: St. Edith Stein

For a long while now I have hardly been able to do any work.

From the beginning of September until the middle of December, I took care of our good, eldest lay sister, Sr. Clara (cancer of the liver, as far as the doctors can tell). Then I got the office of turn-sister [portress], which means being a contact between the cloister and the outside world.

You can imagine that for this one needs a serviceable walking apparatus. I hope to be allowed to make my perpetual profession on April 21. Soon thereafter follows the Veiling Ceremony. That is, again, a big public celebration that the beloved baptismal sponsor [Hedwig Conrad-Martius] should not miss. Hopefully, the League of Academics will again cover the cost of travel.

We celebrated the 300th Jubilee Year of the Cologne Carmel for four days at the end of September/beginning of October. Our dear Mother wrote a beautiful commemorative booklet for the occasion. I believe you will receive it as a gift when you next visit us.

Do you know that Husserl’s health is very poor? This summer he suffered a severe recurrence of pleurisy and is not recovering well from it. Would you write to him sometime perhaps? They now live in Freiburg-Herdern, at Schöneck 6.

Saint Edith Stein

Letter 257 to Hedwig Conrad-Martius
17 January 1938

Note: In December 1937, Saint Edith Stein was appointed under obedience to the demanding office of Turn Sister (portress) at the Cologne Carmel—a role previously held by the sub-prioress. Responsible for daily provisions, communications at the grille, and the reception of guests, the office required tact, prudence, and discretion, virtues she exercised with notable charity and steadiness, in fidelity to the Constitutions of Saint Teresa of Avila.

Stein, E 1993, Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916-1942, Koeppel, J (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Detailed image of Saint Edith Stein’s 1938 passport photo prepared for her travel to the Carmel of Echt in the Netherlands. Image credit: Discalced Carmelite (By permission).

#EdmundHusserl #jubileeYear #monasticLife #perpetualProfession #StEdithStein

🌱 Today’s #DailySutta:

SN 45.35 Paṭhamasāmaññasutta: The Ascetic Life (1st)

“Mendicants, I will teach you the ascetic life and the fruits of the ascetic life. …”

Read the sutta
📖 https://daily.readingfaithfully.org/sn-45-35-pathamasamannasutta-the-ascetic-life-1st-2/?=MDS

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✉ https://daily.readingfaithfully.org?=MSUDS

#MonasticLife #NobleEightfoldPath #StreamEntry #SamyuttaNikaya #Theravada #PaliCanon #RealBuddhaQuotes #Suttas #Dhamma #Buddhism #Buddha

Byzantine Monastic Complex Discovered in Upper Egypt Reveals Monks’ Way of Life.

Excavations in Sohag, Egypt, Uncover a Byzantine Residential Complex for Monks, Featuring a Church, Cells, Artifacts, and Coptic Inscriptions, Expanding Knowledge of Monastic Life in the Byzantine Period.

Read more: https://omniletters.com/byzantine-monastic-complex-discovered-upper-egypt-monks-life/

#ByzantineArchaeology #MonasticLife #UpperEgypt #Sohag #ByzantinePeriod #EarlyChristianity #CopticHeritage #ArchaeologicalDiscovery #AncientEgypt #archaeology

Medieval monks endured brutal winters with no heat, except for one fire-lit room: the calefactory. Seen as spiritually valuable, cold shaped their lives, devotion — and architecture.
#MonasticLife #MedievalHistory #ColdSurvival #HistoryFacts #Storytelling #DidYouKnow #HistoryFacts #DocumentaryShort #WeirdHistory
Read more:https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/medieval-monks-winter-00102435

Silence wasn’t just respected in medieval monasteries — it was enforced. 🤫

Communication ran on gesture, ritual, and discipline.

A whole society built around quiet order and spiritual focus.

#MedievalHistory #MonasticLife #SilentRule #Brewminate

https://brewminate.com/silence-gesture-and-discipline-regulated-speech-in-medieval-monastic-life/

Quote of the day, 9 October: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

We’re having a holiday in Carmel, for our elections took place yesterday [9 October].

Oh! if you knew how, in taking away our good Mother whom I loved so much, God has given me two others who are so good, so good! You see, it is delightful, and that makes me love still more this good Master who spoils His little one so much.

Our dear Mother Sub-Prioress was elected Prioress, and my good Angel, Sub-Prioress; this good news is really going to delight my dear little Mama, and I’ve been anxious to announce it to you.

Because of the elections, we’re having a free day, that is, we can have little visits with each other during the day. But, you see, the life of a Carmelite is silence, so she loves that above all!

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 97 to her sister Guite (excerpt)

Note: According to the Book of Elections of the Dijon Carmel, it was indeed “yesterday,” on October 9, 1901, that Mother Germaine of Jesus (who also held the office of Mistress of Novices) was elected Prioress and Sister Marie of the Trinity (who remained Elizabeth’s “Angel” during these first days), Sub-Prioress. The two religious, aged 31 and 26 respectively, bore the title “Mother” by virtue of their office. The prioress who was “taken away” from the community in Dijon was Mother Marie of Jesus, who became the founding prioress of the Carmel of Paray-le-Monial.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

#elections #monasticLife #MotherGermaine #silence #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Quote of the day, 29 September: St. Edith Stein

 Since September 29 we’ve had a new Mother who would like me to write something again.

Saint Edith Stein
Echt, 5 November 1940

Just now I am gathering material for a new work since our Reverend Mother wishes me to do some scholarly work again, as far as this will be possible in our living situation and under the present circumstances. I am very grateful to be allowed once more to do something before my brain rusts completely.

Echt, 17 November 1940

I am going about my new task like a little child making its first attempts at walking.

Echt, 16 May 1941

Please, will Your Reverence also pray a little to the Holy Spirit and to our Holy Father John for what I am now planning to write. It is to be something for our Holy Father’s 400th birthday (24 June 1942)…

Echt, 8 October 1941

Because of the work I am doing I live almost constantly immersed in thoughts about our Holy Father John. That is a great grace. May I ask Your Reverence once more for prayers that I can produce something appropriate for his Jubilee?

Echt, 18 November 1941

Dear Mother,

… I am satisfied with everything. A scientia crucis [science of the cross] can be gained only when one comes to feel the Cross radically. I have been convinced of that from the first moment and have said, from my heart: Ave, Crux, spes unica!

Echt, December 1941

Dear Sister Maria,

… while working on this task it often happened when I was greatly exhausted that I had the feeling I could not penetrate to what I wished to say and to grasp. I already thought that it would always remain so. But now I feel I have renewed vigor for creative effort. Holy Father John gave me renewed impetus for some remarks concerning symbols. When I finish this manuscript I would like to send a German copy to Father Heribert [Discalced Carmelite provincial in Germany] to have it duplicated for the monasteries.

The only reason I write so little is that I need all the time for Father John.

Echt, 9 April 1942

My dear ones,

A [Red Cross] nurse from [Amsterdam] intends to speak today with the Consul. Here, every petition [on behalf] of fully Jewish Catholics has been forbidden since yesterday. Outside [the camp] an attempt can still be made, but with extremely little prospect. According to plans, a transport will leave on Friday. Could you possibly write to Mère Claire in Venlo, Kaldenkerkeweg 185 [the Ursuline Convent] to ask for [my] manuscript if they have not already sent it. We count on your prayers. There are so many persons here who need some consolation and they expect it from the Sisters.

In Corde Jesu, your grateful

B.

Westerbork transit camp, 5 August 1942

Mother Antonia Ambrosia Engelmann, O.C.D. was elected prioress of the Carmel of Echt on 29 September 1940.  It is to her that we owe a debt of gratitude for Saint Edith Stein’s ultimate volume, The Science of the Cross. Gelber and Leuven (1993) note that although it was her final work, the manuscript was published as Vol. I in Edith Steins Werke. When Edith and Rosa were arrested in August of 1942, the completed portions of her manuscript had already been sent to a typist. Unaware of the fate that awaited her, Edith asks to retrieve that manuscript as if to continue working on it while in prison.

Stein, E. 1993, Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916-1942, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Discalced Carmelite, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Vintage Remington Portable typewriter with German text. Original Flickr source no longer available.

#monasticLife #obedience #StEdithStein #StJohnOfTheCross #TheScienceOfTheCross

Quote of the day, 26 September: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

My darling little sister,

There is so much happiness in my soul that I needed to come tell you about it while asking for your prayers as well.

Our Reverend Mother is allowing me to begin retreat, and tonight I am leaving for my great journey: ten days of complete silence, absolute solitude, with my veil lowered and several additional hours of prayer; it’s a very enticing schedule, I’m taking you and your angel with me; please tell our dear Mama to pray for the hermit who, for her part, will not forget her.

Please recommend me to your brother-in-law, the Abbé, and to Marie-Louise [Hallo].

A Dieu, little sister, I leave you, and I’m going to lose myself in Him, to let all this happiness I can no longer contain overflow. Union.

Your Sabeth r.c.i. [unworthy Carmelite religious]

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 211 to her sister Guite

Note: Saint Elizabeth’s private ten-day retreat began on 26 September 1904. She indicated to her Rolland aunts in a New Year’s letter at the end of 1904 that it was the first retreat since her religious profession—”a very great grace” (Cf. Letter 216). After briefly explaining to her aunts what a private retreat is like for a Carmelite nun, she told them “that these ten days of prayer and silence have been a foretaste of our Homeland.”

Let’s pause to consider St. Elizabeth’s comment about her retreat being spent “with my veil lowered and several additional hours of prayer.” In her community—as in all Carmels today—private retreat days are devoted to prayer, spiritual reading, rest, and quiet work in the solitude of one’s cell. Each Carmel maintains its autonomy, so practices vary from monastery to monastery.

During retreat, the nun is typically excused from the two hours of community recreation, creating perfect opportunities for solitary prayer in the choir near the Blessed Sacrament or in an upper-floor prayer space overlooking the tabernacle and altar. For Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours, St. Elizabeth would have worn her grand voile lowered while with the community—the large veil covering the nuns’ faces in the photo above. She would also have worn this lowered veil during silent meals in the refectory. The veil became her guardian of solitude throughout the retreat.

For Elizabeth, who loved to be “alone with the Alone” (Cf. Letter 297), we can understand why she called this ten-day retreat “a very enticing schedule.”

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Discalced Carmelites receive a new aspirant at the monastery of the Incarnation in Avila. Image credit: Discalced Carmelite (By permission)

#monasticLife #retreat #solitude #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #veil

Pindapat complete including a philosophical discussion in the park regarding dependant origination with a stranger. The conclusion was that there should be more public philosophy #livingthedream #monasticlife #rightlivelihood

🕯️ A monk gently tends to his injured brother in faith ♥

New film project:
💞 Brotherhood and Love within Monastic Walls in the 12th Century 🕍

Image: Dreaminia 3.0, SDXL inpainted

#MonasticLife #BrotherInFaith #SacredCare #QueerHistory #HealingRitual #MaleIntimacy #gayart #LGBT #LoveIsLove

Quote of the day, 5 August: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Voice of Heaven

We who are bathed in Light, within the ‘Three’ –
The Face of God, the splendour of its rays –
See, by those shinings, into Mystery:
They ever show new secrets, Heaven’s days.

Infinite Being! Depth unsoundable!
Delighted, lost in Your Divinity –
O Trinity, God thrice-immutable,
We see Yourself in Your own clarity.

Voice of Earth

The saints in Heav’n . . . but, also, here below
Souls come and merge themselves in such a Love;
In mystery and night this happens so –
God satisfies: in dark, in Day above.

Through everything . . . on earth: already we’re
Possessing You, our Peace and vision! (for,
As in one light we gather, there and here,
We lose ourselves in God, for evermore!

Voice of Heaven

As sharers, now, in God’s own Essence, you
Possess all we possess in Heaven . . . See! –
You have not yet the joy we have, that’s true;
But as for giving – you give more than we.

And when one loves, how good it is to give!
(You can be giving, every hour and place.)
Oh, give God glory while on earth you live –
By self-oblation. Seize on this high grace!

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Poem 80

Note: This poem was written by Elizabeth for the patronal feast of Mother Germaine on 15 June 1902. The original manuscript bears no title or date, but the handwriting and black ink confirm it was composed for this feast day. The poem takes the form of a dialogue between the “Voice of Heaven” and the “Voice of Earth,” alternating throughout. This poem was sung during a “pious recreation” performed by the community for their prioress, Mother Germaine, on her feast day, set to the melody “Reste avec moi, Jésus-Eucharistie” (Remain with me, Jesus-Eucharist). Sister Agnès of Jesus-Maria testified at Elizabeth’s beatification process that when she and Elizabeth went to work in the garden during recreation, they would heartily sing this poem together. The French critical edition notes that the autograph contains some words that are difficult to decipher, and editor Conrad de Meester, OCD, reconstructed portions of the text for clarity.

de la Trinité, E 1996, Oeuvres complètes / édition critique réalisée par le P. Conrad de Meester, carme, Les Editions du Cerf, Paris.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, Marmion, C and Bancroft, A 2001, Barb of fire: twenty poems of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity: with selected passages from Blessed Columba Marmion, OSB, Gracewing, Leominster.

#heaven #HolyTrinity #monasticLife #MotherGermaine #poetry #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Quote of the day, 25 July: St. Thérèse

Listen to this little, very funny story:

One day [10 January 1889], after I received the Habit, Sister St. Vincent de Paul saw me with Mother Prioress, and she exclaimed: “Oh! how well she looks! Is this big girl strong! Is she plump!”

I left, quite humbled by the compliment, when Sister Magdalene stopped me in front of the kitchen and said: “But what is beoming of you, poor little Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus! You are fading away before our eyes! If you continue at this pace, with an appearance that makes one tremble, you won’t observe the Rule very long!”

I couldn’t get over hearing, one after the other, two such contrary appraisals. Ever since that moment, I have never attached any importance to the opinion of creatures, and this impression has so developed in me that, at this present time, reproaches and compliments glide over me without leaving the slightest imprint.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

The Yellow Notebook of Mother Agnès, 25 July 1897

Thérèse of Lisieux, S & Clarke, J 1977, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Her Last Conversations, Institute of Carmelite Studies, Washington DC.

Featured image: Detail of a photo montage created at the Carmel of Lisieux utilizing a 1913 photo of Mother Agnès (Pauline Martin) and a retouched copy of the last photo of St. Thérèse, which Sr. Geneviève (Celine Martin) took while Thérèse was getting some fresh air in the cloister. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (used by permission)

#CarmelOfLisieux #compliments #monasticLife #StThérèseOfLisieux

Quote of the day, 24 June: St. Thérèse

Dear little Mother, your little girl has again shed sweet tears just now, tears of repentance but more so of gratitude and love…

Ah! this evening I showed my virtue, my TREASURES of patience! And I who preach so well to others!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am happy you saw my imperfection. Ah, the good it does me for having been bad!

You did not scold your little girl, nevertheless, she deserved it; but your little girl is accustomed to this, your gentleness speaks more to her than severe words; you are the image of God’s mercy for her.

Yes, but… Sister St. John the Baptist, on the contrary, is usually the image of God’s severity.

Well, I just met her, and instead of passing coldly by my side, she embraced me, saying (absolutely as though I had been the best girl in the world), “Poor little Sister, I felt sorry for you, I do not want to tire you out, I was wrong, etc., etc…”

I, who felt contrition in my heart, was astonished at her not reproaching me in any way. I know that basically she must find me imperfect; it is because she believes I am going to die that she has spoken this way to me, but it does not matter. I heard only gentle and tender words coming from her mouth, and I found her very good and myself very bad…

When reentering our cell, I was wondering what Jesus was thinking of me, and immediately I recalled these words He addressed one day to the adulterous woman: “Has no one condemned you?” And I, tears in my eyes, answered Him: “No one, Lord… Neither my little Mother, image of Your tenderness, nor Sister St. John the Baptist, image of your justice, and I really feel I can go in peace, for You will not condemn me either!”

Little Mother, why, then, is God Jesus so gentle towards me? Why does He never scold me? Ah! truly, it is enough to make me die of gratitude and love! I am happier for having been imperfect than if, sustained by grace, I had been a model of meekness…

This does me much good to see Jesus is always so gentle, so tender to me! Ah! from this moment, I know it: yes, all my hopes will be realized… yes, the Lord will do for us marvels that will infinitely surpass our immense desires!

Little Mother, Jesus does well to hide Himself, to talk to me only from time to time, and “through the lattices” (Canticle of Canticles), for I feel I would be unable to bear any more, my heart would break, being powerless to contain so much joy…

Ah! you, the sweet Echo of my soul, you will understand that this evening the vessel of divine Mercy overflowed for me! You will understand that you have been and always will be the Angel charged with leading me and announcing to me the mercies of the Lord!

Your very little girl,
Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face rel. carm. ind.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Letter 230 to Mother Agnes of Jesus, 28 May 1897

Note: This letter from Saint Thérèse was written during the final months of her life, when illness made her more emotionally sensitive. After a taxing encounter with a Sister who had previously shown severity toward her, Thérèse is moved by an unexpected gesture of kindness. She recalls Christ’s words to the adulterous woman and marvels at the mercy of God, who speaks to her through gentleness rather than reproach. The Sister she names, Sister St. John the Baptist, was known in the Lisieux Carmel for her stern demeanor, especially toward novices. Thérèse’s signature, rel. carm. ind., reflects a customary usage among French Discalced Carmelite nuns: religieuse carmélite indigne—an “unworthy Carmelite nun.”

Thérèse of Lisieux, S & Clarke, J 1988, General Correspondence: Letters of Saint Therese of Lisieux: Volume 2 1890-1897. Centenary ed., Institute of Carmelite Studies, Washington DC.

Featured image: Detail from The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame, Georges de La Tour (French, 1593–1652), oil on canvas, 1635–37. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Image courtesy of LACMA Collections Online: lacma.org (Public domain).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
Have you ever seen God’s mercy reflected in someone who surprised you with tenderness?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#emotions #mercy #monasticLife #SisterStJohnTheBaptist #StThérèseOfLisieux

Quote of the day, 20 June: St. John of the Cross

Jesus be in your soul, my daughter in Christ.

The reason for my not having written during all this time is due more to my having been in such an out-of-the-way place, as is Segovia, than because of a lack of desire. My will to write remains ever the same, and I hope in God this will continue to be so. I have been sorry about your troubles.

I would desire that you not be so solicitous for the temporal things of the house because God will gradually forget you and you will come to a state of great spiritual and temporal need; for it is our anxiety that creates our needs.

Cast your care on the Lord, daughter, and he will sustain you [Ps. 55:22], for he who gives, and wants to give, the highest cannot fail to give the least. Be careful that you do not lack the desire to be poor and in want; for if you do, at that very hour devotion will fail you and you will gradually weaken in the practice of virtue.

If previously you desired poverty, now that you are superior, you ought to desire and love it much more. You ought to govern and provide the house with virtues and ardent desires for heaven rather than with worries and plans about temporal and earthly things. The Lord tells us not to be thinking about food or clothing or tomorrow [Mt. 6:31-34].

Saint John of the Cross

Letter 21 to Madre María de Jesús (excerpts)
Discalced Carmelite prioress of Córdoba
Madrid, 20 June 1590

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Study of a Woman’s Head was painted in oil on wood, ca. 1780 by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725–1805). Image credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Public domain).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How has God shown you His care and sustained you through His Divine Providence?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#DivineProvidence #monasticLife #poverty #spiritualDirection #StJohnOfTheCross #trust

Quote of the day, 18 June: St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Sister Thérèse accepted every reproach with a heavenly joy—not only from the superiors, but even from the novices. She let them say unpleasant things to her without ever correcting them in the moment.

“I’m happy to accept corrections when they’re justified,” I told her. “If I’m wrong, I’ll admit it. But I can’t stand being reprimanded when I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“For me,” she replied, “it’s just the opposite. I prefer to be accused unjustly, because then I have nothing to reproach myself for, and I offer that to the good God with joy. Then I humble myself by thinking that I’d be quite capable of doing what I’ve been accused of.”

Sister Geneviève of the Holy Face (Céline Martin)

Counsels and Reminiscences of a Novice

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: This detail from Photo no. 9 was taken by Sr. Geneviève on 20 November 1894. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (Used by permission).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How does prayer help you cope with difficult relationships or unjust treatment?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#CelineMartin #humility #injustice #monasticLife #StThereseOfLisieux

Quote of the day, 13 May: Ven. Maria Lucia

Sister Lucia entered the Carmelite convent [of Coimbra] on the same liturgical day that she was born—Holy Thursday. It was also the Feast of the Annunciation [25 March 1948], and now also the Solemn Profession of a sister, [so when Lucia entered as a new member of the community, everything] was absorbed by the Solemnity of the day. 

In the Easter Triduum, the silence is more profound, making it more desirable to adore and contemplate the mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord, Who for our sake became man and suffered death to save us from sin and death. 

After Mass, Sister Lucia, in the company of Mother Prioress, was given her cell dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Centered on top of the door was a small frame which read: ‘Immaculate Heart of Mary’, and then a sentence addressed to the inhabitant: ‘My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge.’ 

This sentence was at eye level and she read it every time she entered her cell. It would be a heavenly melody in her heart during the 57 years she lived in Carmel.

On Easter Monday, March 29, she wrote to her Superior [from the Sisters of St. Dorothy] in Tuy, Mother Cunha Matos, telling her of her joy: 

As of right now, you know that on Holy Thursday morning at 5:30 a.m. I entered the Carmel of Coimbra, by the arrangements of the Bishop here, who came on this day and at that hour to assist in the Solemn Profession of a Sister. I enjoyed it very much and I am very well and extremely happy.

My name is Sister Mary of the Immaculate Heart, what a beautiful name, is it not? Far more beautiful than Sister Dores [Sister Sorrows], don’t you think? Here I found a small group of lovely sisters; whenever I encounter them I have the impression of meeting Saint Teresa. The name was chosen here by the Bishop.

Venerable Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart

Chapter XVI, Religious Carmelite

of St. Teresa Coimbra Portugal, C 2015, A pathway under the gaze of Mary : biography of Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart O.C.D., translated from the Portuguese by Colson, J, World Apostolate of Fatima USA, Washington NJ.

Featured image: Venerable Lucia uses a word processor with a CRT display in her cell. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons (Some rights reserved)

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
What would it mean for me to let Mary’s Immaculate Heart truly be my refuge?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#CarmelOfCoimbra #cell #ImmaculateHeartOfMary #inspiration #monasticLife #nuns #OurLadyOfFatima #VenerableMariaLuciaOfJesusAndTheImmaculateHeart #vocations

Quote of the day, 14 March: St. Teresa of the Andes

Resolutions For 1917

1. To accept sacrifices interiorly without murmuring or being discouraged.
2. I must be more hidden.
3. I must strive to work for the happiness of others.
4. I will try to practice virtue in an amiable way for the sake of others. I must forget myself:
   • By uniting myself to Jesus;
   • In being charitable to my neighbor;
   • In not giving my opinion unless asked;
   • In suffering humiliations with joy by being nice to those who cause me humiliations;
   • By living with Jesus in the depths of my soul, which must be His little home where He can repose. I will adore Him and offer Him mortifications, sufferings and humiliations. To live with God, isn’t this heaven on earth?

To live with Him in unity of thoughts, sentiments, and actions so that in looking at me the Father will find the image of His Son. And the Holy Spirit, in seeing the Father and Son residing in me, will make me His bride, and the three Persons will come to make their abode in me.

I must contemplate Jesus Crucified in my soul. I will imitate Him and receive the Blood of my Jesus at the foot of the cross, which I will preserve in my soul and which I must communicate to the souls of my neighbors so that, through the Blood of Christ, they may be washed clean.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Her Intimate Spiritual Diary (excerpt)

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2021, God, The Joy of My Life: A Biography of Saint Teresa of the Andes With the Saint’s Spiritual Diary, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Discalced Carmelites bear witness to the virtue of charity each and every day. You can find this photo and others like it in our 2020 slideshow of scenes from daily life at Maryton Carmel at Liverpool, England. Image credit: Maryton Carmel Liverpool and the Association of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (by kind permission)

#charity #DiscalcedCarmelite #familyLife #love #monasticLife #nuns #reconciliation #sacrifice #StTeresaOfTheAndes

Quote of the day, 5 February: St. Thérèse

You have hidden me forever in your Face!…
Divine Jesus, deign to hear my voice.
I have come to sing the inexpressible grace
Of having suffered…of having born the Cross…

For a long time I have drunk from the chalice of tears.
I have shared your cup of sorrows,
And I have understood that suffering has its charms,
That by the Cross we save sinners.

It is by the Cross that my ennobled soul
Has seen a new horizon revealed.
Under the rays of your Blessed Face,
My weak heart has been raised up very high.

My Beloved, your sweet voice calls me:
“Come,” you said to me, “already the winter has fled.
A new season is beginning for you.
At last day is taking the place of night.

Raise your eyes to your Holy Homeland,
And on thrones of honor you will see
A beloved Father…a dear Mother
To whom you owe your immense happiness!…

Your life will pass like an instant.
On Carmel we are very near Heaven.
My beloved, my love has chosen you.
I have reserved a glorious throne for you!….”

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

PN 16, Song of Gratitude of Jesus’s Fiancée

Note: On 5 February 1895, Céline Martin was clothed in the Carmelite habit and began her novitiate in the Carmel of Lisieux. St. Thérèse wrote the Song of Gratitude of Jesus’s Fiancée as a gift for her sister’s clothing.

Thérèse of Lisieux, S & Kinney, D 1995, The Poetry of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: These are images of the note marking the day of Céline Martin’s clothing in the Carmelite habit, receiving the name “Geneviève of St. Teresa.” Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

#CarmelOfLisieux #CelineMartin #Clothing #monasticLife #novitiate #religiousLife #SrGenevièveOfTheHolyFace #StThereseOfLisieux

Quote of the day, 7 January: St. Teresa of the Andes

Mommy, there’s no need to worry, since I’m always on vacation with Jesus. Besides, from Christmas, the 25th until January 6, we had several recreation days which we might call a Carmelite’s vacation time.

Nevertheless, Mommy, nothing seems to distract a soul that’s searching for God alone. I myself am shocked when I see my indifference over what had previously filled me with enthusiasm. My only happiness now is to live for my Jesus alone. In Him I find everything my soul desires in an infinite degree.

I never tire, Mommy dear, of thanking God for having chosen me for Himself, despite my sinfulness; and may the vocation of your Carmelite always help you to love and praise Him more.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 157 to her mother
18 January 1920

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The Andes mountains are always a stunning view in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. The Cuernos del Paine are one of the features that await tourists to the nation’s Southern Patagonia region. Image credit: Adobe Stock (Stock photo)

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Quote of the day, 25 November: Blessed Anne of Jesus

To my Mother Beatriz of the Conception, Prioress of the Carmelites, Brussels

May Your Reverence be with God, my beloved Mother. Believe me, we are truly bound to one another, for on days when I do not speak with Your Reverence, I feel as though I cannot live. Thus, I look for something to write to you about and begin without the usual formalities, so as to fill more paper than I otherwise would.

My dear daughter, may your Father God give you glory. Now I feel what it must be like to be without my Beatriz. Even though I have the hope of seeing and serving you, the pain I feel is so great that I cannot express even a tenth of it. May His Majesty forgive me for this, and may He not allow Your Reverence to feel such suffering, for it would be exhausting for you.

I have been preoccupied with the matters of this house, but Madame de Roisin is now attending to them. If Our Lord permits no further obstacles (and there have already been many), it will be certain that we will place the Blessed Sacrament here on the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.

I long to see my Mother and thank God that there is an eternity where we will rejoice together. May His mercy grant this to me, as I am already certain it will for Your Reverence, if you continue to care for your health. That is most important—giving yourself to prayer. It is through prayer that I now find my sustenance, as everything else fails me. These days, we are praying much for peace in Holland.

Tell me if Toribio is there. Please commend me to your sister, whom I hold in heartfelt affection, and to my granddaughters—may God guard them for me. I also commend Your Reverence to His grace and always pray that He may protect all my daughters. Those here send their regards to Your Reverence, as do I to our friends and to Juan de Torres. I wish to know how his wife is doing. I was deeply moved by how ill she was, and we have entrusted her to His Majesty.

From Mons, January 16, 1608,
Your daughter and true servant,
Ana de Jesús, more yours than mine.

Blessed Anne of Jesus

Letter 17 to Beatriz de la Concepción

Note: On February 7, 1608, Blessed Anne of Jesus officially established the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Mons, Belgium. This milestone marked the expansion of St. Teresa of Avila’s reform into the Low Countries. The foundation faced notable delays due to Madame de Roisin, a noblewoman who had offered her home, the Hôtel de Roisin, as the community’s residence. However, Madame de Roisin did not vacate the property until December 1609, creating significant obstacles for the fledgling community. Despite these challenges, Anne’s perseverance prevailed, and the monastery became an important center of Carmelite spirituality, rooted in prayer and contemplation.

de Jesús, A & Torres Sánchez, C 1995, Ana de Jesús Cartas (1590–1621): Religiosidad y vida cotidiana en la clausura femenina del Siglo de Oro, 1st edn, Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca. Available at: https://archive.org/details/anadejesuscartas0000anad [Accessed 24 November 2024].

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: This painting of Blessed Anne of Jesus comes from the Carmel of Pontoise, France. Image credit: © Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographic.

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