Quote of the day, 21 April: St. Edith Stein

J.M.+J.T.

Cologne-Lindenthal, 25 April 1935

Pax Christi!

Very Reverend and dear Mother Petra,

The Bridegroom sends you the little wreath of myrtle with which your love decorated him, him as well as the bridal candle, the candles on the table, the napkin, cutlery, etc. [from Edith’s temporary profession, 21 April 1935].

The Bride wore a wreath of white roses. I was very happy to hear where the adornments came from. Heartfelt thanks for them.

We have not yet finished discussing what else I am to receive from you. I thought of an emblem and lining for a vestment since the silk of the bridal dress has not yet been used and has been waiting for the necessary accessories since the Clothing Day. But perhaps our dear Mother [Mother Josepha, the prioress] will think of something more urgent.

When you visit us again—after all, we’ve been anticipating it with joy all winter—we will recount everything that happened from the first hours of the morning until night on this beautiful Easter Sunday. One cannot write about it in such detail.

The Veiling ceremony will come only three years from now, after perpetual profession. For us, the preparation consists primarily of a ten-day retreat made in total silence and solitude. During that time we are allowed to live like hermits. I will tell you about the daily schedule when I see you.

For my meditation, I had our Holy Father John’s Dark Night and the Gospel of John.

Usually, on the day before Profession, before dinner, one makes a public admission of one’s faults. I was allowed to do that at noon on the Wednesday of Holy Week so that it would not interrupt the silence of the Holy Triduum.

I found it especially good [to comply with that custom] before the first of the Tenebrae offices—once they begin one wants to leave off all occupation with oneself.

On Saturday evening I was called [to come for a few minutes to see the community] during recreation time; I received from each Sister the promise of a spiritual bouquet and a commendation of intentions.

Richly laden I then returned to the choir. Of course, out of the great riches of grace on this Easter day, I let all those have a share who have given me something of their heart to take along into Carmel.

Once more, sincere thanks for all your goodness and love. 

In caritate Christi, your Sister

Teresia Benedicta a Cruce, OCD

Saint Edith Stein

Letter 198 to Mother Petra Brüning, OSU

Notes:

• It was customary to place a small statue of the Infant Jesus on the head table in the refectory, where the newly-professed is seated next to the prioress. Myrtle is used to create a small wreath for the statue of the Infant, the “Bridegroom”, who faces his “Bride”, wearing a garland of white roses. Edith sent the myrtle wreath that had been used on the statue to Mother Petra, who had provided it and all the flowers and decorations for the celebration.
• Edith refers to the Chapter of Faults, where even to this day in many Discalced Carmelite monasteries, nuns will gather in the Chapter Room of the monastery to listen to the prioress give a brief spiritual reflection on an aspect of community life and how it applies to the Carmelite Rule and their Constitutions. The nuns then take a spiritual and moral inventory, reviewing their life together; each one admits her public faults and begs forgiveness of her sisters. On occasions like religious profession, a nun will individually and publicly admit her faults and ask for forgiveness outside of the community Chapter of Faults. Since her profession rite took place on Easter Sunday, Edith made her public admission on Holy Wednesday; she gives the reasons why.
• During the retreat days prior to her profession on Easter Sunday, Edith would have assisted at the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours in the nuns’ choir. However, she would have veiled her face with her great veil (grand Voile) when in the presence of the community so as to maintain the spirit of solitude where the Discalced Carmelites “are allowed to live like hermits,” as Edith describes above. In the photo below, the veil that you see extending over her shoulders is the great veil, while the small veil (petit Voile) tucks inside her scapular. In her hermit days while on retreat, we see that Edith preferred to spend extra hours of solitary prayer in the choir near Christ in the tabernacle while the rest of the community was occupied at recreation.

[Sources: Leuven, Stinissen & Gelber; Carmel of Haifa]

St. Edith Stein on the day of her temporary profession,
Easter Sunday, 21 April 1935
Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

Stein, E 1993, Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916-1942, Koeppel, J (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: “The Bride wore a wreath of white roses.” Image credit: Todd Petit / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

#monasticLife #religiousProfession #roses #StEdithStein #StTeresaBenedictaOfTheCross

Quote of the day, 11 March: Blessed Marie-Eugène

“What happens is that my intellect is suddenly seized by things sometimes so trivial that at other times I would laugh about them. The devil makes the soul upset in every way he wants and shackles it there without its being master of itself or able to think of anything else than the absurdities he represents to it…”
(St. Teresa of Avila, The Book of Her Life, 30:11).

It is natural enough that the devil should use his great power and take advantage of the relative weakness of beginners in prayer, to stop them in their journey towards God by causing in them, as far as he is able, as much dryness and distraction as he can. That he thus intervenes—often successfully—in the prayer of beginners seems certain; and, although using on them much more benign procedures than on Saint Teresa, these are probably much more effective.

Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus

Chapter VI, Distractions and dryness

Note: Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus made his first religious profession on 11 March 1923.

Marie-Eugène de l’Enfant-Jésus & Doran V 1990, I Want to See God, Christian Classics, Allen, Texas.

Featured image: Father Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (by permission)

#BlessedMarieEugeneOfTheChildJesus #distractions #prayer #religiousProfession #StTeresaOfAvila

Quote of the day, 21 October: St. Titus Brandsma

On 3 October 1899, Frater Titus made his solemn profession, one more stage on his long ascent to the summit of Mount Carmel. It was a journey that would last all his life, a promise, taken under oath, to keep the religious vows as a Brother of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.

During the solemn community ceremony, the novices were once again asked to affirm their intentions. Then, one by one, they made their profession.  It is recalled that Titus pronounced every word clearly:

I, Frater Titus Brandsma, make my profession and promise obedience, poverty, and chastity to God, to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, and to the Most Reverend Ludovico Galli, Prior General of the Order of the Brothers of the same Blessed Virgin Mary and to his successors, according to the Rule of the aforesaid Order, until death.

The Provincial, Fr. Joseph Kerstens, then proclaimed this admonition: “Render unto God a sacrifice of praise.” And the community responded: “And fulfill your vows to the Lord.” The newly professed concluded with the words:

I will offer my vows to God in the presence of all His people, in the courtyards of the House of the Lord. I, Frater Titus, promise moreover to profess literally these Constitutions of the strict observance, confirmed by Pope Innocent X and, with the grace of God, to observe them faithfully.

Each of the newly professed signed a written copy of his vows and placed it in the hands of his superior.

Miguel Maria Arribas, O.Carm.

Chapter 2, Formation

Arribas O.Carm., M 2021, The Price of Truth: Titus Brandsma, Carmelite, Carmelite Media, Darien, Illinois.

Featured image: St. Titus Brandsma appears in this photo wearing the full habit of the Carmelite Order, including the white mantle. At this moment, he was a seminarian studying theology, aged 22. Image credit: Carmelites (used with permission of the Nederlands Carmelitaans Instituut)

#religiousLife #religiousProfession #StTitusBrandsma #vocation #vows

Quote of the day, 11 September: St. Teresa of Avila

This is the authorization for Sister María de Jesús to make her profession. I grant it with great pleasure. May the blessing of the Lord de rore coeli et de pinguedine terrae be granted her.

Saint Teresa of Avila

Letter 263 to Sister María de Jesús López Rivas, Toledo
Avila, August (?) 1578

Note: This text is taken either from a note or a fragment from a letter. María de Jesús (Blessed Mary of Jesus) made her profession on 8 September 1578. The blessing prayer of St. Teresa refers to a blessing given by Isaac to Jacob: “God give thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine” (Gen 27:28).

Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: An early portrait of Blessed Mary of Jesus. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (By permission)

#BlessedMaryOfJesusLópezRivas #blessing #CarmeliteLife #religiousProfession #StTeresaOfAvila

Quote of the day, 4 September: St. Thérèse

My soul is still in the cellar, but it is happy there, yes, happy to have no consolation because I find then that her love is unlike the love of the world’s brides who always look at the hands of their Bridegroom to see if he is bringing them some presents, or at His face to catch a loving smile that delights them…

But the poor little bride of Jesus feels that she loves Jesus for Him alone, and she only wants to look at the face of her Beloved to glimpse the tears that flow from His eyes, which have delighted her with their hidden charms!… She wants to wipe them away, these tears, to make them her finery on her wedding day, a finery that also will be hidden but will be understood by the Beloved.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Letter 115 to Sr. Agnès of Jesus (excerpt)
4 September 1890

Note: This letter was written by Thérèse during her private retreat to prepare for religious profession on 8 September 1890.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: A bridal bouquet featuring white roses. Image credit: Nicole Corbin / Unsplash (Stock photo).

#bride #ChristTheBridegroom #love #religiousProfession #StThereseOfLisieux

Quote of the day, 21 April: St. Edith Stein

A few months previously a young Cologne girl had entered the small novitiate at Lindenthal. Wide-eyed, she had observed Sr. Benedicta and all the happenings on her special day. Now she clung to Sr. Benedicta like a small trusting child and asked, “How does Your Charity feel?”

Sr. Benedicta answered in a tone that cannot be imitated: “Like the Bride of the Lamb.”

Sr. Teresia Renata Posselt, O.C.D.

Recalling Edith Stein’s profession on Easter Sunday, 1935
Carmel of Cologne-Lindenthal

Note: To her good friend Mother Petra Bruning, OSU, Edith wrote:

The Bridegroom sends you the little wreath of myrtle with which your love decorated him, him as well as the bridal candle, the candles on the table, the napkin, cutlery, etc. [from Edith’s temporary profession, 21 April 1935]. The Bride wore a wreath of white roses. I was very happy to hear where the adornments came from. Heartfelt thanks for them.

Temporary Profession, 21 April 1935

Posselt, T 2005, Edith Stein: The Life of a Philosopher and Carmelite, translated from the German by Batzdorff S, Koeppel J, and Sullivan J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: A simple wreath of white flowers rests on rustic wooden planks, evoking the bridal crown worn by Edith Stein on the day of her temporary profession. Image credit: tab62 / Adobe Stock. Asset ID# 102178876. Licensed under Adobe Stock standard terms.

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
Do I allow myself to be claimed by Christ with the joyful trust of a bride, wholly His and wholly loved?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#brideOfChrist #CarmelOfCologne #LambOfGod #novitiate #religiousProfession #StEdithStein #StTeresaBenedictaOfTheCross #TeresiaRenataPosselt

Quote of the day, 11 January: Conrad de Meester, O.C.D.

Profession of
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
Sunday, 11 January 1903

“My Mother, here is the Bridegroom!” (L 155).

After the 8 o’clock Mass, the community, in their white mantles and a large candle in their hands, go up the grand staircase to the chapter room, singing the O gloriosa Virginum (“O glorious Virgin”) to Mary. As a small cell of the Church, the community experiences the profession as a great moment of universal significance, an offering for the universal Church. United in intimacy, it’s also the family that’s going to grow. At the end of the procession, the prioress leads the novice by the hand. 

The account of Sister Mary of the Trinity, plainly taken up again in the Memoirs (S 107), introduces us to this supreme act:

“Her profession was still made entirely in faith, but already in peace since her visit with the priest. She tells us that she was taken up by the idea of sacrifice and immolation alone. Especially as she climbed the steps, going up to the chapter room, she was strongly taken, seized by this thought and then told us that she had found her whole state of mind in the day’s reading: ‘Offer your bodies to God as pure, holy and pleasing hosts to God’” (cf. Rom 12:1).

Climbing the stairs reminds Elizabeth of the symbol of the mountain, whether it be Tabor or Calvary—like Abraham going up to the top of the mountain indicated by Yahweh to sacrifice his son Isaac (cf. Gen 22:1-19), like Jesus Christ on his way to the Cross. Each stair-step is a decisive movement towards total self-giving to God, prayer, and sacrifice for the Church.

Detail of the grand, spiral staircase in the ruins of the first Carmelite monastery on Mount Carmel. As a tradition, many monasteries of Carmelite nuns are built to include a monumental, spiral staircase. See the complete photo here.
Image credit: biblewalks.com

Upon arriving in the chapter room, the Prioress sits on the left side of the altar. Elizabeth kneels before her. Mother Germaine asks her the same questions as on the day she took the habit. The same answers resound—standard, formulated answers—but with great density, essential expressions of what one is seeking. After Elisabeth has thus sought “the mercy of God, the poverty of the Order and the company of her sisters,” the Prioress reminds her of the demands of the narrow path she is following forever.

Then, with her hands joined in those of the Prioress, Mother Germaine of Jesus, Elizabeth Catez repeated the formula of her profession three times: “I, Sister Mary Elizabeth of the Trinity, make my profession, and I promise chastity, poverty and obedience to God, Our Lord, and to the Blessed Virgin Mary,” in obedience to the superiors “according to the primitive, unmitigated Rule of the Order of Mount Carmel until death.”

Translator’s Note—In English-speaking Discalced Carmelite monasteries, the formula was:  I, Sister N. of N., make my solemn profession and I promise obedience, chastity, and poverty to God, to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, and to you, Rev. Mother Prioress, and to your successors, according to the primitive Rule of the Discalced Carmelites and our Constitutions, until death.

In this very sparse setting, the words resonate…

After the prayers offered by the Prioress, as on the day she took the habit, the newly professed is clothed in her Marian scapular and white mantle to symbolize the new life received from the Risen One. Now she lies on the floor in the form of a cross on the wool carpet decorated with flowers while the community sings the Te Deum. After she has been sprinkled with holy water, a reminder of the water of Baptism, Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity rises, kneels before the Prioress, kisses her hand, embraces her, and goes to kiss all the sisters as they sing Psalm 133, Ecce quam bonum: See how good it will be to live together as true sisters.

On Sunday, 11 January 1903 it was freezing in Dijon. The temperature was -5 (23 F) and a snowstorm would arrive the next day in eastern France. This photo, however, was taken by Sister Geneviève some days after Elizabeth received the black veil on 21 January 1903. The remaining snow from earlier in the month appears in the garden.
Image credit: Discalced Carmelites Detailed view of Elizabeth’s profession crucifix. See the complete image here.

She receives her profession crucifix, on the back of which she has had St. Paul’s words engraved in Latin: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). She also receives her copy of the Constitutions of the Order and the Prioress places a crown of flowers on her head, which she wears all day long, she who is Christ’s bride.

During the day’s prayers, she is the one who presides. At meals and evening recreation, she sits between the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress, her place in the refectory being adorned with flowers. The community has “license” today to visit each other, but the newly professed remains in silence, in a prayer of gratitude and love, until the joyful and emotional gathering during the evening recreation.

After Compline, the Prioress removes the crown from Elizabeth who will place it in front of the statue of Our Lady of Grace in the cloister, the Queen of Heaven, of whom she wants to remain more than ever the daughter, the mystical Spouse of Jesus.

Conrad de Meester, O.C.D.

Rien Moins Que Dieu: Sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité
Chap. 22: Chaque jour ma vie d’épouse (excerpt)

Note: We invite our readers to explore the official website of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. Although the website has not yet been completely translated to in English, the most important information has been translated for English visitors.

https://youtu.be/XHFggZzlUGw

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 1984, Je te cherche dès l’aurore : évocation d’un visage et d’un coeur, produced by C. de Meester and the Carmel of Dijon, Carmel de Dijon, Flavignerot.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S, de Meester, C, Lonchampt, J, 1980, Oeuvres Complètes, Les Editions du Cerf, Paris.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Profession photo 63 from the photo album Je te cherche dès l’aurore published by the Carmel of Dijon. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

#biography #ConradDeMeester #GregorianChant #history #religiousProfession #spirituality #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity: Wholly Adoring, Wholly Surrendered

Her prayer to the Trinity was not only a pious elevation, but the expression of a gift of herself to God. We had prepared together for this renewal of our vows on 21 November 1904; when I asked her about it on the next day, she replied that she had received a great grace that was difficult for her to express.

Sister Marie of the Trinity, O.C.D.
Witness, Ordinary Process

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s famous prayer, O my God, Trinity Whom I adore, was discovered only after her death. Found among her private papers, the prayer was handwritten on a page torn from her personal notebook and dated November 21, 1904—a day that was deeply significant in her spiritual journey.

The day marked the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, a celebration in Carmel where the sisters renewed their religious vows before the Blessed Sacrament. St. Elizabeth, the youngest of the community, fully embraced this annual act of consecration, offering herself entirely to “her Three,” as she lovingly called the Holy Trinity. This prayer, born in the silence of her cloister and from the depths of her heart, was not shared during her lifetime. Her companions only discovered it after her passing, tucked away in her writing desk.

According to her fellow Carmelite, Sr. Marie of the Trinity, the prayer was not just a spiritual meditation but an act of total self-giving. St. Elizabeth later confided that the day she composed it was one of profound grace, though she found it difficult to describe the experience in words. Her offering echoes the great spiritual traditions of the Church, drawing comparisons with St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s Act of Oblation to Merciful Love and St. Catherine of Siena’s prayer to the Eternal Trinity.

Yet, Elizabeth’s voice is uniquely her own, expressing her desire to be a “heaven” for God, a place where the Trinity could dwell and be adored without distraction. This prayer, considered one of the most beautiful expressions of Trinitarian spirituality, invites us to surrender ourselves entirely to God. In its profound simplicity, it captures the heart of St. Elizabeth’s message: to live continually in God’s presence, wholly adoring, wholly surrendered, and wholly at peace.

To reflect more deeply on this prayer and the life of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, listen to our podcast episode embedded below. Let her words inspire you to invite God to make your soul His dwelling place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbvMvLpH6fo

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: A detail from one of four photos taken by her brother-in-law Georges Chevignard on 22 December 1902, the day of her canonical examination; the exam took place days before her religious profession on Epiphany Sunday, 11 January 1903. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

#CarmelOfDijon #ConradDeMeester #monasticLife #Podcast #PrayerToTheHolyTrinity #religiousProfession #spirituality #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #Trinitarian

Bernanos was totally wrong in regard to Christianity and the French Revolution. There had never been a “good” Revolution in 1789 which, Bernanos maintained, had turned “bad” only in 1793.

The destruction of Christianity was blatantly present from the very beginning, as is incontrovertibly proven by the simple fact that on October 29, 1789, no more than three and a half months after the fall of the Bastille, the taking of all religious vows was forbidden in France.

Sister Constance in the monastery at Compiègne, for example, could never make her profession as a Carmelite before going to the guillotine five years later. Further proof existed in the fact that just four days after this October 29 decree, on November 2, the totality of church property throughout all of France was confiscated and declared property of the state, completely stripping religious communities of their means of income.

Thus, from its very beginning, the total eradication of religious orders in France was a clearly stated purpose of the Revolution, as was also the humiliation of the once proud Church of France, brought to her knees before her sanguinary enemies by the decree of November 2, 1789. Her confiscated goods would finance the Revolution for ten years.

Professor William Bush

Author’s Foreword

What was this fatal decree?

Sr. Marie of the Incarnation, the sole surviving Carmelite of Compiègne and the first biographer of the martyrs, tells us that Blessed Constance entered the Carmel of Compiègne on May 29, 1788, and was clothed in the habit of Carmel on December 13 of that year. Canonically, she was set to profess her perpetual vows in December 1789. Professor Bush notes that Blessed Teresa of St. Augustine intended to allow Sr. Constance to make her vows on the anniversary date.

A Turning Point for France

On Tuesday, July 14, 1789, revolutionary insurgents stormed the Bastille, a royal fortress in Paris. Their successful siege and capture of the commander marked a decisive shift in Paris, turning popular sentiment toward the revolution and away from King Louis XVI’s weakening administration. Soon, the revolutionary spirit spread across France.

New Cause, New Laws

Meanwhile, in the Constituent Assembly—a governing body formed in June 1789—deputies, emboldened by these events, moved to create new laws aligned with the revolutionary cause. Today, thanks to the collaboration between the French National Library and Stanford University, we can read the daily acts of the Constituent Assembly and discover exactly how the fatal decree of October 28-29, 1789, came into being. Below, we present our translation of the daily proceedings (in italics) from the Assembly’s Wednesday session on October 28, along with a brief commentary for clarity.

Mr. Rousselet
On behalf of the reporting committee, Mr. Rousselet presents letters from two monks and a nun, requesting the Assembly to clarify its stance on the profession of vows. He suggests prohibiting perpetual monastic vows.

Michel-Louis Rousselet
1746 – 1834

Michel-Louis Rousselet was a deputy from the bailiwick of Provins (Seine-et-Marne), located southeast of Paris. Although he served in the Assembly for only two years—from March 30, 1789, to September 30, 1791—those years proved pivotal for Catholics in France. His report, which called for the suspension of religious vows in monasteries, received the support of Guy-Jean-Baptiste Target, a deputy from the bailiwick of Paris-Outside-the-Walls.

Guy-Jean-Baptiste Target
1733 – 1806

Here, we continue to translate the proceedings from that fateful day in the Assembly…

Mr. Target
Mr. Target requests a postponement on the core issue and proposes the following decree:

“Upon reading the report…the Assembly postpones the question of professing vows but provisionally decrees that the profession of vows will be suspended in monasteries of both men and women.”

Several clergy [who were deputies] argue that this provisional suspension effectively decides the question and invoke the regulation requiring three days of discussion for major issues.

The decree proposed by Mr. Target is adopted.

[Following this, the Assembly session addresses unrelated matters.]

French Revolution Digital Archive
A collaboration between the Stanford University Libraries and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Tome 9 : Du 16 septembre au 11 novembre 1789, Séance du mercredi 28 octobre 1789, Séance du jeudi 29 octobre 1789, pages 597–598

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
PRESIDED OVER BY MR. CAMUS
SESSION OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1789

After the secretary reads the minutes,

Mr. de Bonnal
Takes the podium to make what he calls “a few protests” against the decree from the previous day. He asserts that the clergy should have raised objections, and requests that his own be recorded under the title of “observations.”

Mr. Target
Mr. Target notes that traditionally, the minutes do not include individual protests made against the Assembly’s decrees.

This brief dispute concludes with a ruling on the previous question.

The President
The President then calls for the day’s agenda.

Bush, W. 1999, To quell the terror: the mystery of the vocation of the sixteen Carmelites of Compiègne guillotined July 17, 1794, ICS Publications, Washington, D.C.

de l’Incarnation, M 1836, Histoire des religieuses carmelites de Compiègne conduites a l’échafaud le 17 juillet 1794: Ouvrage posthume de la soeur Marie de l’Incarnation, T. Malvin, Sens. Accessed 16 July 2021, babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c041438717&view=1up&seq=117

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: This detail from a stained glass window depicting the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne was designed by stained glass artist Sister Margaret of the Mother of God, O.C.D. (Margaret Rope). It is one of her most famous windows in the chapel of the Carmel of Quidenham, England. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/10/28/bush-29oct1789/

#BlessedConstance #constituentAssembly #FrenchRevolution #history #inspiration #MartyrsOfCompiègne #persecution #religiousProfession #vows

“Hail, Cross, our only hope!”—this is what the holy church summoned us to exclaim during the time for contemplating the bitter suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. The jubilant exclamation of the Easter Alleluia silenced the serious song of the cross. But the sign of our salvation greeted us amid the time of Easter joy, since we were recalling the discovery of the One who had passed from sight.

At the end of the cycle of ecclesiastical feasts, the cross greets us through the heart of the Savior. And now, as the church year draws toward an end, it is raised high before us and is to hold us spellbound until the Easter Alleluia summons us anew to forget the earth for a while and rejoice in the marriage of the Lamb.

Our holy Order has us begin our fast with the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. And it leads us to the foot of the cross to renew our holy vows. The Crucified One looks down on us and asks us whether we are still willing to honor what we promised in an hour of grace. And he certainly has reason to ask.

More than ever the cross is a sign of contradiction. The followers of the Antichrist show it far more dishonor than did the Persians who stole it. They desecrate the images of the cross, and they make every effort to tear the cross out of the hearts of Christians. All too often they have succeeded even with those who, like us, once vowed to bear Christ’s cross after him.

Therefore, the Savior today looks at us, solemnly probing us, and asks each one of us: Will you remain faithful to the Crucified? Consider carefully! The world is in flames, the battle between Christ and the Antichrist has broken into the open.

If you decide for Christ, it could cost you your life. Carefully consider what you promise.

Taking and renewing vows is a dreadfully serious business. You make a promise to the Lord of heaven and earth. If you are not deadly serious about your will to fulfill it, you fall into the hands of the living God…

Ave Crux, Spes unica!

The world is in flames. The conflagration can also reach our house. But high above all flames towers the cross. They cannot consume it. It is the path from earth to heaven. It will lift one who embraces it in faith, love, and hope into the bosom of the Trinity.

The world is in flames. Are you impelled to put them out? Look at the cross. From the open heart gushes the blood of the Savior. This extinguishes the flames of hell.

Saint Edith Stein

Elevation of the Cross, 14 September 1939 (excerpts)

Jesus on the Cross, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Denver Colorado.
Image credit: Thomas Hawk / Flickr

We present excerpts from the meditation for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a fervorino that Saint Teresa Benedicta wrote for the prioress to deliver to the nuns of the Carmel of Echt, Holland on 14 September 1939, her first opportunity to renew her vows as a Discalced Carmelite in her new community.

Edith mentions that “our holy Order has us begin our fast with the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.” Here she makes a direct reference to the Carmelite Rule of St. Albert of Jerusalem, No. 16:

You are to fast every day, except Sundays, from the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross until Easter Day, unless bodily sickness or feebleness, or some other good reason, demand a dispensation from the fast; for necessity overrides every law.

For centuries, Discalced Carmelite nuns have renewed their vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity—the order in which Edith presented the vows in her meditation—on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Although the Discalced Carmelite friars renew their vows and the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order members renew their Promise at Easter or during the Octave of Easter, the 1991 Constitutions of the Discalced Carmelite nuns indicate that they shall renew their profession twice each year:

In order to give common witness to religious consecration in following Christ, every year the sisters will renew their religious profession during the Easter Vigil or the octave of Easter, and on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, using the formula given in the Ritual. The communities may repeat this renewal on other occasions in order to strengthen their commitment to this way of life.

No matter what legislation Discalced Carmelites may observe, the essential purpose is clear: “to strengthen their commitment to this way of life.”

Discalced Carmelite nuns of Thicket Priory Carmel celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of their new monastery in 2019. Image credit: © Johan Bergström-Allen, www.carmelite.org / Flickr

Stein, E. 2014, The Hidden Life: hagiographic essays, meditations, spiritual texts, translated from the German by Stein, W, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The Isenheim Altarpiece was executed in oil on panel by Matthias Grünewald and Nikolaus Hagenauer between 1512 and 1516, created for the Antonite order’s monastic complex at Isenheim. It decorated the hospital chapel’s high altar. It now is one of the principal treasures in the collections of the Musée Unterlinden in Colmar, France. Image credit: Musée Unterlinden (Public domain)

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