There is so much we can learn from Saint Thérèse. The greatest lesson she taught me was to have confidence in God. Thérèse wrote: “What offends Jesus, what wounds Him to the Heart, is want of confidence.” (Letter to her cousin Marie Guerin). As a perfectionist, I like...
By: Marta Timar God has given me the gift of a very blessed life, and I am truly grateful. There was, however, one missing link in the otherwise idyllic world of my childhood, namely grandparents. I, of course, had grandparents, but three were deceased...
“There is nothing God cannot do with an unconditional ‘yes.’ ” These are words that Cardinal Wuerl spoke to the 60 religious and 300 young women gathered in the crypt of the National Shine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC for the opening Mass of the...
We sisters are often asked to explain what our life as consecrated women is like. Each time I am asked to do this, the same question lingers in my mind. How can I explain the in-explainable? Human words can never explain supernatural realities. Vatican II did a...
“Lord, open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise.” (Psalm 51:15) These words ring out in the chapel, breaking the silence of the early morning. It is still dark outside and our community of sisters, albeit still a bit bleary-eyed, has gathered to begin the...
May is the month traditionally dedicated to Our Blessed Mother. As part of our May traditions, Catholics around the world may celebrate Mary in a special way by having a “May Crowning”. In this ceremony, special veneration is shown to the Mother of Jesus...
Often when I introduce myself, people seem surprised. “I thought Carmelites were cloistered?” Occasionally there is a slight tone of suspicion in their voice, as if maybe we were escapees or something. I am always prompt to clarify things for them. While most...
St. Therese said, “Prayer is a surge of the heart…a cry of recognition and of love.” Here she is referring to our hearts, our cries. But I think she would readily agree we could look at prayer from a different angle. What if prayer was a surge of God’s Heart? A cry of...
Burning but not consumed! This was the strange sight that Moses beheld in the desert – a bush on fire yet contained. Such a strange phenomenon! Moses moved closer to examine the mystery before him. “No, Moses, stop where you are and remove your sandals for...
The urging in your heart won’t be silenced. You know that you must tell them. But as soon as you start thinking about how to go about it, your hands get all sweaty and your heart begins to pound wildly. You pray for help. Surely there has to be some App with helpful...
On February 13, 2016 a group walked in the footsteps of a woman of courage and faith, determined to live the Will of our Lord in her life: Venerable Mother Luisita, the beloved Foundress of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles. Mother Luisita...
Sister Faustina, OCD What was it about Jesus that drew the apostles to leave everything and follow Him? Yes, He called them, “Come, follow me,” but what was it that made them so eager to remain with Him to the end? Was it His fascinating miracles? (Walking on water...
The month of November is dedicated to the Holy Souls – those faithful who have gone before us having died in God’s grace and friendship, but “still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to...
By: Sister Mary Louise, OCDSome would call it cacophony. Others would be more blunt and describe it as tortuous noise. Be that as it may, it is my absolute favorite sound. I hear it and immediately everything inside me comes alive, attentive, expectant. You say,...
Carmelites returned home last night from the World Meeting of Families and Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia. Enjoy the video! A special thanks to our friends who were SO very good to us in Philly!r /With Pope Francis in Philadelphia from Carmelite Sisters on...
By: Sister Immaculata St. Therese. Just the sound of her name conjures up in so many persons great feelings of love, affinity and gratitude. This became superabundantly clear to me when her relics visited the United States in the year 2000. I was living in Duarte at...
For most people, Labor Day means a long, (at least) three-day weekend filled with backyard BBQs, celebrating a last hurrah in the twilight of summer. Work is probably farthest from most peoples’ minds, and fewer still give much thought to the real meaning of...
We all have to grow up. Sooner or later, it happens. That moment when we let go of not only our childhood, or adolescence, or high school/college years, we let go of that whole first segment of life – those early years when we loved and were loved, cared for and...
Several years ago a voice was heard bellowing out in an airport waiting area, “Chaste for 45 years!”The surrounding space was electrified as heads turned toward us as I stood facing a non-Christian gentleman who had asked me if we practiced chastity and then posed to...
By Sister Immaculata It’s that time again! Summer is rolling to a close and the date of the first day of school is clearly marked on our calendars. Children may feel a mixture of excitement and dread, but what is going on in the mind of a teacher? Venerable...
A Capsule Biography of Mother Luisita The life of Mother Maria Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament is no ordinary story. It is a story filled with daring adventure, the kind of adventure one encounters when one dares to love God above all things and to place...
