This prayer is so rich and beautiful - I have read it countless times, and still am so moved by it every time I re-read it. So much to soak in and meditate on!
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 unto death!
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.” (Mt. 17:5)
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.
Amen.
Here is a link to the Institute of Carmelite Studies Publications YouTube channel (this Institute has done all of the most well known translations of the Carmelite classics).
There are a ton of informational videos and talks on their channel about all things Carmelite. I actually know several of the presenting friars personally from growing up seeing them and talking to them at Holy Hill. :) They are incredible, holy men and it is totally worth watching their videos!
Sister Cremona has been involved with the trans community since 2006.
Mónica Astorga Cremona is a cloistered discalced Carmelite nun who for nearly 16 years has devoted her time and energy towards helping trans women in Argentina. Trans women in Argentina face economic and social marinization in many parts of the country, contributing to a life expectancy that is half that of the nation as a whole. The community has also been the target of intense violence, with the murders of several trans women leading to nationwide protests in 2015.
Because they live on the margins of society, many trans women in Argentina are forced into the sex trade and prostitutions, with many suffering from additions and substance abuse. Sister Cremona has sought to alleviate this suffering by providing housing and needed resources to this community.
Her latest project announced last summer of a housing complex for trans women drew praise from Pope Francis, whom Sister Cremona has known since his time as Bishop Jorge Bergolio. In the handwritten letter Pope Francis remarked that, “God, who did not go to seminary or study theology, will repay you abundantly.” He concluded the letter by stating, “May Jesus bless you and may the holy virgin take care of you. Fraternally, Francisco”.
The example of Sister Cremona shows us the necessity as Christians to care for those on the margins of society and that understanding and compassion must always be a part of a Christian outlook on life.
A little late (sorry I missed her feast yesterday) but still wanted to share this because it is absolutely beautiful!!
Teresa Margaret belonged to the noble family of Redi, and was born in the Tuscan city of Arezzo in 1747. She entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery at Florence on September 1, 1764. She was granted a special grace of contemplative insight based on Saint John’s phrase God is love, through which she felt called to a hidden life of love and self-sacrifice. She progressed rapidly, fulfilling her vocation through heroic charity toward others. She died in Florence in 1770, aged twenty-three.
From the Acts of Canonization of Saint Teresa Margaret
"Brief as it was, Teresa Margaret’s whole life may be regarded as one continual raising up of her guiltless soul to God.
"In its innocence her soul turned spontaneously to God, and seemed able to find rest in him alone. In her, utter purity was joined to profound humility and she genuinely loved to be disregarded and despised. She did not simply bear humiliations, she rejoiced in them. Her purity of heart and her lowliness of spirit earned for her a high degree of charity, and this rapidly increased until her ardor became truly seraphic and she could hardly speak of God without her face becoming suffused with joy. Her love of God went hand in hand with a deep love for her neighbor and especially for sinners, on whose behalf she offered herself unreservedly to God as a victim. Her unassuming kindness and complete self-denial for the sake of her sisters in religion, especially the sick, were such that she was regarded as an angel of charity.
"The fires of her love were fed principally by the Eucharist, and she looked forward with longing to her communions. She was also especially devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a devotion which did much to curb the advances of Jansenism at that time in Tuscany. She was utterly devoted to Our Lady, whom she regarded as the model and protectress of her own virginal purity. She was endowed to a high degree with the gift of contemplative prayer, and daily grew closer to God, as though reflecting the glories of the eternity she was fast approaching.
"As her life neared its end this true daughter of the holy Mother Teresa and faithful disciple of Saint John of the Cross was called
... keep reading on reddit ➡These are some of the non-native sources that observed the practice of endogamy among the Knanaya Christians( Southists).
It is ridiculous to think that Knanaya are pure- bloods (something to be shunned). Nevertheless, Endogamy practice has been observed among the Knanaya (Southist) Christians at least from 16th century! It seems likely that Knanaya Christians had an exogamous period prior the same.
Knanaya (Southists) endogamy is not caste based! It was given a caste- shade since Kerala was a caste- based society and as opposed to other Christians (Northists), having a migrant history, Knanaya Christians survived better. It was later clarified by the Church that Knanaya endogamy is not based on caste but rather based on a separate ethnic identity
Some of the sources specify a northist-southist divide and petty quarrels among some of the members of both the communities. This was not the larger picture and was limited to only a minority among both the communities.
- Gouvea 1603
source: Fr Antonio de Gouvea, Jornada do Arcebispo de Goa Dom Frei Aleyxo de Menezes, Coimbra, 1606
"This Marthoma (Thomas of Cana) who received these last-mentioned privelages lived among these same Christians, and as he was very powerful and carried on trade and business in many parts of Malabar, had for this purpose, two houses and families one on the southern side of Cranganore and the other on the northern side. On the southern side he had his own wife and children. On the northern side he had he had a Nair woman converted Christian as slave, from whom also he had children.
They do not tolerate to ally oneself with the others by marriages, nor even to continue in the church of the others; nor to have in ones churches priests belonging to the caste of the others. "
- Mar Francis Ros SJ, in 1604.
source: Mar Francis Ros SJ, Report on the Serra, British Museum Library
However, the descendants of Thomas Cananeo (Southists/ Knanaya )always remained above them (Northists) without wishing to marry or to mix with these other Christians, and so up to the present there are among them two lineages.
3.Frei Paulo da Trinidade, OFM, (1630-36)
source: Frei Paulo da Trinidade, OFM, Conquista Espiritual do Oriente
"And hence by no means do the ones mix with the others by marriage, neither do they tolerate or consent the others in one’s own churches or to have in one’s own churches priests belonging to the caste of the others. …
... keep reading on reddit ➡Today is the first of October! MOASS almost definitely confirmed for today, because is GameStop actually going to issue an NFT dividend, per a to be verified communication with ComputerShare? In other news, E*Trade implicitly confirmed they do not actually hold shares - do take care, and I would personally register my shares directly to avoid this crime! Look what this day brought us over the past years, and just imagine what that day will bring us in 2021! <3
Events
331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela.
366 – Pope Damasus I is consecrated.
959 – Edgar the Peaceful becomes king of all England, in succession to Eadwig.
965 – Pope John XIII is consecrated.
1553 – Coronation of Queen Mary I of England.
1588 – Coronation of Shah Abbas I of Persia.
1730 – Ahmed III is forced to abdicate as the Ottoman sultan.
1779 – The city of Tampere, Finland (belonging to Sweden at this time) is founded by King Gustav III of Sweden.
1787 – Russians under Alexander Suvorov defeat the Turks at Kinburn.
1791 – First session of the French Legislative Assembly.
1795 – More than a year after the Battle of Sprimont, the Austrian Netherlands (present-day Belgium) are officially annexed by Revolutionary France.
1800 – Via the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, Spain cedes Louisiana to France, which would sell the land to the United States thirty months later.
1814 – Opening of the Congress of Vienna, intended to redraw Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoleon the previous spring.
1827 – Russo-Persian War: The Russian army under Ivan Paskevich storms Yerevan, ending a millennium of Muslim domination of Armenia.
1829 – South African College is founded in Cape Town, South Africa. It will later separate into the University of Cape Town and the South African College Schools.
1832 – Texian political delegates convene at San Felipe de Austin to petition for changes in the governance of Mexican Texas.
1861 – Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management is published, going on to sell 60,000 copies in its first year and remaining in print until the present day.
1887 – Balochistan is conquered by the British Empire.
1890 – Yosemite National Park is established by the U.S. Congress.
1891 – Stanford University opens its doors in California, United States.
1898 – The Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration is founded under the name k.u.k. Exportakademie.
1903 – Baseball: The Boston Americans
... keep reading on reddit ➡From the spiritual writings of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
(taken from the Discalced Carmelite Proper Offices of Carmelite Saints and Blesseds in the Liturgy of the Hours)
We greet you, Holy Cross, our only hope! The church puts these words on our lips during the time of the passion, which is dedicated to the contemplation of the bitter sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The world is in flames. The struggle between Christ and antichrist rages openly, and so if you decide for Christ you can even be asked to sacrifice your life.
Contemplate the Lord who hangs before you on the wood, because he was obedient even to the death of the cross. He came into the world not to do his own will but that of the Father. And if you wish to be the spouse of the Crucified, you must renounce completely your own will and have no other aspiration than to do the will of God.
Before you the Redeemer hangs on the cross stripped and naked, because he chose poverty. Those who would follow him must renounce every earthly possession.
Stand before the Lord who hangs from the cross with his heart torn open. He poured out the blood of his heart in order to win your heart. In order to follow him in holy chastity, your heart must be free from every earthly aspiration. Jesus Crucified must be the object of your every longing, of your every desire, of your
every thought.
The world is in flames: the fire can spread even to our house, but above all the flames the cross stands on high, and it cannot be burnt. The cross is the way which leads from earth to heaven. Those who embrace it with faith, love, and hope are taken up, right into the heart of the Trinity.
The world is in flames: do you wish to put them out? Contemplate the cross: from his open heart the blood of the Redeemer pours, blood which can put out even the flames of hell. Through the faithful observance of the vows, you make your heart open; and then the floods of that divine love will be able to flow into it, making it overflow and bear fruit to the furthest reaches of the earth.
Through the power of the cross you can be present wherever there is pain, carried there by your compassionate charity, by that very charity which you draw from the divine heart. That charity enables you to spread everywhere the most precious blood in order to ease pain, save and redeem.
The eyes of the Crucified gaze upon you. They question you and appeal to you. Do you wish seriously to renew your alliance with h
... keep reading on reddit ➡An update to our dear friends… Month of the Sacred Heart June 19, 2021
Dear Friends,
Praised be Jesus Christ!
We are writing this personal letter to you, all our dear friends, to shed some light on the recent events involving our Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Once we realized there was both misinformation and misunderstanding regarding Elysburg and Philadelphia, we wanted to relate to you the truth of these matters. We hope this letter will be enlightening and helpful. First of all, regarding Elysburg, we made a wholehearted attempt to keep two monasteries open in this diocese by splitting our community in half. This proved too taxing on our Nuns and detrimental to the spiritual welfare of our community. Therefore we have brought all our Nuns to Fairfield. This was the original plan, and it has proven the best plan. We apologize that from your perspective it seemed rushed, but for us it was very much a necessity. While it seemed from the outside that Elysburg and Fairfield were two separate entities, Elysburg was in fact leaning heavily upon our support and direction. We found it increasingly difficult to meet the needs of all our young and vibrant Sisters at both locations. Because of this and because of the exciting prospect of being united in time for the beautiful liturgies of Holy Week and Easter, we accelerated our moving plans. Ideally we would like the Elysburg property to go to another religious group. We had one lined up but it fell through just recently. We will continue to pray that Our Lord will send one to take our place, but we remain at peace with whatever His Will may be. By selling the building, we will be able to reinvest into our present home all the work and donations given during our fruitful years in Elysburg. So while our location has changed a little (same state, same diocese), the community of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph remains faithful to the invitation received from the Diocese of Harrisburg in 2009. Secondly, we would like to dispel any lingering misinformation about our and the Carmel in Valparaiso’s involvement in the departure of the twelve Discalced Carmelite Nuns from the Philadelphia monastery on April 9, 2021. As some of you have noted, the Elysburg monastery closed just about the same time as the Philadelphia Carmel. Because of this, there has been some outside conjecture that the two closures are related. However, the two events were enacted for entirely different reasons and were completely un-choreographed. In
... keep reading on reddit ➡
Do your worst!
I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂
It really does, I swear!
Buenosdillas
They’re on standbi
