Our Lady, Mother of Divine Grace
OCD: Memorial

‘The Blessed Virgin Mary was eternally predestined, in the context of the
Incarnation of the divine Word, to be the Mother of God. As decreed by
divine Providence, she served on earth as the loving Mother of the divine
Redeemer, His associate, uniquely generous, and the Lord’s humble servant.
She conceived, bore, and nourished Christ; presented Him to the Father in
the Temple; and was united with Him in His suffering as He died on the
cross. In a completely unparalleled way she cooperated, by her obedience,
faith, hope and burning charity, with our Savior’s work of restoring
supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is Mother to us all in the
order of grace’ (Lumen Gentium, the Constitution on the Church, 61).

>From the homily of St. Cyril of Alexandria preached at the
Council of Ephesus

Hail Mary, Mother of God, august treasury of the whole world, unquenchable
torch, crown of virginity, scepter of orthodoxy, temple indestructible, and
place of the uncontainable, mother and virgin. Through you is named blessed
in the holy gospel He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hail Mary! You contained the uncontainable in your holy virginal womb.
Through you the Trinity is glorified; through you is the cross named
precious, and adored throughout the whole world; through you heaven exults;
through you angels and archangels rejoice; through you demons are put to
flight; through you the devil, the tempter, fell from heaven; through you
the fallen creature is taken up to heaven; through you the whole created
world, gripped in the madness of idolatry, come to a recognition of the
truth; through you comes about holy baptism for believers; through you the
oil of gladness; through you churches have been founded through the whole
world; through you nations are led to repentance.

What need is there to speak at length? Through you the only Son of God
shone His light for those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death;
through you prophets foretold what was to come; through you apostles preach
salvation to the nations; through you the dead are raised to life; through
you kings reign, through the Holy Trinity.

What man can sing adequately the praise of Mary? She is both virgin and
mother! The wonder astounds me. Shall the Builder be forbidden to inhabit
the temple He has built?
Shall He be despised who chose His handmaid for His mother?

See then, all things rejoice. May it be ours to fear and bow before the
unity of the Trinity, to worship and tremble in awe before the indivisible
Trinity, as we sing praises of the ever-virgin Mary, that is the holy
Church, and of her Son and immaculate spouse; for to Him is glory for ever
and ever. Amen.

Prayer

God of eternal wisdom, in Your providence You willed that the Blessed Virgin Mary should bring forth the Author of Grace, and take part with Him in the mystery of man’s redemption. May she obtain for us grace in abundance and bring us to the haven of everlasting salvation. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

July 20th

Saint Elijah
Prophet and Our Father

Feast

The prophet Elijah appears in Scripture as a man of God who lived always in his presence and fought zealously for the worship of the one true God.  He defended God’s law in a solemn contest on Mount Carmel, and afterwards was given on Mount Horeb an intimate  experience of the living God.  The inspiration that was found in him from the very beginnings of the Order so pervades its whole history that the prophet may deservedly be called the founder of the Carmelite ideal.

From the Office of Readings:

Second Reading
From a Homily of Pope St. Gregory on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel

In divine contemplation the spirit is often abstracted to such a degree that it is already granted the joy of partaking a little, in image as it were, of that eternal freedom which ‘eye has not seen nor ear heard;’ but then, hampered by the weight of its own mortality, it falls back into the depths and is held captive in penalty for its sins.  It has glimpsed the delights of true freedom and longs to escape from its captivity but, since it cannot, it keeps its gaze fixed upon the imprisoning doors.  This is why, when the Jews had been freed from slavery to Egypt, each of them stood adoring in the doorway of his tent when God spoke and the pillar of cloud was visible.

Wherever we direct our mental gaze, there we may be said to stand.  That is why Elijah said: ‘The Lord lives, in whose sight I stand.’  He did indeed stand before God, for his heart was intent on God.  That the Jews gazed at the pillar of cloud and stood at the doors of their tents in adoration, has this meaning:  when the human mind perceives these high and heavenly things — albeit in image — the elevation of its thought has already lifted it free from the limits of its bodily habitation; and although it is denied sight of the divine substance, it humbly adores Him whose power it can already see by spiritual illumination.

This is why Elijah is described as standing at the mouth of his cave and veiling his face when he heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him; for as soon as the voice of heavenly understanding enters the mind through the grace of contemplation, the whole man is no longer within the cave, for his soul is no longer taken up with matters of the flesh:  intent on leaving the bounds of mortality, he stands at the cave’s mouth.

But if a man stands at the mouth of the cave and hears the word of God with the heart’s ear, he must veil his face.  For when heavenly grace leads us to the understanding of higher things, the rarer the heights to which we are raised, the more we should abase ourselves in our own estimation by humility:  we must not try to know ‘more than is fitting; we must know as it befits us to know.’  Otherwise, through over-familiarity with the invisible, we risk going astray; and we might perhaps look for material light in what is immaterial.  For to cover the face while listening with the ear means hearing with our mind the voice of Him who is within us, yet averting the eyes of the heart from every bodily appearance.  If we do this, there will be no risk of our spirit interpreting as something corporeal that which is everywhere in its entirety and everywhere un-circumscribed.

Beloved brothers, we have already learned through our Redeemer’s death, resurrection and ascension into heaven, what the joys of eternity mean, and we know that our fellow-citizens, his angels, have appeared bearing witness to his divinity.  Let us therefore long for our King, and for those fellow-citizens we have known.  While our feet stand within the walls of His holy Church, let us keep our hearts facing towards the freedom of our heavenly fatherland.  We are still encumbered, it is true, by the many cares of this corruptible life.  If then we cannot leave the cave completely, let us at least stand at its mouth, and go out whenever we are granted the favor of doing so by the grace of our Redeemer Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without
end. Amen.

Prayer
Almighty, ever-living God,
your prophet Elijah, our Father
lived always in your presence
and was zealous for the honor due to your name.
May we, your servants, always seek your face
and bear witness to your love.
We ask this through our Lord.

Novena Ninth and Final Evening

Today’s Sunday gospel reading from Luke of the Martha and Mary story was the inspiration for the final homily of the Novena.  Father LaRocca built upon the teachings he gave us this week and said:

“The burning furnace of charity hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Spirit, the Living Flame of Love, wishes to purify, ignite and unite our hearts and souls through Christ, with God and with one another.  But before we get to this ardor, this zeal and run the risk of becoming anxious and upset – even in doing good works as Martha did.  We need to be like our dear Carmelite Sisters who take as their model the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the model of the contemplative life. Passively, and in purity and humility of heart, receiving the Word made flesh.”

It is so very hard to believe that this novena has come to its completion.  Gathering together each evening has been so beautiful as certain wonderful graces have been laid down upon the Garden of Mount Carmel here in St. Louis.  To have a Carmelite presenting to us a retreat through his uplifting and encouraging homilies has been a great blessing.  Near the closing of his talk he gave us some final words of wisdom on the principals of the spiritual life as we “move our way in prayer and in faith.”

Father said, “When this novena ends the pilgrimage to glory continues.  Always under the patronage of the holy Mother of God.  Always walking in humility and truth and faith – praying our way up Mount Carmel.  Not yielding to the temptations of stress and worry and fear and anxiety.  On the contrary, experiencing the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding.  That peace that the Lord wants us to receive.”

We hope that in sharing this novena with you that peace of Christ will flow across the bounty of this earth. We have been given this time in the world as the beginning of our eternal journey to live and love with God forever and ever.  AMEN!

Praise be Jesus Christ! - Now and Forever!

You may hear Father’s entire homily here.

You may listen to the choir, pray the rosary and listen to Benediction here.

The hymn (our Novena theme song!) can be heard here.

Novena Eighth Night

Feast day of Blessed Teresa of Saint Augustine and Companions,  Virgins and Martyrs during the French Revolution.

The novena mass began with a short explanation of the martyrs from Compiègne which we celebrated in the day’s memorial calendar. The martyrs were sixteen Carmelite nuns who were beheaded in France during the French Revolution. They were known as enemies of the state for nothing more than their love of God and love of neighbor. They mounted the scaffold singing Laudate Dominum omnes gentes. Marie of the Incarnation, who happened to be away at the time of the arrest of the nuns, escaped execution and she became the martyrs first historian. She collected eyewitness accounts of the nuns deaths. After the peoples of France realized the tragedy of the nuns sacrificial deaths hearts were changed. Their martyrdom helped to bring about the end of the Reign of Terror and end of the bloody revolution.

Father Chrisopher LaRocca took the opportunity of this blessed feast day to speak about the life and mission of every Carmelite nun. The Carmelite nuns are:

“consecrated in a special way to loving and venerating the holy mother of God and they seek to obtain evangelical perfection in union with her.  Mary’s presence among her daughters and sisters pervades the entire Carmelite vocation.  It imparts a special Marian tone to their contemplation, sisterhood, evangelical self-denial and apostolic spirit.

The history of the Order overflows with the presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  They present her as a model of prayer and self-denial in faith’s pilgrimage.  She humbly and wisely welcomed the Lord’s word and pondered it in her heart.  She was wholly responsive to the impulses of the Holy Spirit.  She is the valiant woman who follows Christ faithfully and shares in the joys and sorrows of His paschal mystery.

In Our Lady we contemplate the ideal of the Order lived to perfection. Her example inspires us to follow in her footsteps.  She takes the lead among the worlds poor and little ones.  She best exemplifies contemplative life in the Church.  Every sister will find in Mary a Mother and teacher in the ways of the Spirit who will conform her in Christ and lead her to the heights of holiness.”

You may hear Father’s homily here.

You may meditate with the music of the Ave Crux Ensemble choir and pray the Rosary from the chapel here.

July 17th

Blessed Teresa of Saint Augustine and Companions,  Virgins and Martyrs
Memorial

As the French Revolution entered its worst days, sixteen Discalced Carmelites from the Monastery of the Incarnation in Compiègne offered their lives as a sacrifice to God, making reparation to him and imploring peace for the Church.  On June 24^th, 1794 , they were arrested and thrown into prison.  Their happiness and resignation were so evident that those around them were also encouraged to draw strength from God’s love.  They were condemned to death for their fidelity to the Church and their religious life and for their devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.  Singing hymns, and having renewed their vows before the superior, Teresa of Saint Augustine, they were put to death in Paris on July 17^th, 1794.

The Second Reading                    Ch. 12, 1-3
From the Way of Perfection of St. Teresa of Jesus

It all seems very hard work, this business of perfection –and so it is: we are waging war on ourselves! But as soon as we get down to it God becomes so active in our souls and showers so many mercies on them that whatever has got to be done in this life seems insignificant. And as we nuns do so much already, giving up our freedom for love of God and subjecting it to someone else, what excuse have we got for holding back when it comes to interior mortification?

That is where the secret lies of making all the rest so much more meritorious and perfect, not to mention doing it more easily and peacefully.  The way to acquire it, as I have said, is to persevere bit by bit in not doing our own will or fancy, even in tiny things. till the body has been mastered by the spirit.

Let me repeat that it is all — or nearly all — a matter of getting rid of self-interest and our preoccupation with our own comfort. If you have started serving God seriously, the least you can offer Him is your life! If you have given Him your will, what are you afraid of? If you are a real religious, a real ‘pray-er,’ and want to enjoy God’s favors, you obviously can’t afford to shy away from wanting to die for Him, and undergo martyrdom.  Don’t you realize, sisters that the life of a good religious — a person who wants to be one of God’s really close friends– is one long martyrdom?  I say ‘long’ because in comparison with those whose heads have been chopped off in a trice we can call it long, but all our lives are short, very short in some cases. And we don’t even know whether our own won’t be so short that it will come to an end an hour, or even a second, after we have made up our mind to serve God fully. That could happen.

We have just got to take no account of anything that will come to an end, least of all life, for we can’t count on a single day. If we remember that every hour might be our last, is there a single one of us who will feel inclined to shirk?

Well, there is nothing you can be more certain of, believe me! So we must train ourselves to thwart our own wills in every way; then, if you try hard, as I have said, though you won’t get there all of a sudden, you will gradually arrive, without realizing it, at the peak of perfection.

Prayer
Lord God, you called Blessed Teresa
of Saint Augustine and her companions
to go on in the strength of the Holy Spirit
from the heights of Carmel to receive a martyr’s crown.
May our love too be so steadfast
that it will bring us to the everlasting vision of your glory.
We ask this through our Lord.

Novena night 7 – Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The novena Mass was so appropriately celebrated outside as the most solemn Carmelite feast day dedicated to Our Lady was prayed under the most amazing backdrop of a gorgeous setting sun and evening sky.  The cicada’s were chirping, frogs singing in the pond and swallows were heading back to their cloistered nest as Our Lady’s children gathered together under the mantle of her love.

Carmelite Friar and homilist Father Christopher LaRocca took the opportunity of this feast day to present the concept of the Garden of God, His dwelling place on Mount Carmel and souls arduous journey to meet Him there.

Speaking of the Our Lady as a typological enclosure of the garden of he quoted from the fifth chapter of the Song of Songs as Jesus calls to the soul enraptured:  ”I have come into my garden, my sister my spouse.”  He continued to speak of the spiritual fruits from the Holy Spirit, “In graces silent shining spectrum the soul says I am captured.  But oh how free this slavery with time and will suspended, this revelry of charity will go on un-ended.”

Father then spoke of the way the garden of our souls must be tended and he turned to the advice of St. Teresa of Jesus.  Teresa tells us how we must be good gardeners who must pick the weeds, till the soil and water it.  With the “help of God we must strive like good gardeners to get these plants to grow and take pains to water them so that they don’t wither but come to bud and flower and give forth a most pleasant fragrance to provide refreshment for this Lord of ours.” [listen to some more of her good advice here]

Father reminds us however, the Carmel is not just a garden but it is a desert.  He quoted from the prophet Hosea saying, “I will allure you into the desert and speak to your heart.  I will espouse you to me.  And so the desert is not just a place of temptation and purgation but it is the place also of the nuptial and transforming union.  The desert indeed shall bloom!”

Well, just when the soul has thought they have traveled far we must remember that though we have been good gardeners and have managed to navigate the desert there is still more.  ”Just as we enter in the the Garden to be refreshed an reposed, we have our desert to cross and the mountain.  Who can climb the mountain of the Lord?  Who can ascend to the dwelling place of God?” asked Father.

Father’s homily continued as a fine son of Our Lady of Mount Carmel spoke so beautifully of the spirituality of Carmel.  His love for Our Lady so apparent in every word.  If you do not have time to listen to each of Father’s homilies from this novena, this is the one you should NOT miss.  You may listen to it in its fullness here.

You are also invited to share in praying the Rosary and benediction in the Carmelite Nuns’ chapel here.  So joyfully did we sing that most famous novena “theme song”, the hymn “Queen and Lady of Mount Carmel” at the end of the liturgy.  You may sing along with the words here:

Read the rest of this entry »

July 16th

Solemn Commemoration of
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 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.

OCD:  The Second Reading (Alternative 2)
May 10 and June 22, 1967

From the Allocutions of Pope Paul VI

We can readily see that the Blessed Virgin Mary was endowed in high measure with a remarkable interior enlightenment, such as might have been anticipated in view of her sinlessness and the nature of her task in the world.  The Gospels make abundantly clear that her soul was gifted with an extraordinary insight into the ways of God and a prophetic intuition.  Yet above all else it was faith that most characterized the Mother of God–the kind of faith that does not need proof, but accepts a thing as true because God has spoken.  The Second Vatican Council declares that “the Blessed Virgin went forward in her pilgrimage of faith,” and the Gospel records how generous and meritorious that pilgrimage was when it cites Elizabeth’s high tribute, which tells us so much about Mary’s psychology and holiness:  “Blessed are you, for you have believed.”

We find confirmation of this faith, Our Lady’s foremost virtue, wherever the gospel tells of what she was, or what she said or what she did.  Faced with the attitudes that characterize the incomparable figure of Mary in relation to the mystery of Christ realized in herself, we feel compelled to follow her example, and discover patterns for those who have, in conformity with God’s plan for our salvation chosen the religious life.  She teaches us how to listen, how to explore, to accept, to make sacrifices; she teaches us how to meditate, to wait, to examine; she teaches us self-possession, and calm, absolute assurance in judgment and action; she teaches us, in short, the fullness of prayer and communion with God.  And all these things, though we see them in Mary uniquely realized by that one soul which was full of grace and completely under the sway of the Holy Spirit, are yet all forms of faith, and therefore close to us and available not only for our admiration but for our imitation.

You have chosen the narrow, austere, arduous way of the ascetic life.  You are in such a way committed to the pursuit of the supreme art of prayer and an intense spiritual life that you are branded as true searchers after the only fullness, the only peace, the only love: the union of the soul with God.

May the most holy Virgin Mary confirm you in your Carmelite vocation.  May she safeguard your love for the things of the spirit.  May she obtain for you the graces you need in your holy, laborious ascent towards the knowledge of the divine realm and the ineffable experiences of its dark nights and light-filled days.  May she give you the desire for sanctity, the desire to bear eschatological witness to the kingdom of heaven.  May she make you models for all the members of God’s Church, and bind you to them in brotherhood.  And may she one day lead you into that possession of Christ and His glory which, even now, is the goal towards which your whole life is directed.

Prayer
Lord God,
you willed that the Order of Carmel
should be named in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of your Son.
Through her prayers as we honor her today
bring us to your holy Mountain,
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns.

The gentle breeze which had softened the heat fell still this night but as Father La Rocca, OCD referred to the book of Revelations this evening we were graced with something equally wonderful.  Like the great sign which “appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” a beautiful crescent moon appeared over top of the tall pine trees which line the monastery grounds.

The big news tonight is to report the St. Louis Review (our local Catholic newspaper) has presented a multimedia story on the Novena.  The story features an interview with one of the Carmelite nuns who found strength in determining her vocation through attending the novena before she entered Carmel.  Also featured is an interview with the Rector of our local Seminary who was invited to serve the novena 30 years ago and has never missed one since.  He talks about being ordained on the feast day of St. John of the Cross!  You can visit the story at:

http://stlouisreview.com/multimedia

(Please note you’ll have to click the little white triangle play button on the lower left side of the image to play the story.)

You can listen to Father Christopher’s homily in its entirety here.

In the peace of Christ and his most beautiful mother we wish you all a blessed feast day (in advance!)

Novena fifth night.

Father Christopher LaRocca graced us with a homily he called the “MOM & POP” homily.  The words were his acronym for “Mother of Mercy” and “Power of Prayer”!

Father’s wonderful oratory expounding on the Hail, Holy Queen prayer to our Holy Mother was so beautiful. Speaking about the beautiful eyes of our Mother’s mercy he pointed out the unfathomable ocean of Divine Mercy.  He said, “When we look in the light of humility upon our weakness and our woundedness and weariness and at the same time understand the unfailing power of God’s Divine Mercy then we are encouraged to move forward.”

Father pointed to Jesus’ words from the cross to “behold your Mother”.  He said that as we behold our merciful mother and pray the Ave Maria with faith, “She who is full and overflowing with grace fills our souls with graces.  The specific and particular graces that we need today, now and at the hour of our death to gain heaven.”

You may listen to Father’s complete homily here.

The Choirboys were the guest choir this evening.  Their barbershop-style harmonies bring such a fresh sound to familiar hymns.  I think perhaps I will not be the only one blessed with the recessional hymn running about in my head tonight.  What a great melody to sing over and over.  – Dance then, wherever you may be… I am the Lord of the dance said he… And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be… And I’ll lead you all in the dance said he

Along with music and benediction you may pray the rosary along with us from the chapel this evening here.

While I am not sure of the official temperature in St. Louis this evening, the thermometer at Carmel read 103 degrees Fahrenheit at 8 in the evening! It was a scorcher! Nevertheless a special Carmelite day was to be celebrated during the novena as today is the feast of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes.

Juanita Fernandez Solar was born at Santiago, Chile, on July 13, 1900. From her adolescence she was devoted to Christ. She entered the monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns at Los Andes on May 7, 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 John Paul II on April 3, 1987, at Santiago, Chile, and proposed as a model for young people. She is the first Chilean and the first member of the Teresian Carmel in Latin America to be beatified.

She wrote in a letter, “Jesus alone is beautiful; he is my only joy. I call for him, I cry after him, I search for him within my heart. I long for Jesus to grind me interiorly so that I may become a pure host where he can find his rest. I want to be athirst with love so that other souls may possess this love. I would die to creatures and to myself, so that he may live in me.”

Remarking on the death of Saint Teresa at the young age of 19 years Carmelite Father Christopher LaRocca said “she was called to the martyrdom of love.” He counseled us to “live each day seeking the perfect charity that our Lord manifests for us on the cross.”

Father encouraged us with his words, “Our ascent, although it at times it might seem like a Via Crucis, like an Exodus experience through the purifying lonely desert, it is a journey to the fullness of joy. Rejoice in the Lord always!”

Tonight as we celebrated this Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel were honored to have with us the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus. The Sisters graced the mass with their voices in song as the guest choir. The Carmelite Sisters live a life of prayer, community and in their apostolate care for the elderly at St. Agnes Home in Kirkwood, Missouri. It was wonderful to see them in their beautiful brown habits and long scapulars!

You may listen and pray the rosary along with us from the chapel this evening.

You may hear Father LaRocca’s homily here.