N. 367 06 • 2021 1 Communicationes 367 | 06.2021 Lipa Carmel’s 75th Anniversary of Foundation (written by the sisters of Lipa) ounded on 31May 1946, our Carmel of our Carmel is Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix is celebrating this year our Diamond of All Grace and the Secondary Patroness is FJubilee of Foundation, 75 years of our Holy Mother St. Teresa. Our Carmel’s prayerful presence in the Archdiocese of Lipa Charism is God’s Merciful Love. It is with (Batangas, Philippines). It is a very rare grace deeply grateful hearts that we thank God for that our Founder was Bishop Alfredo Verzosa our 75 years of Carmelite presence in Lipa. and that his Auxiliary Bishop was Bishop The growth of our monastery is a testimony Alfredo Maria Obviar. Both bishops are now of faithful love and service to Holy Mother Servants of God on the road to Sainthood. the Church, as we give our lives for souls, Bishop Versoza wrote to Mother Theresa especially for priests. We are now 22 nuns, with of Jesus: “I thank you most effusively, dear promising young vocations. Mother, for your work in my diocese and for In closing, we prayerfully reflect on the words having founded in it the beloved Carmel of written by Mother Mary Cecilia of Jesus, Lipa, the child of my eyes and the repose of our foundress, in 1970: “Lipa Carmel is the my heart.” Carmel of God’s Merciful Love. The years Who would have thought of founding a that have passed have been the unfolding of Carmel in 1946 when Lipa was one of the God’s mystery, the condescension of Love most devastated areas during the war that and Mercy…Yes, God is the Maker of history. had ended less than a year before? It needed Sunlight and shadow show forth His glory. the compelling faith of hidden saints. The Here He has childlike souls whose weakness founding group from Manila Carmel consisted will make His power manifest. We press on to of Mother Theresa of Jesus, Sr. Mary Cecilia the goal. With expectant hearts we look up to of Jesus, Sr. Mary of St. Joseph, Sr. Mary our Holy Mother St. Teresa, top renew in us her Anne of Jesus, Sr. Alphonse of Mary, Sr. Mary double spirit so that like her, we may be valiant, Elizabeth of the Sacred Heart and Sr. Carmen generous and true daughters of the Church.” of the Good Shepherd. The Titular Patroness Communicationes 367 | 06.2021 2 Patrick DiVietri, OCDS, CANTATA CARMELITA A musical reflection on the mystical life of Theresa of Avila r. Patrick DiVietri is a member enables a man to have self-possession. Only of the Secular Order of Discalced then is he free to give himself to the beloved DCarmelites, a Pastoral Counselor, and to God and to dedicate himself to those and an ACPE Psychotherapist Member, things which are considered to be noble and a professor of Philosophy and Theology, worthy of man’s dignity. a musician, a composer, an author, and a The Cantata begins and ends with poems in family man. He is the Executive Director which individuals speak to God about their of the Family Life Institute (Manassas, VA, love and desire to be united with Him. The USA). Above all else, he is a man whose life first poem is about “a young man” who desires has centered on his desire to do the Will of to be “like God” and attempts to stand alone God first and always. In that Will, his musical against evil for the sake of the good. The work too has been created for the love and second poem is about Teresa of Avila, a saint, glory of God and the benefit of those. who makes a similar stance, though not alone. Dr. Patrick DiVietri is the author of the Cantata These two are united by a common purpose: Carmelita. Poems and music composed by Dr. to stand against evil out of love for God DiVietri, the Cantata Carmelita is meant to be and to encourage others to do so as well. To a reflection upon various types of unity and accomplish this goal, both decide to conform their binding agent, love. Love is considered their entire lives to the will and love of God. not only as a desire for union with the good but also as the power, which above all others https://www.cantatacarmelita.org/ forms integrity within a person, binding him to others and God. This personal integrity, courtesy of © Rome Records which results from the acquisition of virtues, 3 Communicationes 367 | 06.2021 A Theatrical visit to Gotarrendura he residence of the Ahumada family property to the nun accompanying her and in Gotarrendura (Avila, Spain) takes the opportunity to relate her memories Twas one of the favorite places of of her youth. The climax of the performance entertainment for the 16th-century nobility. comes at a time when Saint Teresa, walking It was the dowry of Beatriz de Ahumada, with her father, evokes the four ways of Teresa’s mother, which Alonso de Cepeda, watering her garden and the degrees of prayer. her father, completed by buying a dovecote. This performance was created by a group This dovecote left its mark on the soul of of teachers and students from the Catholic The Mother to the point that she called all University of Avila (UCAV). It is the result her convents “Palomarcicos” (dovecotes) and of research work on “La Colombaia Teresiana” her nuns “palomas” (doves). Saint Teresa by Professor María Jesús Carravilla, as part of inherited this property at the express wish of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary her mother, who knew her affection for the of the Doctorate of Saint Teresa. The preview dovecote. Today, out of the whole property, took place on April 12, during the “Mujer only a limited section remains, with its excepcional” International Congress. The orchard and its dovecote. adaptation and staging were done by Mr Juan On Saturday, June 12, a theatrical visit to Saint José Severo Huertas. Teresa’s dovecote took place in Gotarrendura. On the same day, the garden and fountain of It was an imaginary visit by Teresa of Jesus Santa Teresa were inaugurated. to her property. The Saint gives a tour of her Inauguration of the Memorial to Father Jacques de Jésus n the 2nd of June, 2021, the Memorial Afterwards, an outdoor meal was shared in the to Fr Jacques was inaugurated in monastery gardens. It was a time of sharing Othe Avon monastery (Paris, France). and conviviality. There were around one The day began with Mass, at which presided hundred people representing all the “nuances” Monsignor Nahmias, Bishop of Meaux. of Father Jacques: Carmel with its friars, Also present were our Father General and nuns, members of the Secular Carmel and the Monsignor Follo, permanent observer of the Carmelite family; the Jewish world through Holy See at UNESCO. various associations (Yad Vashem, Holocaust Communicationes 367 | 06.2021 4 Memorial), the local Jewish community and honorable wine was served for all participants. a representative of the Embassy of Israel; the The Memorial is open during the week, political world with the Mayor, his Deptuty. with free access, from 2:30 pm to 5:00 pm Senator Ouzoulias, whose grandfather came on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and to meet Father Jacques about the Resistance, Saturdays. and other officers; Father Jacques’ family, descendants of people who knew him well, Father Jacques de Jésus (1900–1945) joined the former students of the Petit Collège; people Discalced Carmelites in 1931. In 1934, he founded from the worlds of education, the local the Petit-Collège Sainte-Thérèse de l’Enfant-Jésus military and civil society. in Avon. There he implemented modern and At the cemetery of the Avon monastery, innovative teaching methods based on children’s where Father Jacques is buried, the Father trust and responsibility. Involved in the Resistance Provincial, Christophe-Marie Baudouin, against the Nazis, he made the Petit-Collège a gave a welcome speech to the 150 people place of welcome and transit for Resistance fighters present. There was the laying of a wreath of and Jews. In February 1943, he welcomed three flowers from the town hall and a moment Jewish children to the school. After a complaint, of recollection accompanied by the musical the Gestapo invaded the school on January 15, group NoteSolidaires. Then, in the courtyard 1944. The three children and Father Jacques were of the monastery, the Mayor of Avon, the arrested. The children died in Auschwitz. Father representative of the Embassy of Israel, the Jacques was deported to Mauthausen-Gusen representative of Yad Vashem, as well as a in Austria. When the Americans liberated the former student of the Petit Collège of Avon, camp, he was elected as a representative of the who was present on the day of the arrest of International Committee of Deportees. Exhausted, Father Jacques and the three Jewish children he died on June 2, 1945. He is one of the Righteous (January 15, 1944), each took turn in speaking. of Nations and his cause of beatification has been Finally, our Father General cut the ribbon to introduced. signify the official opening of the Memorial. The first visits could then begin while an https://jacquesdejesus.com/ 5 Communicationes 367 | 06.2021 Interreligious meeting in Mazille Carmel (France) n Sunday, June 6, at the Carmel of with a time of prayer, at the same time but Peace (Mazille, France), Buddhists, in different places, and was followed by an OJews, Christians of various exchange of what is prayer.