aeternus

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 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.