Originally posted on: http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2012/10/carmelite-sisters-remembering-st-therese-of-lisieux/ How is it that those of us living today know anything at all about this young obscure nun, Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, who...
Feast of All Carmelite Saints ~ Novena Day 7 – November 12“The Divine assails the human soul in order to renew it and thus to make it Divine.”St. John of the Cross ~ Dark Night of the SoulWhen Jesus issues His invitation: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must...
Feast of All Carmelite Saints ~ Novena Day 5 “O my God! I am just too happy of my little sacrifice!”one of the Compiègne Carmelite Nuns (unidentified) as she ascended the scaffoldThe 16 Carmelite Martyrs of CompiègneThe French Revolution and its immediate aftermath –...
Feast of All Carmelite Saints ~ Novena Day 4“I am resolved to give complete obedience in everything without exception, not only to my superiors, but also to my equals and inferiors, so as to learn from you, my God, who made yourself obedient in far more difficult...
Feast of All Carmelite Saints ~ Novena Day 2 – November 7“Who can make me happier than God? In Him, I find everything. God is infinite joy!”St. Teresa of the AndesAlthough she was a Carmelite nun living in Chile in the early 20th century, St. Teresa of the Andes...
There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.-Saint Thomas Aquinas Picture in your imagination a recreation room in a Carmelite monastery of nuns or in a Carmelite Friary! A young Carmelite nun spots a pair of castanets on a shelf,...
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...
This is the second part of Sister Mary Colombiere’s article on charism. Part One focused on charisms in general while this portion is about the Carmelite charism in particular. Click here to read Part One.Every religious community is unique because it lives...
Jesus tired and thirsty sat down at a well and there encountered a Samaritan woman who had come to draw water. Asking her for a drink,“He said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would...
The De Beers Jewelry marketing slogan of “Diamonds are Forever” might have been a perfect catchphrase for Saint Teresa’s “Diamond”, better known to us as the Interior Castle. However, this company was not yet around in 1577 when she was ordered to...
St. Teresa and Way of PerfectionTo God with Love,I am yours, I was born for You:What do You want me to do?Teresa of JesusThese words taken from one of St. Teresa’s poems could easily have been penned by her in a letter to God. The phrase “I was born for...
What do you see when you look out a window? As I write this looking out the second-floor window on my right the rooftops are still covered with a gleaming snow that fell a few days ago. For me the snow is an opening into the Advent season – there is an expectancy in...
Many of you probably have seen the 1965 film entitled The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews as Maria Von Trapp and Christopher Plummer as Captain Von Trapp. The first verse of the theme song goes like this:Climb every mountain,Search high and low,Follow every...
A Reflection on the Little Way of St. ThereseEvery month each Carmelite Sister steps aside from her daily service to God’s people and makes a one-day spiritual retreat. To most of us, this single day out of each month is dearly loved and longed for. We meet and work...
By Father James Geoghegan, O.C.D.Thérèse is the great saint of the virtue hope in modern times. She was sent to teach the Church and the world this confidence or trust in God. It was a gift she received in Baptism as a baby, and it grew and developed to the end of her...
When I was first introduced to Saint Therese as a young adult, I did not like her. She seemed to be enshrined in such a cloud of saccharine sweetness, scattering roses of every shade with each step, that I was positive that she and I would never be friends. I didn’t...
Question: Dear Sister, My prayer experiences don’t seem good enough or holy enough, long enough or intense enough. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can pray better?Answer: Dear Friend, Yes, I do have a few suggestions. That’s easy…First of all, I suggest not...
