Today, March 29, is the memorial of Saint Berthold of Mount Carmel. Born in Limoges, France, Berthold was the son of the Count of Limoges and a nephew of Aymeric the Latin patriarch of Antioch. He was a soldier who battled in the Crusades and was present in Antioch during the siege of the Saracens. …
Today, March 20, is the solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary. Principal Protector of the Carmelite Order. Patron of the Universal Church. The liturgical feast of St. Joseph already appeared in the Carmelite Order in the second half of the 15th century. In 1680, the Carmelite General Chapter unanimously elected St. Joseph as the …
Today, January 20, is the memorial of Blessed Angelo Paoli. Carmelite priest. When the future Carmelite was born in 1642, he was named Francesco in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. His parents Angelo and Santa were avid devotees of the saint. As he was well-educated, he spent his youth teaching catechism and Catholic instruction …
Today, January 3, is the memorial of Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara. Co-founder of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) and the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel (CMC). The Indian Syro-Malabar Catholic priest Kuriakose Elias was born in 1805 in what is now Kerala, India. He studied with a Hindu teacher until age 10, and …
Today, December 16, is the memorial of Blessed Mary of the Angels. Carmelite nun. She was born Marianna Fontanella in Turin, Italy in 1661 to nobility. She was a distant cousin of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. At around six years old, Marianna already knew she had a vocation to the religious life. One day, she planned …
Today, December 14, is the feast of Saint John of the Cross. Carmelite and Doctor of the Church. Born in Fontiveros, Spain in 1542, Juan de Yepes y Álvarez lived in poverty. In Medina del Campo, John was able to study and become an altar boy at a nearby Augustinian nunnery. There, he also cared …
Today, December 5, is the memorial of Blessed Bartolomeo Fanti. Bartolomeo was born in Mantua, Italy in 1428. He was a Carmelite priest for 35 years. He served as spiritual director and rector of the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for which he composed a rule and statutes. He was also the spiritual teacher …
Today, November 29, is the memorial of Blessed Denis of the Nativity and Blessed Redemptus of the Cross. Carmelite martyrs. They were Discalced Carmelite missionaries sent to Sumatra in Indonesia during the Christian persecutions. There, on November 29, 1638, the two friars were led to a desolate spot on the seashore, where Brother Redemptus was …
Today, November 19, is the memorial of Saint Raphael Kalinowski. Carmelite friar. He was born Jozef Kalinowski to a noble Polish family in Vilnius, Lithuania in 1835. When he turned 18, he joined the Imperial Russian Army and got promoted to Captain years later. He later resigned from the Army and became minister of war …
Today, November 15, is the Commemoration of All Carmelite Souls. These brothers and sisters of ours may not have been famous spiritual writers nor renowned for extraordinary experiences of prayer, but they made their mark on the Carmelite Order and on each of us through their own efforts to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ …