|
- The blessed season of Lent
- The Community: Much activity
- The Monastery: Building project
- Website news
THE BLESSED SEASON OF
LENT
 |
Dear Friends of Carmel,
Once again, we greet you during a holy
season, a time of special graces, the blessed season of
Lent. So many people think of this time of the
liturgical year with a certain dread or dismal
depression. Oh, how far these feelings are from the
Church's intentions as She comes to the season of Lent,
with all its salutary practices.
WHY? Let us recall some of the reasons
for our penances and fasts. We are told by Our Lord
Himself and reminded by the Fathers of the Church, the
Saints and many spiritual writers, that we must do
penance for sin: our own sins and the sins of others.
The small sufferings we voluntarily take upon ourselves
also serve to call us to a greater purity and holiness
of life, to conversion. As St. Paul tells us, God calls
us to be Saints, every one of us! He calls us to strive
for perfection and to "be imitators of God, as very dear
children…" Most importantly, our observance of Lent is
meant to draw us closer to God by our deeper meditation
of and union with the sufferings and death Our Lord
Jesus Christ. The sacrifice Our Lord made on Calvary was
our redemption. Let us receive the graces of that
redemption with loving gratitude and steadfast faith by
embracing all the crosses God sends us that are meant to
make us more like Christ and lead us to the joy and
peace of His Resurrection.
HOW? Holy Mother Church instructs us
how to do penance: fasting, almsgiving and prayer.
Fasting: The laws of the Church regarding fasting may be
found in the back of the liturgical
calendar we offer on our web site, published by the
Seraphim Company. Many of you have asked what Carmelites
eat and how we keep the Lenten fast. Meat is not part of
the Carmelite diet, and the Lenten observance commands
that we also abstain from eating eggs or dairy products,
except on Sunday. We know many lay people who devoutly
keep a strict no-meat abstinence on all Wednesdays,
Fridays and Saturdays during Lent. Almsgiving: "Hide
your alms in the breast of the poor, and the alms itself
shall pray for you." (Eccl. 29:15) Prayer: The prayers
of the Liturgy of the Lenten season are the best
possible prayers. Spiritual reading and study give food
for prayer. We cannot count how many of you have asked
us about spiritual reading, and we always give our
favorite sources for spiritual food and inspiration:
Holy Scripture, My
Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, Divine
Intimacy, and during Lent a new book we now offer on
our web site, On the
Passion of Christ, also by Thomas a
Kempis. |
THE COMMUNITY: MUCH
ACTIVITY
 |
The Sisters celebrated
with special happiness the Simple Profession of Vows of
our senior novice, February 11, 2004, Feast of Our Lady
of Lourdes. If possible, we love to schedule these
important days in our Carmelite life to be on feasts of
Our Blessed Mother, both to honor this great Queen of
the Religious Life and to gain her unique and loving
patronage.
At this time, "Community News" and
"Building Project" are practically one thing. We look
out our north window and see the daily progress as
foundation, floor joists and walls are built before our
eyes! Just today, our north window has been removed
while the builders work on connecting our existing
building to the addition. We do not let a day go by
without thanking the good God and St. Joseph for the
wonderful builders we have.
We continue to receive many letters,
emails and calls from women all over the world who are
interested in the contemplative Carmelite vocation.
Keeping up with this correspondence is a growing
challenge! One young lady from the Caribbean has been
accepted. Another from Brazil, please God, will enter in
the summer or fall of 2004. We are currently
corresponding with a number of young ladies from Africa.
And yes, a good number of possible vocations are from
the United States.
Earlier this month, we were privileged
to have all-night adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
After all the hammering and building noise stopped and
the day's work was finished, we had Heaven on earth! The
peace of night's silence in the Divine Presence can be
compared to no other joy. Kneeling before Our Lord, we
brought not only our own cares, but the cares, sorrows
and burdens of all the Friends of Carmel. As well,
during the days of the St. Joseph Novena before his
feast day today, we have been remembering you in our
prayers. |
THE MONASTERY: BUILDING
PROJECT
|
So many unexpected
problems have surfaced since groundbreaking day,
December 16th, that we cannot list them all. But the
first interesting challenge presented itself in the form
of an underground stream meandering right under the
building site! As excavation progressed, our builders
could see that special measures would need to be taken
to protect the foundation from this constant flow of
water. Other "challenges" continue to crop up, but our
trust in St. Joseph has been rewarded over and over
again.
We are amazed at the countless choices
and decisions that go into a project like this. Things
like proper lighting for the important sewing room,
suitable cabinets for the kitchen and pantry, how to
plan for a future guestroom, when to schedule the
roofers who are volunteering their labor, what sort of
doorknobs for the doors! The list goes on... Even though
we have started building we still don't have all the
funds we need to complete the interior of this addition.
Won't you help us to be able to accept more vocations by
donating to help finish the building? Please see our Building
Update to read more about the progress of our
addition.
|
WEBSITE NEWS
|
Our web site continues to
be of help to us in earning needed funds for the support
of the Sisters and for the building project. It also
continues to present its challenges! Those of you who
visit often will notice that we are in the process of
changing its format to make it easier to use, search,
and shop. We are adding items very often and are excited
about the response to our Patron
Saint Medals. Saints most people have never heard of
are among the medals we offer. The past weeks have
brought requests for the patron Saint of adopted
children (St. William of Rochester), of psychiatrists
(St. Christina) and of people with headache trouble (our
own St. Teresa of Avila).
We have added many new books to our
site, answering the needs of First
Communicants and those looking for appropriate gifts
for this special occasion.
We are pleased that the Salerni
sterling silver art has been so well received by
visitors to our web site. These stunning works, as well
as our other Religious
Art, make perfect gifts, especially for weddings,
anniversaries and graduations.
Our thanks and prayers for you always!
In Our Crucified Lord,
Your Carmelite
Sisters
|
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN
FUTURE EDITIONS OF OUR NEWSLETTER?
TELL A FRIEND!
|
© 2004 Sisters of Carmel. All rights reserved.
|
| |
E-mail this page to a friend