It was about 9:45pm last Sunday and I was looking forward to some quiet reading & prayer in my cell before retiring for the night. Monday was going to start a very busy week, so this was the calm before the storm.
Then there was a gentle knock at the cell door. I opened it to see Sister Julianna standing there with a note in her hand. We had already prayed Compline (Night Prayer) and so were in what we call “Grand Silence” when whatever needs communicated is done in writing. (more…)
Well, should I post this now, or wait a few weeks and be ready for next year’s feast of St. Teresa of Jesus? I’ll post it now, late as it may be.
Here is an exclusive interview with Holy Mother Saint Teresa. One of our sisters was able to “interview” her on some topics that concern us today, and her advice is most helpful. (translation: we found passages from her writings and wrote questions to go with them, so when it says St. Teresa, it really is her own words.)
Carmelite Sister: Holy Mother Teresa, I’ve read that there were times in your life that you really struggled to live a truly virtuous life. I think many of us share that same struggle year after year. What advice would give from your experience? (more…)
If I knew how to type in red font, I would. That way you would know how embarased I am that we did not get a post up for the feast of our Holy Mother St. Teresa yesterday. But she is the one who said, “God is found among the pots and pans” which is exactly where you would have found me yesterday. God willing, we’ll get something up this afternoon/evening, but that all depends if we have any more pipes start to leak (like this morning) or people get sick (like yesterday).
So the moral of the story is, stay tuned!
God reward you for your patience!!!
There are moments when the physical and the spiritual harmonize in an astounding, yet simple symphonic moment.
That just happened to me.
You see, our Chapel is connected to our convent. So yesterday evening as I was walking in from the gardens, I was met by the unmistakable fragrance of incense, in the hallway of the convent. I’ve probably had this experience a hundred times, but last night it was very moving. (more…)
No, Mary is not a day late, I am.
Yesterday was the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. At our Mass in the morning, Father had us on the edge of our pews relating the story of how the feast came about. Let it simply suffice to say that if your enemy tells you Mary is on their side, think twice about marshalling your armada, even if its twice the size of your enemy. You’ll be sunk and all the Christian slaves you’ve had rowing your boats will be freed.
For 6:20 a.m., I’d say Father did pretty well. (more…)
The Franciscans and us? We go way back!
St. Teresa of Avila’s spiritual director at one point was a Franciscan. St. Therese’s middle name was Frances. The first novice directress for our community in Mexico was a Franciscan sister. And our chaplain at our Motherhouse is a Franciscan.
So you might say that we are a bit Franciscan at heart. Oh, definitely Carmelite, but there is just a touch of St. Francis in us.
Today is the feast of St. Francis. But it is also a Monday, which means we were back to our usual weekly routine. Some of us spent the morning in the kitchen making peach pies for an upcoming fundraiser. (Eight down, two hundred forty-two to go!) We use cookie cutters on the crust to make them decorative and wonder of wonders, our cookie cutters had a mind of their own this morning! (more…)
Fifth Avenue and Rodeo Drive have nothing on the kind of extravagance I am talking about.
A rose for today's feast
Believe it or not, throughout the years Carmelites have been accused of a certain extremism, an extravagance that shocks the world. It is very, very hard to shock our world these days, but we do. We are not the only ones who practice this excess, but we do have quite a reputation for it. I suppose it really goes back to the one under whose special patronage we live. (more…)
