The Basilica’s image of Our Blessed Lady of Guadalupe is a replica of the original image of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin on Tepeyac Hill, which hangs in the Basilica of Mexico City. The painting was donated by the Mexican Society of the parish. The frame, of intricately hand carved gold leaf flowers and foliage, is from Monterrey, Mexico. The altar was donated in memory of Dorothy Needham Krebs by her father and husband. Dorothy and Edgar Krebs were married at the Basilica in 1940. A 1947 Apostolate Magazine article describing the dedication ceremony of the Altar to the ..read more

Article written by Daniel Babcock , OCDS In Advent, we expectantly wait and prepare for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus and the return of Jesus at the second coming. Carmelite Spirituality leads us to this walk with the Holy Family all year long. God’s will is for us to be with Him all the time. We celebrate these special days of Advent with prayer and contemplation, asking God to walk with us as we journey with the Holy Family to Bethlehem.  I began my walk at an early age. My grandmother attended mass every day and never missed an opportunity to pray, like a model Carmelite. Sh ..read more

Article written by Roberta (Robbie) Alicea, OCDS “I accept everything out of love for God.” (St. Thérèse, Last Conversations, Yellow Notebook, June 4, #3) I fell in love with St. Thérèse after reading her Story of a Soul. She refers to herself as a “little” child;” but, her story is filled with great depth and insight about loving God as entirely and as perfectly as she was able. It demonstrates the strength of her character and her determination to forsake everything for the love of God. At first, I thought how impossible it would be for a wife and mother to give up everything. As I read th ..read more

Article written by Fr. Stephen Sanchez, OCD We come together as Christians, as Catholics, and as Carmelites to celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. It is a celebration for us on many levels. For Carmelites, through meditation on the first reading, from I Kings 18, we see in that small white cloud rising from the sea, which brings a downpour of rain to end the three-year drought, a prefigurement of our Lady. The Blessed Virgin Mary is that small, pure white cloud, that Immaculate cloud that rises from the sea of humanity and it is through her that the God’s Living Word takes His ..read more

The earliest Carmelites were hermits on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land. In the 13th century, they built a chapel there for Our Lady and declared her “Lady of the Place”: the Mother, Sister, Protector, and Queen of Mt. Carmel and their community. The Order’s devotion to Mary as its model is distinctively Carmelite in its contemplative focus on the interior life and friendship with God. The Discalced Carmelites symbolize their commitment to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in the Brown Scapular as part of their habit. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is central to the spirituality of the Discalced Carmelites as to th ..read more

Article written by Fr. Luis Joaquin Castañeda, OCD In looking for the root of problems in my life and in the lives of those to whom I minister, I have realized that many of the issues are rooted in a lack of self-knowledge. As I have studied the writings of Holy Mother St. Teresa, I discovered that she has much to teach us about self-knowledge. This topic became even more relevant when I realized the extent that my work would focus on human formation. As  the formator of the Province of St. Thérèse, I am now responsible for our formandees (our young postulants in formation to enter our O ..read more

Article written by Theresa Doyle-Nelson When St. Thérèse—at the age of 22—wrote down her childhood memories by order of the prioress (who happened to be her sister Pauline), she painted an intriguing piece of art at the end—a specially designed Coat of Arms to express her heart’s feelings and inspirations. This thought-provoking Coat of Arms design is nicely replicated in the St. Thérèse Tomb Chapel at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower. This Coat of Arms is full of insights that can help pilgrims to the Basilica better understand the soul of the Little Flower. The Doubl ..read more

1st Prize - $7,500  - Angela Saunders   2nd Prize - $3,500 - Roland Barcena  3rd Prize - $2,500 - Julio Mata 4th Prize - $1,500 - Maria Garza 5th Prize - $500 - Christina Almaraz 6th Prize - $500 - Maria V. De Leon  Thank you to all who participated to support your Little Flower Basilica community! With your help we exceeded our goal of raising $50,000 towards parish operations ..read more

Article written by Fr. Emmanuel Nnadozie, OCD Salvador Dali’s “CHRIST OF ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS” When John of St. Matthias joined St. Teresa in beginning a new and reformed branch of the Carmelite Order, he changed his religious name to John of the Cross, thus signaling a trajectory that would be imbued with the Mystery of the Cross. Because of his support for the reform movement of his Order, John suffered imprisonment, mistreatment, and calumnies. When Our Lord asked him what reward he would ask for his labors, John answered: "To suffer and to be despised for Thee." John is truly “of the Cro ..read more

Two series of stained glass windows in the Basilica of the National Shrine in San Antonio recount the lives of the founders of the Discalced Carmelite Order. On the north wall, a series of five arched windows depicts the life of St. John of the Cross, faced by another series on the south wall illustrating scenes from the life of St. Teresa of Avila. The cover image in this issue, the window depicting St. John of the Cross in Toledo prison, illustrates the moment that Our Lady appeared to him during the octave of the Assumption to show him how to escape from the prison. On Dec. 2, 1577, John o ..read more