The Carmelite monk wears the Holy Habit as an external sign of his complete consecration to God in the Vows of Obedience, Chastity and Poverty. The Holy Habit becomes for him a constant reminder that he is called to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary; he, like a soldier, is clothed in the armor of the habit as he bravely does battle for God and for souls. Although the Holy Scapular is the habit properly speaking, each article of the monk's clothing has been entrusted by Holy Mother Church with a significance that urges him on to the heights of holiness.

The most obvious quality of the Carmelite habit is that it is made of durable brown wool. The Cross is brown; the humus of the earth is brown. Indeed, it is no coincidence that Carmelites wear brown, since they are called to carry the Cross of Our Lord, Jesus Christ and to imitate the humility of the Blessed Virgin…

Read the rest of the article on the Carmelite Monks’ website.

(Preface of Our Lady of Mount Carmel I, Carmelite Missal)

Today we begin our journey into WYD08 by blessing the pilgrims from our own parish during the 9:00 a.m. Mass.  The prayer, drawn from the Church’s Book of Blessings, asks that God remain with our pilgrims, shelter and guide them, and bless them with safe travel.

Our other most significant liturgical celebration for our Parish Feast Day and WYD week is our Prayer Around the Cross on Wednesday 16 July from 6:00 p.m.  Drawing on the prayer and music styles of the Taizé community, this is a wonderful opportunity for us to share in celebrating the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel with members of the Carmelite Family from around the world, as well as other WYD pilgrims.  We want to fill the Church!  So make sure you join us.  The way our community gathers for reconciliation during Lent and Advent is proof of what we can achieve.  Don’t forget that a BBQ follows around the parish hall.

Although it hasn’t even happened yet, this single celebration is already having a profound effect for our community.  I had the pleasure of joining a good number of parish singers on Monday night for a rehearsal with Fr. Paul Gurr.  The spirit of the occasion and the sound of the song will very much transform us as we pray.  I thank them and Fr. Paul in advance for their remarkable ministry.

 
Share in Wenty’s World Youth Day experience. Follow personal reflections, photos and more on the brand new Parish WYD Blog, wydwenty.wordpress.com

Serveixi aquesta mostra com a homenatge d’un record fotogràfic que quasi be tothom té a casa seva.

Born to parents Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin in 1873 on the second of January, Therese Martin was a unique and special young girl from a young age. At 15, she joined the Carmelites, entering their convent at Lisieux in France. She took the name of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. Living a hidden life of prayer, she achieved a deep intimacy with God. Though plagued with illness and sadness in her life, she was faithful to God throughout. On September 30, 1897, She passed away when she was only 24.

St. Therese, wrote an autobiography entitled, "The Story of a Soul", describing her life as the "little way of spiritual childhood." She is quoted as saying "great love, not great deeds" are what matters in life.

Pope Pius XI solemnly canonized Therese on May 17, 1925. Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the church in 1997.

She is famously remembered for the words, "I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses." For this reason she has been christened, "The Little Flower". Her "little way" is imitated by millions.

Novena Rose Prayer to St. Therese

O Little Therese of the Child Jesus, please pick for me a rose from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message of love.

O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God today to grant the favours I now place with confidence in your hands...(Mention specific requests here)

St. Therese, help me to always believe as you did, in God's great love for me, so that I might imitate your "Little Way" each day.

Amen

Stratfor said that violence against the clergy was a rarity, and so is violence against American citizens. Normally, if a U.S. citizen is killed -- even in an accident -- it makes the news. When a priest is murdered, I'd expect more than just a few obscure references (from the Archdiocese of Mexico City, and from an American religious news site).

From what I can tell, 77-year-old Father Richard Sander was a long-time resident of Colonia San Rafael, which is not a "bad neighborhood" (quite the opposite). His body was discovered bound and gagged when the fire department responded to a blaze at the priest's apartment.

What's strange about this is that the few mentions of Father Sander's murder are mostly in the context of complaining about Mexican press coverage of the event -- which I didn't see and apparently was not that extensive. The Church (and their defenders) are suggesting that Sander was killed in retaliation for complaining about underage drinking (or, reading between the lines a little, about an underground rave club). The complaints from the Church connected media has been that there is a suggestion that Fr. Sander's interest in youth was more than pastoral, and he was another predatory priest.

However, the Mexican clergy complains that they are victims of media speculation on clerical sexual abuse -- just as a scandal is brewing (Cardinal Norberto Rivera avoided charges in a Mexican court of covering up for pedophile priests, and was deposed in a U.S. lawsuit involving the same priest earlier this week)

Although I knew a lot of the U.S. residents in San Rafael, I don't recall Father Sander, and if I met him, may not have realized he was a priest since clergymen in Mexico don't wear their Roman collars. And, I didn't exactly move in clerical circles.

There have been a couple of murders of older gay men and they don't seem to be investigated -- or followed up by the Mexican press (or our press for that matter -- it wasn't too long ago that you'd once in a while read in U.S. news stories something like "Bachelor found stabbed in kitchen -- police have no suspects"). Mexican attitudes are changing, but these sort of crimes are still just written off as " homo-cide".

I want to be careful here. Everyone in the U.S. hopefully learned their lesson from the 1976 murder of movie star Sal Mineo. Mineo was openly gay, and it was assumed back then that being gay had something to do with the murder. It didn't. Mineo had walked in on a burglar who stabbed him. If Sander was murdered because he was an elderly foreigner, that should be newsworthy. Or, if he was killed because he was a priest.

The real lack of information, bothers me. And it's the non-coverage that is the mystery.

This feast was instituted by the Carmelites between 1376 and 1386 under the title "Commemoratio B. Marif Virg. duplex" to celebrate the victory of their order over its enemies on obtaining the approbation of its name and constitution from Honorius III on 30 Jan., 1226 (see Colvenerius, "Kal. Mar.", 30 Jan. "Summa Aurea", III, 737). The feast was assigned to 16 July, because on that date in 1251, according to Carmelite traditions, the scapular was given by the Blessed Virgin to St. Simon Stock; it was first approved by Sixtus V in 1587. After Cardinal Bellarmine had examined the Carmelite traditions in 1609, it was declared the patronal feast of the order, and is now celebrated in the Carmelite calendar as a major double of the first class with a vigil and a privileged octave (like the octave of Epiphany, admitting only a double of the first class) under the title "Commemoratio solemnis B.V.M. de Monte Carmelo".

By a privilege given by Clement X in 1672, some Carmelite monasteries keep the feast on the Sunday after 16 July, or on some other Sunday in July. In the seventeenth century the feast was adopted by several dioceses in the south of Italy, although its celebration, outside of Carmelite churches, was prohibited in 1628 by a decree contra abusus. On 21 Nov., 1674, however, it was first granted by Clement X to Spain and its colonies, in 1675 to Austria, in 1679 to Portugal and its colonies, and in 1725 to the Papal States of the Church, on 24 Sept., 1726, it was extended to the entire Latin Church by Benedict XIII. The lessons contain the legend of the scapular; the promise of the Sabbatine privilege was inserted into the lessons by Paul V about 1614. The Greeks of southern Italy and the Catholic Chaldeans have adopted this feast of the "Vestment of the Blessed Virgin Mary". The object of the feast is the special predilection of Mary for those who profess themselves her servants by wearing her scapular (see CARMELITES).

Author: Frederick G. Holweck

Transcribed by Paul T. Crowley

From the Catholic Encyclopedia
Copyright © 1913 Encyclopedia Press, Inc.

El primer Asil és va instal·lar al carrer de l’església 13, lloc del convent de les germanes Carmelites (1 de gener del 1903). A l’octubre del 1906 es van adquirir els terrenys on actualment hi ha l’Asil i el 24 d’abril del 1908 es va inaugurar el nou edifici.

Actualment segueix acollint nens i nenes, però aquest ja no van vestits com els de la foto (Arxiu Tobella) dels anys 20 que avui he triat.

Recordo haver portat durant molts anys la roba que a casa ja no utilitzàvem, les joguines que ja no fèiem servir però encara estaven noves o fins i tot les safates d’entrepans o pastes que havien sobrat de les festes que fèiem a casa. També recordo la monja que t’obria la porta i que sempre t’obsequiava amb algun caramel.

Next weekend, our parish celebrates its feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Although the actual date in the Universal Calendar is 16 July, in Carmelite parishes it is common to observe the solemnity on the nearest Sunday.

Furthermore, as a Carmelite parish, we use a special Carmelite Lectionary and Sacramentary which contains readings and prayers selected by the order for the celebration of feasts particular to its own calendar (the feast days of Carmelite saints, etc.).

As such, the readings we will hear on the parish feast day are specific to the celebration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Carmelite parishes, namely John 19:25-27, 1 Kings 18:42-45, and Galatians 4:4-7. One unique aspect to the readings from the Carmelite Lectionary for this feast is their reference to the prophet Elijah, who we know is a key figure in Carmelite spirituality, and served as inspiration to the early hermits who lived on Mount Carmel in the twelfth century.

From the choice of prayers, those we will use this year will be the same as last year; focussing more specifically on the Carmelite order. Last year these were chosen as we celebrated fifty years of Carmelite ministry in Wentworthville. We will use them again this year as the Carmelites celebrate another milestone.

This year our feast day celebrations will centre on this year’s 800^th anniversary of the foundation of the Carmelites; that is, since they were given a rule of life by St. Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem. As we know, the Carmelites did not have a particular founder like other orders such as the Benedictines, Dominicans and Franciscans. Consequently, this granting of the rule by St. Albert truly marks the formal beginnings of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.

Next Sunday’s liturgy will reflect this universal Carmelite celebration. Also, our parish community will present our Carmelite community with a framed copy of its rule for permanent display in the priory.

In the meantime, those who wish to learn more about the Carmelites can do so at the Carmelite Order’s website, www.ocarm.org. The full text of the rule can be found at www.ocarm.org/eng/regoleng.htm

IT'S NOT OFTEN that you'll hear me say "I sure wish I were in Houston!" But this is an exception.

Concerts, exhibitions and performances are only part of the National Sor Juana Festival: A Tribute to Mexican Women, which begins Sunday and continues at venues across the city through April.

The festival celebrates Mexican-born Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695), a poet, playwright, rebel nun — and the first feminist of the Americas. [...]

—chron.com

What a woman! Come on. Poet, playwright, rebel nun? Damn.

Nun. Yup. Mexican-born. Yup. Also Mexican lived and died. I had the advantage of having lived in Santa Maria de la Ribera, where the streets are named for Mexican writers and poets. Specifically, I lived next to the fruit vendor (it was a farmacia while I was there) behind the Jehovah's Witnesses' empanda stand on Dr. Enrique Gonzales Martinez (who is best know... if known at all... in English for translating T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" into Spanish) and calle Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

I don't understand why Sor Juana isn't better known in the United States... other than she was Spanish-speaking and Mexican. She was the continent's first real feminist (what got her in trouble with the Church was defending women's education), writing philosophy, theology, drama and... when she had the time... poetry.

Her English contemporaries, Donne, Marvell, John Milton, also speculated on God and man and mixed the erotic and sacred in their writing. Though the English think their "metaphysical poetry" is unique, it is all part of the same Baroque mindset. In Spanish literature, she's at the top of most lists, somewhere between Cervantes and Garcia Lorca. Octavio Paz (who knew something about poetry, and about world literature) once said, the first, and best, American poet.

While I've focused my own Mexican history on the foreigners, Sor Juana is one of the people, like Benito Juarez or Santa Ana, just can't overlook...

The greatest of Mexico's colonial intellectuals produced mystical and erotic poetry, feminist tracts and philosophical studies. If that wasn't enough, she defended scientific education in a religious age. This was an unusual combination of talents, especially for a nun.

Juana Inés María del Carmen Martínez de Zaragoza Gaxiola de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana Odonoju was a child prodigy. Born in 1651, she could read and write by the time she was three. The only place for a prodigy like Juana was Mexico City. She was sent to live with relatives. She was a talented writer and musician by the time she was a teenager, and was a beauty on top of everything else. The Viceroy's wife heard about this amazing country girl, and moved her into the palace. The girl could hold her own with scholars and fended off would-be boyfriends with witty verses. Some of her most erotic poetry was addressed to the Viceroy's wife, which some people take to mean she was a lesbian.

She may have been, but the only career paths for respectable women were as wives or nuns. A housewife wouldn't be able to pursue intellectual interests, so she joined the Carmelite nuns, taking the religious name Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. The Carmelites practiced strict discipline with no personal comforts - they would only sleep for an hour of two on cold floors between religious services, and never ate hot meals. Sometimes they whipped themselves as a religious practice. This nearly killed Juana, and the Viceroy's wife rescued her once again, sending her to the Jeronomytes, whom the Carmelites probably considered slackers. The Jeronomyte convents were more women's residential hotels with religious obligations. Juana collected books, wrote and, shocking the entire Mexican clergy, wrote theology and defended science studies, and women's education in general.

When the Viceroy and his wife returned to Spain, Juana lost her powerful defenders. Visitors dropped off and the Jeronomyte superiors were suspicious of the radical nun. Cut off from her friends, she either became depressed, or developed serious religious ideas. She gave up her studies, put away her papers and books, moved into an isolated room in the convent and took up the Carmelite practices. In her own blood, she wrote out religious vows, signing them "Juana, the worst of all". Two years later, at age 43, she died in a cholera epidemic, one of the major intellectuals and writers of the 17th Century¹.

Rosa divina II (translated by B. Limosneros)

Rose, heaven's flower versed in grace,

from your subtle censers you dispense

on beauty, scarlet homilies,

snowy lessons in loveliness.

Frail emblem of our human framing,

prophetess of cultivation's ruin,

in whose chambers nature beds

the cradle's joys in sepulchral gloom.

So haughty in your youth, presumptuous bloom,

so archly death's approaches you disdained.

Yet even as blossoms soon fade and fray

to the tattered copes of our noon's collapse -

so through life's low masquerades and death's high craft,

your living veils all your dying unmasks.

1 Sor Juana is probably the only pre-Independence woman (other than the Virgin of Guadalupe) who’s name you see on street signs. Her portrait is on the 200-peso note. Fittingly, the convent where she lived is now Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana.