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7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 32) – ALL ABOUT CARMEL!! Edition

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I FINALLY VISITED CARMEL LAST SATURDAY!!! By 3:45 AM I was on the road and heading north to meet my friend Channing so that she could finally introduce me to the wonderful community of Carmelite nuns with whom she will soon be taking her place in July as their newest postulant. My expectations were high after months of anticipation and countless glowing accounts, and I have to say…Carmel blew those expectations right out of the water!

— 2 —

When Channing and I arrived, we entered the chapel about a half hour before Mass began, and had ample to pray and listen to the sisters chant one of their prayer hours in Latin from behind the cloister curtains. Then Mass began, and it was a perfect start to the day. It was a Low Mass in the Traditional Latin Rite, and the priest was incredible. He preached a simple yet superb homily that tied the Gospel for the day to the thirty years Christ spent “hidden” in Nazareth, and how in God’s eyes, less is very often more. The world does not value or understand a hidden life of prayer and anonymity, but in truth such a life as the Holy Family lived in Nazareth and the sisters of Carmel live in Elysburg is of immense importance and produces an overwhelming fountain of grace that pours out into the world. As Father was closing, I had tears in my eyes, and I know I was not the only one.

— 3 —

After Mass and some further time in prayer, Channing and I proceeded to one of the speak rooms and were able to visit through the grille first with Sister Thérèse, the novice mistress, and then Mother Stella, the Acting Prioress, joined us about a half hour in. Both women were utterly enchanting, especially Sister Thérèse, who was absolutely radiant with the love of Jesus and exuded deep kindness and warmth at every moment. As the novice mistress, she is tasked with overseeing the formation of the “little ones”, as she adorably kept referring to the novice sisters, and you could not ask for a better big sister-cum-spiritual mentor. I was quite taken. Mind you, this all took place on normal Saturday! I mean, I am as happy as anyone else to see the weekend roll around, but Sister Thérèse came across like a bride on her wedding day. She glowed! Afterwards, when we walked out, Channing asked me what I thought and my first response was “OH MY GOODNESS!! YOU GET TO LIVE WITH THEM?! THAT’S SO AWESOME!” A powerful, compelling testament to where the path of true happiness lies and to the supernatural joy to be found in the contemplative life.

— 4 —

After our visit, we stopped in at a Catholic religious goods and bookstore down the road. I picked up a few new additions for my spiritual library, including (appropriately enough) The Story Of A Soul by St. Thérèse of Lisieux. I’ll admit, I tried to read it a few years ago and failed miserably. At the time, it just didn’t speak to me or grab my attention. This time, however, my reaction after reading the first couple chapters has been “HOW WAS I NOT ENGROSSED IN THIS BEFORE?!?” Clearly, I was not spiritually ready to appreciate St. Thérèse at the time, but praise, that is no longer the case!

— 5 —

All told, my visit to Carmel was extraordinary. It really does feel, as Sister Thérèse put it, like Carmel is a little piece of Heaven that accidentally got left behind on Earth. The atmosphere is suffused with peace and holy joy, and the two nuns with whom I was blessed to meet and speak are absolutely delightful. If that is the kind of life of grace to which one can attain via the road of Carmelite spirituality, then count me as sold!

While I was making breakfast the next day after Mass, I already found myself wistfully wishing to be back at Carmel again. At three-and-a-half hours, it’s not exactly an easy trip that I’ll be able to make as frequently as I would like, but I look forward to many more visits in future to drink from that particular well.

That said, as far as the men’s side of the order is concerned, the closest O.C.D. monastery is relatively nearby in Washington, DC. Hmmm… ;-)

— 6 —

Hopefully in the years down the road, the trip to Carmel will be much shortened. Currently, the sisters are planning on moving from Elysburg to a new monastery they would like to build in Gettysburg, which would place them rather close to the seminary at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD. Seeing as the particular charism of the Carmelite nuns is to pray for priests and the priesthood, and that seminarians are always in need of easy access to places where they can find peace and spiritual refreshment, this would be, in terms of spiritual warfare, equivalent to moving the big guns of a battleship in to provide close artillery support to the Marines storming the beaches.

In this day and age, praying for the priesthood is possibly the single most important thing for which Catholics need to be praying, and the sisters of the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph commit themselves entirely to this vital and urgent calling. They have no method of raising funds either through solicitation or through running a small business; their entire upkeep and existence (to say nothing of the cost of building an entirely new monastery) is predicated on the working of the Holy Spirit and the generosity of their brother and sisters in Christ living and working in the world.

The Friends of Carmel JMJ (how was that for a segue?) is the association of laypersons dedicated to making sure the sisters are able to continue to live hidden lives of contemplative prayer for the good of the entire Church. By joining this group, you can stay informed as to what is going on at Carmel, find out about ways you can assist the nuns both materially and spiritually. Go check out the website (gorgeously designed, BTW), consider making Carmel a regular part of your almsgiving, and above all pray for the sisters!

To get you started, here is a prayer specifically for that purpose:

Flower of Carmel, Blossoming Vine,
Splendor of Heaven, Mother Divine,
None like to Thee, Mother of our King,
Peerless and fair,
To Your children of Carmel, favors grant ever,
Star of the Sea.  Amen.
 
Regina decor Carmeli, dedisti nobis signum protectionis tuae. (Flower of Carmel, show us a sign of your protection.)
 
1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, 1 Glory Be
 
Our Holy Father, St. Joseph, pray for us.
Our Holy Father, St. Elijah, pray for us.
Our Holy Mother, St. Teresa, pray for us.
Our Holy Father, St. John of the Cross, pray for us.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus, pray for us.
(Feel free to add other Carmelite saints and blessed here for intercession. I always include St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, St. Teresa of the Andes, St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, and Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity.)

— 7 —

Feast day tomorrow! March 25 is the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, an Italian Carmelite nun and mystic.

Mary Magdalene’s life is a contradiction of our instinctive thought that joy only comes from avoiding suffering. A month after being refused early religious profession, she was refused she fell deathly ill. Fearing for her life theconvent had her professed from a stretcher at the altar. After that she experienced forty days of ecstasies that coexisted with her suffering. Joy from the graces God gave were mixed with agony as her illness grew worse. In one of her experiences Jesus took her heart and hid it in his own, telling her he “would not return it until it is wholly pure and filled with pure love.” She didn’t recover from her illness until told to ask for the intercession of Blessed Mary Bagnesi over three months later.

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…Far from enjoying the attention her mystical experiences brought her, she was embarrassed by it. For all her days, she wanted a hidden life and tried everything she could to achieve it. When God commanded her to go barefoot as part of her penance and she could not walk with shoes, she simply cut the soles out of her shoes so no one would see her as different from the other nuns. If she felt an ecstasy coming on, she would hurry to finish her work and go back to her room. She learned to see the notoriety as part of God’s will. When teaching a noviceto accept God’s will, she told her, “I wanted a hidden life but, see, God wanted something quite different for me.”

Read the whole thing. And yes, before you ask, you can fully expect posts by me going “Oh my goodness, you guys, I just discovered a new Carmelite saint and (s)he is utterly amazing!!” to be a recurring feature of this blog going forward.

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, ora pro nobis!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!



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