By Sr. Helena of Mary, O.Carm Feast Day: December 14th Carmelite, Mystic, Doctor of the Church The Carmelite Order celebrates the feast of Saint John of the Cross on December 14th. Saint John is first of my favorite male Saints, with St. Francis De Sales, as my second. Humanly speaking, his life is a story of [...]
By Sr. Helena of Mary Feast Day: November 8 The Carmelite Order celebrates the feast of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity on November 8th. Elizabeth was a beautiful soul who tasted the delights of contemplating God in the depths of her soul and invites us to do the same. She was born July 18, 1880 in [...]
An Orange by Song of Light (Lindy Morelli) With all that has been tragically happening in Haiti, in Syria, and in the many other troubled places in the world, I was feeling their pain somehow, if I could even presume to say such a thing. I was picturing all the people on the streets in [...]
By Sr. Helena of Mary Many times we heard it said that in order to make it through life, we should learn how to pray. Prayer is the bridge which stays us connected with what truly matters in life. It makes us see things in their true light. It forces us to enter into ourselves and [...]
By Sr. Helena of Mary I learned of Blessed Elizabeth the same time I was brought to Carmel as a lay person after graduating from college. Even though she read St. Therese and was heavily influenced by her sister in Carmel, Blessed Elizabeth developed her own distinct spirituality in the Church. For someone who was [...]
He lived between the stars and indigence, this youngest son of Catherine Alvarez. Her hope--to make a weaver of him--was firmly rooted in poverty and common sense. Straining to ply the loom, his shoulders tense, fingers ineptly handling warp and weft, his mind refusing all attempts to master splices, Juan's heart ached for something else. [...]
“You need to climb the elevator of love, not the rough stairway of fear.†These words could have been written by any rock star today; Bono, Bruce Springsteen or even Lady Gaga. Instead our little Thérèse coined the phrase “elevator of love†over 100 years ago. Her suggestion was given to Fr. Maurice Bellière, the [...]
From Time to Time with Thérèse, by Judy Long, ocd "Jesus was sleeping as usual in my little boat; ah I see very well how rarely souls allow Him to sleep peacefully with in them." Our Therese writes these words at the beginning The Story of A Soul, Chapter 7. She is speaking of the [...]
When my child was young she brought me flowers from the field: Queen Anne’s lace, buttercups, and dandelion blooms. Broken crudely from their earth-bound roots these gems of Your creation would then be lightly laid aside for a time of play – stuffed into pockets to free little hands for climbing, stepped on, sat on, [...]
