Author: ocd web master

Our General, Fr. Miguel Marquez, paid a fraternal visit to the Carmelites in the Holy Land from 19 January until 2 February 2022. Going back to a General Chapter of 1632, there is a tradition that Fr. General is also the Prior of Mount Carmel. This tradition is also noted in no.193 of our Applicative Norms.

In his own words, Fr. Miguel went to the Holy Land as a “Pilgrim General”. He wanted to visit Israel and Palestine to meet our friars and nuns, to see and hear at first hand about their lives there. His programme included the Pastoral Visitation of our friars in the Stella Maris monastery (Haifa), plus fraternal visits to the friars of St. Joseph’s Parish in Haifa and to the four communities of Carmelite nuns in the Holy Land (Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem and Haifa). Other Carmelite Congregations and lay people associated with our spirituality and our family were not forgotten either. The General was also able to meet the Patriarch, Mons. Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

His visit concluded on 2 February, Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple and World Day for Consecrated Life.

 

At the request of Mons. Gil Tamayo, Bishop of Avila, Pope Francis has decreed that Avila will celebrate a Jubilee Year to mark the IV centenary of the canonization of St. Teresa of Jesus. This Jubilee will have an unusual duration: it will be celebrated from 12 March 2022 until 15 October 2023 (a year and a half). This is because it coincides with the Teresian Jubilee Year which the Holy Father periodically decrees for the Diocese of Avila in any year that the Feast of St. Teresa occurs on a Sunday, as will be the case in October 2023.

The solemn Jubilee opening will take place on Sunday, 13 March 2022 with a Eucharistic celebration in the monastery church of St. Teresa of Jesus. It will be directly transmitted by Spanish television.

A decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary confirms that the above church of the Saint will be the official Jubilee Church where it will be possible to gain a Plenary Indulgence with fulfilment of the usual conditions (sacramental Confession, reception of Holy Communion and prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father).

My dear brothers and sisters,

We are all united with Ukraine and with our brothers and sisters there. We forward to you this urgent request for help for the needs of the people of Ukraine. At this moment I ask you for generosity in prayer and also for the contribution you can make. Thank you very much.

God bless you.

Miguel Márquez, Superior General

 

Kiev, 27th February, 2022

«Happy the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God» (Mt 5:9).

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

On behalf of the Carmelite communities in Ukraine (the nuns of Kharkiv and Kiev, and the friars of Berdyczów, Kiev and Gwozdawa), I would like to thank you for all the signs of care and support that come to us from Poland and from the whole world. This really strengthens our spirit.

We are fine, although last night in Kiev was difficult because of the bombings. We heard the noise and our house trembled. But God protects us, with the angels and Our Lady. We have not suffered any damage for the time being. We pray and ask for your prayers for Ukraine and especially for Kiev, which is suffering a terrible attack. 

Our main task is to pray for peace, but also to be present for all those who turn to us for help. People know that they can feel safe within our walls during the bombings, so we try to be prepared to help families (especially the elderly and mothers with children). We buy water, electricity generators, wood stoves and medicines. In the church of Berdyczów, with its old walls and  large space, we have organnized one of the bunkers for the city. Even the poorest families are asking for help to organize their escape to Poland, which is a difficult task, faced with such an avalanche of people fleeing war and less and less available petrol. We are aware that in time, essentials will end in the cities: food, drinking water, medicines, electricity… we want to be even more ready to respond, like a biblical Samaritan, to those affected by war.

Our friars in Poland have begun an initiative of creating a fund for material aid for the communities of our friars and nuns in Ukraine, and especially for people who are coming to us or will turn to us in the near future. We would be very grateful for your help in this difficult time. Please bring the donations to our monasteries in Poland or pay them directly to the account of our Delegation with the annotation: «For those affected by the war in Ukraine».

I am in constant contact with Fr. General and Fr. Provincial, and they will be the first to know should the situation in our monasteries change. Thank you again for praying and remembering us. In this is our strength and victory! We believe that God will soon put an end to this madness of war and that He will teach us to use this difficult experience for the good of Carmel, the Church and of all Ukraine.

In the name of the friars and nuns in Ukraine,

Fr Józef Kucharczyk, Provincial Delegate in Ukraine.

 

 

P.S.  Here are the details of our bank account (in different currencies):

🇵🇱 For payments in Polish Zloty:

Name of the bank: Santander Bank Poland S.A.

Name of a/c: KLASZTOR KARMELITÓW BOSYCH W BERDYCZOWIE

IBAN: PL46150016341216300373770000

SWIFT Code of the bank: WBKPPLPP

With the annotation «For those affected by the war in Ukraine»

 

🇺🇸 For payments in USD:

Name of the bank: Santander Bank Poland S.A.

Address: Al. Jana Pawła II, 17 

00-854 Warszawa

Polska (Poland)

Name of a/c: KLASZTOR KARMELITÓW BOSYCH W BERDYCZOWIE

Address:  ul. Karmelicka 1

37-700 Przemyśl

Polska (Poland)

IBAN: PL27150016341216300453690000

SWIFT Code of the bank: WBKPPLPP

With the annotation «For those affected by the war in Ukraine»

 

 🇪🇺 For payments in EUR:

Name of the bank: Santander Bank Poland S.A.

Name of a/c: KLASZTOR KARMELITÓW BOSYCH W BERDYCZOWIE

IBAN: PL29150016341216300452680000

SWIFT Code of the bank: WBKPPLPP

With the annotation: «For those affected by the war in Ukraine»

The Hai Phong Monastery of Carmelite nuns is situated in the Diocese of Nam Am, Vietnam. It was founded from the Hue Carmel. Two years after its inauguration, the monastery continues to grow both in terms of nuns and those from the locality. On December 16, 2021, during the Eucharist presided over by Msgr. Joseph, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese, two Sisters made their solemn profession: Sister Mary-Francis Tran Thi Phuong and Mary-Michael Dang Thi Le. With the solemn profession of our two sisters, the monastery begins a new stage in its development.

We give thanks for the gift of their lives to the Lord and for His benevolence to us.

Due to the pandemic, only a few people could be present. At the end of the Mass, the Prioress of the Community expressed her deep gratitude to the Archbishop, the priests present and the parishioners of Dong Con who were present or who were united to us in prayer.

 

I would like to address the whole Order, friars, nuns and members of the OCDS, in this dramatic and terrible moment: in union with the call and anguished supplication of Pope Francis to all the People of God, I would like to ask you most ardently, as a priority and urgent task, to pray with all the ardour and fervour of your faith for all the Ukrainian people who are being attacked and bombarded now.

We are in contact with our friars and nuns in Ukraine, namely the 2 communities of Discalced Carmelites Nuns in Kiev and Kharkiv, and our friars in Berdichev. The Delegate Father Jozef is travelling right now to Kiev to be with one of our friars and with the community of nuns. Some sisters from Kiev have decided to leave for Poland and get to safety. The community in Kharkiv has decided not to leave and to stay in their monastery. These sisters are the closest to the border.

We are all Ukraine now. This morning the Mother Superior of Kharkiv was telling me that they have no mass these days. I told her that the Eucharist of the whole Order had become one with them. We are in deep communion with the Carmel and the people of Ukraine. We are all ONE at this moment with our lamps burning.

With Mary and Joseph and all the Saints of Carmel, we pray to you Lord for the people of Ukraine.

 

On December 16, 1971, Fathers Nicolò Ellena, Marco Conte, Agostino Mazzocchi and Carlo Cencio arrived in Bozoum, in the parish of San Michele, to help the Capuchin friars and then succeed them. Among the Capuchins at that time was Fr. Armando Gianni, a future bishop of Bouar. This was the beginning of the Mission in Central Africa of the Discalced Carmelites of the Genoa Province. In 1973, Fr. Carlo founded the parish of the Child Jesus in Baoro.  In 1982, the Genoa Provincial Council declared the Mission in Central Africa as a Provincial Delegation of the Discalced Carmelites.

The year 2021 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of Carmel in the Central African Republic. The Eucharist on Sunday, December 20, marked the opening of the fiftieth anniversary. The celebration was presided over by Bishop Mirek Gucwa of Bouar. Our joy was great not only for the presence of so many faithful, but also for the gift of two new priests: Father Martial and Father Jeannot-Marie.

This anniversary is an opportunity to thank all those who, in one way or another, have assisted Carmel to take root in in the land of Central Africa, and to prepare the next fifty years in the company of many Central African friars.

 

“Walking towards unity”: was the aim motivating the Interprovincial Coordination
Council of Italy, at the invitation of the previous General Delegate, Father Alzinir Debastiani ocd, to begin the drafting of a Formation Process that could be used by all six OCDS Provinces of Italy. This adventure began in November 2017 with the preparation of a Formation Notebook from each of the six Provinces.

The most demanding work was certainly that of coordinating the individual contributions that were nuanced by different sensitivities and styles. This diversity, a source of wealth, had to find a logical and organic development: this involved a remarkable capacity for coordination, for which we thank the main architect, Brigida Silvana De Grandi, as National Head of Formation, and Maria Lupi who supported her in the final review of all the work. The process, approved by the General Definitory ad experimentum for five years on 18th of August 2021, has now been delivered to the individual Community Formators as a precious aid to be used on the path to human, Christian and Carmelite maturatity of the formators.

Let us entrust to the Lord, to the Virgin Mary and to Saint Joseph this National Formation Process so that it may bear good and abundant fruit for the good of the OCDS and for its journey in synodality, in line with the current path of the Church.

 

On December 11, 2021, six members in formation in the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order in Hafnarfjörður made their temporary Promises in the OCDS, during a celebration in the Monastery of the Discalced Carmelite nuns in Hafnarfjörður. Presiding at the celebration of Holy Mass was Fr Jan Piotr Malicki OCD, Provincial of the Province of Warsaw (Poland), together with Fr Robert M. Marciniak OCD, Delegate of the Secular Order in Iceland.

Such an event was an absolute novelty in the history of Iceland, as this OCDS community is the first and only one in the country. It was officially erected on April 13, 2019, but members had been meeting regularly since 2011 under the spiritual direction of Mother Agnes, a Carmelite nun from Hafnarfjörður Monastery, which continues to provide spiritual assistance to the group.

May the Icelandic members of the OCDS deepen their vocation, rejoice in a continual discovery of the richness of the Carmelite charism and joyfully give witness to their faith in the places where they live.

On January the 4th this year, our fellow friars, Masin Digal and Liudas Parichha, from Delhi Province, died tragically in a car accident. They were visiting their families after a long separation due to the pandemic. On January the 4th, 2022, they were on a pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Kandhamal with some of their family and friends, when the driver lost control of the vehicle and it plunged more than 20 metres. Brother Masin died instantly and Br Liudas before arriving at the hospital. In total, there were three dead and six seriously injured. The funeral of our Brothers took place the following afternoon, January the fifth.

Father General immediately expressed his sorrow and closeness to the Friars of the Province of Delhi and to the families of the deceased. «If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord» (Rom 14:8). Our prayers go to our Confreres of the Province of Delhi and to the families.

 

The year 2021 was a Jubilee Year for the Congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of the Child Jesus. Exactly 100 years ago, on December 31, the Religious Institute was born, founded by the Servant of God Fr. Anzelm Gądek OCD and the Servant of God, Sr. Teresa Kierocińska. Currently, the Congregation has about 450 sisters who live and serve in 11 countries. Father General (Miguel Marquez Calle) took part in the Jubilee celebrations in Sosnowiec on December 31. During the Holy Mass at which presided the Local Ordinary, Bishop Grzegorz Kaszak, Fr. General gave the commemorative homily.

Present in Poland from 27th December 2021 to 2nd  January 2022, Fr. General also visited some communities of our friars and nuns. On December 27, Fr. General met the permanent community and student residence in Poznań, and then the community in Zwola. The next day he visited two communities of friars in Warsaw (Provincial Curia and Solec) and a community of nuns. On December 29-30, Fr. General met two communities of Krakow: the formation community in Krakow-Centre and the community of the Provincial Curia. In addition, he visited both monasteries of nuns in Krakow: Wesoła and Łobzów. Finally, he visited Czerna and the community of Carmelite missionary sisters in Krakow.

After the celebrations in Sosnowiec, Fr. General went to Przemyśl, visiting along the way the Discalced Carmelites of Tarnów and Rzeszów. On New Year’s Day, Fr. General gave the homily during the solemn Eucharist in the church of the friars in Przemyśl, visited the nuns and at lunch met the Bishop of the Diocese of Przemyśl of the Latins, Adam Szal. In the afternoon he continued his journey to the convent of the friars in Lublin, also visiting the community of nuns in Dys.

The entire visit – short, but very intense – was an opportunity to get to know a little more closely the various Carmelite communities in Poland, their joys and their concerns.

 

Fr. Romulo Cuartas Londono (1948-2021) was originally from Colombia.  He entered the Discalced Carmelite Order on 2nd February 1969 and was ordained a priest July 3rd 1977.  In that same year he got a Licence in Pastoral Theology at the Pontifical University Javeriana (Bogota) and, in 2004, obtained a Doctorate in Spiritual Theology at Comillas Pontifical University (Madrid).  His thesis was entitled “The Trinitarian Spirituality of St. Teresa of Jesus”.  In 2019 he celebrated 52 years of religious Profession after a full life as: Professor, Parish Priest, Provincial, President of the Conference of Religious in Colombia, Author of numerous studies on Carmelite Spirituality and one of the principal organizers of CITes, serving as its Vice-director from 2004.

During a period of convalescence, he died as a result of a fall on December 21st.  His funeral was celebrated on Christmas Eve.  May the good Lord receive Fr. Romulo into His Mercy.

 

The Carmel of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus celebrated its 95th foundation anniversary last November 24, 2021. His Grace, the Most Reverend Charles J. Brown, D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, led the Thanksgiving Mass, together with His Excellency, the Most Reverend Honesto F. Ongtioco, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Cubao, and concelebrated by the Discalced Carmelite Fathers.

The Carmel of Thérèse of Lisieux was established in 1926 in the Magdalena Estates (New Manila). However, the history of the Discalced Carmelites in the Philippines starts in 1923, with the arrival of four French nuns from Hue, Vietnam, to the shores of Jaro, Iloilo. There, they established the first Philippine Discalced Carmelite Monastery. After the old convent sustain some damage after World War II (1938-1945), the present chapel and convent were constructed in the 1950s, with donations from many of the residents of New Manila.

As one of the patron saints of the Philippines, Saint Thérèse has a strong devotional following here, and her relics have been brought over for a pilgrimage four times.

 

On December 11th, the Nuns of Tolentino, had the blessing, not of the first stone of their future convent, but rather of its first plank of wood.  It had  happened, that as Mass began on the 30th October 2016, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6,5 had practically razed to the ground the original monastery of the Nuns. That same evening, the Nuns departed from Tolentino.  They were first accommodated by the Carmelite Nuns in Fano and later, in July 2017, when they had transferred to Cascia, they took up residence in an independent house provided by Augustinian sisters.  At the beginning of 2017 a friend had suggested that their original Tolentino monastery should be totally demolished and a new wooden structure constructed.  Little by little this idea came to be accepted as the most attractive one, taking into consideration the threat of further earthquakes, the time that would be saved in building and respect for the surrounding ambient and its resources.

Thus, December 11th became a day of blessing for the commencement of labour and a special occasion of joy and of a kind of  return to a homeland.  We entrust to the Lord our good Sisters and the project of their new monastery.

 

Carmelites of the Iberian Province celebrated the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Parish of St. Dominic Guzman in Santa Cruz, Tenerife (the Canary Islands), on Sunday 21 November.  Monsignor Bernardo Alvarez Alfonso presided at the Mass for the Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe.  The Provincial Council was able to make use of the occasion to hold its ordinary Council meeting at the same time in our convent at Santa Cruz.  This allowed  the Council Members to share in the special festivities.

It was a joyous occasion for everybody.  It was a day to recall the past, to celebrate the present and look forward to the future with confidence.  A small model of the parish locales, illuminated and designed in the smallest detail, was placed under the altar of the parish church.  A plaque simply read: “Thank You”.  It is a thanksgiving that every individual makes to God, to His Son (King of the Universe), while abandoning themselves in the hands of the Spirit.  May these words of St. Teresa of Jesus be the true spirit that guides our church of St. Dominic on the waters of this life:  “Now we are beginning.  Let us strive to advance always from good to better”  (Foundations 29,32).

 

Carmelite friars from the Karnataka-Goa Province have constructed a Prayer Garden in the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Benoni, South Africa.  The garden was blessed by Archbishop Buti Thagale of Johannesburg on the 21st of November, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

During the celebration of Mass, the Archbishop thanked all those responsible for the creation of such a beautiful garden where people can come to meet God.  The site has also been envisaged as a place for healing.  Father Arvin Tauro, Superior and Parish Priest, thanked everybody who had contributed to making the dream of a Prayer Garden become an actual reality.  The Archbishop also blessed the tabernacle in the chapel of the Spirituality Centre.

All the Indian Carmelite missionaries, Frs. Mari Joe, Boniface D’Souza, John D’Souza, Rayan Pais and Antony Stephen were able to take part in the celebration.