Author: ocd web master

A solemn celebration on December 18 was held to mark the closure of the third centenary of the death of Blessed Mary of the Angels, foundress of the Carmelite monastery of “Saint Joseph of the Mother of God” in Moncalieri (Turin). The General Superior of the Discalced Carmelites, Father Saverio Cannistrà, presided over the celebrations that commemorated the 300th anniversary of the death of the Blessed, the first native of Turin and the first Italian Discalced Carmelite nun to be elevated to the honors of the altar. The “pilgrimage” of her relics from Moncalieri visited three closely related churches in Turin: Santa Cristina, the surviving church of the ancient monastery where she lived; Santa Teresa, where her body was saved and guarded for 150 years; and finally, the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians – alive with the memory of Saint John Bosco – who was a devotee of Mary of the Angels and of whom he wrote a biography on the occasion of her beatification on April 25, 1865 by Pope Pius IX.

Excerpts from Father Saverio’s homily:

Blessed Mary of the Angels leaves us “the ambition of a Christian radicality … the untiring search for the “radix” that is the Trinitarian life of God and his mysterious presence … which we can experience … in the flesh of the Son. … To go to the root you have to journey… a lived transformation in which the Spirit … works … with a chisel … engraving deeply». Within herself, she felt “all that we too feel in a minor form: temptations against faith, fears against hope … and the resistance to abandon oneself completely in the hands of the Lord. … Holiness is precisely this … the humble offering of our truth, of our reality, of what we are … a reality that always has so many cracks. … “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” (L. Cohen). Indeed it is like this: [it is] these cracks that make people imperfect according to our worldly logic. Where misery, poverty, incapacity, and powerlessness manifest themselves, it is there that love – that manifests itself in a more powerful, more vivid way – comes to take us, comes to save us precisely where we are not able to go forward, to take one step towards Him. It is only by letting ourselves be taken by this Love that we make the journey of holiness, a journey that is truly made only if we are taken, lifted up, supported by the strong arms of God.”

The story of this woman is a story of salvation, the solid rock that, as the Gospel says, will not be taken from us… and is to be made known. For this reason, among the initiatives that took place during the course of this year, we mention in particular the Exhibition at the Diocesan Museum dedicated to this singular female figure from Turin. The exhibition, which will remain open until 11 February 2018, traces her life, devotion, and the veneration that first spread to the Carmelite Order immediately after his death and developed and intensified bit by bit in the process of canonization. To honor their memory, the Moncalieri nuns published the new modern profile, “Io sarò carmelita: Marianna Fontanella, Beata Maria degli Angeli” by the publisher Editrice San Paolo. (“I Will Be a Carmelite: Maria Fontanella, Blessed Mary of the Angels”) written by Maria Teresa Reineri. Lastly, we invite you to read the letters and Spiritual Relations of this woman in which you can see how she turned over all of her wounded humanity to the Lord.

Source: Official website of the Discalced Carmelite Province of St. Charles Borromeo of Lombardy (http://www.ilcarmelo.it/)

 

Nearly seventy Discalced Carmelite nuns from several Spanish and Portuguese monasteries met in Avila’s CITeS—University of Mysticism during the first days of November. The purpose of the meeting was to study and reflect on Pope Francis’ Apostolic Constitution on contemplative life, “Vultum Dei Quaerere.” They were accompanied by the Order’s Procurator General, Father Jean Joseph Bergara.

Also at the meeting as auditors were Father Miguel Márquez Calle, Provincial of Iberia, and the Provincial Councilors of that province, Fathers Sebastian García and José Luis del Pozo.

Online participation made it possible for 143 monasteries from Spain, Portugal, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Mexico, and Lithuania to follow the course. At the end of the event, Father Jean Joseph and the federal counselors of Spain stayed on to meet for two more days.

The sisters who attended the course celebrated the Jubilee of Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus on November 2nd, passing through the jubilee’s holy door in the church of the Saint and celebrating the Eucharist there accompanied by Fathers Jean Joseph, Sebastian, and José Luis. It was a moment of particular communion with the Order.

We wish to thank Sister Virtudes Parra, ocd, from the monastery of Altea in Alicante, Spain, for the photographs and information she sent about the event.

“Let us live on the holy mountain for the glory and honor of God”

We sang the hymn of the jubilee with full voice to thank the Lord who, in his love and Providence, wanted and supported this presence throughout our history, despite the wars and in the midst of difficult circumstances, peculiar to the blessed Land where we are. The foundation dates from January 1, 1892, when eight Carmelites from France settled at the foot of Mount Carmel.

To tell this holy story, we published two books. The first, entitled Near the Source, is published in French. In four main chapters, we present the vocation and mission of our community and situate it in the whole of the contemplative life present in the Holy Land. We recall past events from archival documents and, finally, we express the meaning of our current presence within the local Church and in the social and political context that is ours.

The second book is entitled The Guardians of the Vine, a title that refers to a biblical verse from the Song of Songs. It is published in Arabic. It is an abridged account of our history, geared toward Arabic-speaking Christians and intended to present our monastery to them.

The Jubilee Year culminated in the celebration of the Eucharist on November 4, 2017, in the monastery chapel. It was presided by Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and concelebrated by Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, Vicar in Palestine, Father Hanna Kildani, Vicar in Israel, Father Enrique Castro OCD, General Delegate for Israel, several members of religious communities, local clergy as well as Discalced Carmelite fathers and brothers.

The Christian people were present in all their diversity: Catholics of Maronite and Greek-Melkite rite and Orthodox. We also enjoyed the presence of Jewish, Baha’i and even Druze friends. All, as children of the same Father, participated in the Jubilee Mass, led by the choir of the New Life ecumenical community. It was a powerful moment, an eruption of the Spirit in an atmosphere of joyous and festive communion, something of a messianic moment that overwhelmed us all.

To prepare for this jubilee, we have benefited from numerous collaborations in all fields, and everything made us feel that, despite our weakness and our poverty, we are at the heart of the ecclesial community, that Carmel belongs to the people of God; we are theirs and for them. It was a strong experience, part of the essential missionary character of our vocation.

This event was lived under the sign of internationality and interculturality. Such is the characteristic of the Mother Church of Jerusalem. During the celebration, we used three languages following the dynamism of the Spirit! A long procession of entry preceded the Eucharist: above all, the processional Cross carried by a Carmelite brother, followed by the entire community of sisters with some symbols: the Founding Infant Jesus, the same that Mother Mary of the Sacred Heart brought on the day of the foundation, 125 years ago. Then, the icon of Our Lady of Mount Carmel with our Holy Mother Teresa; a notebook from our Annals, and the light of the jubilee; behind these, the other sisters who bore lights, signs of fidelity. Our sisters on the council of the Association of Our Lady of Mount Carmel also participated in this procession while coming for their regular meeting.

After the Introductory Rites, there was the special rite of the Jubilee Year when we presented our symbols to the people. In the end, Archbishop Pizzaballa read the blessing that Pope Francis sent to our community on the occasion of the jubilee.

During his homily, Bishop Marcuzzo reminded us of the biblical meaning of jubilee, which, according to the book of Leviticus, is a time of repose, not for rest, but to return to the roots, to return entirely to God. What are our roots? He reminded us of our origins here at Wadi’ain es-Siah. Carmelites were born near a spring, as our Rule of Life says, ‘juxta fontem,’ near the spring of the prophet Elijah who, by his prayer, brought back the pagan people to the true God. He also recalled the important place that the Virgin Mary has in our Order.

“How can we return to God?” the bishop asked us. Saint John of the Cross tells us: we must go out, climb the mountain of Carmel by detaching ourselves from all that is old to enter a new way of thinking and acting, doing this with patience like Elijah did hoping for rain after years of drought. This is the newness of jubilee.

So what does it mean to go back to the source? We can respond as St. Teresa of Lisieux answered: “In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love”. I wish that you might make this holy decision, to be love in the heart of the Church of the Holy Land.

After the homily, we renewed our vows in the presence of the whole assembly: a powerful moment of communion with our pastors and also a moment of communion with all the consecrated men and women present.

At the end of Mass, the whole assembly was invited for a fellowship hour.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/-tyt1qduzl4