Today, November 14, is the feast of All Carmelite Saints.
Who are the saints of Carmel?
They are hermits of Mount Carmel who “lived in small cells, similar to the cells of a beehive, they lived as God’s bees, gathering the divine honey of spiritual consolation.”
They are mendicants of the first medieval communities, who discovered the presence of God in the events of ordinary daily life and especially seeing God in his brothers and sisters. They are teachers and preachers, missionaries and martyrs who searched for the face of God among the people.
They are nuns who have contributed to the growth of God’s people by their mystical experience and especially through their fervent prayer and contemplative life.
They are religious, who showed us the face of Christ through their apostolate in hospitals or schools, especially in the mission lands.
They are laity, who were able to embody the spirit of Carmel and lived that spirit in the midst of the people.
Simon Stock, Andrew Corsini, Albert of Trapani, John of the Cross, Teresa of Ávila, Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Edith Stein, Titus Brandsma, Angelo Paoli, and countless Saints, Blesseds, Venerables, and Servants of God of Carmel together with Mary, the Mother of Carmel, are now singing a song of praise to the Father in Heaven.