#Church of the Discalced Carmelites

[europeposts]

Trams in Porto, & Church of the Discalced Carmelites, Portugal: Tram on line 22 in Porto, Portugal. In the background are the Igrejas dos Carmelitas e do Carmo (Carmelitas and Carmo Churches). The Church of the Carmelites or Church of the Discalced Carmelites is located in the parish of Vitória, in the city of Porto, Portugal. The tram system of Porto in Portugal is operated by the Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos do Porto (STCP). Wikipedia

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS The Doctor of the Church and Mystical Doctor Who is the Patron of Contemplative Life Feast Day: December 14

"Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent."

John of the Cross, who is the co-founder of the reformed Carmelites (Discalced Carmelites), was born Juan de Yepes y Álvarez in Fontiveros, Ávila, Crown of Castile (Spain), on June 24, 1542.

At the age of 21, he entered the Carmelites at Medina, taking the religious name of John of St. Matthias. He frequently asked God, that he might not pass one day of his life without suffering something. After his ordination in 1567, he was granted permission to follow the original rule of Rule of Saint Albert, which stressed strict discipline and solitude. In 1568, together with St. Teresa of Ávila (Teresa of Jesus), he opened the first monastery of the newly reformed Discalced (barefoot) Carmelites, whose members were committed to a perfect spirit of solitude, humility and mortification.

On the night of December 2, 1577, John's monastic reform fomented the anger of some old Carmelites, who accused him of rebellion and had him arrested. It was in prison that he began to compose some of his finest works, like the 'Cántico Espiritual (The Spiritual Canticle)' and 'The Living Flame of Love'.

In 'The Dark Night of the Soul (La Noche Oscura del Alma)', John wrote: 'It is impossible to reach the riches and wisdom of God, except by first entering many sufferings.'

One time, John corrected a certain Fr. Diego who used to disregard the rule. This wicked religious, rather than repent, went about over the whole province trumping up accusations against the saint. Thus, John was transferred to a remote friary at Úbeda, Kingdom of Jaén, Crown of Castile, where he died due to erysipelas (a bacterial skin infection) at the age of 49.

John of the Cross is canonized by Pope Benedict XIII on the feast of St. John the Apostle on December 27, 1726 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1926 by Pope Pius XI after the definitive consultation of Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange O.P., professor of philosophy and theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome. His major shrine can be found in Segovia.

[traveltash]

St Michael

The Abbey of St Michael sits atop the hill in Siegburg. It was founded in 1060 and some of the buildings from the 1400s and 1650s still stand on the site. It was founded as a Benedictine Abbey, however, the Benedictine Order there dissolved in 2011. In 2013, a group of Discalced Carmelites from Kerala moved into the residential building. They celebrate masses in the abbey church, take…

[streetsofdublin]

I WAS WALKING ALONG BERKELEY STREET AND BERKELEY ROAD

I visited Berkeley Road today, Sunday, as I had hoped to photograph the interior of the Carmelite Church but it was closed as was the park beside the church.

AND WAS CAUGHT OUT IN AN AMAZINGLY SUDDEN THUNDER STORM The change in the weather caught me totally by surprise but the rain storm lasted less than five minutes. I visited Berkeley Road today, Sunday, as I had hoped to photograph the interior of the Carmelite Church but it was closed as was the park beside the church. St. Joseph’s Carmelite Church on Berkeley Road is the Roman Catholic church…

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Therese of Lisieux

Doctor of the Church

1873-1897

Feast Day: October 1 (New), October 3 (Trad)

Patronage: Missions

St. Therese of Lisieux was a French Discalced Carmelite nun, popularly known as The Little Flower. She was a highly influential model of sanctity for others because of the "simplicity and practicality of her approach to the spiritual life." She entered Carmel at the early age of 15 and died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. Together with St. Francis of Assisi she is one of the most popular saints in the history of the Church. Pope Pius X called her "the greatest saint of modern times."

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase. (website)

[fabien-euskadi]

The Church of Our Lady of Joy (Nossa Senhora da Alegria), in Alter do Chão. This late XVI-Century temple used to belong to the Convent of the Holy Spirit, a house founded by Discalced Carmelite friars (who would end up leaving the convent by the beggining of the XVII Century).

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (December 14)

December 14 is the liturgical memorial of Saint John of the Cross, a 16th-century Carmelite priest best known for reforming his order together with Saint Teresa of Avila and for writing the classic spiritual treatise, “The Dark Night of the Soul.”

Honored as a Doctor of the Church since 1926, he is sometimes called the “Mystical Doctor,” as a tribute to the depth of his teaching on the soul's union with God.

The youngest child of parents in the silk-weaving trade, John de Yepes was born during 1542 in Fontiveros near the Spanish city of Avila.

His father Gonzalo died at a relatively young age, and his mother Catalina struggled to provide for the family.

John found academic success from his early years but failed in his effort to learn a trade as an apprentice.

Instead, he spent several years working in a hospital for the poor and continuing his studies at a Jesuit college in the town of Medina del Campo.

After discerning a calling to monastic life, John entered the Carmlite Order in 1563.

He had been practicing severe physical asceticism even before joining the Carmelites and got permission to live according to their original rule of life – which stressed solitude, silence, poverty, work, and contemplative prayer.

John received ordination as a priest in 1567 after studying in Salamanca but considered transferring to the more austere Carthusian order rather than remaining with the Carmelites.

Before he could take such a step, however, he met the Carmelite nun later canonized as Saint Teresa of Avila.

Born in 1515, Teresa had joined the Order in 1535, regarding consecrated religious life as the most secure road to salvation.

Since that time, she had made remarkable spiritual progress, and during the 1560s, she began a movement to return the Carmelites to the strict observance of their original way of life.

She convinced John not to leave the order but to work for its reform.

Changing his religious name from “John of St. Matthias” to “John of the Cross,” the priest began this work in November of 1568, accompanied by two other men of the Order with whom he shared a small and austere house.

For a time, John was in charge of the new recruits to the “Discalced Carmelites” – the name adopted by the reformed group, since they wore sandals rather than ordinary shoes as sign of poverty.

He also spent five years as the confessor at a monastery in Avila led by St. Teresa.

Their reforming movement grew quickly but also met with severe opposition that jeopardized its future during the 1570s.

Early in December of 1577, during a dispute over John's assignment within the Order, opponents of the strict observance seized and imprisoned him in a tiny cell.

His ordeal lasted nine months and included regular public floggings along with other harsh punishments.

Yet it was during this very period that he composed the poetry that would serve as the basis for his spiritual writings.

John managed to escape from prison in August of 1578, after which he resumed the work of founding and directing Discalced Carmelite communities.

Over the course of a decade, he set out his spiritual teachings in works such as “The Ascent of Mount Carmel,” “The Spiritual Canticle,” and “The Living Flame of Love” as well as “The Dark Night of the Soul.”

But intrigue within the order eventually cost him his leadership position, and his last years were marked by illness along with further mistreatment.

John of the Cross died in the early hours of 14 December 1591, nine years after St. Teresa of Avila's death in October 1582.

Suspicion, mistreatment, and humiliation had characterized much of his time in religious life, but these trials are understood as having brought him closer to God by breaking his dependence on the things of this world.

Accordingly, his writings stress the need to love God above all things – being held back by nothing — and likewise holding nothing back.

Only near the end of his life had St. John's monastic superior recognized his wisdom and holiness.

Though his reputation had suffered unjustly for years, this situation reversed soon after his death.

He was beatified in 1675, canonized in 1726, and named a Doctor of the Church in the 20th century by Pope Pius XI.

In a letter marking the 400th anniversary of St. John's death, Pope John Paul II – who had written a doctoral thesis on the saint's writings – recommended the study of the Spanish mystic, whom he called a “master in the faith and witness to the living God.”

[ha-bakbuk]

John of the Cross The dark night of the soul

St. John of the Cross was one of the most famous mystics of Christianity. He supported Teresa of Avila's reform efforts in the Carmelite order and repeatedly came into conflict with the church superiors as a result. He passed on his mystical experiences in an extensive lyrical work.

John of the Cross was born in 1542 in the small village of Fontiveros near Ávila in Castile. His father Gonzalo de Yepes came from the Toledan nobility, but was disowned because he had married the weaver Catalina Alvarez. Johannes grew up in poor circumstances. At the age of nine, he lost his father and moved with his mother and brother Francisco to Medina del Campo near Valladolid.

Here he attended the “Colegio de los Doctrinos” and did simple jobs for the nuns of the convent of the “Santa María Magdalena” church. He initially worked as a nurse at the “Inmaculada Concepción” hospital. At the age of eighteen, he was accepted into the newly founded Jesuit College in Medina del Campo. Here he studied humanities, rhetoric and classical languages for three years. After his training, he began a one-year novitiate with the city's Carmelites. It seems that his deprived childhood and youth led him to choose the secluded path of a contemplative life. Before John turned his full attention to monastic life, he studied philosophy for three years in Salamanca, was then ordained a priest and returned to Medina del Campo. It was there that John met Teresa of Avila for the first time. The encounter had a lasting impact on his life. Teresa suggested that he join her “for the glory of God” and support her plan to reform Carmel. In Spain's “golden age”, the 16th century, the Catholic Church ruled as a matter of course - also protected by the cruel instrument of the Inquisition. The overseas conquests created enormous wealth for the already wealthy.

In the monasteries, the strict rules of the order were increasingly being abolished. Teresa of Avila sought to reform the order against this trend. She aimed to counter “secularization” with greater contemplation and seclusion of the religious. In practical terms, this meant a strictly eremitical orientation: collective solitude, inner prayer and physical work. In many monasteries, a storm of indignation broke out against the reform. The conflict is finally defused by the separation into “shod” and “unshod” Carmelites. Johannes found his home among the “unshod”. In 1568, he founded the first reformed male religious community.

From 1572 to 1577, John lived as spiritual director and confessor to the sisters of the convent of Avila. Teresa of Avila wrote her most important works during this time, John his first. His commitment to the reform of the order was soon to bring him much suffering.

“Bring me out of this death, / my God and give me life; Hold me not fast / in this so hard snare, / She as I suffer to see thee. And so comprehensive is my suffering, / that I die because I do not die.”

These lines from the “Spiritual Canticle” were written in a lightless dungeon in 1577. John of the Cross - as he now called himself - was kidnapped by conservative Carmelites and thrown into a monastery dungeon in Toledo due to the intrigue of a false accusation. Here, among other poems, he wrote the “Spiritual Song” and the famous “Dark Night” of the soul. The saint remained incarcerated for nine months - without a change of clothes, conversation or spiritual support. On the night of August 16-17, 1578, he made an adventurous escape to the convent of the Discalced Carmelites in Toledo.

“On a dark night / full of longing inflamed with love / oh happy event! I escaped unrecognized / when my house was already silent.” In addition to the horror of “horror vacui” - the horror of emptiness - John experiences the nine-month period in prison as a time of purification. In the dungeon, he experiences the presence of God in the darkness. Similar to Teresa of Avila's “seven dwellings of the inner castle”, John also sees the union with the divine divided into different stages of development. Thus, the insights of the “Dark Night” presuppose a process that John describes above all in the writing “Ascent to Mount Carmel”. “The soul must pay loving attention to God.” This “loving attentiveness” is an inward listening, because God is present in people. “The center of the soul is God.” Says St. John of the Cross. But only a few people experience this, because in everyday life people's senses, intellect and will are loud and overactive. But truly experiencing God requires silence. It requires “loving attention” that listens and looks without expectation and without a concrete idea of God.

In contrast to actively preparing oneself on the path to “Mount Carmel of God's unification”, in the next stage man experiences the work of God more passively as a dark force that temporarily hides its light and reveals itself as darkness. Those who surrender to the dark night of the soul can expect a rich reward in the union with God: “It produces in the soul an intense, tender and deep bliss that cannot be expressed with mortal tongue and surpasses all human understanding. For a soul united and transformed in God breathes in GOD and to GOD the same divine longing as God breathes to the soul. Each lives in the other and one is the other and both are one through loving transformation. I live, but not I. Christ lives in me.”

After his escape from prison and a brief period of recuperation, John of the Cross was sent to Andalusia, where he spent ten years in various monasteries. In the south of Spain, the conflict between shod and unshod Carmelites was less charged. He then returned to his native Castile, to the Carmel of Segovia, where he held the office of superior of the community. In 1591, another attack on the uncomfortable mystic: he was relieved of all responsibilities and expelled from the order. Later, plans were made to send the monk, already weakened by illness, to the order's new province of Mexico. Only his poor health thwarted this plan. “What worries me is that people are blaming someone who doesn't have any.”

At the age of 49, John retired to a solitary monastery in Jaén, where he fell seriously ill. He died on the night of December 13-14, 1591, while his confreres were saying the night prayer of Matins. It is not least Juan de la Cruz's poetic legacy, his spiritual love poetry, that makes the mystic worth reading and thinking about even in the 21st century.

[allaboutjoseph]

Jul 16 - Our Lady of Mount Carmel

1. Early History of the Carmelites

The Carmelite Order originated on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. They do not have a particular founder. Early historical accounts find Christian hermits already settled on Mount Carmel around the year 1200. The hermits dwelt near the fountain or well of Elijah. (You can read about Elijah on Mount Carmel in the 1st Book of Kings in the Bible.) In 1204, the hermits were given a Rule of life by St. Albert of Jerusalem.

2. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and The Brown Scapular Invasion by the Saracens caused the hermits to flee to Europe by the end of the 13th century. One of these hermits, St. Simon Stock, returned to his native England, entered the Carmelite order and was eventually named prior of his community. He appealed to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, the patroness of their order, on July 16, 1251, with the following prayer:Flower of Carmel, Blossoming vine, Splendor of Heaven, Mother Divine, None like to thee, Peerless and fair, Thy children of Carmel, Save by thy care, Star of the sea.The Blessed Virgin, accompanied many angels and the child Jesus, appeared to St. Simon Stock and presented him with the brown scapular. She made him this promise: “This shall be the privilege for you and for all Carmelites that whoever dies piously wearing this scapular, shall not suffer eternal flames.” The brown scapular is one of the most popular sacramentals in the Church. According to the Catechism, sacramentals are “sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy”. CCC 1667

3. Carmelite Nuns The first community of Carmelite nuns was founded in Belgium in the 14th century. The nuns soon also spread throughout Europe. In 1534, St. Teresa of Avila, a great reformer and Doctor of the Church, entered the Carmel of the Incarnation in Avila, Spain. After almost three decades as a Carmelite nun, St. Teresa became convinced that the nuns had become too worldly and needed to return to the primitive rule of Carmel with its emphasis on silence, solitude, strict enclosure and a small, sisterly community life of manual labor, prayer, penance and joyful recreation, where all would strive to live “the evangelical counsels as perfectly as possible”. She founded the first monastery of Discalced Carmelite nuns under the patronage of St. Joseph in Avila, Spain.The Carmelite nuns have since spread throughout the world. The first monastery of Carmelite nuns in the United States was founded in 1790. Now there are 60 monasteries of Carmelite nuns in the U.S. alone. 

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us!

Source: CatholicLink | https://catholic-link.org/our-lady-of-mount-carmel/

[tinyshe]

Click here to learn more: http://link.edcarm.org/eternity-youtube This is an age for Saints. There is a great darkness in the world, and profound spiritual sickness. But it is in the darkest hours that Christ’s light burns most brightly in the saints deeply united to Him. About this Religious Community: The Discalced Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a Roman Catholic contemplative religious order observing the ancient Carmelite charism as it was lived on Mount Carmel and in the Discalced Carmelite Holy Deserts. Fully observing this ancient observance, the semi-eremitical contemplative religious life of the Discalced Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is vivified especially by the assiduous practice of mental prayer, sacred liturgy, spiritual study, fraternal charity, silence, solitude, and penance. In addition, as reformed, specifically discalced or “barefooted” religious, the Discalced Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel observe a unique religious poverty and austerity that is not common in the secular world or even in most religious communities today. Thus, the Hermits forego most modern conveniences like electricity, modern heating and cooling systems, etc. Rather, employing wood for cooking and heating, candles for lighting, and manually transporting water and other necessities, we cultivate a greater simplicity and a more rustic and virile lifestyle, which serve as powerful aids to recollection, contemplation, and penance, in opposition to a modern world that is estranged from the interior life and enslaved by physical comfort and convenience. The unmitigated Rule of St. Albert lays the foundations of this religious observance, which provides the Hermit with the fullness of the exterior means to attain to that interior sanctification which is the fruit of Christ’s Saving Cross and is the beginning of eternal beatitude, and this work of sanctification and union with God deeply benefits the entire Catholic Church in powerful ways. Learn more at: http://link.edcarm.org/eternity-youtube

[troybeecham]

Today the Church remembers St. Edith Stein, Martyr.

Ora pro nobis.

St. Edith (12 October 1891 – 9 August 1942) was a brilliant philosopher who stopped believing in God when she was 14. Even so, she became so captivated by reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila that she began a spiritual journey that led to her baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she imitated Saint Teresa by becoming a Carmelite, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Born into a prominent, religious Jewish family in Breslau, Germany—now Wrocław, Poland—Edith abandoned Judaism in her teens. Moved by the tragedies of World War I, in 1915, she took lessons to become a nursing assistant and worked in an infectious diseases hospital. As a student at the University of Freiburg, she became fascinated by phenomenology–an approach to philosophy. Excelling as a protégé of Edmund Husserl, one of the leading phenomenologists, Edith earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1916. She continued as a university teacher until 1922, when she moved to a Dominican school in Speyer; her appointment as lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich ended under pressure from the Nazis.

She was baptized on 1 January 1922 in the Roman Catholic Church. At that point, she wanted to become a Discalced Carmelite nun but was dissuaded by her spiritual mentor, the abbot of Beuron Archabbey. She then taught at a Catholic school of education in Speyer. As a result of the requirement of an "Aryan certificate" for civil servants promulgated by the Nazi government in April 1933 as part of its Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, she had to quit her teaching position.

She was finally admitted as a postulant to the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Cologne on 14 October, on the first vespers of the feast of Saint Teresa of Ávila, and received the religious habit as a novice in April 1934, taking the religious name Teresia Benedicta a Cruce (Teresia in remembrance of Teresa of Ávila, Benedicta in honour of Benedict of Nursia). She made her temporary vows on 21 April 1935, and her perpetual vows on 21 April 1938.

The same year, Teresa Benedicta a Cruce and her biological sister Rosa, by then also a convert and an extern (tertiary of the Order, who would handle the community's needs outside the monastery), were sent to the Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands, for their safety. Ultimately, she would not be safe in the Netherlands. The Dutch Bishops' Conference had a public statement read in all churches across the nation on 20 July 1942 condemning the genocidal racism of National Socialism. In a retaliatory response, on 26 July 1942, the Reichskommissar of the Netherlands, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, ordered the arrest of all Jewish converts who had previously been spared. Along with two hundred and forty-two baptized Jews living in the Netherlands, Stein and her sister Tosa were arrested by the SS on 2 August 1942. Stein and her sister Rosa were imprisoned at the concentration camps of Amersfoort and Westerbork before being moved to Auschwitz. A Dutch official at Westerbork was so impressed by her sense of faith and calm that he offered her an escape plan. Stein vehemently refused his assistance, stating: "If somebody intervened at this point and took away my chance to share in the fate of my brothers and sisters, that would be utter annihilation."

On 7 August 1942, early in the morning, 987 Jews were moved to the Auschwitz concentration camp. They, along with Teresa Benedicta and her sister Rosa, were murdered by the National Socialists in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on 9 August 1942.

Pope St. John Paul II beatified Teresa Benedicta of the Cross in 1987 and canonized her 12 years later, and named her one of the six patron saints of Europe.

The miracle that was the basis for her canonization is the cure of Benedicta McCarthy, a little girl who had swallowed a large amount of paracetamol (acetaminophen), which causes hepatic necrosis. The young girl's father, Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, a priest of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, immediately called together relatives and prayed for Teresa's intercession. Shortly thereafter, the nurses in the intensive care unit saw her sit up, completely healthy. Ronald Kleinman, a pediatric specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston who treated the girl, testified about her recovery to church tribunals, stating: "I was willing to say that it was miraculous." McCarthy would later attend Sr. Teresa Benedicta's canonization.

The writings of Edith Stein fill 17 volumes, many of which have been translated into English. A woman of integrity, she followed the truth wherever it led her. One of the more profound things that she wrote was,

“Do not accept anything as truth that lacks Love. Do not accept anything as love which lacks truth. One without the other is a destructive lie.”

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Edith triumphed over suffering and was faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember her in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with her the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT TERESA OF ÁVILA The First Female Doctor of the Church Feast Day: October 15

"Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, though all things pass, God does not change. Patience wins all things. But he lacks nothing who possesses God; for God alone suffices."

A Carmelite nun, the prominent mystic, religious reformer, author, theologian of the comtemplative life and of mental prayer, and the founder of the Discalced Carmelites, was born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, on March 28, 1515 in Ávila (modern-day Spain). Her paternal grandfather, Juan Sánchez de Toledo, was a marrano or converso, a Jew forced to convert to Christianity or emigrate.

When Teresa's father was a child, Juan was condemned by the Spanish Inquisition for allegedly returning to the Jewish faith, but he was later able to assume a Catholic identity. Alonso Sánchez de Cepeda, Teresa's father, was a successful wool merchant and one of the wealthiest men in Ávila. He bought a knighthood and assimilated successfully into Christian society. Alonso previously married to Catalina, with whom he had three children, and in 1509 in Gotarrendura, he married in to a woman named Beatriz de Ahumada y Cuevas.

She brought her up as a dedicated Christian. Fascinated by accounts of the lives of the saints, she ran away from home at age seven, with her brother Rodrigo, to seek martyrdom in the fight against the Moors. Her uncle brought them home, when he spotted them just outside the town walls. From an early age, she was much impressed by the thought of eternity, and developed a strong desire to consecrate her life to the Lord.

When her mother died, Teresa (now 11 years old) went before the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary and implored with tears: 'From now on, you shall be my mother.'

At 20, much to the disappointment of her pious and austere father, she decided to enter the local easy-going Carmelite convent of the Incarnation, significantly built on top of land that had been used previously as a burial ground for Jews, but was scandalized by the relaxation of religious life. Visitors of all kinds were freely received, personal prayer, and meditation were neglected, and many members were idle and carefree. Nevertheless, she preserved in her vocation.

Notwithstanding the resistance of many ecclesiastics, in 1562, she founded at Ávila the Discalced Carmelites, whose members were committed to strict discipline and almost perpetual silence. They wore sandals instead of shoes as a sign of austerity and poverty. Six years later, together with John of the Cross, Teresa founded the Discalced Carmelite Friars in Duruelo. Intelligence was considered an essential requisite for the reformed nuns.

As Teresa said: 'A person can train herself to piety, but more hardly to intelligence. An intelligent mind is simple and submissive.'

Teresa enjoyed mystical revelations, and wrote many books filled with sublime doctrine. Teresa died in Alba de Tormes, Salamanca, on October 4, 1582, just as Catholic Europe was making the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. She was 67.

Her last words were: 'My Lord, it is time to move on. Well then, may your will be done. O my Lord and my Spouse, the hour that I have longed for has come. It is time to meet one another.'

Beatified by Pope Paul V on April 24, 1614 and canonized a saint by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622, her major shrine can be found at the Convent of the Annunciation in Alba de Tormes.

The Cortes Generales exalted her to patroness of Spain in 1627. The University of Salamanca had granted her the title 'Doctor ecclesiae' (Doctor of the Church) with a diploma in her lifetime, but that title is distinct from the papal honour of Doctor of the Church, which is always conferred posthumously.

The latter was finally bestowed upon her by Pope Paul VI on September 27, 1970, along with Catherine of Siena, making them the first women to be awarded the distinction.

[silvestromedia]

SAINTS DECEMBER 14

St. Fingar, 5th century. Martyr of Cornwall, England, with Phiala, his sister, and companions. Irish by birth, the martyrs were slain at Hoyle, near Penzance, by pagans.

ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS, PRIEST AD DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, DISCALCED CARMELITE Saint John of the Cross was a 16th century Spanish theologian and mystic. Together with Saint Teresa of Jesus, he reformed the Carmelite Order. He was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1926 and, traditionally, is nicknamed the "Mystic Doctor". https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/14/st---john-of-the-cross--priest-ad-doctor-of-the-church--discalce.html

[konmarkimageswords]

I live yet do not live in me

I live yet do not live in me, am waiting as my life goes by, and die because I do not die.

No longer do I live in me, and without God I cannot live; to him or me I cannot give my self, so what can living be? A thousand deaths my agony waiting as my life goes by, dying because I do not die.

This life I live alone I view as robbery of life, and so it is a constant death — with no way out until I live with you. God, hear me, what I say is true: I do not want this life of mine, and die because I do not die.

Being so removed from you I say what kind of life can I have here but death so ugly and severe and worse than any form of pain? I pity me — and yet my fate is that I must keep up this lie, and die because I do not die.

The fish taken out of the sea is not without a consolation: his dying is of brief duration and ultimately brings relief. Yet what convulsive death can be as bad as my pathetic life? The more I live the more I die.

When I begin to feel relief on seeing you in the sacrament, I sink in deeper discontent, deprived of your sweet company. Now everything compels my grief: I want — yet can’t — see you nearby, and die because I do not die.

Although I find my pleasure, Sir, in hope of someday seeing you, I see that I can lose you too, which makes my pain doubly severe, and so I live in darkest fear, and hope, wait as life goes by, dying because I do not die.

Deliver me from death, my God, and give me life; now you have wound a rope about me; harshly bound I ask you to release the cord. See how I die to see you, Lord, and I am shattered where I lie, dying because I do not die.

My death will trigger tears in me, and I shall mourn my life: a day annihilated by the way I fail and sin relentlessly. O Father God, when will it be that I can say without a lie: I live because I do not die?

-St. John of the Cross

St. John of the Cross (born June 24, 1542, Fontiveros, Spain—died December 14, 1591, Ubeda; canonized 1726; feast day December 14) was one of the greatest Christian mystics and Spanish poets, doctor of the church, reformer of Spanish monasticism, and cofounder of the contemplative order of Discalced Carmelites. He is a patron saint of mystics and contemplatives and of Spanish poets.

[portraitsofsaints]

Happy Feast Day

Saint Teresa of Avila

Doctor of the Church

1515 - 1582

Feast Day: October 15

Patronage: bodily ills; headaches; lacemakers; loss of parents; people in need of grace; people in religious orders; people ridiculed for their piety

St. Teresa of Ávila, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a prominent Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, writer of the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer. She was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered to be a founder of the Discalced Carmelites along with John of the Cross.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase. (website)

[hzaidan]

05 Icons, Henry Zaidan's Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified, with footnotes #80

Henry ZaidanSaint Mary of Jesus CrucifiedAI Generationneural.love Mary of Jesus Crucified, 5 January 1846 – 26 August 1878), was a Discalced Carmelite nun of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Born to Palestinian Greek Catholic parents from the town of Hurfiesh in the upper Galilee… Please follow link for full post