Cloistered Carmelite Nuns SW India Association

16TH JULY

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL.

The Sacred Scriptures speak of the beauty of Mt. Carmel, when the Prophet Elijah defended the faith of Israel in the Living God. There at the beginning of the 13th century, under the title of "St. Mary of Mount Carmel", the Order of Carmelites had its formal beginning. From the 14th century, this title, recalling the countless blessings of its Patroness began to be solemnly celebrated, first in England and then gradually throughout the whole Order. It attained its supreme place from the beginning of the 17th century, when the General Chapter declared it to be the principal Feast of the Order, and Pope Paul V recognized it as the feast of the Scapular Confraternity.

CARMEL AND ITS SAINTS.

13th July

Memorial of St. Teresa of Jesus, (of Los Andes) 1920

Juanita Fernandes Solar wes born at Santiago Chile on July 13th 1900. From her adolescence she was devoted to Christ. She entered the monastery of the Discalced Nuns at Los Andes on May 7th 1919 where she was given the name of Teresa of Jesus. She died on April 12th of the following year after having made her Religious profession. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 3rd 1987 at Santiago Chile and canonized on March 21st 1993 by the same Pope. She was proposed as a model for young people. She is the first Chilian and first member of the Teresian Carmel in Latin America to be canonized.

17th July

17 Blessed Martyrs of Compiegn. (1794)

Guillotined at the place Du Trone Renberse (now called place de la Nation.), Paris, 17th July, 1794, they are the first sufferers under the French Revolution on whom the Holy See has passed judgement, and were solemnly beatified 27th May, 1906. Before their execution they knelt and chanted "Veni Creator", as at a profession, after whichm they all renewed aloud their Baptismal and Religious Vows. The Novice was executed first and the Prioress last. Absolute silence prevailed the whole time that the executions were proceeding. The heads and bodies of the Martyrs were interred on a deep sand-pit about 30 feet square in a cemetery at Picpus.

       20th July 

Saint Elijah (9th century B.C.)

Scripture presents the Prophet Elijah as a man of God, walking continually in God's presence and fiercely defending the worship of the One true God. He stood up for God's rights in a solemn contest on Mount Carmel. Later on Mount Horeb he was granted an intimate experience of the Living God. St. Elijah is called the Father and founder of the Carmelite Order, a model for contemplatives. "The Lord lives, in whose presence I stand". He worked great wonders in order to bring back the people of Israel to the worship of Yahweh the true God. 

24th. July.

Blessed John Soreth.

John Soreth was born at Caen in Normandy (France) in 1394. He entered Carmel in his youth, and in due course took the degree of Master in Theology at Paris, where he became regent of studies. He later became Provincial. He was Prior General of the Order from 1451 until his death at Angers (France) in 1471. He restored and encouraged religious observance , wrote a well known commentary on the Rule, issued revised Constitutions in 1462, and supported and promoted the foundation of Communities of Nuns in the Order. 

24th July

Blessed Martyrs of Guadalajara (1936)

In 1936, during the Spanish civil war ,communist troops murdered 3 Carmelite Nuns at Guadalajara, Spain. They were: Sr. Maria of the Angels of St. Joseph(Marciana Valtierra Tordesillas), 31 years old. Sr. Maria Pillar of St. Francis Borgia (Jacoba Martinez Garcia) 58 years old. Sr. Teresa of the Child Jesus (Eusebia Garcia Y Garcia) 27 years old.

27th July
Blessed Titus Brandsma, Priest & Martyr.

Born at Bolsward (The Netherlands) in 1881, Titus Brandsma joined the Carmelite Order as a young man. Ordained a priest in 1905, he earned a doctorate in Philosophy in Rome. He then taught in various schools in Holland and was named professor of philosophy and of the history of mysticism in the Catholic University of Nijmegen, where he also served as Rector Magnificus. He was noted for his constant availability to everyone. He was a professional journalist, and in 1935, he was appointed  ecclesiastical adviser to Catholic journalists. Both before and during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands he fought, fathful to the Gospel, against the spread of Nazi ideology and for the freedom of Catholic education and of the Catholic press. For this he was arrested and sent to a succession of prisons and concentration camps where he brought comfort and peace to his fellow prisoners and did good even to his tormentors; in 1942 after much suffering and humiliation, he was killed at Dachau. He was beatified by John Paul II on November 3rd. 1985.

7th August

St. Albert of Trapani - priest

Albert degli Abbati was born at Trapani, Sicily, in the 13th century, and entered the Carmelite Order as a youth. He became renowned as a fervent preacher of the Gospel and a worker of miracles. He was Provincial of Sicily in 1296 and died at Messina, probably in 1307 with a reputation for purity and prayer.

9th August.

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. (Edith Stein) - Martyr.

              (She was beatified by Pope John Paul II at Cologne on May 1st. 1987,
                                            and canonized on October 11th 1998.)

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, She was a German Jewess.

Born eighteen ninety one, Who pursued higher studies

And hard work did not shun

In intellectual circles, She learned to move about

Until the great Teresa, Happened to clear her doubt.

The truth was with the Christians, So Christ became her light

When Hitler rose to power, She was a Carmelite.

Though she moved out to Holland, The Nazis tracked her down

And shifted her to Auschwitz, Where she received her crown.

16th August

Blessed MariaSagrario of St. Aloysius Gonzaga.

Maria Sagrario was born at Lillo, Toledo, on 8th January1881. A pharmacist by profession, she was one of the first women in Spain to be admitted to this qualification. In 1915 she entered the carmel of St. Anne and St. Joseph in Madrid. Through her spirit of prayer and her love for the Eucharist, she was a perfect embodiment of the contemplative and ecclesial ideal of the Teresian Carmel. She was prioress of her community when she was martyred on 15th August 1936. It was a grace she longed for and accepted in perfection of faith and ardent love for Christ.

ST. MARY OF JESUS CRUCIFIED 25TH AUGUST

                          

St. Mary of Jesus crucified was born of the Baouardy family, Catholics of the Greek Melchite Rite, at Abellin in Galilee in 1846. In 1867 she entered the Discalced Carmelites at Pau in France and was sent with the founding group to the Carmel of Mangalore i India where in 1870 she made her Profession. She returned to France in 1872. In 1875 she went to the Holy Land where she built a monastery in Bethlehem and began planning for another monastery in Nazareth. Noted for her supernatural gifts, especially for humility, for her devotion to the Holy Spirit, and her great love for the Church and the Pope, she died at Bethlehem in 1878.

 26th August.

St. Teresa of Avila's TRANSVERBERATION.

The chief among St. Teresa's virtues was the love of God, which Our Lord Jesus Christ increased by means of many visions and revelations. He made her His spouse on one occasion. At other times she saw an angel with a flaming dart piercing her heart. Through these heavenly gifts, the flame of divine love in her heart became so strong that inspired by God she made the extremely difficult vow of always doing what seeded to her, most perfect and most conducive to God's glory. ( Pope Gregory XV in the Bull of canonization.)

1st. September

St. Teresa Margaret  Redi of the Sacred Heart.  

Teresa Margaret belonged to the noble family of Redi, and was born in the Tuscan city of Arezzo (Italy) in 1747. She entered the Discalced Carmelite  monastery at Florence on September 1st. 1764. She was granted a special grace of contemplative insight based on St. John's phrase GOD IS LOVE, through which she felt called to a hidden life of love and self sacrifice. She progressed rapidly, fulfilling her vocation through heroic charity towards others. She died in Florence in 1770.

12th September

Blessed Mary of Jesus.

Born in 1560 at Tartanedo (Spain) Mary took the Discalced Carmelite Habit at Toledo in 1577 and made her profession the following year. She spent the rest of her life serving God in that Carmel except for a brief period in 1585 when she helped with a foundation at Cuerva. She died at Toledo on September 13th 1640. St. Teresa of Avila thought extremely highly of her. She was a great contemplative, intensely devoted to Our Lord and often drawing inspiration from the Liturgy.

17th September

St. Albert of Jerusalem...Bishop, and Lawgiver of Carmel.

Albert Avogadro was born about 1150 A.D. at castle Gualtieri (Italy). He entered the Canons regular of the Holy Cross at Mortara and was elected Prior in 1180. He became Bishop of Bobbio in 1184 and of Vercelli the following year, and in 1250 was made Patriarch of Jerusalem. In all these offices he was a model pastor in word and example, and he contributed greatly to the establishment of peace. During his Patriarchate (1205 - 1214) he formed the hermit Brothers of Mount Carmel into a collegium and wrote a rule for them. He was murdered on 14 September 1214 by the Master of the Hospital of the Holy Spirit, whom he had rebuked and deposed for immorality. 

1st. October

St. Therese of the Child Jesus.

Therese Martin was born at Alencon (France) in 1873. At the age of fifteen she entered the Carmel at Lisieux. She practised heroic humility, evangelical simplicity and trust in God, and taught the novices these virtues by word and example. She offered her life for the salvaion of souls and the spread of the Faith. She died on 30th September 1897.

Her parents Louis and Zelie Martin are the first couple to be beatified...by Pope Benedict XVI. and canonized by Pope Francis.

15TH OCTOBER
ST. TERESA OF AVILA, OUR MOTHER.
VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

Teresa was born at Avila (Spain) in 1515. As a member of the carmelite Order she made great progress in perfection and received mystical revelations. As reformer of her Order she underwent many trials which she intrepidly overcame. She also wrote books of the greatest spiritual value which reflect her own experiences. She died at Alba in 1582. 

19th NOVEMBER St. Raphael Kalinowski.

Raphael Kalinowski was born to Polish parents in the city of Vilnius in 1835. After military service, he was in 1868 condemned to 10 years of forced labour in Siberia. In 1977 he joined the Discalced Carmelite Order and in 1882 was ordained a Priest. He brought about the restoration of the Order in Poland and guided its growth. His life was distinguished for his zeal for Church unity and by his unflagging devotion to his ministry as a confessor and spiritual director. He died in Wadowice in 1907.

29th November Bl. Denis and Redemptus, Martyrs.

Denis of the Nativity, priest, whose secular name was Pierre Berthelot was born at Honfleur (France) in 1600. He was cartographer and naval commander in the service of the Portuguese crowns, but in 1635 became a discalced Carmelite in Goa. It was also at Goa that Thomas Rodriguez da Cunha, born in Portugal in 1598, had been professed as a lay Brother under the name of Redemptus of the Cross in 1615. They were sent together to Sumathra, where they were martyred on November 29th 1638 at Achen. 

Saint Maria Maravillas of Jesus. December 11th.

Maravillas was born at Madrid in 1891. She entered the El Escorial Carmel, Madrid on 12th October 1919. In 1924 she founded a carmel at Cerro de los Angeles, alongside the monument to the sacred Heart of Jesus. From this foundation followed 9 others in Spain and one in India - Kottayam. She always gave first place to prayer and self sacrifice. She had a true, passionate zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Even while living a life of poverty in the cloister, she helped those who were in need, initiating apostolic, social and charitable works. In a particular way she helped those of her own order, Priests and other religious congregations. She died in the monastery of La Aldehuela, Madrid, on 11th December 1974.

ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS. DECEMBER 14th.

John the Yepes was born in 1542, at Fontiveros (Spain) and entered the Carmelite Order in 1563. In 1568 he became, at St. Teresa's suggestion, one of the first 2 friars of the discalced Reform, taking the name of JOHN OF THE CROSS. He was an heroic defender of the reform for the rest of his life. He died at Ubeda in 1591, and from that time he has enjoyed great esteem for sanctity and for the spiritual wisdom to which his writings testify.

BLESSED MARY OF THE ANGELS DECEMBER 16th

She was born in Turin (Italy) in 1661, and died after spending her whole life there, in 1717. In 1675 she entered the Discalced Carmelite Convent of St. Christina, and several times filled the offices of Prioress and Novice mistress. She underwent continual spiritual trials, but was constant nevertheless in her ardent love of God. She was outstandingly faithful to prayer and particularly devoted to St. Joseph, in whose honour a convent was foundedthrough her good offices at Moncalieri.

SAINT KURIAKOSE ELIAS CHAVARA. 3rd. JANUARY

Cyriac Kuriakose Elias Chavara, co-founder and first Prior general of the congregation of the carmelites of Mary Immaculate, was born at Kainakary in Kerala, India, on February 10th 1805. He entered the seminary in 1818 and was ordained a priest in 1829. He made his religious profession in 1855 and was vicar general of the Syro Malabar Church from 1861. He was also the co-founder of the Sisters of the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel in 1866. He defended the ecclesial unity against the schism of Rochos, worked all his life for the spiritual renovation of the church in Malabar. Above all he was a man of prayer, zealous for the Eucharistic Lord and specially devoted to the Bl. Virgin Mary Immaculate. He died at Koonammavu in 1871. His mortal remains were transferred to Mannanam in 1889.

St. Alphonsa an Indian Saint - who was beatified together with Kuriakose Chavara in 1986 - was miraculously cured from a serious illness in 1936 through the intercession of the latter. (She was canonized in 2008.)

Yet another Indian saint, Rosa Eluvathingal, was canonized along with Kuriakose Elias Chavara on 23.11.2014.

ST. PETER THOMAS. 8TH JANUARY.

Born about 1305 in southern Perigord, France, Peter Thomas entered the Carmelite Order at the age of twenty. He was elected Procurator General of the Order to the Papal court at Avignon in 1345. In 1354 he was made Bishop of Patti and Lipari, and thereafter often acted as Papal Legate in the cause of peace and of union with the eastern Churches. He was translated to Corone in the Peleponnesus, and made Papal Legate for the East in 1359; In 1363 he was made Archbishop of Crete; and in 1364 he became Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. In these Offices he distinguished himself as an apostle of Christian unity. He died at Famagosta in Cyprus in 1366.

SAINT ANDREW CORSINI. 9th JANUARY.

Andrew Corsini was born at the beginning of the fourteenth century in Florence, Italy, where he later became a Carmelite. He was elected Provincial of Tuscany at the General Chapter of Metz. On October 13th 1349 he became Bishop of Fiesole, and in governing his diocese he showed outstanding charity, apostolic zeal and prudence, together with great love for the poor. He died on January 6th 1374.

BLESSED MARY OF THE INCARNATION. 18th  APRIL.

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 mystical life. Under the influence of St. Teresa's writings, and after mystical contacts with the Saint herself, she spared no effort in introducing the Discalced 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. She was distinguished by her spirit of prayer and her zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith. She died at Pontoise on 18th April 1618. 

SAINT SIMON STOCK 16TH MAY.

Simon an Englishman, died at Bordeaux in 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.

SAINT JOACHINA DE VERDUNA. 22nd. MAY.

Joachina was born in Barcelona in 1783. In 1799 she married Theodor de Mas, by whom she had nine children. Her husband died in 1816. In 1826 she was moved by the Holy Spirit to found the congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of Charity which spread throughout Catalonia, maintaining many houses for the care of the sick and the education of children, especially the poor. She loved to contemplate the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and this devotion characterized her life life of prayer, mortification, detachment, humility and charity. She died at Vich in 1854.

SAINT MARY MAGDALEN DE' PAZZI. 25th MAY.

She was born in Florence in the year 1566. After a pious upbringing she entered the Carmelite Convent where she led a hidden life of prayer and self denial. She prayed especially for the reform of the church. She was endowed by God  with many spiritual gifts and directed her fellow sisters along the road of perfection.She die in the year 1607.

BLESSED ANNE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. 7th JUNE.

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,  daughter of the church, in her great zeal for the salvation of souls. She died at Antwerp in 1626.