Mastodawn

24 February: Blessed Josefa Naval Girbés

February 24
BLESSED JOSEFA NAVAL GIRBÉS
Virgin

Optional Memorial

Josefa Naval Girbés was born at Algemesi in the Archdiocese of Valencia, Spain, on December 11, 1820. As a very young woman, she consecrated herself to the Lord by a perpetual vow of chastity. Josefa’s life was simple. She stood out for her ardent love, and she made progress along the way of prayer and evangelical perfection while dedicating herself generously to apostolic works in her parish community. In her own home, she opened a school where she taught needlework, prayer, and the evangelical virtues. She formed many young girls and women and shared with them her wisdom and spiritual understanding. She was a member of the Third Order Secular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Teresa of Jesus and had a special love for the Virgin Mother of God. Her holy death took place on February 24, 1893. She is buried in her parish church of Saint James in her native city.

From the common of virgins

Office of Readings

Second Reading
From the Decree regarding the heroic virtues of Josefa Naval Girbés
(Valentina, January 3, 1987)

She regarded her parish as her Mother in the faith

Since parishes in a certain way represent the visible Church established on the earth, Josefa, the Servant of God, regarded her parish as her Mother in faith and in grace, and as such she loved her and served her with humility and with a spirit of sacrifice. And for that reason, she showed her parish priest sincere veneration and entrusted herself to his spiritual direction. She looked after the making of liturgical furnishings and she saw that they were kept clean and well cared for, and the altars as well. Each day she went to the parish church to take part in the Eucharistic sacrifice. But she was especially notable for her intelligent and fruitful apostolate, which she always carried out with the consent of her pastors, to whom she professed absolute respect and obedience.

Convinced as Josefa was that Christians ought to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, she was not content to practice the virtues at home. Rather she wanted to fulfill completely the command of the Lord who said, Let your light shine before men in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. And so she sought every opportunity to proclaim Christ by word and deed both to non-believers, in order to draw them to the faith, and to the faithful, in order to instruct and confirm them and encourage them to live more fervently. With that in view, she taught the poor and counseled all who came to her. She restored peace in broken families. She organized meetings for mothers in her own house in order to help them in their Christian formation. She brought back to the way of virtue women who had gone astray, and she prudently admonished sinners. However, the work on which she most focused her care and energy was that of instructing young people in the things of life and in the faith. For their sake, she opened in her house a free embroidery school which was well attended. Her workshop became a place of fraternal gatherings. It was a center of prayer, where God was praised and where the Sacred Scriptures and eternal truths were explained and developed.

Like a loving mother, the Servant of God watched over her followers and prepared them for life. She was a model of fervent love for God. She was a lamp that gave forth light and warmth and a shining example in so many ways of a living and contagious faith, of unflagging love, and of joyous submission to the will of God and of her superiors. Josefa is remembered for her unbounded solicitude for the salvation of souls. She stood out for her singular prudence, and for the humility, poverty, silence, and patience that she always practiced, even amidst setbacks and difficulties. The fervor with which she cultivated the interior life of prayer and meditation and her patience under trial were well known, as was her love for the Eucharist and for the Virgin Mary and the saints. In this way, the Servant of God helped to build up her parish community.

Responsory

R/. Put into practice all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable and worthy of praise: * and the God of peace will be with you.
V/. Direct your thoughts wholly to what is decent and meritorious, * and the God of peace will be with you.

Prayer

O God,
through the new leaven of the Gospel,
you call men and women
and empower them to serve you faithfully in secular life.
Grant that they may fervently imitate the example of Blessed Josefa,
and, through her intercession,
work tirelessly as true Christians to build up your kingdom
by fulfilling their duties in the world.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Josefa and her needlework students
Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.

#BlessedPepa #JosefaNavalGirbés #Liturgy #optionalMemorial #SecularCarmelites #virgin

Carmelite Quotes Feb 2

4 February: Blessed Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus Grialou

February 4
BLESSED MARIE-EUGENE OF THE CHILD JESUS GRIALOU
Priest

Optional Memorial

Henri Grialou was born in Aubin, in Aveyron (France), on December 2, 1894. After his priestly ordination on February 4, 1922, he was captivated by the doctrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and St. John of the Cross and decided to join the Discalced Carmelites. After serving as superior in France, in 1937 he was elected to serve as a General Definitor of the Order in Rome. In 1948, he was appointed Apostolic Visitor of the Discalced Carmelite nuns in France and religious assistant to their federations. From 1955 he was able to devote himself full-time to the secular institute Notre Dame de Vie, which he started in 1932. He died in Venasque on March 27th, 1967, the feast day of the institute. He was beatified in 2016 by Pope Francis.

From the common of pastors or of holy men (religious)

Office of Readings

Second Reading
I Am A Daughter of the Church, Fides, Notre Dame Indiana 1955, 665-666

From the writings of Blessed Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, priest

The saint in the whole Christ

It is especially in their common work that the Holy Spirit glorifies the instruments He has chosen. The Holy Spirit makes Himself lowly with saints in order to glorify them. Inspirer of the work by His light, efficacious agent by His omnipotence, yet He hides Himself under the human traits of the apostle. Anyone wanting to analyze the character of the works could, in fact, find the raison d’être of each one of them in the personality of the saint. The manifold works and institutions in which the Spirit has put His leaven of immortality and in which the Church takes just pride, show forth admirably the gifts, the desires, the diverse genius of their founder. The Holy Spirit appears in this world under a thousand human faces that reflect the power and grace of His hidden presence. The Spirit never repeats Himself in the exterior forms He chooses. Is this not the reason why Saint John of the Cross asks us never to take a saint for our model? This would be to expose oneself to failure in suppleness, in fidelity to the movement of the Spirit, who manifests His power and perfection as Spirit in the variety of His works and the perfection of His incarnation in each one of His instruments.

The delicate charms of this loving collaboration of God and the soul, these playings of the love that unites them, in turn, brilliant and hidden, all these splendors of lowliness and of power are only beauties of here below, a reflection that reaches us from the beauty of the work the Holy Spirit is building. This work is the Spouse who comes up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her Beloved; this is the masterpiece of Divine Mercy, the whole Christ in whom God has brought together and orientated all things. For the beauty of the Church of God, Jesus gave His blood; and the Spirit continues to immolate His victims after filling them with the marvelous gifts of His grace. We are all dedicated to the consummation of this work. Our gaze must rest on it lovingly and there remain fixed.

The saint is such only because he has entered by transforming union in the whole Christ. Identified with Christ Jesus, he continues Christ’s priestly prayer for union. With the Spirit of Love, he groans within himself, “waiting for the adoption as sons”; and under Love’s captivation, works to consummate in unity all those whom God has “predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son.”

Responsory

R/. We have the first fruits of the Spirit; * as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
V/. For in this hope we were saved. * As we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Canticle of Zechariah

Ant. What you say of me does not come from yourselves; it is the Spirit of my Father speaking in you.

Prayer

God, rich in mercy,
you gave Blessed Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus
the grace and light to guide your people
along the paths of contemplative prayer
and missionary witness toward the fullness of Christ.
Grant us through his intercession
to grow in submission to the Holy Spirit
and to work, in faith, for the coming of your Kingdom.

Through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

Canticle of Mary

Ant. This is a faithful and wise steward: the Lord entrusted the care of his household to him, so that he might give them their portion of food at the proper season.

Blessed Marie-Eugene making a visitation
Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

This is a provisional English translation of the proper office for the optional memorial of Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus Grialou, published by the Secular Institute Notre Dame de Vie pursuant to the Decree of the Congregation of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments (Prot. N. 638/16) dated 14 January 2019, its effective date. This translation was submitted to the General Secretary for Information of the Discalced Carmelite Order.

#BlessedMarieEugeneOfTheChildJesus #HenriGrialou #Liturgy #NotreDameDeVie #optionalMemorial #priest

Carmelite Quotes Jan 25

27 January: St. Henry de Ossó y Cervelló

January 27
SAINT HENRY DE OSSÓ Y CERVELLÓ
Priest

Optional Memorial

Henry was born at Vinebre, Catalonia, Spain, on October 16, 1840, and was ordained a priest on September 21, 1867. He was an apostle to young people in teaching them about their faith and inspired various movements for the teaching of the Gospel. As a spiritual director, he was fascinated by St. Teresa of Jesus, the great teacher in the ways of prayer and Daughter of the Church who is better known in the English-speaking world as St. Teresa of Avila. In the light of her teaching, he founded the Society of St. Teresa of Jesus (1876) dedicated to educating women in the school of the Gospel and following the example of St. Teresa. He gave himself to preaching and the apostolate through the printing press. He underwent many severe trials and sufferings. He died at Gilet, Valencia, Spain, on January 27, 1896.

He was canonized on June 16, 1993, in Madrid, by St. John Paul II.

From the Common of Pastors

Office of Readings

The Second Reading
(A Month in the Heart of Jesus, Prologue, EEO III, Rome, 1977, pp. 456-458)

From the writings of Saint Henry de Ossó, Priest

Identification with Jesus Christ

This is our main endeavor: to think, to feel, to love as Christ Jesus, to act and to speak as He — in a word, to conform our whole life to Christ’s. No one can be saved unless they are formed in the image of Christ. To conform our life to Christ’s, we need, above all, to study His life, know it, and meditate upon it, not only in its outward appearance, but by immersing ourselves in the thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams of Jesus Christ so as to do everything in union with Him. In His goodness, Jesus Himself invites us, both in word and in action, to do this. For example, if we do not know the sentiments of His heart so as to put them into practice, how can we learn from His gentleness and humility? Or, how can we come into His presence each time we act in order to imitate Him? Christ lived, ate, slept, spoke, kept silent, walked, worked, sweat, got tired, rested, was hungry, thirsty, and poor; in a word, He suffered and died for us and for our salvation.

Why is it, then, that we cannot make or imagine Jesus as real and down to earth, but only in theory and as the ideal, which is the reason we do not love and imitate Him in everything, as we must? Jesus is our brother, flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood, bone of our bones. This is who our Jesus is, true God and true Man, alive, personal, and intimate. He let Himself be seen; He lived and spoke with us. For our salvation, being the eternal Word of God, He descended from heaven, became flesh, suffered, died, rose, ascended into heaven, and remained among us until the end of time to be our companion, our consolation, and our food in the Blessed Sacrament.

Eternal life, then, our only happiness in time and eternity, consists in knowing Jesus more intimately. How happy will be the person who learns this lesson and lives it daily. What an inspiring thought! I will live, sleep, speak, listen, work, suffer—I will do everything, I will suffer everything in union with Jesus, with the same divine intention and sentiments that Jesus had and with which He suffered, which is what Jesus wants of me.

Whoever does this—and all of us are called to do it—will live in this life the life of the world to come and will be transformed into Jesus, able to say with St. Paul: “I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me.”

Responsory

R/. I rejoice in the trials I bear and make up in my flesh that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ * for the sake of His body which is the Church.
V/. I have been crucified with Christ, and now I no longer live but Christ lives in me: * For the sake of His body which is the Church.

Prayer

Lord God,
in your priest Saint Henry de Ossó
you wonderfully combined
the ideals of the apostolic community:
a life of continual prayer
and of untiring apostolic activity.
By his intercession may we persevere in the love of Christ
and serve your Church by word and deed.

We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

#Liturgy #optionalMemorial #priest #StHenryDeOssoYCervello #TeresianSisters

Carmelite Quotes Jan 7

9 January: St. Andrew Corsini

January 9
SAINT ANDREW CORSINI
Bishop

Optional Memorial
In the houses in Italy: Memorial

Andrew was born at the beginning of the fourteenth century in Florence and entered the Carmelite Order there. He was elected provincial of Tuscany at the general chapter of Metz in 1348. He was made bishop of Fiesole on October 13th, 1349, and gave the Church a wonderful example of love, apostolic zeal, prudence, and love of the poor. He died on January 6th, 1374.

From the Common of Pastors

Office of Readings

The First Reading
James 2:1-9, 14-24

A reading from the Letter of St. James

Faith without works is dead

My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people. Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats;’ then you tell the poor man, ‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my footrest.’ Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that?

Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him. In spite of this, you have no respect for anybody who is poor. Isn’t it always the rich who are against you? Isn’t it always their doing when you are dragged before the court? Aren’t they the ones who insult the honorable name to which you have been dedicated? Well, the right thing to do is to keep the supreme law of scripture: “you must love your neighbor as yourself;” but as soon as you make distinctions between classes of people, you are committing sin, and under condemnation for breaking the Law.

Take the case, my brothers, of someone who has never done a single good act but claims that he has faith. Will that faith save him? If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, ‘I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty,’ without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that? Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead.

This is the way to talk to people of that kind: ‘You say you have faith and I have good deeds’; I will prove to you that I have faith by showing you my good deeds — now you prove to me that you have faith without any good deeds to show. You believe in the one God — that is creditable enough, but the demons have the same belief, and they tremble with fear. Do realize, you senseless man, that faith without good deeds is useless. You surely know that Abraham our father was justified by his deed, because he ‘offered his son Isaac on the altar’? There you see it: faith and deeds were working together; his faith became perfect by what he did. This is what scripture really means when it says: ‘Abraham put his faith in God, and this was counted as making him justified’; and that is why he was called ‘the friend of God.’

You see now that it is by doing something good, and not only by believing, that a man is justified.

Responsory

R/. Pure, unspoiled religion in the eyes of God our Father is this: * you must come to the help of orphans and widows in their need and keep yourself uncontaminated by the world
V/. Quick to be generous, he gave to the poor; his righteousness remains forever. * you must come to the help of orphans and widows in their need and keep yourself uncontaminated by the world

The Second Reading
Bk 1,10

A reading from The Pastoral Rule of Pope St. Gregory the Great

Portrait of a good pastor

It is important that a man who is set up as a model of how to live should be one who is dead to all the passions of the flesh and lives by the spirit, turns his back on what the world has to offer, is unafraid of hardship, and is attracted only by the interior life. He does not let his body shirk its duty out of frailty; he does not become depressed when abused, for he realizes that things of this kind further his true ends. He does not readily covet what is not his, but with what he does possess he is generous. His loving nature is quick to forgive, though he never allows himself to be misled into condoning more than he should. While he does no wrong himself, he grieves over the misdeeds of others as if they were his own. His compassion for others when they are sick is heartfelt, and he is just as glad when good befalls his neighbor as when his own interests are advanced. His behavior is so exemplary in all respects that he need never fear being made to blush, even for past faults. He so conducts his life that those whose hearts are in need of refreshment can always find it in the guidance he gives. He is so well versed in the art of prayer that he can obtain anything he asks for from the Lord; it is as though he were singled out by a prophetic voice saying to him: “While you are still speaking I will say, ‘See, I am here.’”

If someone happened to come and ask one of us to intercede for him with an influential man we did not know and who was annoyed with him, we should at once say: ‘I cannot come and intercede — I do not know what he is like.’ So if a person is afraid to intercede with a mere man about whom he knows nothing, how can one, who is not sure whether or not his conduct makes him worthy to be counted God’s friend, take it upon himself to be the people’s advocate before God? How can he ask pardon for others if he is not sure that his own sins have been forgiven?

Responsory

R/. Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ. * Try then to imitate God, as children of his that he loves.
V/. Tend the flock that is placed under your care, willingly as God would have you do, being examples to your flock. * Try then to imitate God, as children of his that he loves.

Canticle of Zechariah

Ant. Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be called children of God, says the Lord.

Prayer

God our Father,
You reveal that those who work for peace
will be called Your children.
Through the prayers of St. Andrew Corsini,
who excelled as a peacemaker,
help us to work without ceasing
for that justice which brings true and lasting peace.

We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

Canticle of Mary

Ant. The kingdom of God consists of justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; whoever serves Christ in this way pleases God and wins the esteem of all.

Il Beato Andrea Corsini
Guido Reni (Italian, 1575-1642)
Oil on canvas, 1635-1640
Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna

#bishop #Carmelites #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #StAndrewCorsini

Carmelite Quotes Jan 6

8 January: St. Peter Thomas

January 8
SAINT PETER THOMAS
Bishop

Optional Memorial

Born about 1305 in southern Perigord in France, Peter Thomas entered the Carmelites when he was twenty-one. He was chosen by the Order as its procurator general to the Papal Court at Avignon in 1345. After being made bishop of Patti and Lipari in 1354, he was entrusted with many papal missions to promote peace and unity with the Eastern Churches. He was translated to the see of Corone in the Peloponnesus in 1359 and made Papal Legate for the East. In 1363, he was appointed Archbishop of Crete and in 1364 Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. He won a reputation as an apostle of church unity before he died at Famagosta on Cyprus in 1366.

From the Common of Pastors

Office of Readings

The First Reading
1 Timothy 1:1-7, 15-19, 2:1-8

A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to Timothy

The calling of a pastor

From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus appointed by the command of God our savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy, true child of mine in the faith; wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.

As I asked you when I was leaving for Macedonia, please stay at Ephesus, to insist that certain people stop teaching strange doctrines and taking notice of myths and endless genealogies; these things are only likely to raise irrelevant doubts instead of furthering the design of God which are revealed in faith. The only purpose of this instruction is that there should be love, coming out of a pure heart, a clear conscience and a sincere faith. There are some people who have gone off the straight course and taken a road that leads to empty speculation; they claim to be doctors of the Law, but they understand neither the arguments they are using nor the opinions they are upholding.

Here is a saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy has been shown to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest evidence of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later have to trust in him to come to eternal life. To the eternal King, the undying, invisible and only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Timothy, my son, these are the instructions that I am giving you: I ask you to remember the words once spoken over you by the prophets, and taking them to heart to fight like a good soldier with faith and a good conscience for your weapons. Some people have put conscience aside and wrecked their faith in consequence.

My advice is that, first of all, there should be prayers offered for everyone — petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving — and especially for kings and others in authority, so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet. To do this is right, and will please God our Savior: he wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth. For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and mankind, himself a man, Christ Jesus, who sacrificed himself as a ransom for them all. He is the evidence of this, sent at the appointed time, and I have been named a herald and apostle of it and — I am telling the truth and no lie — a teacher of the faith and the truth to the pagans.

In every place, then, I want the men to lift their hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument.

Responsory

R/. Bear with one another in love; do all that you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together; there is one body and one Spirit, * just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called.
V/. A servant of the Lord is to aim for holiness and faith, love, and peace, in union with all those who call on the Lord with pure minds; * just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called.

The Second Reading
Bk I, Ch 6

A reading from The Book of the Institution of the First Monks

Love your neighbor as yourself

The Lord says, “The man who hears My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me.” And the first of all commandments is: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. This is the greatest and first commandment.” This cannot be observed without love of neighbor, because “he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen;” “and the second commandment is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” namely, in the things and for the reason that you love yourself. “His soul hates him who loves violence,” says the Psalmist. Therefore, love your neighbor as yourself in good and not in evil, and “whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them” and “what you hate, do not do to anyone.” Thus, you must love your neighbor, and so act that he becomes just if he is wicked, or remains just if he is good.

Again you must love yourself, not because of yourself, but because of God. Whatever is loved because of itself is thus made a source of joy and a happy life, the hope of attaining which is comforting even on earth. But you must not place the hope of a blessed life in yourself or another man. “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the Lord.” Therefore, you must make the Lord the source of your joy and the happy life, as the apostle says: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If you understand this clearly, you must love God because of Himself, and yourself, not because of yourself, but because of God; and, since you must love your neighbor as yourself, you must love him, not because of himself, nor because of yourself, but because of God, and what else is this but to love God in your neighbor? “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandment.” In the preparation of your soul you do all of this if you love God because of Himself and your neighbor as yourself because of God. “On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”

Responsory

R/. With all our hearts we desired nothing better than to share with you our own lives, as well as God’s gospel, * so greatly had we learned to love you.
V/. My little children, I am in travail over you afresh, until I can see Christ’s image formed in you, * so greatly had we learned to love you.

Canticle of Zechariah

Ant. I am the good shepherd; I lay down my life for my sheep; and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

Prayer

Lord,
You inspired in Your bishop St. Peter Thomas
an intense desire to promote peace and Christian unity.
Following His example
may we live steadfast in the faith
and work perseveringly for peace.

We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

Canticle of Mary

Ant. May the peace of Christ fill your hearts with joy, that peace to which all of you are called as one body.

Saint Peter Thomas
Francisco de Zurbarán (Spanish, 1598–1664)
Oil on canvas, after 1634
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

#bishop #Carmelites #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #StPeterThomas

Carmelite Quotes Jan 2

4 January: St. Kuriakos Elias of the Holy Family Chavara (Not observed in 2026)

January 4
SAINT KURIAKOS ELIAS OF THE HOLY FAMILY CHAVARA
Priest

Optional Memorial
In the houses in India, Memorial
In the United States, see Pastoral Note below
Pastoral note: In the year 2026, this Optional Memorial gives way to Epiphany Sunday or the Second Sunday after Christmas

Saint Kuriakos Elias Chavara, co-founder and first prior general of the congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, was born at Kainakary in Kerala, India, February 10, 1805. He entered the seminary in 1818, and was ordained priest in 1829. He made his religious profession in 1855, in the congregation he founded. In 1861, he was named vicar general for the Syro-Malabar church; in this capacity he defended ecclesial unity threatened by schism when mar Tomas Rochos was sent from Mesopotamia to consecrate Nestorian bishops. Throughout his life he worked for the renovation of the church in Malabar. He was also co-founder in 1866 of the congregation of the Sisters of the Mother of Carmel. Above all, he was a man of prayer, zealous for the Eucharistic Lord, and devoted to the Immaculate Virgin Mary. He died at Koonammavu on January 3, 1871. His body was transferred to Mannanam in 1889.

From the Common of Pastors or of Holy Men (Religious)

Office of Readings

The Second Reading

From a note written on the day of his death, by his spiritual director Fr. Leopold Beccaro

Day and night he fought to arrest the spread of schism

Today, Tuesday, January 3, 1871, at 7:15 in the morning, Fr. Cyriac (Kuriakos) Elias of the Holy Family, the first Prior, died after a life of great innocence. He could declare before his death he had never lost his baptismal innocence. He was exercising himself in the practice of virtues, especially in simplicity of heart, living faith, tender obedience, and devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament, to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to St. Joseph. He has undergone immense hardships for the good of the Christians of Malabar, especially during the time of the schism of Rochos, when he, having been appointed vicar general of the Syrians, showed his extraordinary devotion to the Holy See. He fought day and night to arrest the spread of schism from which he would save no less than forty parishes. On this account the Holy Father Pope Pius IX sent him a letter expressing his great satisfaction. He was the founder and the first Prior of the Carmelites of Malabar. He founded also the convent of nuns after undergoing many hardships. On account of his endearing virtues, learning and profound knowledge of the Syriac language he enjoyed great influence on the Syrians of Malabar. He was always greatly loved by the Vicars Apostolic of Malabar, and even more by the people of Malabar, the gentiles and Nestorians not excluded. He endured his last illness for two years in a spirit of great resignation, nay with joy. He was detached from all disorderly affections for earthly things, which was all the more true in the last days of his life. Having received the last sacraments with extraordinary piety and devotion, in a heavenly joy, and amidst the tears of all who knew him, especially my own, who knew him even as myself, he breathed his last at the age of sixty-five and was buried in the church of St. Philomena at Koonammavu. O holy and beautiful soul, pray for me.

Responsory

R/. You adorned my soul with all graces * so that the angels too may find joy in that.
V/. You took care, besides, that my name might be inscribed in the book of life * so that the angels too may find joy in that.

Prayer

Lord God,
You raised up Saint Kuriakos Elias your priest
to strengthen the unity of the Church.
Grant that through his intercession
we may be enlightened by the Holy Spirit
to read the signs of the times with wisdom
and spread the news of the Gospel
by both word and example.

We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

Pastoral Note: In the United States, the Optional Memorial of St. Kuriakos Elias of the Holy Family Chavara, Priest, always gives way to the Obligatory Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, religious.

Credit: Reji Joseph (used by permission)

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Carmelite Quotes Dec 9

11 December: Saint Maria Maravillas of Jesus Pidal y Chico de Guzmán

December 11
SAINT MARIA MARAVILLAS OF JESUS
PIDAL Y CHICO DE GUZMÁN
Virgin

Memorial

Maria Maravillas was born at Madrid in 1891. She entered the El Escorial Carmel, Madrid on 12th October 1919. In 1924 she was inspired to found a Carmel at Cerro de los Angeles, alongside the monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. From this foundation followed nine others in Spain and one in India. 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. She was canonized on 4th May 2003 in Madrid.

From the common of virgins or of holy women (religious)

Office of Readings

Second Reading
From the letters of Saint Maravillas of Jesus, Virgin

(Letters to her spiritual directors: 305, 254, 101, 458b)

My delight is to be with the children of men

Yesterday, Sunday, on climbing the stairs to go to the upper choir for the sung Mass, I was quite recollected, yet without any particular thought, when I heard clearly within me, My delight is to be with the children of men. These words which made a strong impression on me, I understood were not for me this time, but rather in the nature of a request the Lord was making me to offer the whole of myself to give him these souls he so much desires. It is hard to explain, but I saw clearly, that a soul which sanctifies itself becomes fruitful in attracting souls to God. This so deeply moved me that I offered with my whole heart to the Lord all my sufferings of body and soul for this purpose, despite my poverty. It then seemed to me that this offering was right, but what was strictly important was to surrender myself, wholly and completely to the divine will, so that he could do what he desired in me, and likewise I would accept the pain along with the pleasure. I seemed to understand that what pleased him was not the greatest sacrifice but rather the exact and loving fulfillment in the least detail of that will. In this I understood many things I find hard to explain, and how he wished me to be very sensitive in this fulfillment, which would carry me a long way in self-sacrifice and love.

I offered myself in such a way that nothing would excuse me, not even hell (if there you can love the Lord), but then I am so cowardly. The Lord will remedy that, since I can do no more than commit myself to Him in all my misery. I began experiencing this as a desire to commit myself for souls and to be faithful for this purpose: thinking about what he had done for them, it seemed he was saying to me I could not do much, but he could, with my help. On feeling this immense desire of the Lord for the salvation of souls, it seemed so amazing that nothing remained but to be committed to God so that He could carry out all his work in the soul and thus make it, despite its poverty, capable of giving him what he desires. Each time it became clearer to my soul so that nothing of my own remained important, except that the Lord alone be glorified.

What a treasure the Lord has given me in allowing me to live in Carmel! Here, everything is arranged with such simplicity, yet in such a way that, living it to the full, you can do everything. How can we live in the House of the Virgin, pleasing the Lord with her, yet not imitating her, as the Holy Mother desired? I felt that this is the Carmelite’s way, imitating Mary, how we must grow less, to be truly poor, self-sacrificing, humble, nothing. I felt quite deeply how Jesus gives us in his own life continual examples of sacrifice, of humiliation, of making ourselves small, yet we do not understand. I felt his mercy and zeal for souls in this way, that here is the strength that can take hold of our life through his mercy. By his grace, may I, who am so absolutely poor in everything, be well able to imitate him in this with more ease than other creatures. I seemed also to understand that these lights were not given only for myself, but also for guiding my sisters. The sole thing I do, many times in the day, is to say to the Lord that I wish to live only to love him and to please him, that I desire all that he wishes in the way that he wills.

Responsory

℟ Prudent virgin whom the Bridegroom found watching with her lamp alight, * enter into the eternal nuptial banquet.
℣ I find my delight in your will, your saving justice in the depths of my heart. * Enter into the eternal nuptial banquet.

Prayer

Lord God,
who drew Saint Maria Maravillas of Jesus
into the secrets of the heart of your Son,
grant through her intercession and example,
that we may work together for the salvation of souls,
experiencing the delights of your love.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

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Carmelite Quotes Nov 23

25 November: Blessed Anne of Jesus Lobera Torres

November 25
BLESSED ANNE OF JESUS LOBERA TORRES
Virgin

Optional Memorial

Anna Lobera Torres was born at Medina Del Campo (Valladolid, Spain) on 25 November 1545. She was received in 1570 into the frrst monastery of the Discalced Carmelites at Avila by St. Teresa herself, and later accompanied her to Salamanca and Beas. It was in returning to Granada to found a monastery, that she obtained from St. John of the Cross a commentary on the Spiritual Canticle, which he dedicated to her. After several migrations and misfortunes, in 1604, together with Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew, she founded monasteries in France and Belgium. She died in Brussels after a few years of great interior and physical suffering, on 4 March 1621. She was beatified by Pope Francis on 29 September 2024.

From the Common of Virgins, or of Holy Women (religious)

Office of Readings

Second Reading

From the prologue of The Spiritual Canticle by St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church

(The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Washington DC, 2017, pp. 469-471)

The abundant love of mystical intelligence

These stanzas, Reverend Mother [Anne of Jesus], were obviously composed with a certain burning love of God. The wisdom and charity of God is so vast, as the Book of Wisdom states, that it reaches from end to end, and the soul informed and moved by it bears in some way this very abundance and impulsiveness in her words. As a result, I do not plan to expound these stanzas in all its breadth and fullness that the fruitful spirit of love conveys to them. It would be foolish to think that expressions of love arising from mystical understanding, like these stanzas, are fully explainable.

The Spirit of the Lord, who abides in us and aids our weakness, as St Paul says, pleads for us with unspeakable groanings in order to manifest what we can neither fully understand nor comprehend. Since these stanzas, then, were composed in a love flowing from abundant mystical understanding, I cannot explain them adequately, nor is it my intention to do so. I only wish to shed some general light on them, since Your Reverence has desired this of me.

It is better to explain the utterances of love in their broadest sense so that each one may derive profit from them according to the mode and capacity of one’s own spirit, rather than narrow them down to a meaning unadaptable to every palate. As a result, though we give some explanation of these stanzas, there is no reason to be bound by this explanation.

For mystical wisdom, which comes through love and is the subject of these stanzas, need not be understood distinctly in order to cause love and affection in the soul, for it is given according to the mode of faith through which we love God without understanding Him. I will then be very brief, although I do intend to give a lengthier explanation when necessary and the occasion arises for a discussion of some matters concerning prayer and its effects.

Since these stanzas refer to many of the effects of prayer, I ought to treat of at least some of these effects. Yet, passing over the more common effects, I will briefly deal with the more extraordinary ones that take place in those who with God’s help have passed beyond the stage of beginners. I do this for two reasons: first, because there are many writings for beginners; second, because I am addressing Your Reverence, at your request.

And our Lord has favored you and led you beyond the state of beginners into the depths of his divine love. I hope that, although some scholastic theology is used here in reference to the soul’s interior converse with God, it will not prove vain to speak in such a manner to the pure of spirit.

Even though Your Reverence lacks training in scholastic theology, through which the divine truths are understood, you are not wanting in mystical theology, which is known through love and by which these truths are not only known but at the same time enjoyed.

Responsory

Cf. Romans 8:26–27, 28

℟ The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought: * The Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words; and God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit.
℣ We know that all things work together for good for those who love God. * The Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words; and God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit.

Prayer

O God, who gave Blessed Anne of Jesus
the grace of knowing the mystery of Your Love,
revealed in Christ Jesus, your Son;
grant us, we pray, through her intercession,
that, loving you faithfully and above all things,
we may always be in communion
with you and our brothers and sisters.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

We are grateful to our Discalced Carmelite Friars for providing the English texts of liturgical offices published after the 1993 edition of the Carmelite Proper—Liturgy of the Hours.

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Carmelite Quotes Nov 6

8 November: Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity Catez

November 8
SAINT ELIZABETH OF THE TRINITY CATEZ
Virgin

Memorial

Elizabeth Catez of the Trinity was born in 1880 in the diocese of Bourges. In 1901 she entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery of Dijon. There she made her profession of vows in 1903 and from there she was called “to light, to love, and to life” by the Divine Spouse in 1906. A faithful adorer in spirit and in truth, her life was a “praise of glory” of the Most Blessed Trinity, present in her soul and loved amidst interior darkness and excruciating illness. In the mystery of divine inhabitation, she found her “heaven on earth,” her special charism, and her mission for the Church.

From the common of virgins or of holy women (religious)

Office of Readings

Second Reading
From the writings of Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, Virgin
(Oeuvres completes I (Paris, 1980), p. 200)

The indwelling Trinity

O my God, Trinity Whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely that I may be established in You as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing trouble my peace or make me leave You, O my Unchanging One, but may each minute carry me further into the depths of your Mystery. Give peace to my soul; make it Your heaven, Your beloved dwelling, and Your resting place. May I never leave You there alone but be wholly present, my faith wholly vigilant, wholly adoring, and wholly surrendered to your creative action.

O my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I wish to be a bride for Your Heart; I wish to cover You with glory; I wish to love You even until I die of love! But I feel my weakness, and I ask You to clothe me with Yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of Your Soul, to overwhelm me, to possess me, to substitute Yourself for me that my life may be but a radiance of Your life. Come into me as Adorer, as Restorer, as Savior. O Eternal Word, Word of my God, I want to spend my life in listening to You, to become wholly teachable that I may learn all from You. Then, through all nights, all voids, all helplessness, I want to gaze on You always and remain in Your great light. O my beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may not withdraw from Your radiance.

O Consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, come upon me, and create in my soul a kind of incarnation of the Word: that I may be another humanity for Him in which He can renew His whole Mystery. And you, O Father, bend lovingly over Your poor little creature: cover her with Your shadow, seeing in her only the Beloved in whom You are well pleased.

O my Three, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself to You as Your prey. Bury Yourself in me that I may bury myself in You until I depart to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your greatness.

Responsory

℟ You are God’s temple and the Spirit of God lives in you. * Glorify God in your body.
℣ To the praise of his glory, * glorify God in your body.

Prayer

O God of bountiful mercy,
you revealed to Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity
the mystery of your secret presence
in the hearts of those who love you,
and you chose her to adore you in spirit and in truth.
Through her intercession
may we also abide in the love of Christ,
that we may merit to be transformed
into temples of your life-giving Spirit
to the praise of your glory.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Elizabeth Catez, the prize-winning pianist | Photo credit: Discalced Carmelites

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Carmelite Quotes Nov 5

7 November: Blessed Francis of Jesus Mary Joseph Palau y Quer

November 7
BLESSED FRANCIS OF JESUS MARY JOSEPH
PALAU Y QUER
Priest

Optional Memorial

Born in Aytona, Lerida, on December 29, 1811, Blessed Francis Palau y Quer entered the Order in 1832 and was ordained priest in 1836. Civil turmoil forced him to live in exile and outside his community. On his return to Spain in 1851, he founded his “School of Virtue”—which was a model of catechetical teaching—at Barcelona. The school was suppressed and he was unjustly exiled to Ibiza (1854-1860) where he lived at El Vedra in solitude and experienced mystically the vicissitudes of the Church. While in the Balearic Islands he founded the Congregations of Teresian Carmelite Missionary Brothers and Sisters (1860-1861). He preached popular missions and spread love for Our Lady wherever he went. He died at Tarragona on March 20, 1872, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1980.

Common of Pastors or Men Religious

Office of Readings

Second Reading
From the spiritual writings of Blessed Francis Palau y Quer

The efficacy of prayer in favor of the Church

God in His providence has ordained not to cure our ills or grant us grace without the intervention of prayer. He wishes us to help in saving each other by means of our prayer (cf. Jas 5:16f). If the heavens showered down dew and the clouds rained the righteous One, if the earth opened to bring forth the Savior (cf. Is 45:8), it was God’s good pleasure that His coming should be preceded by the prayers of that singular Virgin who by the beauty of her virtues drew into her womb the uncreated Word of God.

The Redeemer came, and by constant prayer, He reconciled the world to the Father. If Christ’s prayer and the fruits of His redemptive work are to be applied to any nation or people, or if the gospel message is to enlighten them and they are to have someone to administer the sacraments, it is indispensable that someone or even many persons should have previously won them over and reconciled them to God by earnest entreaties and supplications, by prayers and sacrifices.

For the purpose, among others, the Eucharistic sacrifice is offered on our altars. This sacred Victim which we present to the Father every day, accompanied by our own petitions, is not simply destined to recall the memory of the life, passion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also to oblige God in His goodness to show His graciousness in applying the graces of His Son’s redemption to the nation, province, city, village, or to whatever person or persons for whom the Mass is offered. It is precisely here that we plead with the Father for the redemption of the world, namely, for the conversion of the nations. Before the grace of redemption is applied to the world or, in other words, before the standard of the cross is lifted up among the nations, God the Father ordains that His only Son, made man, should plead with Him by means of ‘prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears’ (Heb 5:7), in the anguish of death and through the shedding of His blood, especially on the altar of the cross that was raised on Calvary.

In order that God might give His grace to those who do not or cannot ask it, or who do not wish to ask it, He enjoined us to pray for one another, so that we might be saved (Jas 5:16f). If God gave the grace of conversion to St. Augustine, it was due to the prayers of St. Monica; nor would the church have St. Paul, according to one of the fathers, were it not for the prayers of St. Stephen.

It is noteworthy in this context that the Apostles, who were sent to preach and to teach all nations, acknowledged that the results of their preaching sprang from prayer more than from their words. In fact, at the election of the seven deacons who were charged with external works of charity, they said: ‘But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word’ (Acts 6:4). Notice carefully that they say they would devote themselves first of all to prayer and only afterward to the ministry of the Word. For they would never convert any nation until prayer had first obtained the grace of its conversion.

Christ prayed throughout His entire life, whereas He spent only three years preaching. Since God does not distribute His graces to men except through prayer, because He wishes us to recognize Him as the source from which all good things flow; in like manner, He does not wish to save us from danger, or cure our wounds, or console us in affliction, except by means of this same exercise of prayer.

Responsory

℟ Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For whoever asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; whoever knocks, is admitted. * The prayer of the righteous has great power in its effects.
℣ Pray for one another that you may find healing. * The prayer of the righteous has great power in its effects.

Prayer

O God,
through your Spirit
you filled Blessed Francis, your priest,
with singular gifts of prayer and apostolic charity.
Through his intercession
grant that Christ’s beloved Church,
refulgent with the beauty of the Virgin Mother Mary,
may be an ever more effective universal sacrament of salvation.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit
God, for ever and ever.

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