Jean-Louis Forain - Artist

"No one stands still in their spiritual life; we either continue to advance on the way of perfection or eventually grow lukewarm."

The Path of Mount Carmel: The Perfect Spirit - Page 8

 

George Dunlop Leslie - Artist

 

"...It is of little benefit for religious orders to acquire new plants through profession unless they strive diligently to water them and cultivate them..."

The Carmelite Directory of the Spiritual Life

Our son's First Profession of Vows....

We love you and are so proud of you, 

Brother Pier Giorgio

 of Christ The King, O.C.D.

Painting by Charles Boutibonne

"Let us climb the mountain of Love singing,

knowing that pain or joy,

 everything that happens to us,

can only increase the love of Jesus in our hearts

 and the peace which surpasses all understanding."

Mother Agnes of Jesus, O.C.D.

A Spark...

Painting by Henry Edward Spernon Tozer

"If you have a constant desire

 to prove your love to Jesus, 

you are one of those souls 

completely given up to love.

The smallest act of virtue, 

the least sacrifice of a faithful soul 

under the influence of the Holy Spirit,

 is like a spark which escapes from the hearth

 and carries the fire wherever God wills."

Mother Agnes of Jesus, O.C.D.

Surrender...

Painting by Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan Bouveret

"It is simple to become a saint. 

 You have only to surrender yourself to God

 from moment to moment,

 to think of nothing but Him,

 to pay no attention

 to what is not your concern,

 and as a result,

 heaven immediately enters the soul,

 because its emptiness 

attracts the fullness of God."

Mother Agnes of Jesus, O.C.D.

Go into your cell...

Painting by Luigi Busi

 "A cell becomes more sweet

 as it is more faithfully dwelt in." 

Blessed Titus Brandsma

"You must build a little cell within your soul as I do.  Remember that God is there and enter it from time to time…

…it is the secret life in Carmel: the life of a Carmelite is a communion with God from morning to evening, and from evening to morning.

If He did not fill our cells and cloisters,

  Ah!  How empty they would be!"

Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity

Alone with Him...

Carmelite Monastery in Germany

"You came to Carmel to find God...

Seek Him in solitude of heart, 

where alone He can be found."

Mother Isabel of the Sacred Heart

Lord, now that You have led me, your little one, into this solitude

 and whispered tenderly to me,

 I only want to hear Your voice… 

Now that I have experienced Your gaze,

 I don't want You to look away! 

 Now, that I have experienced Your love for me… 

I want You to teach me how to love You, even more!

 Now that I have felt what it is like

 to be scooped up into Your arms,

 I want to cling to You and not let go! 

 I want to feel our hearts beat as one heart…

I want to whisper to You in the night

 and quietly listen for You to say my name.

Troubled waters...

Painting by Joseph Mallord William Turner


"Take great care to keep tranquility of heart, because Satan fishes in troubled waters."

Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucfied

Shine!

Painting by William Henry Hunt

" I want to shine
 like a little candle before His altar!"
St. Therese of Lisieux

Sweeter still...

Painting by Edmund Adler

" It is sweet to hear someone speak of Jesus, 
but sweeter to hear Jesus Himself.  
It is sweet to think of Jesus 
but sweeter to possess Him.  
It is sweet to listen to Jesus, 
but sweeter to do His will."
Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified

Staying small...

Painting by Ben Austrian


"Be small;
 be and remain small, 
so that the mother keeps you under her wings, 
as the hen keeps her little ones 
and chases them away when they are grown. 
 Be small, small…
Jesus will keep you.  
See the hen and the little chicks; 
as long as they are small, she feeds them with  her little beak, 
she hides them under her wings; 
they lack nothing.
 Be small, the Lord will keep you,
 He will feed you."
Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified, Carmelite Nun

The Fragrance of Our Lord...

Primrose by Mucha


"Our Lord has ascended into heaven,
 so I can only follow Him 
by means of the traces He has left behind Him. 
But, they are so full of light, 
so full of fragrance!  
One glance of the Holy Gospel, 
and the life of Jesus 
becomes a perfume 
that fills the very air I breathe; 
I know at once which way to run."

(Taken in part from 'Carmelite Asceticism' by Very Rev. Father Anastastius of The Holy Rosary, O.C.D.)

1967 Message of Paul VI to the Carmelites...

La Bruna

"From now on, may the most Holy Virgin comfort you in your Carmelite vocation.  May she preserve in you the taste for spiritual things; obtain for you the charisms of the holy and arduous ascents to the knowledge of the divine world and the ineffable experiences of its dark nights and luminous days; may she give you the yearning for holiness and the eschatological witness of the kingdom of heaven; may she make you models of fraternity in God's church; may she lead you one day to the possession of Christ and His glory, to whom the whole of her life was consecrated."

From the 'Little Catechism of Prayer' by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen...

"The Contemplative life is a form of the Christian life in which we endeavor to live not only FOR God, but also WITH God. It is not restricted to religious, but can be lived perfectly in the world. This life is wholly centered on the quest for divine intimacy, to attain which it calls for repeated spiritual exercises throughout the day.
Prayer occupies the first place in the contemplative life. Practically, the contemplative life is the life of prayer. Hence, contemplative Orders devote much time to prayer.
Carmelites give themselves to many pious exercises: they make mental prayer twice daily, assist at Holy Mass, recited the Divine Office, and apply themselves to the Presence of God throughout they day."

Whispers in the wind.....

"If Carmel has anything to say to a contemporary world, it is about prayer," writes
Carmelite Father John Welch in The Carmelite Way.

The first group of hermits set a Carmelite tradition of being attentive to God. They carried the Scriptures not in books, but in their minds and hearts. This tradition challenges us to be men of prayer in everything we do.

Like the prophet Elijah, we try to be alert to the God who whispers in the wind. Like Mary, we try to have complete trust in the love of God, who comes to us through contemplation.

We don't prescribe or follow any one way of praying. Rather, we are listeners for the voice of the one who made us and who continually calls to us.

A BEAUTIFUL Divine Mercy Sunday!!

Yesterday was such a GREAT, great day!! Divine Mercy Sunday, Beatification of Pope John Paul II (we share a birthday of May 18th)....AAAND I was able to receive my Ceremonial Scapular with The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites!! Everything was perfect! Because it was Divine Mercy Sunday, I was able to receive the scapular in front of the EXPOSED BLESSED SACRAMENT!! Music...The Divine Mercy Chaplet...Adoration....Fellowship....WHAT A DAY!! I was smiling ALL DAY LONG!! The only way it could have been even better, would be if my two sons could have been there with me, but it was still BEAUTIFUL!!
I chose the devotional name of 'Therese Regina of the Pieta'....Therese, for 'The Little Flower', being my sweet little friend, Regina for the Blessed Mother, as well as my favorite teacher in 4th Grade, Sister Ann Regina, and The Pieta, because it became very dear to me a couple of years ago,during Lent when my own two sons were becoming young men and were no longer children. I'm still sooooo HAPPY even today!! God is so good to me!!