Today is the Carmelite memorial of Our Mother of Divine Grace. What a beautiful title for our Mother is this!

‘The Blessed Virgin Mary was eternally predestined, in the context of the incarnation of the divine Word, to be the Mother of God. As decreed by divine Providence, she served on earth as the loving Mother of the divine Redeemer, his associate, uniquely generous, and the Lord’s humble servant. She conceived, bore, and nourished Christ; presented him to the Father in the Temple; and was united with him in his suffering as he died on the cross. In a completely unparalleled way she cooperated, by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity, with our Saviour’s work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is Mother to us all in the order of grace’ (Lumen Gentium, the Constitution on the Church, 61).

This miraculous oil painting was rescued from a heap of rubbish and restored in 1610 by Ven. Dominic of Jesus and Mary, Prepositor General of the Order of Discalced Carmelites. According to the testimony of Ven. Dominic, our Lady spoke to him and promised, “‘All those who implore my protection, devoutly honoring this picture, will obtain their petitions, and will receive many graces. Moreover, I shall hearken in a special manner to the prayers that shall be addressed to me for the relief of the souls in purgatory‘”

PRAYER

Virgin most holy,
Mother of the Word Incarnate,
Treasurer of graces,
and Refuge of poor sinners:
we fly to thy motherly affection
with lively faith,
and we beg of thee the grace
ever to do the will of God.
Into thy most holy hands
we commit the keeping of our hearts,
asking thee for health of soul and body,
in the certain hope that thou,
our most loving Mother,
wilt hear our prayer.
Wherefore with lively faith we say:

Hail Mary three times

Prayers taken from a holy card distributed by the Monsatary of Discalced Carmelites, New Orleans, LA, with Nihil obstat and Imprimatur dated March 5, 1949.

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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

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A wonderful woman, who is a true and loving Secular Carmelite sent me this beautiful poem which I would like to share today. I am sure Our Lady was watching over her in a special way yesterday on her feast day…

Soon I’ll hear that sweet harmony,
Soon I’ll go to beautiful heaven to see you.
You who came to smile at me in the morning of my life,
Come smile at me again, Mother …
It’s evening now! ….
I no longer fear the splendor of your supreme glory.
With you I’ve suffered, and now I want
To sing on your lap, Mary, why I love you,
And to go on saying that I am your child !…..

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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

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As it is the feast of St. Bonaventure (called the Seraphic Doctor of the Church), I thought to aquaint myself with his chapter on the Practice of Prayer from his book: Holiness of life : being St. Bonaventure’s treatise De perfectione vitæ ad sorores

But first, here is a Prayer for Communion written by him:

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the
most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true,
calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever
languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee,
may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be
dissolved and to be with Thee. Grant that my soul may
hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of
holy souls, our daily and supersubstantial bread, having
all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste. May my
heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels
desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with
the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee,
the fountain of life, the fountain of widsom and knowledge,
the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the
fulness of the house of God; may it ever compass Thee, seek
Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on
Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of
Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and
delight, with ease and affection, with perseverence to the
end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence,
my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and
tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my
refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my
possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart
be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

—————————

Now, here is his writing, De perfectione vitæ ad sorores Chapter V: THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER

The religious whose heart is cold and tepid
leads a wretched and useless life; nay, the tepid
religious, the religious who does not pray fer
vently and assiduously, scarcely lives at all.
His body lives, but in the sight of God it harbors
a dead soul. It follows then, that pray
erful habits are essential if the spouse of
Christ is to achieve her desires and advance to
wards perfection. The practice of prayer is a
virtue of such efficacy that of itself it can com
pletely subdue all the cunning devices of its
implacable enemy, the devil. It is the devil and
the devil alone who prevents the servant of
God from soaring above herself even unto the
heavens. There is, then, no reason for sur
prise that the religious who is not devoted to
the practice of constant prayer succumbs fre
quently to temptation.

St. Isidore realised this truth, for he says:
“Prayer is the remedy when temptations to sin
rage in the heart. Whenever you are tempted
to sin, pray, and pray earnestly. Frequent
prayer renders powerless the assaults of
vice.” 112 Our Lord gives similar advice in
the Gospel: “Watch ye and pray that ye
enter not into temptation.” 113 Devout prayer
is so powerful that it enables a man to win
whatever he wants. Winter and summer,
when times are stormy, when times are fair,
night and day, Sunday and Monday, in days
of health, in the hour of illness, in youth and
old age, standing, sitting and walking, in choir
and out of choir: in a word, never need the
efficacy of prayer fail. Indeed, at times, more
than the very world itself its worth may be
gained by one hour of prayer. By one little
devout prayer it is possible for a man to gain
Heaven.

I shall now discuss the nature of prayer.
Probably, in this matter I am more in need of
information than you are, still in so far as the
Lord inspires me, I shall tell you in what way
and manner you should pray.

(more…)

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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…

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Tonight we begin a most wonderful event… the Annual Outdoor novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel at the Carmelite monastery here in St. Louis. I am excited because many of the nights will be spent listening to some of our Nine newly ordained Priests in the Archdiocese. I am so happy they will celebrate mass for us and for them to meet the Sister’s who have been praying so hard for all their vocations.

To prepare for the Novena I found this wonderful passage from a very old book. I love the way it describes Mt. Carmel and gives a quick synopsis of the Order’s history on the Holy Mountain and their love for Our Lady.

I will be posting photos and reflections from the novena… stay tuned.

TOWERING over the waves on the shore of the Holy
Land, Mount Carmel, together with the short range
of the same name, forms a connecting link to two
other chains, abounding with glorious memories,
namely : the mountains of Galilee on the north, and
those of Judea on the south.

“In the day of my love, I brought thee out of
Egypt into the land of Carmel,” said the Lord to
the daughter of Sion, taking the name of Carmel to
represent all the blessings of’ the Promised Land;
and when the crimes of the chosen people were
about to bring Judaea to ruin, the prophet cried out,
looked, and behold Carmel was a wilderness:
and all its cities were destroyed at the presence of
the Lord, and at the presence of the wrath of
his indignation.” But from the midst of the
Gentile world a new Sion arose, more loved than the
first; eight centuries beforehand Isaias recognised
her by the glory of Libanus, and the beauty of
Carmel and Saron which were given her. In the
sacred Canticle, also, the attendants of the Bride
sing to the Spouse concerning his well-beloved, that
her head is like Carmel, and her hair like the
precious threads of royal purple carefully woven and dyed.

There was, in fact, around Cape Carmel an abundant
fishery of the little shell-fish which furnished the
regal colour. Not far from there, smocthing away
the slopes of the noble mountain, flowed the torrent
of Cison, that dragged the carcasses of the Chanaan-
ites, when Deborah won her famous victory. Here
lies the plain where the Madianites were overthrown,
and Sisara felt the power of her that was called the
Mother in Israel. Here Gedeon, too, marched against
Madian in the name of the Woman terrible as an
army set in array? whose sign he had received in
the dew-covered fleece. Indeed, this glorious plain
of Esdrelon, which stretches away from the foot
of Carmel, seems to be surrounded with prophetic
indications of her who was destined from the
beginning to crush the serpent’s head : not far from
Esdrelon, a few defiles lead to Bethulia, the city of
Judith, type of Mary, who was the true joy of Israel
and the honour of her people ; while nestling among
the northern hills lies Nazareth, the white city, the
flower of Galilee.
(more…)

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– THOMAS A KEMPIS, From THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, Bk 3, chapter 15

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As it was my husband’s birthday yesterday, I had to accommodate his birthday desire. This meant I had to get myself excited to do the exact opposite of what I wanted to do — spend the day at St. Joe’s State Park. Now, if you were from St. Louis and reading this you would already know what this means. But for the rest of the world, let me explain why spending the day at a Park has its down side…

St. Joe’s State Park was created on the site of an old lead strip mining site. It encompasses about 2000 acres of soft sand-like material called “tailings” which I imagine the sands of Tahiti to look and feel like. This material is created as some sort of mining by-product and is really quite lovely. So, if you don’t think too much about the possibility of lead contained in the sand then you are alright. There are many little lakes on the Park Property which are good for swimming and lots of little mountains (hills really but since we are in Missouri we shall call them mountains) and good amounts of natural beauty contained in the woods and fields. I imagined seeing hawks soaring, but I think they were actually Turkey Buzzards (YEACH!)

So, you may say, “Gee, despite the possible lead poisoning, it seems like a delicious place to spend the day with your family”. But, dear reader, that is only because I have not yet gotten to the good part…

The most important part of St. Joe’s State Park is that it has been transformed into one of the nations most exciting places to go and ride your motor-cross motorcycles and atvs. In a frenzy of motoring excitement you can ride around through the forests and over the sand dunes till your little heart can take no more excitement or your body gives out from pure exhaustion.

So, the answer is to your inquisitive stare, “Yes, my husband is a “motor-head” and NO, this anomaly did not present itself until we had been married many, many years! It started off with just a fancy for Formula One racing but when his father (who is 80 years old) gave him his old 1970s Yamaha motorcycle, well, - that was that… He was in full fledge-motor-bliss! Now, that same Father (mind you he is 80 years old as I said) is tooling around South Carolina in his latest fast back street bike and pal-ing around with a group of MUCH younger enthusiasts. Why did I not see this coming earlier in my life?  I don’t know.  What do I expect for my future?  I don’t know but please PRAY FOR ME!”

Anyway, back to the main story…

My husband gets this “fancy to ride” quite often and usually I can let him go off with our son and have fun alone. I jump at the opportunity to plead too much housework to go along on the adventure. This usually works though the boys seem greatly disappointed I do not wish to take part in their fun. What are they thinking? Alas, yesterday I could not get out of the birthday motoring, I just had to go along.

The day started with thunderstorms while I was at early mass. This did not deter our motor boys. We drove out of town and passed through several other short storms, but kept going nonetheless. As the boys unpacked their cycles it began to rain again. I stayed in the car thinking it would pass as they rode off into the sand dunes. When our little one wanted to go over to the lake and look for frogs and turtles I decided the rain had stopped enough to chance it. I took a copy of a new book on St. Therese and a couple of towels, my lawn chair and headed off. As I sat down in my chair, the rain started again.

“Oh Therese,” I said in sadness and woe at being trapped at this park of motorcycle madness, “only you can make this rain stop so your book will not get wet and I can try to enjoy this day!”

As I said this exclamatory prayer it INSTANTLY stopped raining. I’m not kiding. I mean - instantly stopped raining. And, it did not rain for the rest of the day! I was able to read with Therese and I was inspired by her words. As I read, my daughter caught little fish in her net and put them in her bucket. She fed them bits of her sandwich (what lucky fish) and I thought of dear Therese catching fish with her father and taking them to Carmel to give to the sister’s to eat. It was good, very good.

So, should I not be surprised that in giving up my day and my will to travel along with my husband’s crazy birthday wish that goodness and mercy would not be shown to me? What a great grace to know that God is so kind and merciful that He would help me in my struggle to be kind to my husband (even when I would rather scrub the kitchen floor with a toothbrush than sit in a park filled with the sound of two-stroke motors and un-muffled engines blaring in my ears!). God knows we are distracted by the world. He knows that we can not even spend even one day quietly in a bit of His glorious and naturally created beauty without hearing the interruptions of manmade noise and confusion. But, oh, if we just seek God, He will seek us.

So I found Him yesterday, with the help of dear Therese, and I love Him for showing Himself to me… Thank you Father.

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From the Cincarm newsgroup comes this prayer…

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.

This is the novena used at the Carmel of the Trinity in San Diego. It is the same for each day of the novena. The picture above is from their website. One can only imagine the beauty of this Carmel!!!

Today is the anniversary of my dear PopPop’s eternity. May he continue to inspire me and helping me know prayer is the key to the entry of this most glorious Kingdom…

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