This time of fasting has opened to us the gates of paradise. Let us accept it, praying and beseeching that on the day of resurrection we may be glorified in the Lord. – Matins Responsory for Lent Dear Friends of Carmel, Earlier this month, during the days before Lent, we were thinking about what brief message we could send to you by way of encouragement for making this season fruitful. We know well that many approach this holy season with a gloomy, heavy heart. Yet surely our good Lord and Holy Mother Church do not mean for us to be sad and gloomy! This is a time, not to have a burdened soul ..read more

“Ye faint-hearted, take courage and fear not.  Behold, our God will come and save us.”  – (Communion verse, 3rd Sunday of Advent) Dear Friends of Carmel, In the masterpiece of the Divine Liturgy of Holy Church, we hear much about the end of time in these final weeks of the liturgical year. The theme that dominates the Last Sunday after Pentecost and the First Sunday of Advent is the end of time and the Final Judgement. This theme is the link that draws together the end of this year of grace and the beginning of the next, setting us once again on the path that will make present Christ ..read more

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9 Dear Friends of Carmel, Once again, we find ourselves at the closing months of the year. And again this October we have been blessed with colorful autumn days. Like a lively party outside, trees, shrubs and vines are all decorated and glowing. During the day when the sun shines on those colorful trees, the glow even comes indoors through windows, making chapel, cells, kitchen and other rooms of the Monastery varying shades of pink, orange, gold ..read more

“You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.” – Our Lady of Fatima, July 13th, 1917 Dear Friends of Carmel, August 22nd is traditionally the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and though not many know it, the Church dedicates the entire month of August to Our Lady under this title. As we know from devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, honoring the Immaculate Heart is honoring of the love of Our Lady. We would like to ..read more

Our Lady’s Feast – Images of Our Lady – Community News “Devotion to our Lady of Mount Carmel indicates a strong call to the interior life, which, in a very special way, is Mary’s life. The Blessed Virgin wants us to resemble her in heart and mind much more than in externals. If we penetrate into Mary’s soul, we see that grace produced in her a very rich interior life: a life of recollection, prayer, uninterrupted giving of herself to God, and of constant contact and intimate union with Him… Every interior soul, even living in the tumult of the world, must strive to reach this peace, this inte ..read more

As to persons living in the world, they shall find in this devotion all the aids necessary in their state of life: peace in their homes, consolation in their work, the blessing of heaven upon all their enterprises, comfort in their sorrows, a secure refuge during life and especially at the hour of death. It is plainly evident that there is no one in the world who will not receive all kinds of heavenly blessings if they have a true love of Jesus Christ manifested by a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. – St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Dear Friends of Carmel, Greetings during this month of June ..read more

Pentecost Retreat – Our Lady of Fatima – Vestment Project “Let us during these days often turn our thoughts to that silent house on Mount Sion, and visit it in spirit…Let us offer to the Holy Ghost the prayers of the early Church on behalf of the Church of today. The two are one and the same, and meet there in spirit. The upper chamber of the house on Mount Sion has never been empty since the days of the Apostles…This novena is the great prayer-meeting of the whole Church, united in calling to the Holy Ghost to visit us and communicate Himself to the whole world. Let us join in this work of pr ..read more

Dear Friends of Carmel, These words of the hymn, Regina Caeli, pour forth from joyful hearts at the hour of Compline on Easter evening and all during Paschaltide: Rejoice, Queen of Heaven! Alleluia! For He Whom thou didst merit to bear, Alleluia! Hath risen as He said, Alleluia! The past forty days, and especially these last days of Holy Week, we have followed in Our Lord’s footsteps as He labored to overturn the kingdom of Satan, definitively conquering sin and death. At His side and in our company, has been His Blessed Mother – and our Mother. Her heart, so perfectly joined to her Son’s, tas ..read more

Peace in the Family – New Relic Badge – Community News Print “Especially is Saint Joseph’s help needed in our day when God’s enemy has directed his attack precisely against the family in order to desecrate and destroy it, thereby converting it into an instrument of malediction and making of it an earthly hell. In the face of these evils Saint Joseph, as patron of the family, must intervene; and as of old he arose to save the child and His mother, so today he must arise to safeguard the sanctity of the home.” – The Truth About Saint Joseph, Father Meschler Dear Friends of Carmel, Happy upcomin ..read more

“Now, Lord, you may dismiss your servant in peace, according to your word;  For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have set before all the nations, As a light of revelation for the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.” – Canticle of Simeon, Lk. 2:29-32 Dear Friends of Carmel, The weeks since the cherished Christmas season have passed swiftly, and soon enough, Lent will be upon us.  But Holy Mother Church, never failing to honor God, ever intent upon renewing and re-living the glorious mysteries of Christ, and always encouraging and consoling her children, celebrates ..read more