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1000 results for “Joseph_of_Earth”
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I created Earth Tones Coastal Abstract to portray a coastline that’s playfully out of focus—warm browns and soft blues sliding horizontally into a calm horizon. The motion-like bands convey a relaxed energy that works well in living rooms, bedrooms, or office spaces needing a gentle, modern touch.
Art/Website: https://joegiacaloneart.pixels.com/featured/earth-tones-coastal-abstract-joseph-s-giacalone.html
#seascape #abstract #coastaldecor #fineart #wallart #minimalart #interiordecor #officeart #modernart #mentalhealthspace #meditativeart #healingart #homedecor
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I created Earth Tones Coastal Abstract to portray a coastline that’s playfully out of focus—warm browns and soft blues sliding horizontally into a calm horizon. The motion-like bands convey a relaxed energy that works well in living rooms, bedrooms, or office spaces needing a gentle, modern touch.
Art/Website: https://joegiacaloneart.pixels.com/featured/earth-tones-coastal-abstract-joseph-s-giacalone.html
#seascape #abstract #coastaldecor #fineart #wallart #minimalart #interiordecor #officeart #modernart #mentalhealthspace #meditativeart #healingart #homedecor
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Where rugged stone meets the endless sea, nature paints a masterpiece in soft pastels and flowing tides. The whisper of waves against ancient rock captures a timeless coastal serenity.
Art for your home: https://joegiacaloneart.pixels.com/featured/separation-at-hospitals-reef-la-jolla-joseph-s-giacalone.html
#LaJolla #LaJollaArt #CaliforniaCoast #CaliforniaArt #CoastalBeauty #OceanVibes #NatureLovers #Seascape #SunsetSky #RockyShore #Wanderlust #EarthsBeauty #MastoArt #BuyIntoArt
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Star of the Sea, by Joseph O’Connor
After the excitement of today’s Hurling Final, I finished the second of the six novels I bought earlier this year. Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor is set in 1847 and onboard the ship that gives the novel its name, bound for New York from Ireland, carrying desperate passengers fleeing the Great Famine, which provides the overall context for the story.
It’s worth quoting a couple of paragraphs from the author’s introduction to the novel:
We tourists take pleasure in the emptiness of Connemara. There are reasons why such a silence exists. You would not think, as you amble the sleepy lanes, as you are stilled by the twilight descending on the mountain, that you are walking through a space that was once a disaster zone: the Ground Zero, perhaps, of Victorian Europe. These meadows, those pebbled fields, saw astonishing suffering. There was heroism too; there was extraordinary courage and love. But these wine-dark boglands and rutted boreens witnessed tragedy so immense that those that witnessed it, like Grantley Dixon in my novel, would never forget the sight.
All this happened in the 1840s , that decade in which a million of the Irish underclass died as a consequence of famine. residents of the richest kingdom on earth, they lived only a few hundred miles from the empire’s capital, London. But that did not save them; nothing saved them. Abandoned by the dominant of Ireland and Britain, perhaps two million of the desperate became refugees. We might call them `asylum seekers’ or `economic migrants’. They fled their homeland by any means possible, often on ships like the Star of the Sea. Their language, Gaelic, already in decline virtually disappeared overnight. `Mharbh an gorta achanrud‘, one Gaelic speaker remembered. ‘The famine killed everything’.
O’Connor writes unflinchingly about the effects of famine, the poverty, deprivation and starvation, as well as the squalid rqat-infested conditions the `economic migrants’ were forced to endure on their month-long voyage to America. This in itself is interesting, as it has always seemed to me quite surprising that so few Irish authors have written books about An Gorta Mór. But while the Great Hunger is always present, and is what precipitates most of the action, this book is about many other things besides.
The story begins on Star of the Sea with a mysterious character who is taken to walking the decks at night. We learn very early on that his name is Pius Mulvey and his intention is to commit murder. But who is he to kill, and how, and why? The answer to the last of these questions is revealed through a series of flashbacks that reveal connections between him and several passengers in First Class, including a bankrupt Lord Merridith attempting to escape his creditors, Merridith’s wife and family, an aspiring novelist (the Grantley Dixon mentioned above), and a maidservant (Mary Duane) whose connection to them and to Mulvey is deeply tragic. The narrative is interspersed with excerpts from the log of the ship’s Captain, sundry clippings from contemporary newspapers and magazines, including examples of vile anti-Irish racism from the satirical magazine, Punch, and folk songs of the time. It’s all very carefully and cleverly plotted.
It’s partly a mystery novel, partly a suspense thriller, and partly a social commentary worthy of Dickens (who actually appears in the book, in chapters describing Pius Mulvey’s past life in London). It takes a master story-teller to bring all these elements together convincingly, and that is what Joseph O’Connor clearly is. It is not exactly a whodunnit, but I will nevertheless refrain from posting any spoilers as the ending is very clever (as indeed is the whole book). I’ll just say that I found the whole book immensely satisfying and I recommend it highly, as a novel that has real depth as well as being a true page-turner.
Star of the Sea was published in 2002, and was a best-seller then. It’s taken me too long to discover it. I must read more by Joseph O’Connor, but I have four others on my list to finish first!
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Star of the Sea, by Joseph O’Connor
After the excitement of today’s Hurling Final, I finished the second of the six novels I bought earlier this year. Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor is set in 1847 and onboard the ship that gives the novel its name, bound for New York from Ireland, carrying desperate passengers fleeing the Great Famine, which provides the overall context for the story.
It’s worth quoting a couple of paragraphs from the author’s introduction to the novel:
We tourists take pleasure in the emptiness of Connemara. There are reasons why such a silence exists. You would not think, as you amble the sleepy lanes, as you are stilled by the twilight descending on the mountain, that you are walking through a space that was once a disaster zone: the Ground Zero, perhaps, of Victorian Europe. These meadows, those pebbled fields, saw astonishing suffering. There was heroism too; there was extraordinary courage and love. But these wine-dark boglands and rutted boreens witnessed tragedy so immense that those that witnessed it, like Grantley Dixon in my novel, would never forget the sight.
All this happened in the 1840s , that decade in which a million of the Irish underclass died as a consequence of famine. residents of the richest kingdom on earth, they lived only a few hundred miles from the empire’s capital, London. But that did not save them; nothing saved them. Abandoned by the dominant of Ireland and Britain, perhaps two million of the desperate became refugees. We might call them `asylum seekers’ or `economic migrants’. They fled their homeland by any means possible, often on ships like the Star of the Sea. Their language, Gaelic, already in decline virtually disappeared overnight. `Mharbh an gorta achanrud‘, one Gaelic speaker remembered. ‘The famine killed everything’.
O’Connor writes unflinchingly about the effects of famine, the poverty, deprivation and starvation, as well as the squalid rqat-infested conditions the `economic migrants’ were forced to endure on their month-long voyage to America. This in itself is interesting, as it has always seemed to me quite surprising that so few Irish authors have written books about An Gorta Mór. But while the Great Hunger is always present, and is what precipitates most of the action, this book is about many other things besides.
The story begins on Star of the Sea with a mysterious character who is taken to walking the decks at night. We learn very early on that his name is Pius Mulvey and his intention is to commit murder. But who is he to kill, and how, and why? The answer to the last of these questions is revealed through a series of flashbacks that reveal connections between him and several passengers in First Class, including a bankrupt Lord Merridith attempting to escape his creditors, Merridith’s wife and family, an aspiring novelist (the Grantley Dixon mentioned above), and a maidservant (Mary Duane) whose connection to them and to Mulvey is deeply tragic. The narrative is interspersed with excerpts from the log of the ship’s Captain, sundry clippings from contemporary newspapers and magazines, including examples of vile anti-Irish racism from the satirical magazine, Punch, and folk songs of the time. It’s all very carefully and cleverly plotted.
It’s partly a mystery novel, partly a suspense thriller, and partly a social commentary worthy of Dickens (who actually appears in the book, in chapters describing Pius Mulvey’s past life in London). It takes a master story-teller to bring all these elements together convincingly, and that is what Joseph O’Connor clearly is. It is not exactly a whodunnit, but I will nevertheless refrain from posting any spoilers as the ending is very clever (as indeed is the whole book). I’ll just say that I found the whole book immensely satisfying and I recommend it highly, as a novel that has real depth as well as being a true page-turner.
Star of the Sea was published in 2002, and was a best-seller then. It’s taken me too long to discover it. I must read more by Joseph O’Connor, but I have four others on my list to finish first!
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Quote of the day, 16 December: Blessed Mary of the Angels
Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
most blessed earthly trinity,
I worship and adore you with the deepest affection.
When shall my soul
live all by Jesus,
all for Jesus,
all with Jesus!
You, O Mary, true mother of Jesus,
you, O Joseph, beloved father of Jesus,
obtain for me [the grace] that I
may have a heart only for Jesus.
May it be harder for me
to live without Jesus than to die.
May it be sweeter for me
to die with Jesus than any life.
My most holy father Joseph,
true husband of Mary, worthy father of Jesus,
obtain for me [the grace] that I may always live
as a true servant of Jesus, a true child of Mary.
Into your hands
I commend my poor spirit
and my desolate soul,
In the hour that it will leave this body,
may you receive it in your most holy arms
and place it eternally
in those of Jesus and Mary.
Amen.Blessed Mary of the Angels (Marianna Fontanella)
Translation from the Italian text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: This is a detail from an etching of the Holy Family by Simon Vouet (French, 1590–1649) created in 1633. It comes from the collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Image credit: Cleveland Museum of Art (Public domain)
#BlessedMaryOfTheAngels #HolyFamily #Jesus #prayer #surrender
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7 November: Blessed Francis of Jesus Mary Joseph Palau y Quer
November 7
BLESSED FRANCIS OF JESUS MARY JOSEPH
PALAU Y QUER
PriestOptional Memorial
Born in Aytona, Lerida, on December 29, 1811, Blessed Francis Palau y Quer entered the Order in 1832 and was ordained priest in 1836. Civil turmoil forced him to live in exile and outside his community. On his return to Spain in 1851, he founded his “School of Virtue”—which was a model of catechetical teaching—at Barcelona. The school was suppressed and he was unjustly exiled to Ibiza (1854-1860) where he lived at El Vedra in solitude and experienced mystically the vicissitudes of the Church. While in the Balearic Islands he founded the Congregations of Teresian Carmelite Missionary Brothers and Sisters (1860-1861). He preached popular missions and spread love for Our Lady wherever he went. He died at Tarragona on March 20, 1872, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1980.
Common of Pastors or Men Religious
Office of Readings
Second Reading
From the spiritual writings of Blessed Francis Palau y QuerThe efficacy of prayer in favor of the Church
God in His providence has ordained not to cure our ills or grant us grace without the intervention of prayer. He wishes us to help in saving each other by means of our prayer (cf. Jas 5:16f). If the heavens showered down dew and the clouds rained the righteous One, if the earth opened to bring forth the Savior (cf. Is 45:8), it was God’s good pleasure that His coming should be preceded by the prayers of that singular Virgin who by the beauty of her virtues drew into her womb the uncreated Word of God.
The Redeemer came, and by constant prayer, He reconciled the world to the Father. If Christ’s prayer and the fruits of His redemptive work are to be applied to any nation or people, or if the gospel message is to enlighten them and they are to have someone to administer the sacraments, it is indispensable that someone or even many persons should have previously won them over and reconciled them to God by earnest entreaties and supplications, by prayers and sacrifices.
For the purpose, among others, the Eucharistic sacrifice is offered on our altars. This sacred Victim which we present to the Father every day, accompanied by our own petitions, is not simply destined to recall the memory of the life, passion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also to oblige God in His goodness to show His graciousness in applying the graces of His Son’s redemption to the nation, province, city, village, or to whatever person or persons for whom the Mass is offered. It is precisely here that we plead with the Father for the redemption of the world, namely, for the conversion of the nations. Before the grace of redemption is applied to the world or, in other words, before the standard of the cross is lifted up among the nations, God the Father ordains that His only Son, made man, should plead with Him by means of ‘prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears’ (Heb 5:7), in the anguish of death and through the shedding of His blood, especially on the altar of the cross that was raised on Calvary.
In order that God might give His grace to those who do not or cannot ask it, or who do not wish to ask it, He enjoined us to pray for one another, so that we might be saved (Jas 5:16f). If God gave the grace of conversion to St. Augustine, it was due to the prayers of St. Monica; nor would the church have St. Paul, according to one of the fathers, were it not for the prayers of St. Stephen.
It is noteworthy in this context that the Apostles, who were sent to preach and to teach all nations, acknowledged that the results of their preaching sprang from prayer more than from their words. In fact, at the election of the seven deacons who were charged with external works of charity, they said: ‘But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word’ (Acts 6:4). Notice carefully that they say they would devote themselves first of all to prayer and only afterward to the ministry of the Word. For they would never convert any nation until prayer had first obtained the grace of its conversion.
Christ prayed throughout His entire life, whereas He spent only three years preaching. Since God does not distribute His graces to men except through prayer, because He wishes us to recognize Him as the source from which all good things flow; in like manner, He does not wish to save us from danger, or cure our wounds, or console us in affliction, except by means of this same exercise of prayer.
Responsory
℟ Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For whoever asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; whoever knocks, is admitted. * The prayer of the righteous has great power in its effects.
℣ Pray for one another that you may find healing. * The prayer of the righteous has great power in its effects.Prayer
O God,
through your Spirit
you filled Blessed Francis, your priest,
with singular gifts of prayer and apostolic charity.
Through his intercession
grant that Christ’s beloved Church,
refulgent with the beauty of the Virgin Mother Mary,
may be an ever more effective universal sacrament of salvation.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit
God, for ever and ever.Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
#BlessedFrancisPalauYQuer #DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #priest
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November 7
BLESSED FRANCIS OF JESUS MARY JOSEPH
PALAU Y QUER
PriestOptional Memorial
Born in Aytona, Lerida, on December 29, 1811, Blessed Francis Palau y Quer entered the Order in 1832 and was ordained priest in 1836. Civil turmoil forced him to live in exile and outside his community. On his return to Spain in 1851, he founded his “School of Virtue”—which was a model of catechetical teaching—at Barcelona. The school was suppressed and he was unjustly exiled to Ibiza (1854-1860) where he lived at El Vedra in solitude and experienced mystically the vicissitudes of the Church. While in the Balearic Islands he founded the Congregations of Teresian Carmelite Missionary Brothers and Sisters (1860-1861). He preached popular missions and spread love for Our Lady wherever he went. He died at Tarragona on March 20, 1872, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1980.
Common of Pastors or Men Religious
Office of Readings
Second Reading
From the spiritual writings of Blessed Francis Palau y QuerThe efficacy of prayer in favor of the Church
God in His providence has ordained not to cure our ills or grant us grace without the intervention of prayer. He wishes us to help in saving each other by means of our prayer (cf. Jas 5:16f). If the heavens showered down dew and the clouds rained the righteous One, if the earth opened to bring forth the Savior (cf. Is 45:8), it was God’s good pleasure that His coming should be preceded by the prayers of that singular Virgin who by the beauty of her virtues drew into her womb the uncreated Word of God.
The Redeemer came, and by constant prayer, He reconciled the world to the Father. If Christ’s prayer and the fruits of His redemptive work are to be applied to any nation or people, or if the gospel message is to enlighten them and they are to have someone to administer the sacraments, it is indispensable that someone or even many persons should have previously won them over and reconciled them to God by earnest entreaties and supplications, by prayers and sacrifices.
For the purpose, among others, the Eucharistic sacrifice is offered on our altars. This sacred Victim which we present to the Father every day, accompanied by our own petitions, is not simply destined to recall the memory of the life, passion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also to oblige God in His goodness to show His graciousness in applying the graces of His Son’s redemption to the nation, province, city, village, or to whatever person or persons for whom the Mass is offered. It is precisely here that we plead with the Father for the redemption of the world, namely, for the conversion of the nations. Before the grace of redemption is applied to the world or, in other words, before the standard of the cross is lifted up among the nations, God the Father ordains that His only Son, made man, should plead with Him by means of ‘prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears’ (Heb 5:7), in the anguish of death and through the shedding of His blood, especially on the altar of the cross that was raised on Calvary.
In order that God might give His grace to those who do not or cannot ask it, or who do not wish to ask it, He enjoined us to pray for one another, so that we might be saved (Jas 5:16f). If God gave the grace of conversion to St. Augustine, it was due to the prayers of St. Monica; nor would the church have St. Paul, according to one of the fathers, were it not for the prayers of St. Stephen.
It is noteworthy in this context that the Apostles, who were sent to preach and to teach all nations, acknowledged that the results of their preaching sprang from prayer more than from their words. In fact, at the election of the seven deacons who were charged with external works of charity, they said: ‘But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word’ (Acts 6:4). Notice carefully that they say they would devote themselves first of all to prayer and only afterward to the ministry of the Word. For they would never convert any nation until prayer had first obtained the grace of its conversion.
Christ prayed throughout His entire life, whereas He spent only three years preaching. Since God does not distribute His graces to men except through prayer, because He wishes us to recognize Him as the source from which all good things flow; in like manner, He does not wish to save us from danger, or cure our wounds, or console us in affliction, except by means of this same exercise of prayer.
Responsory
R./ Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For whoever asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; whoever knocks, is admitted. * The prayer of the righteous has great power in its effects.
V./ Pray for one another that you may find healing. * The prayer of the righteous has great power in its effects.Prayer
O God,
through your Spirit
you filled Blessed Francis, your priest,
with singular gifts of prayer and apostolic charity.
Through his intercession
grant that Christ’s beloved Church,
refulgent with the beauty of the Virgin Mother Mary,
may be an ever more effective universal sacrament of salvation.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit
God, for ever and ever.Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/11/06/palaulit24/
#BlessedFrancisPalauYQuer #DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #priest
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November 7
BLESSED FRANCIS OF JESUS MARY JOSEPH
PALAU Y QUER
PriestOptional Memorial
Born in Aytona, Lerida, on December 29, 1811, Blessed Francis Palau y Quer entered the Order in 1832 and was ordained priest in 1836. Civil turmoil forced him to live in exile and outside his community. On his return to Spain in 1851, he founded his “School of Virtue”—which was a model of catechetical teaching—at Barcelona. The school was suppressed and he was unjustly exiled to Ibiza (1854-1860) where he lived at El Vedra in solitude and experienced mystically the vicissitudes of the Church. While in the Balearic Islands he founded the Congregations of Teresian Carmelite Missionary Brothers and Sisters (1860-1861). He preached popular missions and spread love for Our Lady wherever he went. He died at Tarragona on March 20, 1872, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1980.
Common of Pastors or Men Religious
Office of Readings
Second Reading
From the spiritual writings of Blessed Francis Palau y QuerThe efficacy of prayer in favor of the Church
God in His providence has ordained not to cure our ills or grant us grace without the intervention of prayer. He wishes us to help in saving each other by means of our prayer (cf. Jas 5:16f). If the heavens showered down dew and the clouds rained the righteous One, if the earth opened to bring forth the Savior (cf. Is 45:8), it was God’s good pleasure that His coming should be preceded by the prayers of that singular Virgin who by the beauty of her virtues drew into her womb the uncreated Word of God.
The Redeemer came, and by constant prayer, He reconciled the world to the Father. If Christ’s prayer and the fruits of His redemptive work are to be applied to any nation or people, or if the gospel message is to enlighten them and they are to have someone to administer the sacraments, it is indispensable that someone or even many persons should have previously won them over and reconciled them to God by earnest entreaties and supplications, by prayers and sacrifices.
For the purpose, among others, the Eucharistic sacrifice is offered on our altars. This sacred Victim which we present to the Father every day, accompanied by our own petitions, is not simply destined to recall the memory of the life, passion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also to oblige God in His goodness to show His graciousness in applying the graces of His Son’s redemption to the nation, province, city, village, or to whatever person or persons for whom the Mass is offered. It is precisely here that we plead with the Father for the redemption of the world, namely, for the conversion of the nations. Before the grace of redemption is applied to the world or, in other words, before the standard of the cross is lifted up among the nations, God the Father ordains that His only Son, made man, should plead with Him by means of ‘prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears’ (Heb 5:7), in the anguish of death and through the shedding of His blood, especially on the altar of the cross that was raised on Calvary.
In order that God might give His grace to those who do not or cannot ask it, or who do not wish to ask it, He enjoined us to pray for one another, so that we might be saved (Jas 5:16f). If God gave the grace of conversion to St. Augustine, it was due to the prayers of St. Monica; nor would the church have St. Paul, according to one of the fathers, were it not for the prayers of St. Stephen.
It is noteworthy in this context that the Apostles, who were sent to preach and to teach all nations, acknowledged that the results of their preaching sprang from prayer more than from their words. In fact, at the election of the seven deacons who were charged with external works of charity, they said: ‘But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word’ (Acts 6:4). Notice carefully that they say they would devote themselves first of all to prayer and only afterward to the ministry of the Word. For they would never convert any nation until prayer had first obtained the grace of its conversion.
Christ prayed throughout His entire life, whereas He spent only three years preaching. Since God does not distribute His graces to men except through prayer, because He wishes us to recognize Him as the source from which all good things flow; in like manner, He does not wish to save us from danger, or cure our wounds, or console us in affliction, except by means of this same exercise of prayer.
Responsory
R./ Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For whoever asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; whoever knocks, is admitted. * The prayer of the righteous has great power in its effects.
V./ Pray for one another that you may find healing. * The prayer of the righteous has great power in its effects.Prayer
O God,
through your Spirit
you filled Blessed Francis, your priest,
with singular gifts of prayer and apostolic charity.
Through his intercession
grant that Christ’s beloved Church,
refulgent with the beauty of the Virgin Mother Mary,
may be an ever more effective universal sacrament of salvation.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit
God, for ever and ever.Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/11/06/palaulit24/
#BlessedFrancisPalauYQuer #DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #priest
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November 7
BLESSED FRANCIS OF JESUS MARY JOSEPH
PALAU Y QUER
PriestOptional Memorial
Born in Aytona, Lerida, on December 29, 1811, Blessed Francis Palau y Quer entered the Order in 1832 and was ordained priest in 1836. Civil turmoil forced him to live in exile and outside his community. On his return to Spain in 1851, he founded his “School of Virtue”—which was a model of catechetical teaching—at Barcelona. The school was suppressed and he was unjustly exiled to Ibiza (1854-1860) where he lived at El Vedra in solitude and experienced mystically the vicissitudes of the Church. While in the Balearic Islands he founded the Congregations of Teresian Carmelite Missionary Brothers and Sisters (1860-1861). He preached popular missions and spread love for Our Lady wherever he went. He died at Tarragona on March 20, 1872, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1980.
Common of Pastors or Men Religious
Office of Readings
Second Reading
From the spiritual writings of Blessed Francis Palau y QuerThe efficacy of prayer in favor of the Church
God in His providence has ordained not to cure our ills or grant us grace without the intervention of prayer. He wishes us to help in saving each other by means of our prayer (cf. Jas 5:16f). If the heavens showered down dew and the clouds rained the righteous One, if the earth opened to bring forth the Savior (cf. Is 45:8), it was God’s good pleasure that His coming should be preceded by the prayers of that singular Virgin who by the beauty of her virtues drew into her womb the uncreated Word of God.
The Redeemer came, and by constant prayer, He reconciled the world to the Father. If Christ’s prayer and the fruits of His redemptive work are to be applied to any nation or people, or if the gospel message is to enlighten them and they are to have someone to administer the sacraments, it is indispensable that someone or even many persons should have previously won them over and reconciled them to God by earnest entreaties and supplications, by prayers and sacrifices.
For the purpose, among others, the Eucharistic sacrifice is offered on our altars. This sacred Victim which we present to the Father every day, accompanied by our own petitions, is not simply destined to recall the memory of the life, passion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also to oblige God in His goodness to show His graciousness in applying the graces of His Son’s redemption to the nation, province, city, village, or to whatever person or persons for whom the Mass is offered. It is precisely here that we plead with the Father for the redemption of the world, namely, for the conversion of the nations. Before the grace of redemption is applied to the world or, in other words, before the standard of the cross is lifted up among the nations, God the Father ordains that His only Son, made man, should plead with Him by means of ‘prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears’ (Heb 5:7), in the anguish of death and through the shedding of His blood, especially on the altar of the cross that was raised on Calvary.
In order that God might give His grace to those who do not or cannot ask it, or who do not wish to ask it, He enjoined us to pray for one another, so that we might be saved (Jas 5:16f). If God gave the grace of conversion to St. Augustine, it was due to the prayers of St. Monica; nor would the church have St. Paul, according to one of the fathers, were it not for the prayers of St. Stephen.
It is noteworthy in this context that the Apostles, who were sent to preach and to teach all nations, acknowledged that the results of their preaching sprang from prayer more than from their words. In fact, at the election of the seven deacons who were charged with external works of charity, they said: ‘But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word’ (Acts 6:4). Notice carefully that they say they would devote themselves first of all to prayer and only afterward to the ministry of the Word. For they would never convert any nation until prayer had first obtained the grace of its conversion.
Christ prayed throughout His entire life, whereas He spent only three years preaching. Since God does not distribute His graces to men except through prayer, because He wishes us to recognize Him as the source from which all good things flow; in like manner, He does not wish to save us from danger, or cure our wounds, or console us in affliction, except by means of this same exercise of prayer.
Responsory
R./ Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For whoever asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; whoever knocks, is admitted. * The prayer of the righteous has great power in its effects.
V./ Pray for one another that you may find healing. * The prayer of the righteous has great power in its effects.Prayer
O God,
through your Spirit
you filled Blessed Francis, your priest,
with singular gifts of prayer and apostolic charity.
Through his intercession
grant that Christ’s beloved Church,
refulgent with the beauty of the Virgin Mother Mary,
may be an ever more effective universal sacrament of salvation.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit
God, for ever and ever.Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/11/06/palaulit24/
#BlessedFrancisPalauYQuer #DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #priest
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🇳🇫 #TAIWAN (#台灣): ❝[#Minister_of_Foreign_Affairs #Joseph_Wu (#外交部長 #吳釗燮)] criticizes #Bolivian 🇧🇴 statement of ‘solidarity’ with #China 🇨🇳 after #earthquake❞
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2024/04/07/2003816074
#Bolivia
#玻利維亞
#Despicable_China
#卑鄙的中國 -
🇳🇫 #TAIWAN (#台灣): ❝[#Minister_of_Foreign_Affairs #Joseph_Wu (#外交部長 #吳釗燮)] criticizes #Bolivian 🇧🇴 statement of ‘solidarity’ with #China 🇨🇳 after #earthquake❞
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2024/04/07/2003816074
#Bolivia
#玻利維亞
#Despicable_China
#卑鄙的中國 -
🇳🇫 #TAIWAN (#台灣): ❝[#Minister_of_Foreign_Affairs #Joseph_Wu (#外交部長 #吳釗燮)] criticizes #Bolivian 🇧🇴 statement of ‘solidarity’ with #China 🇨🇳 after #earthquake❞
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2024/04/07/2003816074
#Bolivia
#玻利維亞
#Despicable_China
#卑鄙的中國 -
🇳🇫 #TAIWAN (#台灣): ❝[#Minister_of_Foreign_Affairs #Joseph_Wu (#外交部長 #吳釗燮)] criticizes #Bolivian 🇧🇴 statement of ‘solidarity’ with #China 🇨🇳 after #earthquake❞
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2024/04/07/2003816074
#Bolivia
#玻利維亞
#Despicable_China
#卑鄙的中國 -
Where rugged stone meets the endless sea, nature paints a masterpiece in soft pastels and flowing tides. The whisper of waves against ancient rock captures a timeless coastal serenity.
Art for your home: https://joegiacaloneart.pixels.com/featured/separation-at-hospitals-reef-la-jolla-joseph-s-giacalone.html
#LaJolla #LaJollaArt #CaliforniaCoast #CaliforniaArt #CoastalBeauty #OceanVibes #NatureLovers #Seascape #SunsetSky #RockyShore #Wanderlust #EarthsBeauty #MastoArt #BuyIntoArt
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Where rugged stone meets the endless sea, nature paints a masterpiece in soft pastels and flowing tides. The whisper of waves against ancient rock captures a timeless coastal serenity.
Art for your home: https://joegiacaloneart.pixels.com/featured/separation-at-hospitals-reef-la-jolla-joseph-s-giacalone.html
#LaJolla #LaJollaArt #CaliforniaCoast #CaliforniaArt #CoastalBeauty #OceanVibes #NatureLovers #Seascape #SunsetSky #RockyShore #Wanderlust #EarthsBeauty #MastoArt #BuyIntoArt
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Where rugged stone meets the endless sea, nature paints a masterpiece in soft pastels and flowing tides. The whisper of waves against ancient rock captures a timeless coastal serenity.
Art for your home: https://joegiacaloneart.pixels.com/featured/separation-at-hospitals-reef-la-jolla-joseph-s-giacalone.html
#LaJolla #LaJollaArt #CaliforniaCoast #CaliforniaArt #CoastalBeauty #OceanVibes #NatureLovers #Seascape #SunsetSky #RockyShore #Wanderlust #EarthsBeauty #MastoArt #BuyIntoArt
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🏩🚼🌟💖🌐🌏💝💁🏿♀️[& Joseph also went up from Galilee!*from the town of Nazareth!*to Judea!*to the city of David!*which is called Bethlehem!*because he was of the house!*& lineage of David!*to be registered with Mary!*his betrothed!*who was with child!]*{& while they were there!*the time👉
#Jesus #Born #In #The #Manger
#Birth #of #Christ #GOD #Father #Holy #Spirit #Prince #Of #Peace #King #of #Kings #Greatest #Gift #Grace #Mercy #Truth #Love #Came #From #Heaven #To #Earth #Savior #Counselor #Advocate -
🤗🏩🚼🌟💖🤗🌐🌏💝💁🏿♀️[Joseph went to Bethlehem with Mary who was with child!*& while they were there!*the time came for her to give birth!*& she gave birth to her firstborn son!*& wrapped him in swaddling cloths!*& laid him in a manger!*because there was no place for them in the inn!]🤗🏩🌟💖🌐🌏🚼💝🤗
#Jesus #Born #In #The #Manger
#Birth #of #Christ #GOD #Father #Holy #Spirit #Prince #Of #Peace #King #of #Kings #Greatest #Gift #Grace #Mercy #Truth #Love #Came #From #Heaven #To #Earth #Savior #Counselor #Advocate -
Quote of the day, 25 December: St. Edith Stein
We know not, and we should not ask before the time, where our earthly way will lead us. We know only this, that to those that love the Lord all things will work together to the good, and, further, that the ways by which the Saviour leads us point beyond this earth.
It is truly a marvellous exchange: the Creator of mankind, taking a body, gives us His Godhead. The Redeemer has come into the world to do this wonderful work. God became man, so that men might become children of God. One of us had broken the bond that made us God’s children; one of us had to tie it again and pay the ransom. This could not be done by one who came from the old, wild and diseased trunk; a new branch, healthy and noble, had to be grafted into it.
He became one of us, more than this, He became one with us. For this is the marvellous thing about the human race, that we are all one. If it were otherwise, if we were all autonomous individuals, living beside each other quite free and independent, the fall of the one could not have resulted in the fall of all. In that case, on the other hand, the ransom might have been paid for and imputed to us, but His justice could not have passed on to the sinners; no justification would have been possible.
But He came to be one mysterious Body with us: He our Head, we His members. If we place our hands into the hands of the divine Child, if we say our Yes to His Follow Me, then we are His, and the way is free for His divine Life to flow into us.
This is the beginning of eternal life in us. It is not yet the beatific vision in the light of glory; it is still the darkness of faith; but it is no longer of this world, it means living in the kingdom of God. This kingdom began on earth when the blessed Virgin spoke her “Be it unto me”, and she was its first handmaid.
And all those who have confessed the Child by word and deed before and after His birth, St. Joseph, St. Elizabeth with her son, and all those surrounding the crib, have entered the kingdom of God. The reign of the divine King showed itself to be different from what people had expected it to be when they read the Psalms and the Prophets. The Romans remained masters in the land; high priests and scribes continued to oppress the poor.
Those who belonged to the Lord bore their kingdom of heaven invisibly within them. Their earthly burden was not taken away from them; on the contrary, many another was added to it; but within them there was a winged power that made the yoke sweet and the burden light.
The same happens today with every child of God. The divine life that is kindled in the soul is the light that has come into the darkness, the miracle of the Holy Night. If we have it in us, we understand what is meant when men speak about it. For the others, everything that can be said of it is an incomprehensible stammering. The whole Gospel of St. John is such a stammering about the eternal light that is love and life.
God in us and we in Him, this is our share in God’s kingdom, which is founded on the Incarnation.
Saint Edith Stein
The Mystery of Christmas (1931 lecture), “Union With God”
Stein, E 1931, The mystery of Christmas: incarnation and humanity, translated from the German by Rucker, J, Darlington Carmel, Darlington UK.
Featured image: The Nativity With Saints, Ridolfo Ghirlandaio (Italian, 1483–1561), oil on wood panel painting ca. 1514. Image credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Public domain).
#Christmas #divineChild #incarnation #kingdomOfHeaven #StEdithStein
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30 October: Blessed Maria Teresa of St. Joseph Tauscher
October 30
BLESSED MARIA TERESA OF ST. JOSEPH TAUSCHER
VirginOptional Memorial
Anna Maria Tauscher was born in 1855 in Sandow, in the Brandenburg region (now part of Poland), to devoutly Lutheran parents. She was raised in that faith, but in 1888, she joined the Catholic Church. For this reason, she was expelled from both her home and her position. She found refuge in a religious institute and later with a family. Her journey of faith continued, and after reading the Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, she decided to dedicate herself to Carmel. However, through her, the Lord wanted to establish a new institute associated with the Teresian Carmel, and so, in 1891 in Berlin, the Congregation of the “Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus” was founded. She devoted her life to caring for needy children and passed away in 1938 in Sittard, the Netherlands. She was beatified in 2006 during the pontificate of Benedict XVI.
Office of Readings
Second Reading
From the Autobiography of Blessed Maria Teresa
A thirst to win souls for the Divine Heart
During the night of January 21, 1890, I seemed to see a very touching picture in my sleep. It was a living, life-size crucifix. From the hands to the feet, the body was framed with a wreath of thorns. A wreath of thorns in the shape of a heart was impressed into the left side of the heart. There was no crown of thorns on the head. The arms were not lowered; they were stretched out, as a sign of life. This vision was a shocking and pitiful sight, as well as horrible and jolting. There are no words to describe it. While my eyes rested on it, my heart trembled with pain.
I understood this picture to mean that the Divine Savior is the head in heaven, without pain or thorns. The Body is His holy Church, not only affixed to the cross by earthly powers but also wounded by lukewarm, lapsed Catholics, indicated by the thorns framing the body. The thorns impressed upon the heart are those consecrated to God, who have become the tepid and disloyal priests and members of religious Orders.
That morning I arose quite early and hurried to the church. My heart was profoundly moved by pain and compassion; no, it was wounded. It was clear that God was asking of me prayer and atonement! I was to pray for the conversion of sinners and to move the mercy of God for the freedom of Holy Church.
From that morning on my heart was filled with a new hunger and thirst, not only for God’s pleasure or for perfection, but with a burning hunger and thirst to win souls for the Divine Heart. That crucifix is stamped on my memory, and it not only keeps my zeal for the salvation of souls alive, it increases its fire and creates in me the desire to arrive soon at the throne of God, where my longing for souls may be satisfied.
Responsory
R./ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, * and I complete that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ in my own flesh for the sake of His body, that is the Church.
V./ I appraised the cross always as the greatest sign of divine love, * and I complete that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ in my own flesh for the sake of His body, that is the Church.Prayer
Almighty and merciful God,
you imbued Blessed Maria Teresa
with outstanding zeal for serving your people
through persevering prayer and work;
grant that through her intercession,
we may work with the same love even amid hardships,
and so dedicate ourselves to building up your Church.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Blessed Maria Teresa of St. Joseph Tauscher
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God forever and ever. Amen.Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
#BlessedMariaTeresaOfStJosephTauscher #CarmelOfTheDivineHeartOfJesus #DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #virgin
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Quote of the day, 2 October: St. Thérèse
Glorious Guardian of my soul,
You who shine in God’s beautiful Heaven
As a sweet and pure flame
Near the Eternal’s throne,
You come down to earth for me,
And enlightening me with your splendor,
Fair Angel, you become my Brother,
My Friend, my Consoler!…Knowing my great weakness,
You lead me by the hand,
And I see you tenderly
Remove the stone from my path.
Your sweet voice is always inviting me
To look only at Heaven.
The more you see me humble and little,
The more your face is radiant.O you! who travel through space
More swiftly than lightning,
I beg you, fly in my place.
Close to those who are dear to me.
With your wing dry their tears.
Sing how good Jesus is.
Sing that suffering has its charms,
And softly, whisper my name….During my short life I want
To save my fellow sinners.
O Fair Angel of the Homeland,
Give me holy fervor.
I have nothing but my sacrifices
And my austere poverty.
With your celestial delights,
Offer them to the Trinity.For you the Kingdom and the Glory,
The Riches of the King of kings.
For me the ciborium’s humble Host.
For me the Cross’s treasure.
With the Cross, with the Host,
With your celestial aid,
In peace I await the other life,
The joys that will last forever.Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
Poem 46, To My Guardian Angel (January 1897)
Thérèse of Lisieux, S & Kinney, D 1995, The Poetry of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: This stained glass window of a guardian angel is in St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village, New York City. Image credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew, OP / Flickr (Some rights reserved)
#glory #guardianAngel #kingdomOfHeaven #poetry #StThereseOfLisieux
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Quote of the day, 19 November: St. Raphael Kalinowski
We should praise and venerate the one who is the refuge of sinners here on earth and in heaven. We should love the Blessed Virgin, because she is the mother of us all: “Here is your mother.” She is a loving mother, because she not only carries us in her bosom, but with Jesus loves us as her children, and helps us in all our needs. She is a gracious and merciful mother for all sinners who draw near to her, a powerful mother because God gave his riches into her keeping. She wants to be loved as mother and says to us: “My son, give me your heart, a heart that is loving, grace filled, focused on my Son; this is what I expect from you first of all.” … Come, Mary, rule over us and direct us. As breathing is not only a sign of life, but also its cause, so the name of Mary should be constantly on the lips of the servants of God, it is a sign that the person is alive.
SAINT RAPHAEL KALINOWSKI
During the special congress of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints that met on March 18, 1980, to discuss Raphael Kalinowski’s heroic virtues, the first “relator” recalled in his vote the deep Marian devotion of the Servant of God, evoking his maxim, “Mary always and in everything.”
The Virgin Mary clearly played a very special role in the saint’s life and occupies a unique place in his spirituality. His Marian spirituality corresponds fully to the directives the Council offered us sixty years after the death of the saint. Contemporary Mariology, following the direction Vatican II marked out emphasized Mary’s greatness as mother of Christ and super-eminent member and mother of the Church.
The theology of our times, therefore, treats the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a Christological and ecclesiological context. Saint Raphael Kalinowski’s Mariology had such an orientation. His Marian spirituality does not stop with the figure of Mary, but through her leads to Christ, living and working in the Church, his Mystical Body. Let us briefly review the principal aspects of this spirituality:
- His conversion took place after college on account of Mary, and led Joseph Kalinowski to Christ through the sacramental ministry of the Church; [“With her help, I have been able to build up my interior life. I recognized the value of familiar religious principles and, finally, I turned toward them.”]
- His entrance into Carmel, the order of Mary, had as its goal to serve Christ more closely and to work for the unity of his Church; [“Precisely this Order should make the Eastern schismatics return to the breast of the Church of Rome.”]
- The testimony of a religious life in imitation of Mary—“the Book where the eternal Word of God, Christ the Lord, is read to the world”—is confirmed and blessed by the Church;
- Fidelity to the religious vocation of the Brothers [and Sisters] of the Blessed Virgin Mary does not consist of a sentimental love for her, but in “attending to her affairs,” [“We are her work and she does not cease calling us to be her ministers, to take care of her affairs.”] seeing in her the secure guide to Christ, in other words:
- Accepting and accomplishing—like her—the will of God, contemplating and preaching his Word made flesh in Christ Jesus, author of our salvation, of which the Christ is now the sacrament;
- Spiritually directing the souls of his brothers and sisters, pointing out to them the road ad Jesum per Mariam [to Jesus through Mary] or, better yet, ad Jesum cum Maria [to Jesus with Mary], taking as a base the common faith of the Church in her role as mediatrix of grace until all of the “old man” is stripped off and they put on the armor of the “new man”;
- Propagating the scapular devotion—a sign of salvation and the Mother’s gift—a sacramental of the Church that helps sanctify every moment of life and attain the salvation accomplished by Christ.
In the final analysis, Mary always and in everything, but inasmuch as she guides us to Christ and brings us to communion with him in his Church, “to make us living stones of this Church, willing servants of our brothers and sisters on this earth and, after death, participants in God’s glory forever.”
Szczepan T. Praskiewicz, O.C.D.
St. Raphael Kalinowski: An Introduction to His Life and Spirituality
II. Elements of his spirituality (excerpt)Praskiewicz OCD, S 2016, Saint Raphael Kalinowski: An Introduction to his Life and Spirituality, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Tierney, T 2016, Saint Raphael Kalinowski: Apprenticed to Sainthood in Siberia, Balboa Press, Bloomington, IN
Featured image: Virgin and Child is an oil on wood painting by Anthony Van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641) executed around 1620. It comes from the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Public domain).
#BlessedVirginMary #BrownScapular #Christ #conversion #MotherOfTheChurch #StRaphaelKalinowski #VirginMary
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#BehindTheScenes
#Interstellar (2014)
When Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans.Cinematographer #HoyteVanHoytema shoots a close-up of #JessicaChastain
#FilmMastodon 📽️ 🎬 -
October 30
BLESSED MARIA TERESA OF ST. JOSEPH TAUSCHER
VirginOptional Memorial
Anna Maria Tauscher was born in 1855 in Sandow, in the Brandenburg region (now part of Poland), to devoutly Lutheran parents. She was raised in that faith, but in 1888, she joined the Catholic Church. For this reason, she was expelled from both her home and her position. She found refuge in a religious institute and later with a family. Her journey of faith continued, and after reading the Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, she decided to dedicate herself to Carmel. However, through her, the Lord wanted to establish a new institute associated with the Teresian Carmel, and so, in 1891 in Berlin, the Congregation of the “Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus” was founded. She devoted her life to caring for needy children and passed away in 1938 in Sittard, the Netherlands. She was beatified in 2006 during the pontificate of Benedict XVI.
Office of Readings
Second Reading
From the Autobiography of Blessed Maria Teresa
A thirst to win souls for the Divine Heart
During the night of January 21, 1890, I seemed to see a very touching picture in my sleep. It was a living, life-size crucifix. From the hands to the feet, the body was framed with a wreath of thorns. A wreath of thorns in the shape of a heart was impressed into the left side of the heart. There was no crown of thorns on the head. The arms were not lowered; they were stretched out, as a sign of life. This vision was a shocking and pitiful sight, as well as horrible and jolting. There are no words to describe it. While my eyes rested on it, my heart trembled with pain.
I understood this picture to mean that the Divine Savior is the head in heaven, without pain or thorns. The Body is His holy Church, not only affixed to the cross by earthly powers but also wounded by lukewarm, lapsed Catholics, indicated by the thorns framing the body. The thorns impressed upon the heart are those consecrated to God, who have become the tepid and disloyal priests and members of religious Orders.
That morning I arose quite early and hurried to the church. My heart was profoundly moved by pain and compassion; no, it was wounded. It was clear that God was asking of me prayer and atonement! I was to pray for the conversion of sinners and to move the mercy of God for the freedom of Holy Church.
From that morning on my heart was filled with a new hunger and thirst, not only for God’s pleasure or for perfection, but with a burning hunger and thirst to win souls for the Divine Heart. That crucifix is stamped on my memory, and it not only keeps my zeal for the salvation of souls alive, it increases its fire and creates in me the desire to arrive soon at the throne of God, where my longing for souls may be satisfied.
Responsory
R./ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, * and I complete that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ in my own flesh for the sake of His body, that is the Church.
V./ I appraised the cross always as the greatest sign of divine love, * and I complete that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ in my own flesh for the sake of His body, that is the Church.Prayer
Almighty and merciful God,
you imbued Blessed Maria Teresa
with outstanding zeal for serving your people
through persevering prayer and work;
grant that through her intercession,
we may work with the same love even amid hardships,
and so dedicate ourselves to building up your Church.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Blessed Maria Teresa of St. Joseph Tauscher
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God forever and ever. Amen.Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/10/28/tauscherlit24/
#BlessedMariaTeresaOfStJosephTauscher #CarmelOfTheDivineHeartOfJesus #DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #virgin
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October 30
BLESSED MARIA TERESA OF ST. JOSEPH TAUSCHER
VirginOptional Memorial
Anna Maria Tauscher was born in 1855 in Sandow, in the Brandenburg region (now part of Poland), to devoutly Lutheran parents. She was raised in that faith, but in 1888, she joined the Catholic Church. For this reason, she was expelled from both her home and her position. She found refuge in a religious institute and later with a family. Her journey of faith continued, and after reading the Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, she decided to dedicate herself to Carmel. However, through her, the Lord wanted to establish a new institute associated with the Teresian Carmel, and so, in 1891 in Berlin, the Congregation of the “Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus” was founded. She devoted her life to caring for needy children and passed away in 1938 in Sittard, the Netherlands. She was beatified in 2006 during the pontificate of Benedict XVI.
Office of Readings
Second Reading
From the Autobiography of Blessed Maria Teresa
A thirst to win souls for the Divine Heart
During the night of January 21, 1890, I seemed to see a very touching picture in my sleep. It was a living, life-size crucifix. From the hands to the feet, the body was framed with a wreath of thorns. A wreath of thorns in the shape of a heart was impressed into the left side of the heart. There was no crown of thorns on the head. The arms were not lowered; they were stretched out, as a sign of life. This vision was a shocking and pitiful sight, as well as horrible and jolting. There are no words to describe it. While my eyes rested on it, my heart trembled with pain.
I understood this picture to mean that the Divine Savior is the head in heaven, without pain or thorns. The Body is His holy Church, not only affixed to the cross by earthly powers but also wounded by lukewarm, lapsed Catholics, indicated by the thorns framing the body. The thorns impressed upon the heart are those consecrated to God, who have become the tepid and disloyal priests and members of religious Orders.
That morning I arose quite early and hurried to the church. My heart was profoundly moved by pain and compassion; no, it was wounded. It was clear that God was asking of me prayer and atonement! I was to pray for the conversion of sinners and to move the mercy of God for the freedom of Holy Church.
From that morning on my heart was filled with a new hunger and thirst, not only for God’s pleasure or for perfection, but with a burning hunger and thirst to win souls for the Divine Heart. That crucifix is stamped on my memory, and it not only keeps my zeal for the salvation of souls alive, it increases its fire and creates in me the desire to arrive soon at the throne of God, where my longing for souls may be satisfied.
Responsory
R./ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, * and I complete that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ in my own flesh for the sake of His body, that is the Church.
V./ I appraised the cross always as the greatest sign of divine love, * and I complete that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ in my own flesh for the sake of His body, that is the Church.Prayer
Almighty and merciful God,
you imbued Blessed Maria Teresa
with outstanding zeal for serving your people
through persevering prayer and work;
grant that through her intercession,
we may work with the same love even amid hardships,
and so dedicate ourselves to building up your Church.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Blessed Maria Teresa of St. Joseph Tauscher
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God forever and ever. Amen.Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/10/28/tauscherlit24/
#BlessedMariaTeresaOfStJosephTauscher #CarmelOfTheDivineHeartOfJesus #DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #virgin
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October 30
BLESSED MARIA TERESA OF ST. JOSEPH TAUSCHER
VirginOptional Memorial
Anna Maria Tauscher was born in 1855 in Sandow, in the Brandenburg region (now part of Poland), to devoutly Lutheran parents. She was raised in that faith, but in 1888, she joined the Catholic Church. For this reason, she was expelled from both her home and her position. She found refuge in a religious institute and later with a family. Her journey of faith continued, and after reading the Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, she decided to dedicate herself to Carmel. However, through her, the Lord wanted to establish a new institute associated with the Teresian Carmel, and so, in 1891 in Berlin, the Congregation of the “Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus” was founded. She devoted her life to caring for needy children and passed away in 1938 in Sittard, the Netherlands. She was beatified in 2006 during the pontificate of Benedict XVI.
Office of Readings
Second Reading
From the Autobiography of Blessed Maria Teresa
A thirst to win souls for the Divine Heart
During the night of January 21, 1890, I seemed to see a very touching picture in my sleep. It was a living, life-size crucifix. From the hands to the feet, the body was framed with a wreath of thorns. A wreath of thorns in the shape of a heart was impressed into the left side of the heart. There was no crown of thorns on the head. The arms were not lowered; they were stretched out, as a sign of life. This vision was a shocking and pitiful sight, as well as horrible and jolting. There are no words to describe it. While my eyes rested on it, my heart trembled with pain.
I understood this picture to mean that the Divine Savior is the head in heaven, without pain or thorns. The Body is His holy Church, not only affixed to the cross by earthly powers but also wounded by lukewarm, lapsed Catholics, indicated by the thorns framing the body. The thorns impressed upon the heart are those consecrated to God, who have become the tepid and disloyal priests and members of religious Orders.
That morning I arose quite early and hurried to the church. My heart was profoundly moved by pain and compassion; no, it was wounded. It was clear that God was asking of me prayer and atonement! I was to pray for the conversion of sinners and to move the mercy of God for the freedom of Holy Church.
From that morning on my heart was filled with a new hunger and thirst, not only for God’s pleasure or for perfection, but with a burning hunger and thirst to win souls for the Divine Heart. That crucifix is stamped on my memory, and it not only keeps my zeal for the salvation of souls alive, it increases its fire and creates in me the desire to arrive soon at the throne of God, where my longing for souls may be satisfied.
Responsory
R./ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, * and I complete that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ in my own flesh for the sake of His body, that is the Church.
V./ I appraised the cross always as the greatest sign of divine love, * and I complete that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ in my own flesh for the sake of His body, that is the Church.Prayer
Almighty and merciful God,
you imbued Blessed Maria Teresa
with outstanding zeal for serving your people
through persevering prayer and work;
grant that through her intercession,
we may work with the same love even amid hardships,
and so dedicate ourselves to building up your Church.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Blessed Maria Teresa of St. Joseph Tauscher
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God forever and ever. Amen.Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/10/28/tauscherlit24/
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October 30
BLESSED MARIA TERESA OF ST. JOSEPH TAUSCHER
VirginOptional Memorial
Anna Maria Tauscher van den Bosch was born in 1855 in Sandow, Brandenburg (now in Poland), the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. At a young age, she was attracted to the Catholic Church and desired to become a “sister”. While serving as Director of Nursing at a mental hospital in Berlin, her desires were realized; she made her profession of faith on 30 October 1888. In the following year, she read the autobiography of St. Teresa and understood that her vocation was profoundly Carmelite and one of service to the poor. She opened her first home for needy children in Berlin; others followed. In 1906, she received permission to gather her companions, to profess vows, and establish the religious institute “Carmel of the Divine Heart of Jesus”, taking the name Maria Teresa of St. Joseph. Despite much suffering, her work grew and prospered in Europe and North America. After a long illness, she died in the odor of sanctity, 20 September 1938 and was beatified on 13 May 2006.
Office of Readings
Second Reading
From the Autobiography of Blessed Maria Teresa
A thirst to win souls for the Divine Heart
During the night of January 21, 1890, I seemed to see a very touching picture in my sleep. It was a living, life-size crucifix. From the hands to the feet, the body was framed with a wreath of thorns. A wreath of thorns in the shape of a heart was impressed into the left side of the heart. There was no crown of thorns on the head. The arms were not lowered; they were stretched out, as a sign of life. This vision was a shocking and pitiful sight, as well as horrible and jolting. There are no words to describe it. While my eyes rested on it, my heart trembled with pain.
I understood this picture to mean that the Divine Savior is the head in heaven, without pain or thorns. The Body is His holy Church, not only affixed to the cross by earthly powers but also wounded by lukewarm, lapsed Catholics, indicated by the thorns framing the body. The thorns impressed upon the heart are those consecrated to God, who have become the tepid and disloyal priests and members of religious Orders.
That morning I arose quite early and hurried to the church. My heart was profoundly moved by pain and compassion; no, it was wounded. It was clear that God was asking of me prayer and atonement! I was to pray for the conversion of sinners and to move the mercy of God for the freedom of Holy Church.
From that morning on my heart was filled with a new hunger and thirst, not only for God’s pleasure or for perfection, but with a burning hunger and thirst to win souls for the Divine Heart. That crucifix is stamped on my memory, and it not only keeps my zeal for the salvation of souls alive, it increases its fire and creates in me the desire to arrive soon at the throne of God, where my longing for souls may be satisfied.
Responsory
R./ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, * and I complete that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ in my own flesh for the sake of His body, that is the Church.
V./ I appraised the cross always as the greatest sign of divine love, * and I complete that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ in my own flesh for the sake of His body, that is the Church.Prayer
Almighty and merciful God,
you imbued Blessed Maria Teresa
with outstanding zeal for serving your people
through persevering prayer and work;
grant that through her intercession,
we may work with the same love even amid hardships,
and so dedicate ourselves to building up your Church.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Blessed Maria Teresa of St. Joseph Tauscher
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God forever and ever. Amen.Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2023/10/27/30oct23-liturgy/
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Quote of the day, 23 March: Teresa of the Trinity, OCD
Let us not desire delights, daughters; we are well-off here; the bad inn lasts for only a night. Let us praise God; let us force ourselves to do penance in this life.
Saint Teresa of Avila
The Way of Perfection, 40.9The autumn leaves are pilgrims
Scurrying after the winds that toss them
Through the sky, and I, a pilgrim
Caught by the Spirit’s breath, would fly
Heavenwards in glorious flight—
Knowing this life is only a night
Spent in a bad inn.
Let Teresa’s words give impetus to my poor clay,
Freeing me from earth’s bonds,
And setting me heavenward in flight,
A leaf, swirling in the mighty Wind of God,
Raised beyond itself,
Torn from earth’s limiting vision,
To celestial heights, seeing, at last,
The vast horizons of the Church
That keep Carmel’s vision wide.O Holy Mother, open my small mind and heart
To the great tide of needs—
The venturing for God’s honor
In these times.
Magnificent shores of the spirit have been reached
And overflow.
Let me become filled with God’s joy,
Awake to every grace that pour Christ-life,
Christ-mercy on our universe.Sister Teresa of the Trinity, O.C.D.
For the Feast of Our Holy Mother Teresa
Note: Sr. Teresa of the Trinity, O.C.D. (Teresa Hewitt) was a professed Discalced Carmelite nun of the Carmel of St. Joseph in Terre Haute, Indiana, who served as prioress for many years.
Saint Teresa of Avila
John Singer Sargent, American (1856–1925)
Watercolor over graphite on off-white wove paper, c. 1903
Harvard Art Museums (Public domain)Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
#adventure #compassion #poetry #StTeresaOfAvila #TeresaOfTheTrinityOCD -
Quote of the day, 11 November: The Carmelite Nuns of Mount Carmel
“This war will kill me.”
Saint Pius X
The saintly pope’s words were prophetic: he died on Thursday, 20 August 1914. The conclave assembled in Rome, and chose His Holiness Benedict XV as the saint’s successor. The moment was crucial.
The Carmelite nuns listened to the news as best they could. Things worsened day by day. The war seemed likely to drag on indefinitely, especially since the alliance of the Turks with the Germans. The battlefields embraced such a vast expanse that it necessarily divided the forces of the Allies and made operations more difficult, all the more so because the war took an unprecedented turn.
The Ottomans bombarded the Black Sea ports on 28 October, thus provoking war with the Triple Entente. Great Britain declared war on Turkey on 1 November. That very day, the French Consul in Haifa, Monsieur Maurice Grapin, had to leave his post in haste.
The Prioress received a letter from the assistant Dragoman (interpreter/translator) of the French Consulate informing her that from now on, all French interests were entrusted to the vice-Consul of America: “Your establishment being under the protectorate of America (United States), you may henceforth address yourself to Mr. Struve, vice-Consul of America, for all affairs that concern you. I believe it useful to add that you have been permitted to hoist the American flag at your establishment.” (Letter of 4 November 1914).
From that moment on, events unfolded rapidly.
Communications with France no longer existed, not even with families. Soon, the banks ceased functioning, and the nuns found themselves without resources, unable to access their usual income. The help of the Carmelite friars was precious. Trust in God and humble prayers for peace to return were the weapons of victory.
Around mid-November, the nuns were informed of what awaited them. The old agreements between the Ottomans and France had ended, and they had to await the official visit of Turkish soldiers. On 16 November, after Mass, the doorbell at the turn noisily announced this undesirable and unwanted visit.
The Prioress went to the parlor to see if she could persuade the visitors to be content with viewing the exterior of the monastery, without entering the cloister, but they refused to listen and even showed impatience.
One of them, more impatient than the others, had even climbed over the enclosure wall and found himself inside the monastery just as the nuns were about to open the enclosure door to let the soldiers inside; there were eleven of them in all.
They began visiting the house. They were very polite and discreet, and afterward, they proceeded to the garden. The Prioress asked the turn sister and the chaplain, Fr. Louis Marie-Joseph, to enter to accompany the soldiers. But the Turkish soldiers grew exasperated with the size of the surrounding enclosure wall they had to examine. Let us recall that the surface area of the Carmelite monastery and gardens was nine hectares—over 22 acres!
They divided the terrain. One of them went toward the hermitage dedicated to the holy Prophet Elijah, terror of the Turks, not without reason. This hermitage was a grotto dug into the earth and rock, which greatly intrigued the soldiers. Therefore, the explorer wanted to advance as far as possible, but at his approach, a large viper leaped from the stones, reared up before the soldier, and with a rather uninviting hiss, invited him to flee as quickly as possible. He saw that this serpent was not an ally! This unexpected encounter ended the visit.
In this small incident, the sisters saw the protection of St. Elijah. Along the way, however, the turn sister ventured to question a soldier: “Are you going to take the monastery?” His response: “No—we are going to take all of Mount Carmel!” The sister was dumbfounded.
From then on, the Carmelite nuns wondered what their fate would be.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Monastery, Haifa
Près de la Source, pp. 84-85
Note: After receiving the Turkish decree on 23 November 1914 to vacate their monastery, the nuns departed on 4 December for Naples. Their final destination was a mansion at Manissy (Gard), France, owned by the Lafarge family.
Discalced Carmelite Nuns, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Monastery, Haifa 2017, Près de la Source, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem Printery, Jerusalem.
Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: Main entrance of the original Carmelite Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Haifa. The building now serves as an administration annex for Rambam Health Care Campus. Image credit: rndms / 123rf (Stock photo)
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