ocd web master, Autore presso DISCALCED CARMELITES

Father Agustí Borrell, OCD, Vicar General, held a conference on September 23, 2018, in Mount Carmel – Loco Monaco, Sicily, for the Secular Order. It was titled, “The Beatitudes: Day-to-day holiness by the light of Gaudete et Exultate.” Participants included members of the 15 OCDS communities of the Commissariat of Sicily and those interested in Carmel. Father Augustí proposed a series of reflections on the universal call to sanctity, which is the subject of Pope Francis’s exhortation “Gaudete et Exultate.” The Vicar General emphasized the responsibility associated with the gift of holiness that God offers every Christian: to incorporate oneself by means of baptism into the dimension of being a child of God, holy and beloved; that means to own the responsibility of caring for and increasing the holiness received as a gift, living out the discipleship of Jesus in a coherent and creative way. Along these lines, he brought to mind the specific role of Carmel, a school of holiness within the Church, and its great contribution to her with numerous and great saints that have flourished in the Order. The Beatitudes, affirmed Father Vicar General, are an genuine clue to track down the footsteps of Christ in the life of every person. They are the way to follow Jesus, an invitation to happiness, Father Agustí recalled, as Pope Francis indicated in his exhortation. He also highlighted how the act of following Jesus is completely outlined in the constitutions of the OCDS, since they call Secular Carmelites to commit to making the Beatitudes the standard for their choices in life and individual path of spiritual growth. Lastly, the Vicar recalled that the fundamental elements of the vocation of a Carmelite layperson are also prayer, service, and the communal aspect which is rooted in charity.

From 5^th-7^th October, 2018, the Secular Carmel of Canada, which is part of the Province of Malta gathered together for their 8^th Congress, where some members from the delegation of western Canada were also present.

The opening Eucharist was celebrated by the Cardinal of Toronto, Mons. Thomas Collins and the Provincial of Malta, Fr. Juan de Bono OCD, as well as other priests and deacons.

The days were spent in intense fraternal exchanges among the approximately 200 members present at the Congress from the 22 Secular Carmelite Communities situated in English speaking Central-eastern Canada. Also present were some Portuguese speakers and one Chinese speaker.

The lectures revolved around the general theme of the Congress: ‘“Enkindling the fire within” Carmelite spirituality for today‘s World’, which were given by Gladys McMullin OCDS, President of the OCDS Provincial Council, Fr. Alzinir Debastiani OCD, General Delegate of the Secular Carmel, Fr. Juan de Bono OCD, Provincial of Malta and Fr. Dominic Borg OCD, Delegate of the Secular Carmel.

Eight members made their promises during the closing Eucharist of the Congress and eight others were admitted from different communities. One member professed temporary vows in the OCDS.

Thanks to the good preparation and organisation of the Congress great communion and participation was experienced during the session. It was also an important occasion for sharing and strengthening the vocation to Carmel, together with an interest for vocations to religious life, which was very much present in the prayers which were raised to the Good Shepherd during the Congress.

It is good to recall that in this part of Canada, the Discalced Carmelite nuns have a presence with two convents, one in Zephyr and the other in St Agatha and the friars with a community in Scarborough.

We give thanks to God for these few days spent together and pray to Him for the presence of the Order in Canada.

Fr. Alzinir Debastiani, OCD, General Delegate to the OCDS

From the 21^st to the 28^th of September 2018, the Carmelite nuns of the Our Lady of Mt Carmel Association ─South Brasil─ gathered together in the St John of the Cross House of Prayer in Porto Alegre, to take part in a course titled “Accompaniment with Empathy” given by Fr Luis Jorge González, a Mexican Discalced Carmelite friar, a professor in the Teresianum in Rome and the University of Mysticism in Avila. The course was based on the book Santa Teresa: Acompañar Empático (González, LJ (2016), México: Ediciones Duruelo).

The course was destined mainly for formators and there were present 21 nuns from 11 monasteries of the region. In five steps, Fr Luis developed the topic of treatment with empathy in spiritual accompaniment: 1) Awareness of the THOU; 2) Migration into ones interior world; 3) Intuition in order to be with the THOU without judging it; 4) Capturing the emotional state of the THOU and 5) Reformulation in order to verify the understanding of the THOU.

Recently, on the 3rd of October, Fr François Marie Lethel, from the Paris Province, celebrated his golden jubilee of profession, accompanied by the friars of the community of the St John of the Cross International college, together with numerous priests, religious – male and female, in particular the Teresian Missionary sisters who live in their General House with their General, Sr María José Gay, together with a good number of friends. A solemn thanksgiving ceremony took place in the Teresianum chapel followed by refreshments and a fraternal supper.

The same day, the Vicar General, Fr Agustí Borrell, together with Fathers Alejan.dro Bartolomé, Jesús Sans and Teodoro Polo celebrated 40 years of religious profession in the chapel of the monastery in the Plaza de España of Madrid.

It so happened that, on the same day, Fr Saverio Cannistrà, our General, celebrated his 60^th birthday.

To all of them our prayers, gratitude and congratulations.

Edited by Terence O’Reilly, Colin Thompson and Lesley Twomey

At a time when women were effectively silenced in church, St Teresa of Ávila (1515-82) represents an extraordinary exception. Early struggles with her spiritual advisers gave way to an increasing confidence that she was inspired by God. She reformed the Carmelite Order she had entered as a young woman, and founded convents all over Spain, yet still found time to write a series of spiritual classics on the life of prayer which are characterized by a robust common sense, a directness of style, and a strong and positive vision of God’s love at work in individual lives. This collection of essays by leading scholars in Teresian studies covers topics in history, art history, literature, theology, and spirituality, in a fresh assessment of her significance five hundred years after her birth.

http://www.mhra.org.uk/publications/St-Teresa-Avila

There has come to an end the first Teresian jubilee year granted by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, to Avila and Alba de Tormes, on the condition that the feast of St Teresa of Jesus be celebrated on Sunday.

In Avila, between the novena and the closing Mass in the cathedral, at which presided the diocesan Bishop, Monseñor Jesús García Burillo, there was celebrated on the 15^th of October a solemn Mass at which presided the Vicar General of the Order, Fr Agustí Borrell, ocd, followed by a procession of the statue of the Saint through the streets of the city.

In Alba de Tormes the celebrations began with a solemn Mass at which presided the Bishop of Salamanca, Monseñor Carlos López, followed by a procession. On the 22^nd, as is traditional on the octave of the feast, the inhabitants of Avila said farewell to the Saint with an emotional processional through the streets of the locality, after celebrating the Eucharist at which presided Fr Miguel Márquez.

This year, the number of pilgrims arriving at Avila and Alba de Tormes has been very high and noteworthy was the visit of His Majesty, King Felipe VI of Spain, on the 19^th of September, who entered through the holy door and visited the Teresian museum in Avila.

Both locations managed to organize, in addition, a religious program, catechetical-Teresian and cultural that, in Alba de Tormes, will continue until December with the Vítor Teresa exhibition. [Vítor = Public rejoicing in honor of the achiever of some glorious deed.]

We share the pleasing news of the spiritual exercises undetaken by members of the Secular Order from the Province of Venice, which on this occasion were enriched by the presence of the urn containing the relics of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. It was an enormous grace which enabled all those participating in the exercises to understand how it is possible to undertake a path in which her help is never lacking.

Fr. Bruno Moriconi, a Discalced Carmelite from the Central Italian Province and emeritus professor of the Teresianum, led the exercises and chose for the theme of his preaching: ‘Created to discover that we are children of God’.

The OCDS communities, who met during this period, appreciated Fr. Bruno’s fraternal and approachable presence, which contributed to an invaluable life-giving message based on experience.

The Commissariat of Sicily wished to remember the 450 years of the founding of the Duruelo monastery by celebrating a course of spiritual exercises for religious and laity in the Spirituality House of the Villasmundo Carmel. The title of the exercises was taken from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 24: “for those who are called, Christ crucified is the power of God and wisdom of God.” On November 28, 1568, when Brother John of St Matthias, together with his companions, took the new habit of Carmel, he assumed a new name: Brother John of the Cross. The reflections of these days of exercises have concentrated on his choice of this religious surname, with illumination from the text of The Science of the Cross of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Edith Stein.

The VII^th FORUM for professors of Spiritual Theology in Italy took place from 13^th-15^thSeptember entitled ‘Doing Spiritual Theology from the reading of the texts’. More than thirty professors, both men and women, took part in this gathering from all over Italy, reflecting on two particular texts: Spiritual Testimony (or Relation) N^o2 by St. Teresa and the Thoughts on death (Pensiero alla morte in the original Italian) by Paul VI.

The COMMUNICATIONES number 257 (05/08/2014) included some errors about the foundation of the Hong Kong Carmel in China.

Specifically, the monastery of Hong Kong was officially founded in 1937 (not in 1923) and from then until today the Discalced Carmelites nuns have kept it open uninterruptedly.

In this link, you can download a brochure with the history of the monastery and the correct information about its foundation: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tXDqsox5ev3yBlxaX5t_1l1hMvfOA3yG

From 14^th-16^thSeptember, the municipality of Sacrofarno near Rome (Italy) was the scene of an encounter between the Fr. General and a good number of Mother superiors of Italian Discalced Carmelite nuns in Italy. Although the main objective of the encounter was to reflect on Cor Orans, to which Mons. Sebastiano Pacciolla, O. Cist., Under-secretary of the CIVCSVA, also gave his assistance, the most precious fruit of this encounter was the dialogue which ensued between Fr. Saverio Cannistrà and his delegate for the nuns, Fr. Rafal Wilkowski, with the mother superiors of the convents whether or not they are part of the association in Italy, a country in which the Carmel nuns forms a substantive part.

On the 24th of September, began the activities to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the foundation of the federation of the Mexican Discalced Carmelite nuns, with a Eucharistic celebration at which presided our Father General, Fr. Saverio Cannistrà OCD, accompanied by Fr. Rafal Wilkowski OCD ─Secretary General for the Discalced Carmelite nuns, Fr. Javier Mena OCD ─Definitor General for Latin America, Fr. Ricardo Pérez OCD ─OCD Provincial for Mexico, Fr. Juan Pablo Patiño OCD ─Assistant for the Federation and Provincial Delegate for the Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Mexico, Friars from the Council of the Mexican Province of St Albert, as well as other Discalced friars from the Mexican Province and other circumscriptions of the Order.

In a fraternal environment charged with a spirit of thanksgiving for these 50 years, the nuns of the 37 monasteries of the Federation gathered during a week in the St John Paul II Pastoral House, in San Juan de los Lagos, for some days in which to remember the journey made and for study and reflection on upon the challenges of the future, in such a way that it would be possible always to walk from good to better, as the heart of our Holy Mother Teresa desired.

Cfr: Comunicaciones Provinciales OCD México ® 2018

More than thirty Discalced Carmelite nuns in charge of formation and superiors of their communities met between 7^th-13^th September last in the Teresianum in Rome. During the encounter, the nuns who took part attended two courses on the subject of the formation of modern generations of Carmelites. The course on the Teresian perspective was given by Fr. Giuseppe Pozzobon and the one from the perspective of St. John of the Cross by Fr. Iain Matthew, which gave way to an exchange of opinions and approaches to the formation of candidates in the feminine Teresian Carmel. The gathering, organised by the Federation ‘Mater Carmeli’ of Italy, was supported by the presence of the association ‘Regina Pacis’, led by their President.

The sisters were also able to inform themselves about some of the services which the faculty offers communities, such as the online diploma course in Theology, as well as the library, which the nuns visited accompanied by Fr. Ciro. Thus they will be able to benefit from the resources available on the internet.

As has become a tradition, every three years, there is a european encounter for OCD students in a European country.

This year the place chosen was Fatima, where we reflected on the Marian spirituality of Carmel for three days.

A total of 92 religious, including provincials, teachers and students met in the convent – house of spirituality of the Discalced Carmelite friars in Portugal called ‘Domus Carmeli’, in order to get to know each other better and to reflect together on the present situation and the future of the Order in continental Europe. There was also time for fraternal encounters, always an enriching experience and for participants to have the opportunity to get to know the ancient Carmelite Desert of Bucaco and to share prayer and fraternity with the sisters from the convents in Fatima and Coimbra.

The talks had a unifying thread: the messages of Fatima, the personalities of Saints Francisco and Jacinta and that of Sr. Lucia were given by D. Carlos Cabecitas (rector of the Sanctuary of Fatima), Sr.Ángela Coelho (vice-postulator for the cause of canonisation of Sor Lucia), Fr. Miguel Márquez, OCD and the Fr. General, Saverio Cannistrà.

The commision set up by the General Definitory for the project of the rereading of the Constitutions, met in Rome from 24^th – 28^th June.

The next meeting took place from 27^th August – 5^th September, when, in addition to finish scrutinising the responses to the most recent study guides sent to the circumscriptions, the commision prepared a few proposals for the Extraordinary Definitory to take place in Goa in February, 2019. These were presented to the General Government.

It will be up to the Fr, General and his definitors to make the appropriate decisions with respect to the future, which will then be communicated to the different circumscriptions.