Today the Carmelite family celebrates the memorial of Blessed John Soreth (c.1395 – 1471), Prior General and reformer of the Carmelite Order. During his time as Prior General he was also responsible for the creation of Carmelite communities for women and the admission of lay associates as part of the Order.
Our Lady held a special importance for Titus Brandsma throughout his life. As a young boy Titus became familiar with various Marian practices including the rosary which the Brandsma family prayed on a daily basis. This Marian devotion would last a lifetime for Titus who even in prison organised several rosaries for himself when his one was taken from him.
In addition, Titus became familiar with the idea that we find Jesus by going through Mary. With Mary as a mother and as a sister, he followed Jesus on his way to the heavenly father.
Pope Francis will consecrate humanity, Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during the usual Friday Lenten Penitential service at St Peter’s tomorrow, the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord. The Pope has invited the whole Church to join with him and to pray the Act of Consecration throughout the day.
“This Act of Consecration is meant to be a gesture of the universal Church, which in this dramatic moment lifts up to God, through His Mother and ours, the cry of pain of all those who suffer and implore an end to the violence, and to entrust the future of our human family to the Queen of Peace,” the Pope said.
God our Father, your servant,
Saint Titus Brandsma,
laboured zealously in your vineyard and gave his life freely because of his faith in you. Through his intercession I ask for your mercy and help.
Father Titus never refused when he was asked for help by your people.
In his name, I come to you with my needs ...
Lord, help me always to imitate the great faith, generous love and burning zeal of Saint Titus. Glorify your servant as he strove to glorify you. Amen.
Mary, Mother of Carmel, pray for us.
Titus Brandsma, Carmelite martyr,
intercede for us.
Around 80% of Timor-Leste’s population is dependent on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods. Government mandated lockdowns have created a ‘silent emergency’ where families and communities have lost their main, if not their only, source of income.
Carmelites have a keen sense of justice, both ad intra and ad extra. They understand that justice has a number of meanings: it is a virtue of God; it is the urgent and necessary expression of love for the needs of today: it is the existence of right relationship.
This Sunday’s Gospel of the Transfiguration completes the ‘little parable’ formed by the Gospels of the first two Sundays of Lent. These Gospels tell us what Lent is about and what Christian life is about: a journey from temptation and doubt to transfiguration and faith. A journey away from allowing ourselves to be tempted to evil, and towards allowing ourselves to be tempted to good by the action of God’s Holy Spirit within us.
Celebrating At Home 2nd Sunday in Lent [PDF]
Celebrating At Home 2nd Sunday in Lent [ePub]
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"I would like to appeal to everyone, believers and non-believers alike. Jesus taught us that the diabolical senselessness of violence is answered with God's weapons, with prayer and fasting. I invite everyone to make next 2 March, Ash Wednesday, a Day of Fasting for Peace. I encourage believers in a special way to dedicate themselves intensely to prayer and fasting on that day. May the Queen of Peace preserve the world from the madness of war." - Pope Francis. Read more
“I was 24 years old in 1999. I was a Carmelite student, studying in Flores, Indonesia. Our Carmelite leaders in Indonesia gave ten of us East Timorese students permission to take leave from our studies and return to Timor to participate in the popular consultation.
I forget the exact date we left Flores. It was about one week before the vote on 30th August. It took one day and one night on the ferry. In the past when we travelled on an Indonesian ferry, we were free to move around, to go outside and have a look around. But at that time the ten of us stuck together. We didn’t move. We ate together and sat together. It was tense.
