Celebrations in the life of a Carmelite Friar.

The past few weeks have been of celebration within the Carmelite family - why?
Because God continues to be good to us and send us brothers! At the end of September Brother James Hinchcliffe was received into the novitiate and clothed in the habit at the friary church of St. Andrew in Salamanca. This friary is on the site of the novitiate community which welcomed St. John of the Cross into the Carmelite Order and is now the home of the novices from across Europe.
Br. James received the habit along with 7 others who begin their religious life together under the watchful eye of their Novice Director, Fr. Desiderio Gracia Martinez, O.Carm. Fr. Desi was part of the Carmelite community at Aylesford priory last year and always provides a joyful welcome.

Fr. Damian Cassidy, O.Carm presents the habit to James Hinchcliffe

 





OThe novitiate class of 2013-2014 with friars from Spain, England, Ireland, and Portugal

 

On Saturday the 19th of October the friars of the British province gathered to celebrate the Solemn Profession of Vows of Brother Paul Jenkins. O. Carm. The liturgy for the the solemn profession of vows is one of the most beautiful celebrations we have. It has a noble and joyful simplicity. Paul gathered around him many strands of his life as he made his lifelong commitment to God, the Carmelite Order and the Church.

 

Br. Paul Jenkins

After the gospel Paul is called to present himself for Solemn Profession. he is asked "Beloved brother, what do ask of God and his holy Church?" Paul replied, " Through the mercy of God I have learnt the meaning of a life dedicated to him through the vows, by living among you in community. therefore, I humbly ask  hat, for the gory of god and the service of the Church, I may make my Solemn Profession in te Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel."

 



 

Br. Paul lies before the Altar as the community call on the prayers of the Saints to pray for him and the whole Church

Br. Paul makes his profession of vows into the hands of Fr. Wilfrid, the Prior Provincial.



The Carmelite friars pray the prayer of consecration over Paul

After Paul professed his vows the friars present prayed the prayer of consecration over him.

 

Father in heaven, source of all holiness, your love for us is so great that you invite us to share in your divine life.

Throughout history you have raised up men and women graced with every virtue. Foremost among them stands Mary, the ever virgin daughter of Zion. From her pure womb was born our Saviour Jesus Christ, your eternal Word.

He became poor to make us rich, a slave to set us free. With love no words can tell he redeemed the world by his death and resurrection.

You send your Spirit among us to sanctify us that we may row in holiness. The voice of the Spirit has been heard by countless numbers of your children.

Drawn to follow in the footsteps of your Son they leave all things behind to be one with you in the bonds of love. They freely and wholeheartedly give themselves yto your service and the service of your people.

Look with favour, then, on our brother Paul who has heard your call.

Send him the Spirit of holiness; help him to fulfil in faith what you have enabled him to promise in joy. Grant him perfect chastity, liberating poverty and wholehearted obedience.

May he glorify you by his humility, serve you with joy, and be one with you in fervent love. By the holiness of his life may he build up your kingdom, and thus be a sign of your love for the whole world.

May he live a life of constant allegiance to Jesus Christ.

Amy he be constant in prayer, faithfully pondering your holy word day and night, and so come to rejoice in the communion of your saints and praise you forever in their company. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.



Fraternal joy! Paul is welcomed by his brothers

 

 Please pray for our brothers, James and Paul and for those who will come after them!

 

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!





Feast of St. Teresa of Jesus

Pope Francis consecrates the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Apologies for the blog gap, our blogger has been on the move!

 

This past weekend, Pope Francis consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. this was a principle celebration within the Year of Faith when the Church gathers around Mary as the model of faith. The homily of Pope Francis is a beautiful catechesis on Mary, the Mother of Jesus

 

 

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This event of the Year of Faith is devoted to Mary, the Mother of Christ and the Mother of the Church, our Mother. The statue of Our Lady which has come from Fatima helps us to feel her presence in our midst. It is a fact: Mary always brings us to Jesus. She is a woman of faith, a true believer. But we can ask: What was Mary’s faith like?

1. The first aspect of her faith is this: Mary’s faith unties the knot of sin (cf. Lumen Gentium, 56). What does that mean? The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council took up a phrase of Saint Irenaeus, who states that "the knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by the obedience of Mary; what the virgin Eve bound by her unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosened by her faith" (Adversus Haereses, III, 22, 4).

The "knot" of disobedience, the "knot" of unbelief. When children disobey their parents, we can say that a little "knot" is created. This happens if the child acts with an awareness of what he or she is doing, especially if there is a lie involved. At that moment, they break trust with their parents. You know how frequently this happens! Then the relationship with their parents needs to be purified of this fault; the child has to ask forgiveness so that harmony and trust can be restored. Something of the same sort happens in our relationship with God. When we do not listen to him, when we do not follow his will, we do concrete things that demonstrate our lack of trust in him – for that is what sin is – and a kind of knot is created deep within us. These knots take away our peace and serenity. They are dangerous, since many knots can form a tangle which gets more and more painful and difficult to undo.

But we know one thing: nothing is impossible for God’s mercy! Even the most tangled knots are loosened by his grace. And Mary, whose "yes" opened the door for God to undo the knot of the ancient disobedience, is the Mother who patiently and lovingly brings us to God, so that he can untangle the knots of our soul by his fatherly mercy. We all have some of these knots and we can ask in our heart of hearts: What are the knots in my life? "Father, my knots cannot be undone!" It is a mistake to say anything of the sort! All the knots of our heart, every knot of our conscience, can be undone. Do I ask Mary to help me trust in God’s mercy, to undo those knots, to change? She, as a woman of faith, will surely tell you: "Get up, go to the Lord: he understands you". And she leads us by the hand as a Mother, our Mother, to the embrace of our Father, the Father of mercies.

2. A second aspect is that Mary’s faith gave human flesh to Jesus. As the Council says: "Through her faith and obedience, she gave birth on earth to the very Son of the Father, without knowing man but by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit" (Lumen Gentium, 63). This was a point on which the Fathers of the Church greatly insisted: Mary first conceived Jesus in faith and then in the flesh, when she said "yes" to the message God gave her through the angel. What does this mean? It means that God did not want to become man by bypassing our freedom; he wanted to pass through Mary’s free assent, through her "yes". He asked her: "Are you prepared to do this?" And she replied: "Yes".

But what took place most singularly in the Virgin Mary also takes place within us, spiritually, when we receive the word of God with a good and sincere heart and put it into practice. It is as if God takes flesh within us; he comes to dwell in us, for he dwells in all who love him and keep his word. It is not easy to understand this, but really, it is easy to feel it in our heart.

Do we think that Jesus’ incarnation is simply a past event which has nothing to do with us personally? Believing in Jesus means giving him our flesh with the humility and courage of Mary, so that he can continue to dwell in our midst. It means giving him our hands, to caress the little ones and the poor; our feet, to go forth and meet our brothers and sisters; our arms, to hold up the weak and to work in the Lord’s vineyard, our minds, to think and act in the light of the Gospel; and especially to offer our hearts to love and to make choices in accordance with God’s will. All this happens thanks to the working of the Holy Spirit. And in this way we become instruments in God’s hands, so that Jesus can act in the world through us.

3. The third aspect is Mary’s faith as a journey. The Council says that Mary "advanced in her pilgrimage of faith" (ibid., 58). In this way she precedes us on this pilgrimage, she accompanies and sustains us.

How was Mary’s faith a journey? In the sense that her entire life was to follow her Son: he – Jesus – is the way, he is the path! To press forward in faith, to advance in the spiritual pilgrimage which is faith, is nothing other than to follow Jesus; to listen to him and be guided by his words; to see how he acts and to follow in his footsteps; to have his same sentiments. And what are these sentiments of Jesus? Humility, mercy, closeness to others, but also a firm rejection of hypocrisy, duplicity and idolatry. The way of Jesus is the way of a love which is faithful to the end, even unto sacrificing one’s life; it is the way of the cross. The journey of faith thus passes through the cross. Mary understood this from the beginning, when Herod sought to kill the newborn Jesus. But then this experience of the cross became deeper when Jesus was rejected. Mary was always with Jesus, she followed Jesus in the midst of the crowds and she heard all the gossip and the nastiness of those who opposed the Lord. And she carried this cross! Mary’s faith encountered misunderstanding and contempt. When Jesus’ "hour" came, the hour of his passion, when Mary’s faith was a little flame burning in the night, a little light flickering in the darkness. Through the night of Holy Saturday, Mary kept watch. Her flame, small but bright, remained burning until the dawn of the resurrection. And when she received word that the tomb was empty, her heart was filled with the joy of faith: Christian faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith always brings us to joy, and Mary is the Mother of joy! May she teach us to take the path of joy, to experience this joy! That was the high point – this joy, this meeting of Jesus and Mary, and we can imagine what it was like. Their meeting was the high point of Mary’s journey of faith, and that of the whole Church. What is our faith like? Like Mary, do we keep it burning even at times of difficulty, in moments of darkness? Do I feel the joy of faith?

This evening, Mother, we thank you for our faith, the faith of a strong and humble woman; we renew our entrustment to you, Mother of our faith. Amen.

 

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.