aeternus

Well, the novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is over. I pray that many graces were given to the participants who attended with hearts purposefully devoted and united in prayer to the needs and aspirations of our most Blessed Mother. And, as a friend said to me, “surely many graces also came because everyone endured such great heat!” You see, it seems the temperature reached 107 last night! Praise be to God those beautiful priests, seminarians, decons and altar boys did not melt into the ground wearing all those beautiful vestments!

Today’s saint gave me much to think about so far today. I thought I would pass along my favorite passages from this morning’s Office of Readings:

“There is a spiritual life that we share with the angels of heaven and with the divine spirits, for like them we have been formed in the image and likeness of God. The bread that is necessary for living this life is the grace of the Holy Spirit and the love of God. But grace and love are nothing without faith, since without faith it is impossible to please God. And faith is not conceived unless the word of God is preached. Faith comes through hearing, and what is heart is the word of Christ…

For the word of God is a light to the mind and a fire to the will. In enables man to know God and to love him. And for the interior man who lives by the Spirit of God through grace, it is bread and water, but a bread sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, a water better than wine and milk. For the soul it is a spiritual treasure of merits yielding an abundance of gold and precious stones. Against the hardness of a heart that persists in wrongdoing, it acts as a hammer. Against the word, the flesh and the devil it serves a sword that destroys all sin.”

– From a sermon by Saint Lawrence of Brindisi

Happy Feast Day!

I pray today many souls will be open to the invitation of protection and maternal love promised by Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to those who wear her garment of grace, the most holy scapular!

A quick note:

Last evening, at the novena, I was so fortunate and so completely blessed to receive a new scapular from some new friends. I have a special devotion to St. Terese of the Andes and met a wonderful married couple from Chile. We spoke at length about what a great feast happens in their county during the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (July 16) and St. Teresa of the Andes (July 13). They said it is a National Holiday! WOW! They brought me a special scapular from Chile and on it is a photograph of dear St. Teresa of the Andes. Oh, I will treasure this gift. THANK YOU!!! You can see a celebratory video of her life here. I think it is called “Vivo solo para dios” which I believe is “live for God alone!” and it is from the Carmelite Missionaries (Carmelitas Misioneras) in Chile.

The photo above was taken last evening at the Novena. Here is a wonderful poem I found to celebrate the day…

BY this blest badge we wear, O holy Mother!
This token of thy love,
Look down on us with eyes of tenderest pity
From thy bright home above —

Thou who didst tread the Via Dolorosa
Through sorrow’s bitterest gloom,
Thou who didst stand beside the Cross in anguish,
Didst mourn beside the tomb;

Thou whose pure heart wast torn with grief whose
tortures
No mortal tongue may tell,
When died thy Son, our merciful Redeemer,
For those he loved so well.

Then, when our sins thy loving heart were breaking,
He gave us unto thee,
That thou our Mother and our Mediatrix
For evermore should be.

And thou hast proved a loving Mother to us,
Blessed Queen of love and light,
Who hast bestowed upon us this most glorious
Badge of the Carmelite —

Gift of thy love unto that chosen servant
Whose heart, wiih love aflame,
Sought daily with undying zeal to honor
Thy pure and holy name.

A boon he craved, a gift from thee, dear Mother
A token from thy hand,
Whose power would fan the flame of praise and
worship
To splendor clear and grand.

And thou didst hear his prayer — this badge thy
answer.
What rapturous surprise
Flooded his soul when from the opened heavens,
To glad his loving eyes,

Thou earnest to earth, the Infant Saviour bearing
Upon thy spotless breast,
And to thy sainted servant gave this armor
And shield for souls oppressed.

Mount Carmel’s caves, within whose shadows lonely
God’s priests and prophets prayed,
Thrilled to the music which uncounted angels
Singing around thee made.

And thence for evermore sweet strains of comfort,
Thy words of promise, flow —
Words which have fallen with a balm of healing
On many a wound of woe.

O dear, dear Mother ! through each passing moment
Look from thy home above,
And shield from tempting wiles the thousands
wearing
This livery of thy love.

Pray for thy children found in every station,
Peasant or prince or peer,
Merchant or soldier, or the rugged sailor
Whose stout heart knows no fear.

But oh ! all blessings choicest still and rarest
Flow round their hearts to-day
Who for Christ’s sake leave home and friends and
kindred,
To tread the ” narrow way ” ;

Whose every aim in life is consecrated
To God, and God alone ;
Whose prayers, a grand, perpetual adoration,
Like incense seek his throne.

Win them, sweet Mother, faith’s celestial guerdon,
To each give strengthening grace,
And let the influence of their lives heroic
Be felt in every place.

–By Marcella Agnes Fitzgerald
Poems, Published 1886 by The Catholic Publication Society, New York

I was a little worried, only a little mind you, when that first big thunderstorm hit at around 5p.m. or so. I decided quickly not to think too much about it and that rain or shine, the first night of the Annual Outdoor Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel would be wonderful. So, despite a second quick shower at about 7:45 when everyone was filing out of the chapel and onto the monastery grounds for Holy Mass, the night was splendid. In fact, you can see from the glorious image above that the Lord was present in all His beauty. For when the shower passed, His light was upon us.

Bishop Robert Herman, who is now our Archdiocese Administrator now that Archbishop Burke is going to Rome, came to celebrate the Eucharist for us. As is per usual, his homily was just wonderful. He is a charismatic speaker and you can here is homily from the OCDS website here. You will enjoy listening him speak about the importance of the Contemplative Life in today’s world. His passion and humor are to be thoroughly enjoyed!

I will try to post more later…

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you, may His praises be sung for eternity!

I have a confession to make. The truth is that I have been overwhelmed with the response to my blog post about my visit to the Our Lady of America statue visiting the Basilica of St. Louis, King (see post below). I suppose it was a blessing for me to be unaware of the reverberation of enthusiasm surrounding the dramatic love so well stimulated in the souls of those who love our Heavenly Mother under this new title she has requested. I was truly caught off guard, though in hindsight I suppose I should not have been.

I was meditating on several aspects of Our Lady of America in chapel today, (though by no means should I lead you to believe I know her in any special way other than just learning a few things about how she has come to be.) I guess what has astonished me most about so many beautiful comments and emails from her admirers has been the deep, deep love of our Lady under this title. We know Our Mother in so many ways, through so many different and wonderfully beautiful expressions of her divine motherhood to us all. I myself feel closest to her under the salutation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. However, because my love for her is so great, it is not limited to this description of her.

So, as I sat in reflection over my personal reaction to this blog post I have done, I remembered my own personal history which includes many different facets of our Mother. As a young girl I was drawn to the statue of her in my parish church as “Our Lady of Grace”. Her face was so beautiful, her clothes so elegant and with her feet squashing that vile serpent — well, I just could not take my eyes off her! She made me feel safe and she made me feel like “one of her own”. Praise God to give children such a comfort as this!

At my Nana’s house (where I spent many a day and night) I remember a wall shrine which had our most Sorrowful Mother holding her crucified Son. Her heart was so full of love and so full of grief and mourning it was hard to look upon her face. I remember holding my eyes downcast and shying away from this shrine. Indeed, it was very difficult for me to view it as a child.

Today I have such love an appreciation for Our Mother as “Our Lady of Czestochowa” (the Black Madonna), “Our Lady of Fatima” (with her crown inlay with the bullet from our dearest John Paul II), “Our Lady of Guadalupe” (with the tiny image of Juan Diego reflected in her eyes) and “Our Lady of the Angels” (a church where she gave me shelter during my time studying in a foreign land).

She is our universal Mother, but in her true femininity, her true humility, her true virginity and purity she seeks us not for herself. Yes, she wants us to be her children, but most importantly she wants us to know and lover her son — Our Redeemer and Lord. She wishes us to emulate her through the practice of virtue and acts of love and mercy. Her greatest ambition is wanting us to love HIM.

St. Francis de Sales, in his “Treatise on the Love of God” so beautifully says about her most sacred position to humanity:

“O true God! how much more really had the sacred virgin and her son but one soul, one heart and one life, so that this heavenly mother, living, lived not, but her son lived in her! ‘Twas a mother the most loving and the most beloved that ever could be, yea loving and beloved with a love incomparably more eminent than that of all the orders of angels and men…”

With our Heavenly Mother so special to us all, why then was I so shocked at everyone’s deep affection for Mary under this title as Our Lady of America? Under this title it is like proclaiming her to be ours and on the “home team” for us here in the USA. She yearns to be known this way and should we not just be ecstatic and full of joy that she has been so generous as to let us know! What a privilege!

I for one am happy to now have the opportunity to begin to know her. Our introduction has greatly humbled me and I dare to even speak about her in this capacity (since my knowledge of what has and is transpiring with her is close to nothing.) I am confident though that learning about the revelations as reported by Sister Mary Ephrem which call the Catholic people in the U.S. to a deeper understanding of the “Divine Indwelling of the Most Holy Trinity” and to a renewal of family life in imitation of the Holy Family to be nothing short of a grace of unbound proportion. It is a call to contemplation and a call to action. It is most of all a call to love…

It has been quite the busy busy these past nine days, but before the clock strikes midnight, I want to write a quick little summary of this final night of the Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel at the Carmelite Monastery in St. Louis.

Tonight we were so very blessed to have our very own Archbishop Raymond Burke preside over Holy Mass. He could not have been more wonderful. His homily was so very thoughtful as he spoke to the congregation about the great gift of the Brown Scapular that our Heavenly Mother gave to the Order as a sign of her maternal protection and love. Some, well perhaps lots, of people think our dear Archbishop Burke to be a stern man, a business man, and just another cleric in our church. But what they fail to notice about him, and what is truly most remarkable about this man, is that he is a deeply spiritual man. His soul is united to our Lord in deep devotion to His most Sacred Heart and it is most indeed evident when he speaks just how much this devotion animates his life. A great shepherd is he, a beautiful and most humble soul teaching us by example and with a brilliant mind inspired through the great grace of God.

The first reading from mass was from the Book of Kings when Elijah is upon Mount Carmel instructing his companion to look into the sky. When the first little cloud appears like a “hand” or in other translations “the heel of the foot”, Elijah knows this to be the sign from above. This formation in the clouds is symbolic of our Mother of Mount Carmel and how she would help to stamp out the evil one as she bears the Son of God on high. As the first reading was being recited my son looked up into the sky and saw the clouds forming above with a beautiful light from the setting sun adding glory to our holy mass. He quickly snapped this photograph which I am dubbing Elijah’s Cloud.

May we spend our lives in imitation of our humble and most perfect Mother of Mount Carmel. It is she who draws us up to her as our dearest Mother so she can introduce us to her most beloved Son, our Savior and our King.

Happy Feast day to all!!

— ooops the time just past beyond the stroke of 12!

I have said before that St. Teresa de los Andes is one of my particular favorite Saints. One can never say why certain souls feel connected, but it is certain that her spirituality in the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel has a definite magnetism for me. I have her on my iPod via Meditations from Carmel Podcast and loaded up on CDs in my car while driving. My children like to hum along to the Queen and Beauty of Mount Carmel theme song at the beginnings of each meditation! It is great then that they have the chance to sing this beautiful hymn (which comes via the Carmel in Boston I believe) during our Novena at the Monastery this week.

Here is a little bit of writing from Teresa. It comes from the Carmelite Proper…

July 13
St. Teresa of Jesus “of the Andes”, Virgin

OC: Optional Memorial
OCD: Memorial

Juanita Fernandez Solar was born at Santiago, Chile, on July 13, 1900. From
her adolescence she was devoted to Christ. She entered the monastery of the
Discalced Carmelite Nuns at Los Andes on May 7, 1919, where she was given
the name of Teresa of Jesus. She died on April 12, of the following year
after having made her religious profession. She was beatified on April 3,
1987, at Santiago, Chile, and canonized on March 21, 1993 by Pope John Paul
II and proposed as a model for young people. She is the first Chilean and
the first member of the Teresian Carmel in Latin America to be canonized.

From the Spiritual writings of St. Teresa of Jesus, of the Andes

“Jesus alone is beautiful; He is my only joy. I call for Him,
I cry after Him, I search for Him within my heart. I long for
Jesus to grind me interiorly so that I may become a pure
host where He can find His rest. I want to be athrist with
love so that other souls may possess this love. I would die
to creatures and to myself, so that He may live in me.

Is there anything good, beautiful or true that we can
think of that would not be in Jesus? Wisdom, from which
nothing would be secret. Power, for which nothing would
be impossible. Justice, which made Him take on flesh in
order to make satisfaction for sin. Providence, which
always watches over and sustains us. Mercy, which never
ceases to pardon. Goodness, which forgets the offenses of
His creatures. Love, which unites all the tendernesses of a
mother, of a brother, of a spouse, and which, drawing Him
out of the abyss of His greatness, binds Him closely to His
creatures. Beauty which enraptures…what can you think
of that would not be found in this Man-God?

Are you perhaps afraid that the abyss of the greatness
of God and that of your nothingness cannot be united?
There is love in Him. His passionate love made Him take
flesh in order that by seeing a Man-God, we would not be
afraid to draw near Him. This passionate love made Him
become bread in order to assimilate our nothingness and
make it disappear into His infinite being. This passionate
love made Him give His life by dying on the cross.

Are you perhaps afraid to draw near Him? Look at Him,
surrounded by little children. He caresses them, He presses
them to His heart. Look at Him in the midst of His faithful
flock, bearing the faithless lamb on His shoulders. Look at
Him at the tomb of Lazarus. And listen to what He says of
the Magdalene: “Much has been forgiven her, because she
has loved much.” What do you discover in these flashes
from the Gospel except a heart that is good, gentle, tender,
compassionate; in other words, the heart of a God?

He is my unending wealth, my bliss, my heaven.”

top photos: Teresa’s cell at the Carmel in the Andes Mountains. Also, Pope John Paul II blesses the statue of St. Teresa de los Andes at St. Peters Basilica in Rome.

The outdoor Shrine to Our Heavenly Mother is radiant after the 2nd night of the Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. We were blessed to have the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus with us as the guest choir. Their lovely voices lifted us all up in prayer (and many frogs, toads, birds and cicadas decided to chirp in too!)

The Carmelite Sisters are from St. Louis too and as part of their active apostolate, run the St. Agnes Home which they say is a “Home away from Home for children and the elderly”. Their foundress was recently beatified by the Holy Father in Rome. Her name is now Blessed Maria Teresa of St. Joseph. I will include a prayer for her below.

PRAYER for Blessed Maria Teresa:

O, God, Our Father, You purified Your Servant Maria Teresa of St. Joseph through suffering and afflictions. Her great faith, her firm trust and unselfish love made her, through Your grace, a pure instrument in Your hand with which You could do great things.

Encouraged by her example and her trust in Your help we ask, through her intercession (name your intention here)

May Your holy Will be done Lord.
Make our hearts ready to accept what You send. Then we know that we pray in the spirit of Mother Mary Teresa.
This we ask through Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

(With ecclesiastical approval, Roermond, March 19, 1988, Msgr. A.H.L. Meertens, Vic. Gen.)

Please communicate all favors granted
though Blessed Maria Teresa’s intercession to:

Carmelite Sisters DCJ
10431 Manchester Rd.
Kirkwood, MO 63122

Last night began our 9 days of loving praise to our Lord for His great gift to us in Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Through her intercession we ask the Lord for pardon from our great sin and unite unite our souls with those great souls of purgatory who are undergoing their purification and awaiting to be taken into their eternity with a perfect love of our Creator. How wonderful it must be to know they will see God in His ultimate glory, but how painful it must be to be stranded in this land of purification. To wait and wait and wait… the ultimate in patience!

It is not without some significance to me personally that yesterday was also the anniversary of my “PopPop”, that great and most humble soul who taught me to pray. I don’t mean that my own Mother did not teach me my vocal prayers and send me off to a nice Catholic school. Indeed, I memorized my catechism and always went to mass, but there is certainly a higher prayer than vocal prayer as I was to learn from PopPop.

As a youngster I was always escaping my own home to be with him and my Nana. I think I learned to dial the phone (as in rotary actual “dialing”) before I was 3 and beg for them to come and pick me up so I could be with them. They were my “escape house” where I would go as a pilgrim in search of solitude and respite. And, you should know, there was always a certain trip to McDonald’s on the way from my home to theirs!

Their home was old and sat at the top of “Spring” street where in the dirt cellar could still be seen the rocks and rubble of the old spring which gushed down to the little city in a valley below. It was here, for the many most important learning years of my life, that I would begin my “unknowning”, that paradox of prayer which leads us from the visible world to the invisible eternity. My PopPop would sit in a chair by the window. Silently, quietly, without word or movement, he would pray. He never said he was praying, and probably to the casual viewer from the street he would just seem to be “maxing and relaxing”, but for those who actually were in the room, they would glimpse the unseen beauty of a man in deep meditation.

And so as I observed, I too was absorbed in a curiosity of this life. It was a mystery to me, but the peace I felt as I sat with him was so intoxicating that I could not ignore it. Its attraction was stronger than any magnet and yet my little mind (so young and so very ignorant — and still is mind you!) would not stop working on this problem. How could a little girl, then a young woman with ants in her pants (to put it mildly) be able to sit quietly and feel this peace.

Well, I am certainly giving my story the “quick overview” with little attention to detail. So many beautiful golden threads make up the tapestry which has led me to love our Lord and to seek Him in all the parts of my life. In the beauty of daily life, in the beauty of children in the beauty of the suffering of the cross. He is in the good and the difficult and I struggle to see Him in all these places. Most times I am as blind as a bat, but then again, bats rely on their “radar” and so a soul must rely on this invisible pull towards the eternity.

—-

The photo above is from the Novena last night. It is the 59th annual outdoor novena at the Carmel of St. Joseph. The other photograph is my PopPop. Eternal rest grant onto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them.

This prayer is recited daily and does not change from day to day.

O God, Who has deigned to honor the Order of Carmel with the glorious title
of Your Virgin Mother grant the grace of Your protection to all who
celebrate this Solemn Novena so that, throught her, we may attain eternal
happiness. Amen.

(Our Father, Hail Mary, Gloria—3 times)

Let us pray. Under your protection we take our refuge, O holy Virgin Mary
of Mt. Carmel, despise not out petitions in our necessities but deliver us
from all dangers, O ever glorious and most blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the
promises of Christ.

Flower of Carmel,
Vine, blossom-laden,
Splendor of Heaven,
Child-bearing Maiden,
None is like you;

O Mother benign,
Whom no man did know,
On all Carmel’s children
Your favors bestow.
Star of the Sea!

Vouchsafe, O Sacred Virgin, to accept my praises. Give me strength against
your enemies.

Let us pray. Grant we bessech you O Lord, that we your servants, may enjoy
health of body and mind, and be delivered from all temporal afflictions, and
enjoy eternal bliss, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Queen, Beauty of Carmel, pray for us.