MARY’S BIRTH – JOY ON EARTH

Happy Birthday to wish you, Blessed Mother dear

All we your children have gathered here

Privileged to sing the splendor of your birth

Profoundly bowing before You – our host

You, our tainted nature’s solitary boast!

Bless us Mother, we plead You

Immaculate Virgin, pure heavenly dove

Rare jewel of humility and unconditional love

Transform our hearts with grace from above.

Detach us from worldly ambitions that lead to sin

Aflame with the fire of love divine

Youthfully to serve God’s kingdom in time.

Devoted Mother, with courage and endurance

Enable us to work with prayer and penance

Announcing the good news of Your Son, our Saviour

Reaching out to the poorest of the poor.

Marvel of God’s creation are You, Maria Bambina

Obedient daughter beautiful of Joachim and Anna

Tabernacle chosen by the Father for His Son

Heavenly lily planted in earthly garden

Eighth September, the thanksgiving day for harvest

Rejoicing we celebrate Your birth, Mother dearest.

Mary pure Virgin, full of grace

Angels surround You in time and space

Reign supreme in us with Your Son

Yes, until our earthly journey is done!

 

TO BE CARMELS

Carmel’s height, that glorious sight

Beacons you and me

To take the flight to the Lord of Light

Bravely on bended knee.

Carmel is more than a mountain

It’s the symbol of human soul –

Sweet source of divine fountain

The secret of our goal

Only those who dare to ascend

Can taste its joyful gospel;

Soft, yet strong, its echoes trend

To shake pride’s towering steeple

Carmel transcends all other peaks

In its beauty and its glory

To the serene, silent soul it speaks

The ode of celestial story

It looks down from eternity

Upon the earth below

From the abode of the Trinity

Whence grace-filled waters flow

Carmel covered with clouds unknown

The encountering sight of the Absolute

Lit by the radiance of the sun

Reveals the mystery of the Truth

Standing between earth and heaven

Carmel unites God and man

Raising spirits as does the leaven

In unbroken, unspoken communion

Carmel, altar of contemplation

Goads on seekers in their search

To be “Carmels” to our nation

To be “Carmels” to God’s holy Church.

 By her life, her words and deeds

She wrote he gospel day by day

People read, near and far

The message of her Little Way.

Her life became a veritable channel

The love of God flowing through it;

She toiled for souls saved by Him

And her Little Way became a hit!

SALVATION PLAN OF GOD (continued)

                                                      

     Then God thought of sending His only Son,

The Chosen one and the Beloved one.

Resplendent in glory, radiant like the Sun!!

Oh Generous Father, we admire thee,

We admire thee (2)

Oh Generous Father, we admire thee.

     God sought out a face over all of the earth,

And then prepared Mary for Virgin birth.

In due time in a stable to His Son she gave birth!!

Our dear Mother Mary, Oh how we love thee,

Oh how we  love thee(2)

Our dear Mother Mary, Oh how we love thee.

       In virtue and patience she taught him the way,

Teach them to be strong in their faith and show them the way.

Do the will of the Father, there’s no other way!!

Dear Son of the Father, we fall at thy feet,

We fall at thy feet (2)

Dear Son of the Father, we fall at thy feet.

       Healing and preaching he walked through the land,

Spreading the message with His chosen band.

Have a house built on rock, not a house built on sand!!

The Kingdom of God, is nearer to thee,

Is nearer to thee (2)

The Kingdom of God, is nearer to thee.

       To finish Him off was the plan the Jews made,

A cruel death, Oh! on the Cross was he laid!!

His last drop of blood for great sinners he gave

To save us from sin, what a prize did he pay.

What a prize did he pay (2)

To save us from sin what a prize did he pay.

       Bleeding profusely and writhing in pain,

His death on the Cross, Oh was it in vain!!

The great Paschal Lamb for us sinners was slain.

Sweet Heart of my Jesus, have pity on me,

Have pity on me (2)

Sweet Heart of my Jesus, have pity on me.

       With a heart set on fire and His arms open wide,

Jesus my Savior is here at my side.

To guide me and help me to sail through each tide!!

Jesus my Redeemer, I kneel before thee,

I kneel before thee (2)

Jesus my Redeemer, I kneel before thee.

July 12th

SAINTS LOUIS MARTIN AND ZELIE GUERIN

(Parents of St. Therese of the Child Jesus.)

From the letters of Zelie Martin ......

When I closed the eyes of my dear little children and buried them, I really felt the pain. It is a pain to which I have always been resigned. I do not regret the pains and the anxieties I have had to endure on their account. Many people have said to me : " It would have been better if you had never had them." I cannot tolerate these words. The pains and anxieties of this life cannot be compared to the eternal happiness of my children. After all they have not been lost forever, life is short and full of suffering, we shall find them in heaven.

(Zelie and Louis had 9 children of whom 4 died in infancy and 5 became Nuns.)

SALVATION PLAN OF GOD

(Part 1)

To share in his great love God created man.

Gave him the earth and fixed his life span.

How sin entered in and then destroyed God’s plan!!

Oh Merciful Father, how shall we reach thee,

How shall we reach thee (2)

Oh Merciful Father, how shall we reach thee.

       Now the hearts of all people were going astray,

Their doom was eternal, and no other way.

The whole of creation, not one who could stay!!

Oh save us dear Father, we call upon thee,

We call upon thee (2)

Oh save us dear Father, we call upon thee.

       Abraham, Isaac lived in the fear of the Lord,

And Moses was blessed to hear the voice of the Lord,

He cried out, “Obey the commands of the Lord.”

Oh Father of Jacob, how can we thank thee,

How can we thank thee (2)

Oh Father of Jacob, how can we thank thee.

        They cried out to God in their misery,

In His great mercy, he heard their plea.

He sent them great prophets to set them all free!!

Oh Wonderful Father, we bow before thee,

We bow before thee (2)

Oh Wonderful Father, we bow before thee.

MISSIONARIES INDEED!

“Go and preach” was the Saviour’s command

"The Good News to all mankind….”

‘twas a mission to the chosen band

That through thick and thin with Him would stand.

Do Carmelites seem oblivious of this

Living secure in their enclosed bliss?

Is their missionary zeal nearly a wish?

No, Never!  Let’s not take it amiss.

Their silence in order to listen, to Love,

In total attention to the message from above,

Inter-mingling their wills with His, they bow

To His commands – obedience they vow.

Displayed in the ‘desert’ is their charity

True loving in their concern for authenticity

Honest with self, with others, with God in piety

Preaching through practice the divine amiability.

Spiritual companionship, openness of heart

Burning love for the entire creation – a good start

The knowledge and love of the Saviour to impart

Imbued by the Spirit – the Architect of love’s art.

On the cross at Calvary,

Jesus died for you and me.

Bore the sins of humankind,

God’s great mercy thrills my mind.

Christ You hang, arms open wide

Mercy streams flow from Your side,

To cure the sick, give sight to blind,

Blot out the sins of all mankind.

Jesus Lord and Master of all,

You pick us up each time we fall.

No more shall we Your love offend

To us Your wounded hands extend.

Shield us in thy loving embrace,

And fill us with your heavenly grace.

For  us, the wounds You endured

By which all our wounds are cured.

On the heights of Calvary

In the depths of misery

By the cross Your Mother stood

Amidst hearts harder than wood.

“Father, forgive them, You prayed,

While You were by insults sprayed.

“They do not know what they do,”

Infinite Mercy, thanks to You.