Carmelite Feast Days
8 -- St. Peter Thomas
9 -- St. Andrew Corsini
1 -- Bl. Nuno Alvares Pereira
18 -- Bl. Mary of the Incarnation
16 -- St. Simon Stock
25 -- St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi
7 -- Bl. Anne of St. Bartholomew
13 -- St. Teresa de Los Andes
16 -- Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
17 -- Martyrs of Compiegne
20 -- St. Elijah
23 -- Our Lady of Divine Grace
24 -- Martyrs of Guadalajara
27 -- Titus Brandsma
28 -- St. John Soreth
7 -- St. Albert of Trapani
9 -- St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein)
25 -- Bl. Mary of Jesus Crucified
26 -- Tranverberation of St. Teresa of Jesus
1 -- St. Teresa Margaret Redi
12 -- St. Mary of Jesus
17 -- St. Albert of Jerusalem (Lawgiver of Carmel)
1 -- St. Therese of the Child Jesus
15 -- St. Teresa of Jesus
7 -- Bl. Francis Palau y Quer
8 -- Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity
14 -- All Carmelite Saints
15 -- All Carmelite Souls
19 -- St. Raphael Kalinowski
29 -- Bls. Denis and Redemptus
14 -- St. John of the Cross
16 -- Bl. Mary of the Angels
January
January 8
St. Peter Thomas,
Bishop
Born about 1305, in southern Perigord in France, Peter Thomas entered the Carmelite Order when he was 21.
He was chosen by the Order as its procurator general to the Papal Court at Avignon in 1345. After being made bishop of Patti ad Lipari in 1354, he was entruted with many papal missions to promote peace and unity with the Eastern Churches. He was transfered to the see of Corone in the Peloponnesus in 1359 and made Papal Legate for the East. In 1363, he was appointed Archbishop of Crete and in 1364 Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. He won a reputation as an apostle of church unity before he died at Famagosta in Cyprus in 1366.
January 9
St. Andrew Corsini,
Bishop
Andrew was born at the beginning of the fourteenth century in Florence and entered the Carmelite Order there. He was elected provincial of Tuscany at the general chapter in Metz in 1348. He was made bishop of Fiesole on October 13th 1349 and gave the Church a wonderful example of love, apostolic zeal, prudence and love of the poor. He died on 6th January 1374.
April
April 1
Bl. Nuno Alvares Pereira,
Religious
Nuno was born in 1360, and for many years persued a military career, becoming the champion of Portuguese independence. After the death of his wife he joined the Order in 1423 at the monastery of Lisbon which he had founded, and took the name of Nuno of St. Mary. There he lived until his death in 1431.
He was noted for his prayer, his practise of penance
and his filial devotion to the Mother of God.
April 18
Bl. Mary of the Incarnation,
Virgin
Barbe Avrillot was born in Paris in 1566. At the age of sixteen she married Pierre Acarie, by whom she had seven children. In spite of her household duties and many hardships, she attained the heights of the mystical life. Under the influence of St. Theresa's writings, and after mystical contact with the saint herself, she spared no effort in introducing the Discalced Carmelite nuns into France. after her husband's death,
she asked to be admitted among them as a lay sister, taking the name of Mary of the Incarnation; she was professed at the Carmel of Amiens in 1615. She was esteemed by some of the greatest men of her time, including St. Francis de Sales; and she was distinguished by her spirit of prayer and her zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith.
She died in Ponoise on April 18, 1618.
May
May 16
St. Simon Stock,
Religious
Simon, an Englishman, was elected as one of the early Priors General of the Order and served during the difficult days of transition between hermits and friars. He died whilst on visitation of our friary at Bordeaux in the mid-thirteenth century.
He has been venerated in the Carmelite Order for his personal holiness and his devotion to Our Lady. A liturgical celebration in his honour was observed locally in the fifteenth century,
and later extended to the whole Order. Shortly after the return
of the friars to Aylesford a major relic of St. Simon was retuned
to England by the Archbishop of Bordeaux.
May 25
St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi,
Virgin
Born in Florence in 1566, she had a religious upbringing
and entered the moastery of the Carmelite nuns there.
She led a hidden life of prayer and self-denial, praying particularly for the renewal of the Church and encouraging the sisters in holiness. Her life was marked by many extraordinary graces. She died in 1607.
"How truly wonderful you are, O Word of God, in the Holy Spirit;
You cause him to infuse the soul with You, that it may join itself to God,
conceive God, savor God, taste nothing but God.
St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi
June
June 7
Bl. Anne of Saint Bartholomew,
Virgin
Ana Garcia was born at Almendral, Castille, in 1549.
In 1572 she made her profession as a Carmelite
in the hands of St. Teresa, at St. Joseph's, Avila.
The saint later chose her as her companion and nurse
and she subsequently brought the Teresian spirit to France
and Belgium, where she proved herself, like Teresa,
a daughter of the Church in her great zeal
for the salvation of souls. She died at Antwerp in 1626.
" Our Lord became a spring for us, so that we should not die of thirst among all the miseries that surround us. How truly he said in the Gospel that he came to serve and not to be served!
What tremendous goodness! Can we fail to be shamed by your words and deeds,
and the patience you show with us every day? How truly, again Lord, did you say,
'Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.'
Where can we obtain this patience and humbleness of heart?
Is there any way to achieve it except by taking it from Christ as he taught it to us
with those other virtues we need, faith, hope and charity?
Without faith, we cannot follow that royal road of the divine mysteries.
It is faith that opens our eyes and make us see the truth;
and where faith is wanting, there is no light, and no way leading to goodness.
From the Meditations on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bl. Anne of St. Bartholomew
OLMCarmel
July 16
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
(Solemnity)
The sacred scriptures speak of the beauty of Mount Carmel where the prophet Elijah defended the faith of Israel in the living God. There, at the beginning of the thirteenth century, under the title of "Saint Mary of Mount Carmel," the Order of Carmelites had its formal beginning. From the fourteenth century this title, recalling I the countless blessings of its patroness, began to be celebrated solemnly, first in England and then gradually throughout the whole Order. It attained its supreme place from the beginning of the seventeenth century, when the General Chapter declared it to be the principal feast of the Order, and Paul V recognized it as the feast of the Scapular Confraternity.
"Flower of Carmel, tall vine blossom laden;
Splendor of heaven, childbearing yet maiden. None equals thee.
Mother so tender, who no man didst know,
On Carmel's children thy favors bestow. Star of the Sea.
Strong stem of Jesse, who bore one bright flower,
Be ever near us and guard us each hour, who serve thee here.
Purest of lilies, that flowers among thorns,
Bring help to the true heart that in weakness turns and trusts in thee.
Strongest of armor, we trust in thy might:
Under thy mantle, hard press'd in the fight, we call to thee.
Our way uncertain, surrounded by foes,
Unfailing counsel You give to those who turn to thee.
0 gentle Mother who in Carmel reigns,
Share with your servants that gladness you gained and now enjoy.
Hail, Gate of Heaven, with glory now crowned,
Bring us to safety where thy Son is found, true joy to see.
