CITOCmagazine ENGLISH CENTRUM INFORMATIONIS TOTIUS ORDINIS CARMELITARUM II-No. 1-2012 Ed i t o r i a l

CITOCmagazine CENTRUM INFORMATIONIS TOTIUS ORDINIS CARMELITARUM

The Citoc Magazine is published twice a year by the Order of Car- The General Congrega- melites. Submitted news, informa- tion, reflecting on the tion, feature, articles, letters, pho- theme: “Qualiter res- tos, and other materials become the pondendum quaerenti- property of the Citoc Magazine. bus sit?” - “What do you respond to those who ask?” was held from 5th Publisher: to 15th September 2011 at the Spiritual Centre Most Rev. Fernando Millán Romeral, in Niagara Falls, Canada. For the participants it was a very O.Carm. enriching meeting that offered a space for reflection on the Editor: identity and mission of Carmel in the Church today. The final Very Rev. Christian Körner, O.Carm. message conveys profound considerations useful for further Consulting Editor: reflection in the Order. So we decided that the focus of this edition of CITOC would be a reminder of this important as- Very Rev. Raúl Maraví Cabrera, sembly. O.Carm. Copy Editor: The other submissions also offer a wealth of information on Rev. Joseph Hung Tran, O.Carm. the present life of the Order. I would like to highlight a few. First of all, there are people who are expressing our charism, Correspondents: therefore it is a pleasure to share the news that Brazil has Europe: been able to celebrate the 100th birthday of Fr. Celestino Lui, Very Rev. John Keating, O.Carm. O. Carm. In addition are other anniversaries, such as the 50th Africa: anniversary of the letter of the deceased Bishop Donal La- Very Rev. Désiré Unen Alimange, mont, O. Carm. against apartheid, remember the prophetic O.Carm. commitment of . The Order, however, also mourns America: the death of some dear brothers. Thus we report the obitua- Very Rev. Raúl Maraví Cabrera, ries of P. Joachim Smet, O. Carm., the great historian of the Order, and P. Robert MacCabe, O. Carm., who have worked O.Carm. for many years as a doctor among the nomads in the desert Asia Australia and Oceania of Kenya. Very Rev. Albertus Herwanta, O.Carm. A constant theme at the General Congregation was that of hope. And surely it is the youth who are the hope of the Send submission to the editor at: Church and of the Order. Among the many participants of Curia Generalizia dei Carmelitani World Youth Day in Madrid there were more than 500 young Via Giovanni Lanza 138 people from Carmelite communities around the world. With 00184 , the presence of a dozen nations, Carmelite Day on 17th Au- Tel+39-064620181 gust was a really wonderful event. Email: [email protected] www.ocarm.org We hope you enjoy reading this issue of CITOC.

Fr. Christian Körner, O. Carm.

CITOC | PAGE 2 4 CONTENT Ge n e r a l Co n g r e g a t i o n 2011 “Carmel’s Mission 2 Editorial in the Church”

11 General Delegation of Thérèse of Lisieux and Saint Albert of Jerusalem in India

15 The Centennial of Celestino Lui, O.Carm.

19 Carmelitae Sancti Eliae (CSE) 24 The Need for Missions 12 28 Kenyans mourn Irish Carmelite Schools Go doctor and priest Green who served poor with courage and devotion

30 Bishop Donal Lamont, O. Carm. 16 31 News Carmelite World Youth Day

7 Final message of the General 22 Congregation to the Carmelite Carmelite Family

26 Carmel Loses One of Its Leading Historians The General Congregation Ge n e r a l Co n g r e g a t i o n 2011 “Carmel’s Mission in the Church”

Fr. Ben Wolbers, O.Carm. and Fr. Emiel Abalahim, O.Carm.

etween 5th–16th September 2011, the the origin of our Order. The old question of Rubrica General Congregation of the Carmelite Prima also challenges us to find an answer in the took place at Mount Carmel Spiritual context of world today: Who are we? What do we B do here (1Kings 19, 10) and why we do what we Centre, Niagara Falls, Canada. Approximately 60 Carmelite friars of the Order participated in the do? It is a question about our identity. General Congregation, among them: the On Tuesday 6th September, the General General, the members of his General Council, Congregation officially began with a Eucharist Provincial, the General Commissaries, General presided by the Prior General and the General Delegates, and delegates from some provinces. Council. The Prior General, Fr. Fernando Millán The main task of the General Congregation is to Romeral, welcomed some 60 participants from discuss matters of common interest to the whole all parts of the world by recalling the spirit of this Order and discuss some suggestions for the General gathering. “Let us celebrate the Mass of the Holy Chapter that will take place in 2013 (Constitutions Spirit so that we might live the mystery of Pentecost art. 287). during these days: “the marvelous experience of “Carmel’s Mission in the Church” was the theme communion and unity.” for this General Congregation, a theme that With these words he spoke about the various reflects the first words of our oldest Constitution, ways the charism of Carmel is incarnated in the the Rubrica Prima from 1281. The theme invites Church today and how every Carmelite and every all the members of the Order to answer the ministry of the Order is called to bring forth this question: how can we respond to people who ask rich heritage. who we are? It was also the question that the Having heard the call of the twelve Apostles, earliest Carmelites asked themselves when they proclaimed in the liturgy of the opening Mass, Fr. were driven out of Mt. Carmel because they did Fernando invited everyone to rediscover their own not know whether or not they were still Carmelites call to follow the Gospel in service to the Church since they no longer lived on Mount Carmel. It was and to all people. He recalled that in 1935 Blessed a question about their identity. The Rubrica Prima came to this same place to give was an official answer to those who asked about conferences on spirituality and, fascinated with

CITOC | PAGE 4 the beauty of the area, he asked himself how it was possible an attitude that we have to be honest, that modern man could move away from God. This question, consistent, and step by step, to face the Prior General concluded, is an invitation for the participants our lives to God. at the General Congregation to become listeners to the Word of and Teresa of Ávila are our great God and of the brothers in order to be faithful to the charism teachers in this. that Carmel has received. On Thursday, Dr. María López In his opening talk of the General Congregation, Fr. Fernando Guzmán gave a talk on the importance invited us to be in a continual process of discernment of our of Christian hope. She stated that, calling at various levels: individual, community, province and death and are General. In all of these different levels of discernment we need the essential pillars of the Christian hope. There is no resurrection without death. The source of our hope lies not in ourselves but in a concrete person, a historical person, Jesus Christ, who died and rose from the dead. The memory of the cross and the memorial of the crucified is the indispensable foundation of our faith. She affirmed that Carmelite spirituality can be a reference and a sign for hope for many. The lecture of Fr. Michael Plattig, O.Carm. gave an excellent view of the spirituality of the Carmelites and how we, Carmelites live this spirituality in today’s world. Looking to the Rule, the Carmelite and real life examples to illustrate his points, Fr. Michael began by looking Fr. Desire Unen, Fr. Stanley Makacinas and Fr. Boniface Kimondolo at the importance of a personal, prayerful relationship with God that is to ask again why we are doing what we are doing, and why we based on the understanding that as are doing it the way we are doing it. What makes us specifically one cultivates this life of prayer, it is a Carmelites in what we do? relationship based on freedom, where In all of these, we face two dangers, said the Prior General. The God freely chooses his self-revelation, first is that we might “over-Carmelise” our ministry and fail to not manipulated by prayer forms or see the good that is in other traditions, other ways of belonging any human effort, and the Carmelite to the Church and its wider ministry. The other danger is that awaits in freeing silence, in which God we might lose all sense of being a Carmelite and fail to promote also invites him to share this freedom our heritage. It is an ancient tradition of which we can be rightly with others through the exercise of proud. justice. Fr. Michael later examined The first week of the gathering saw a number of expert how this relationship develops presentations, including reflections from Fr. Richard Rohr, precisely through the experience of O.F.M, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation the cross, the dark night, experienced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Dr. María López Guzmán, a lay within the context of a relationship theologian from Spain, and Fr. Michael Plattig, O.Carm. Responses with the Church. He concluded his to these were discussed in language groups after periods of presentation by explaining how this personal reflection. basic relationship with God and with the Church, founded on prayer, is In the first talk,Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M. gave a lecture on the precisely how our Carmelite spirituality process of contemplation. For him, contemplation is not simply can continue to be significant in and the closing of one’s eyes, but rather a process of transformation. for the Church. What we do is not of The path of contemplation must be the path of love, the path primary importance, but rather how of suffering and the path of prayer. The experiences of love we do it. and suffering are, by definition, the experiences through which people actually can be truly transformed. The path of prayer in The second week was developed this transformation process is crucial, because prayer is actually in a series of workshops and reports

CITOC | PAGE 5 from Councillors on geographical areas, as well Fr. Carl, Fr. Leo, members of the Council, and as issues such as: government of the Order, participants of the General Congregation. During finance, formation, communications, Carmelite the Mass, several new members made thier Solemn Family, Lay Carmelites, justice and peace, youth Vows in the . and schools, evangelisation. The participants also On Tuesday, 13th September, Bishop Gerard met in regional groups and language groups. The Paul Bergie of the diocese of St. Catherines, in workshops became open forums for the participants which the Carmelite spiritual centre is located, to discuss and share their experience of their own presided at Mass. During the homily, the bishop works, ministries and situations as well. During this took the opportunity to recognise and thank all of time, the participants also took the opportunity to the Carmelites who he has known and who have express their needs, hopes and difficulties in each served the diocese throughout the years. place where they are living and ministering. The General Congregation was officially Taking advantage of the presence of concluded on 15th September with the Eucharist representatives from each Province and and the approval of the final message (page 7). Commissariat, the members of the General Council At the end of the closing Mass, the Prior General held a series of regional meetings which often accompanied by the General Council, blessed a new provide valuable discussions among the members Shrine dedicated to Blessed Titus Brandsma in the of a particular geographical area. main chapel of the spiritual center. The Brandsma The liturgy on Sunday, 11th September, was chapel, which was designed by two Carmelites, celebrated at the Carmelite of St. John of the Stanley Makacinas and John Benedict Weber, Cross in Mississauga, near Toronto. The General and built by a local artist, Nicholas Napolitano, Congregation was hosted by the parish and local illustrates various aspects of the life of Blessed Carmelite community. In addition, other members Titus. The Provincials, Commissaries and General of the Carmelite family were in attendance. Before Delegates who were attending the Congregation the Mass, the provincial of the PCM Province, Fr. took part in the dedication ceremony. As is well Carl Markelz, O. Carm., and the pastor, Fr. Leo known, Fr. Titus visited this house in 1935 where Huard, O. Carm., extended hearty welcomes to all. he gave a number of conferences on Carmelite The Eucharist was then presided by Fr. Fernando, spirituality. In addition he wrote a very beautiful

CITOC | PAGE 6 reflection based on the famous waterfalls that are preparatory commission for its efforts in planning only a short distance away. and running the Congregation, to the friars and All in all, the General Congregation was a good staff at Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre, Niagara preparation for the General Chapter. It gave a Falls, for their hospitality and warm welcome, and valuable insight about what is going on throughout to all those who worked behind the scenes to make Order internationally and an opportunity to this gathering reflective, educational, fraternal and experience an atmosphere of fraternity. The fruitful. Council expresses tremendous gratitude to the

GENERAL CONGREGATION 2011 Final message to the Carmelite Family “Qualiter respondendum sit quaerentibus” “How shall we respond to those who are seeking?”

To all the Members of the Carmelite Family: Peace and the Grace in the Lord. “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6-7). With these words of the Apostle Saint Paul, proclaimed in the liturgy of the first day, and praying for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, Prior General Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral inaugurated the 2011 General Congregation. 1. The General Congregation was celebrated at Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre, Niagara Falls, from the 5th to the 15th of September 2011. The theme was “Qualiter respondendum sit The Prior General and Bishop Gerard Paul Bergie quaerentibus” (“How shall we respond to those who are seeking?”). These are the opening Chapter: “In obsequio Jesu Christi: Praying and words of the Rubrica Prima which can be prophetic communities in a changing world.” found in our 1281 Constitutions, the oldest We dealt with the first part of this theme Constitutions that we have. This document (“Praying and prophetic communities”) at the can perhaps be traced back to 1247, when the Council of Provinces meeting at San Felice Order, while migrating to Europe, adopted a del Benaco in 2009. During these past days, mendicant lifestyle. The Formula vitae and our using an ecclesiological criterion, we dealt Rule already presented an implicit ecclesiology. with the second part: “in a changing world”. The Rubrica Prima, from an ecclesiological point Three experts helped us, from different points of view, was the official answer to those who of view, to deepen our Carmelite identity. Fr asked us about the origins of our Order. The Richard Rohr, OFM, a Franciscan , proposed present question, we suppose, has nothing to some areas which religious life can offer to do with how we were born or about our origins, the Church and to the world. Professor María but it challenges us to ask ourselves: “Who Dolores López Guzmán, from the point of view are we? What are we doing here? (cf. 1 Kings of a committed lay woman in the Church, 19:10), and why do we do what we do in the described to us the hope that religious life offers Church?” in dialogue with other states of life. Fr Michael Plattig, O.Carm., highlighted certain questions 2. Following the directives given by our General and practical examples of how our Carmelite Council, we dealt with the second part of a spirituality can contribute to the Church. reflection already begun at the 2007 General

CITOC | PAGE 7 3. We recalled during the past few days how Life is the very presence of the consecrated throughout our history and in our spiritual person. , as Lumen Gentium tradition, contemplation is not only the heart of 44 points out, invites us Carmelites to live our the Carmelite charism, but also the best gift, the contemplative attitude, imitating “much more hidden treasure, the precious pearl (cf. Matthew closely (pressius) that life form which the Son 13:44 -46) that we can offer to the world and to of man undertook by coming into the world...” the Church. One is a contemplative where love The comparative pressius, translated into our becomes active. Contemplation is a process of vernacular languages as “much more closely” gradual transformation from the false self (the loses the intensity of the Latin term. Pressius is old person) to the true self (the new person) derived from the verb presso, which means “to hidden in Christ (cf. Colossians 3:3), and realized press”, “to squeeze”, “to unite more tightly”. in us by the Holy Spirit to achieve union with God Inspired by this image, our in love (Ratio Institutionis Vitae Carmelitanae, “conforms” us better to the lifestyle of Jesus 1). It is love which transforms our works, our of Nazareth. We better understand who we are thoughts, our feelings (cf. Constitutions 17; when we enter into permanent dialogue with RIVC 23): that love which comes from God all God’s people, because no single vocation in and with which we serve humanity. It is love the Church can fully fathom the depth of the which purifies our thoughts, heals our wounds, mystery of Christ. “Carmel understands its life unites us to our brothers and sisters, alleviates according to the evangelical counsels, as the our sufferings, denounces injustice and opens most appropriate means of moving towards ways to reconciliation. Certainly, it is love which full transformation in Christ” (RIVC 7, 9, 19c; changes and transforms our world. Our mystics 25) and towards liberty (RIVC 16). Hence the remind us not to forget that it is love which gives exercise of the evangelical counsels, rather value to all of our works, since “God looks only than being “the renouncing of something” or on the love with which you do what you do” (St. a means of moral perfectionism, “is rather a Teresa of Avila, Exc. 5). Love is the vocation of means of growing in love and so reaching the the contemplative: “to love you and to make you fullness of life in God” (RIVC 25). We become loved” (St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Letter 119). a gift for God (“in obsequio Jesu Christi vivere 4. What is the specific characteristic of Carmelite debeat” Rule 1) and for others, rendering our religious life? Religious life itself already refers lives as an offering. to and speaks of the goodness of the Lord, and 5. The question which we have been examining in visibly offers to the world a clear message: “God the past few days is not so much “What do we alone suffices” (St. Teresa of Avila, Poetry). hope for?”, but rather “What does God hope for One need do nothing special, except just to be, us?” Our hope and our joy are based in Jesus since “the dignity of the religious vocation has Christ, the beginning and the end of all reality. an intrinsic value in the bosom of the Church, The present, even if filled with burdens, can be beyond its connection to any ministry or service lived with enthusiasm; it is moving towards an (cf. RIVC, 112). The best icon of Religious end, but this goal is so great that it justifies the effort needed (cf. Spes Salvi 1). Christian hope is God‐centered. The Apostle Saint Paul reminds us that the community of Ephesus was without hope because they lived in this world as if they were “without God” (Ephesians 2:12). Our hope is rooted in knowing God, the true God (cf. 1 Kings 18), the crucified Lord, the Risen Lord (cf. Luke 24:5‐6). Amongst the things that we can hope for, even if it leads to rejection, is the cross of the Lord. Only by being friends with the cross of the Lord (cf. Philippians 3:18‐19) will we live contentedly and give hope to the weak. Our saints remind us that the principal cause of not advancing in the spiritual life is that we are sometimes enemies of the cross of the Lord: “There will be many who will begin

CITOC | PAGE 8 but they will never end. And I think the main Carmelite charism, our history, our spirituality, reason is that they do not embrace the cross by the very logic of gift, does not belong to us, from the very beginning.” (St. Teresa of Avila, because we have received it “to donate it” and Life 11, 15). Curiously enough, our motto “Zelo “to give it in the same way that it was given zelatus sum pro Domino Deo exercituum” is not to us” (cf. John of the Cross, The Call 3, 78). a triumphal cry of the prophet , but rather And it was given to us without interest and in a “prayer of complaint” in which the prophet abundant measure (cf. Luke 6:38). Benedict XVI recognizes his impotence and expresses his in conversation with the Prior General during crisis and doubts, addressing himself directly to the Pilgrimage of Hope at Castelgandolfo in God. We should not consider our poverty and August 2010 reminded us that “The Carmelites our limitations as failures, nor simply resign teach us how to pray”. Any Carmelite ourselves to them, but rather we should see or mission should teach us not to accumulate them as an authentic school of transformation prayers, turning devotions into pure superstition and of contemplation. Moreover it is necessary and magic or mere collectors’ items, but to really to recognize our weakness in order to be able to pray, that is, to nurture a mature relationship better know who God is and to let ourselves be with God and with others. The expressions with saved by Him (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:9). The God which the mystics speak of the relationship with of revelation, who showed Himself so powerful God enjoy a great freshness and simplicity, and in creation, wanted to manifest Himself as weak precisely because of this, they connect powerfully and powerless in redemption. It is only in this with the heart of God and with the essentials of way that He can be our Redeemer and our life. Hope. 7. In these days we also recalled how the practice 6. The experience of God lived in fraternity of living in the presence of God (cf. 1 Kings urges us to take ownership of “the mission of 17:1), the mystery of allowing God to be Christ” to be prophets of hope. The authentic God, the rediscovery of the spirituality of the contemplative is the bearer of the light of the cell, the balance between silence and words, Risen Christ in the midst of the darkness of the solitude, “vacare Deo”, the “dark night” and our night of humanity. There are many forms of mendicant lifestyle are the yeast which nourishes desert in the midst of the night: the desert of the Church and our world and which offers us poverty and of abandonment, of loneliness and food for thought in our pastoral ministry. We are of destroyed love. There is also the desert of aware that we are rich in tradition and theological God’s darkness, that of forgetting the dignity of models. But perhaps we need to revitalize our the person. The external deserts are multiplied mystical journeys which, in practice, serve to in the world because they have extended the transmit to others the wealth of Carmel and the dark nights of the interior deserts. Our mission beauty of having seen the Lord. The Carmelite does not consist in passive hope, but rather in in the midst of the world is at the service of the hastening the coming of the kingdom of God (cf. cultivation of God’s garden, Carmel, creating 2 Peter 3:12). All that we have received in our sacred places, mystical spaces where God can

CITOC | PAGE 9 shine. Our ministry should present us with a ceaselessly. What is surprising is the marvellous series of questions: (a) Do we respect and and complex possibility of the waters... I see God presuppose the maturity of the faithful in our in the work of his hands and the marks of his love preaching? Do we tell them only what they should in every visible thing. I am seized by a supreme or should not do? (b) Does our work for justice joy which is above all other joys.” Certainly Fr. and peace really flow from our contemplative Titus did not reduce contemplation to a mere dimension? Are we politicians or prophets and private and narcissistic self‐complacency, but felt ? (c) How do we celebrate the that he was in solidarity with the men and women Eucharist? Is it only a duty, a place to instruct of his own time. In fact, in his famous speech the people? Is it a service that we give to God or on the occasion of his investiture as Rector of rather a service which God gives to His people? the University of Nijmegen, on the 17th (d) In spiritual accompaniment, do we seek to of October 1932, he asked: “Why has the image lead people to moral perfectionism or to spiritual of God become so obscured to the point that it freedom? Carmelites work without appropriating no longer says anything to so many? Among the the results of their work. They must decrease many questions that I have, none disturbs me so that God can increase (cf. John 3:30). They more than the enigma of why so many learned enlighten without eclipsing the action of God, and proud people, engulfed by progress, alienate fully aware that if in our mission we belittle God, themselves from God.” We also share the doubts we belittle ourselves. We do not announce to the and concerns of the people of our own time. world a spirituality of efficiency, of success and 9. We Carmelites salute Mary the Mother of God, as of productivity, but rather a spirituality of the the “Star of the Sea”. Life is like a voyage through little way and humility where our trust is placed the sea of history in which Mary shows us the way. in God. Holy Mary, Mother of Hope, teach us to believe, to 8. Blessed Titus Brandsma, from this very place hope and to love. Ave Maris Stella enlighten and in 1935 during his tour of North America guide us on our path. (Washington, Chicago, New York, Allentown, etc.) was deeply moved by the spectacle of Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre Niagara Falls. He wrote in his diary: “I am contemplating the imposing Niagara Falls ... Niagara Falls, Canada from the high channel, I see them rushing down 15th September, 2011

CITOC | PAGE 10 GENERAL DELEGATION OF SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX AND SAINT ALBERT OF JERUSALEM IN INDIA

Fr. Anthony Scerri, O. Carm., (the Prior General’s special representative for this group), several members of the Province of St. Thomas, , many local priests and religious as well as a large group from the Carmelite Institute “Nostra Signora del Carmelo” (INSC). The 19 brothers had made their solemn profession as Carmelites to the Prior General on the previous day at Paravoor. Present also were the Special Delegate, the General Counsilor and n Sunday 6th November at Paravoor (Kerala, India), during the Prior Provincial of the a solemn celebration of the Eucharist presided over by Province of St. Thomas, Fr. Monsignor Francis Kallarakkal, of Verapoly, the O Neendoor Sojan Mathew, O. Prior General, Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral, O. Carm., erected the Carm. The new delegation is new General Delegation of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Albert of the fifth delegation within the Jerusalem in India, comprising 20 Indian Carmelites of the Latin Rite. Order (along with those of Also present were the bishops of Kottapuram and Kannur (Bishop France, Colombia, the Czech Joseph Karikkassery and Bishop Varghese Chakkalakal), Fr. Albertus Republic and Kenya). Herwanta, O. Carm., General Counsilor for Asia, Australia and Oceania,

The Titus Brandsma Award in the Philippines

roadcast journalist Kara David and Friends of Titus Brandsma (journalists and artists). veteran writer-educator Asunción Kara David received the “Titus Brandsma Award BMaramba are this year’s recipients of the for Leadership in Journalism” for her powerful Titus Brandsma Award, a biennial recognition documentaries on social issues and her personal for outstanding media and communications advocacies for education and community practitioners given by the Order of Carmelites in outreach programs to remote villages that have the Philippines. Fr. Albertus Herwanta, O.Carm., minimal access to government service. Prof. General Councilor, and Fr. Kevin Alban, O.Carm., Maramba received the “Titus Brandsma Award for Bursar General, presented the Titus Brandsma Communications and Literature”, in recognition trophy, at an Award ceremony on October 17th at of her achievements as journalist, author, editor the Titus Brandsma Center in Manila. The ceremony and educator. Her work shows her positioned was attended by Carmelite confreres from the consistently as a “critical moderate” in expressing Asia- Australia and Oceania region, members of her views on two major topics: socio-cultural the Carmelite Family, members of various media change in civil society and adult faith, and Church groups and institutions in the country and the renewal.

CITOC | PAGE 11 CARMELITE SCHOOLS GO GREEN Fr. Franciscus Xaverius, O.Carm.

As i a Pa c i f i c Co n g r e s s o f The participants attending this Carmelite School congress included principals, teachers and students Ca r m e l i t e Sc h o o l s of Mount Carmel College – the Philippines, Mount MALANG - INDONESIA, 4th -7th August 2011 Carmel High School Rosario – the Philippines, Mount Carmel High School Siqiquore – the Philippines, Whitefriar College – Melbourne, Australia, St. ifferent from other congregations, schools Alvares Senior High School – Indonesia, St. Paul have never been the main ministry of Senior High School – Indonesia, St. Albert Senior Carmelite Order. Even when the Carmelite D High School – Indonesia. Order started in 1247 they never thought that one day this order would have so many schools The objective of this congress was to build a good throughout the world. network among Carmelite schools in Asia Pacific region and to foster the spreading of Carmelite In the Asia, Australia and Oceania region there spirituality among teachers and students of the are more than 10 schools run by Carmelite friars schools. The network intends to act as a platform and sisters. The number of their registered students for teachers and students to exchange concerns, for each school is more than 6,000 each year. ideas, strategies, actions and projects. This Through these schools, Carmelites play an objective can be specified as follows: important role in young people’s education. As we 1. To develop a network of Carmelite school know education is a process of recognizing values students and teachers who share their and clarifying concepts in order to develop skills concerns on many different issues. and added tools necessary to understand and appreciate the inter-relationship among people, 2. To share successful and innovative education their culture and their surroundings. Through these programs. schools the Carmelites help students to prepare 3. To facilitate joint educational projects which their future, to learn skills and gain knowledge to may encourage international data exchange broaden their horizons. and interdisciplinary activities. Moreover, Carmelite schools can be a 4. To encourage the building of trust, good place to share our Carmelite spirituality friendship and cooperation among people with young people. If we run our schools well of different cultural backgrounds. and we live our spirituality in the schools, This con- the students and the graduates of the schools gress was will be really Carmelite. They do not have to be also a part of Carmelite friars, sisters or lay Carmelite, but they the whole cel- will live the spirituality. ebration of the 75th On 4th-7th August 2011, the first Asia Pacific anniversary of the Congress on Carmelite Schools was held in Malang St. Albert Senior High Indonesia. The congress was attended by 50 School. As part of its friars, religious sisters and lay people representing celebration St. Albert’s Carmelite schools in Asia Pacific. The congress was Senior High School a continuation of the first international congress of Carmelite schools held in April 8th to the 13th, 2010 and a response to the motivation given by Fr. Raúl Maraví, O.Carm. This congress was very special because three important persons in our Order participated in it. They are Fr. Albertus Herwanta O.Carm., the general councilor for Asia- Australia-Oceania, Fr. Désiré Unen Alimange, O.Carm., the general councilor for Africa and Fr. Raúl Maraví O.Carm., the general councilor for the Americas.

CITOC | PAGE 12 CARMELITE SCHOOLS GO GREEN

plans to celebrate its anniversary by doing some- Carmelite schools may become leaders in promoting thing which is useful not only for the school itself environmentally friendly schools. but for the whole world. The congress opened with an international The theme of the congress was, ‘Carmelite seminar. The speakers were Fr. Raúl Maraví Schools Go Green’. This theme was chosen because O.Carm. and Sr. Jane Remson O.Carm. This the environment is the most significant issue of the seminar was attended by almost 300 people. period from 2000 to the present. During the past The participants of the congress mingled with a 10 years, this issue has played an increasingly number of principals, teachers and students from important role in almost every aspect of modern Catholic schools in Malang. They listened to the life—from politics and business to religion and presentation attentively and participated in the entertainment. Human-generated global warming, question and answer session actively. in particular, has been the topic of more scientific Fr. Raúl Maraví, the general councilor for the research, political debate, media attention and Americas, talked about what Carmelite schools public concern than any environmental issue of the should be. He used the term of WIFI. ‘W’ stands past 10 years. This global environmental problem for wholeness, meaning that Carmelite schools is a growing concern, and needs to be attended to should help the students to develop integrally. immediately. The first ‘I’ stands for inspiration, meaning that As we know, during the past decade, businesses Carmelite schools should inspire the students and embraced green initiatives, religious leaders the community. ‘F’ stands for family, meaning declared environmental stewardship a moral that Carmelite school should lead the students to imperative, and stars promoted the virtues of green consider everybody as a member of their family. living and environmental protection. Despite this, The second ‘I’ stands for identity, meaning that climate change so far has failed to convince people the identity of Carmelite schools comes from their to change that part of their behavior and lifestyles Carmelite spirituality. that is far from being environment friendly His presentation was followed by a presentation How to change peoples’ behavior and lifestyles? by Sr. Jane Remson O.Carm., a member of the Of course people cannot be forced to change Congregation of , serving as their behavior. It needs their own willingness and the director of the New Orleans Chapter of Bread for awareness to do it. Education is the answer to this the World - New Orleans and the main representative problem. Education is the perfect place to make of Carmelite Non-Government Organization (NGO) people aware of their environment so that they within the United Nations. She talked about human may change behavior and lifestyles. Carmelite beings as a part of past time and future time. Human schools, by promoting Catholic teachings and beings should be responsible for Nature where they Carmelite spirituality, may become an important live in. She emphasized the role of consumerism in actor in raising the awareness of their students. degrading the condition of our environment.

CITOC | PAGE 13 The international seminar ended with lunch. After an experiential learning activity dealing with lunch the participants of the congress continued environment. the program with school reports. Every school On the last day of the congress, the participating in the congress reported on their participants made a common commitment. The school situation and their programs. They also commitment is as follows: ‘Carmelite schools reported their activities especially those related to in keeping with the Carmelite tradition (prayer, environment. community and service) are committed in their On the second day the speakers were Fr. Hariawan institutional programs to respect and preserve Adji O.Carm., the head of the Commission for our environment and to go green. To achieve Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation of the this, we are committed to: Indonesian Province of Carmelites and the head Build communication among Carmelite schools of the Indonesian Carmelite NGO. He talked about (share, support and learn from each other as the role of Lectio divina in increasing students’ a family; create an Asia-Australia-Oceania Car- environmental awareness. He used the method of melite Schools Go Green website that can be ac- Lectio divina not only for reading the gospel but also cessed by each school community; sustain and for mathematics, poetry continue the regional and other subjects congress of Carmel- taught in schools. ite schools). The next speaker on Use the ‘see, judge the second day was and act’ approach in Fr. Eduardo Agosta analyzing environ- Scarel O.Carm., Ph.D., mental problems and a member of the spread the approach Carmelite Order from to the school com- the Spanish Province munity. of Castilla in Argentina, Integrate environ- a professor at the mental activities that Argentinian Pontifical involve the whole Catholic University in school community in Buenos Aires, Argentina the school program and a researcher of (reduce the use of the National Technique plastics in schools, and Scientific Research help the school com- Council. He talked about munity to be aware of Catholic Social Teach- the cause and the impact of climate change. He ing). underlined the idea of global warming as a global socio economic problem of emission and energy The Congress closed with a celebration of the consumption related to high and sophisticated Eucharist and a cultural evening. The Eucharist socio activities. was led by Fr. Agung Wahyudianto O.Carm., the principal of St. Albert Senior High School, who was On the third day the participants were taken accompanied by Fr. Albertus Herwanta O.Carm., to Safari Park in Pandaan where the animals Fr. Désiré Unen Alimange O.Carm., Fr. Raúl Maraví roam freely in a nature-like environment. In that O.Carm. Fr. Denny Sulistyo O.Carm., Fr. Eduardo place they learned about tropical environments, Scarel O.Carm. and Fr. Hariawan Adji O.Carm. In and had some time to relax. In the evening, the the cultural evening each delegation presented participants were taken to Ubaya environment its own art show. Some of the delegations study centre in Trawas. They stayed there over presented traditional dances from their country night to join a workshop on environment education and some others presented traditional music and traditional environment friendly practices and songs. The closing program was attended led by Mr. Suryo Wardoyo, an environmental not only by the participants of the Congress but expert who has been dealing with environmental also by representatives of the students of St. preservation, conservation and education for Albert Senior High School, teachers, alumni, and more than 25 years and has been awarded by Carmelites living in Malang. many international and national institutions as an outstanding environmental activist. He talked about the need to insert environmental education into the formal school curriculum. He also led

CITOC | PAGE 14 THE CENTENNIAL OF CELESTINO LUI, O.CARM.

Father Celestino was born in Itu, Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 14, 1911. At the age of seven years he decided to embrace the religious life after receiving the assurance from an old priest that he would always be a faithful and holy religious. Looking back on his life life, Father Celestino said he had sinned, but always felt the hand of God protected him and urged him to continue to persevere. Despite his many years, he still lives the religious life and always respects the orders of superiors in the good and faithful exercise of his life as a Carmelite. To this day Celestino teaches us to love, play, study, pray always, and even complain when necessary. He shared his secret to longevity with the brothers and the people of Unaí: “Living in the fear of God, diligently observe the commandments, cultivate honesty and holiness in every state of life, continually pray, because prayer is the way of that will take us to full communion with God and believe that only God can give us the holiness and happiness in this world and of eternity.” As a direct descendant of Italians, the second of seven children of a brave couple of immigrants who came to Brazil, Celestino used many exclamations and even used profanity in his everyday speech. However over the years his hair turned gray and ur life can last seventy years, perhaps the his life took him into silence, prayer and solitude strongest of us eighty. Who evaluates within the convent. He constantly prayed the the power of your anger, fear and respect breviary, prayed with the Bible, and entertained O himself with his books of contemplation and that that you deserve? Teach us to number our days, and give our hearts to wisdom” says the psalmist. were worn by time. He still prays aloud in Italian This is what our Celestino Lui says as he though the friars who live with him do not fully completes his 100 years. understand him. The same day as his birthday, June 14, 2011, With regard to his hundred years, Fr Celestino Celestino Lui, O. Carm., a member of the Province of constantly says: “With a life that gave me so St. Elias (Flum) in Brazil, celebrated the centennial much; age has given me happiness and the eyes of his life with a solemn Mass in the city of Unaí, to see how good God is with me in the community in the state of Minas Gerais, with the participation of brothers.” of bishop Leonardo Pereira, of Paracatu, Bishop Paulo Cardoso, O. Carm., of Petrolina, Archbishop Antônio Muniz, O. Carm., Archbishop of Maceió, Raúl Maraví , O. Carm., General Councilor, Geraldo Maciel, O. Carm., Prior Provincial, along with many friars, religious, family and many members of the Carmelite Family. Father Celestino Lui, O. Carm. is the oldest member of the Carmelite Order and on the occasion of this birthday, the Brazil post office issued a commemorative stamp.

CITOC | PAGE 15 Carmelite World Youth Day Something New is Beginning to Happen

Ms. Rosario Vera and Fr. David del Carpio, O.Carm.

he day dawned on the 17th of August in Three friars were in charge of the Madrid. The WYD began just a few hours welcoming: John Keating, Raúl Maraví Tbefore. Christian youth was in Spain. Young and Luca Sciarelli. Our first thoughts, Carmelites, as if guided by a Star, set off to enjoy in the company of Mary, our Mother: the get-together at The Carmelite Youth Meeting to believe that we have by chosen by (C.Y.M.) God. (Mt 10, 1.5-8.16) The young people in the yellow t-shirts (the staff) “At that moment – Juanito continues were getting the last things ready. For months to explain- we had a small procession. they had been giving their free time to dreaming We went in, waving the flags of the about and working towards this meeting and now different nations that were present, the great moment had arrived. A prayer in front walking behind the Icon of Our of the Icon of the Blessed and we were Lady of Hope, and behind that the ready to work. flags of the C.Y.M. meaning that there is We began at 10.00 a.m. Juanito Sogues de one flag that unites Carmelites around the world. Vila-Real (Spain), talked to us about welcoming The Prior General, Fr. Fernando Millan was last in all the Carmelites who were coming from the five the procession. He addressed us with words that continents, a moment that I will hold on to dearly. were very moving.” Even though there are lots of kilometres between Fr. Fernando asked us to look, contemplate and one place and another, I discovered that love, by following the thoughts of St. John of the language does not matter, or Cross. We got into language groups and reflected nationality either. What on the letter our Prior General wrote to young matters is what unites people (Letter of the Prior General, Fr. Fernando us: the Carmelite Millán, published on the Carmelite website http:// charism and ocarm.org/madrid2011). This led to a sharing of our faith in experiences and dreams, as a way creating bonds Christ. of fraternity. We got to 13.00. CITOC had asked all those who could do it to come together in prayer at that hour. A red ribbon marked the way from the Icon to the Place of Prayer where there was a representation of Mount Carmel; there a small group of waited for the arrival of Mary, our Mother. The 500 young people in a line seemed to form a chain that united them to our first fathers in Carmel. The Prior General took the Icon in his hands and raise it to heaven, recalling the hidden presence of so many Carmelites who through their prayer held that Icon aloft. He handed Mary, our Mother, to the person nearest him and it

CITOC | PAGE 16 was passed on to everyone else who was there, as a sign of Hope for them. Sr. Sandra, a cloistered from Seville, closed this human chain by placing Mary, our Mother, on

was no one there and in that silence God spoke to each one of us. As the Icon passed from one pair of hands to another we felt a caress, the embrace of Mary, our Mother that we needed so much. It was something very emotional, edifying and healing..” Around 14:15 we had lunch, a time when we shared food. We asked that the hungry might have food and that all who have bread might have a hunger for God. After a short rest the activities began again. Mount Carmel. The afternoon began with a lot of creativity. She spoke about her feelings and One section of the meeting was turned into a said,: I felt paralyzed for a moment, I got the Carmelite village. The spaces were turned into the urge to kiss the icon but as I was surrounded streets of our charism, Fraternity Street, Service by so many people I was surprised: the Street, Prayer Route. There was even a square Blessed Virgin, our Mother was drawing us called Contemplation Square. In these places, together …. ” The faces of the young people the workshops encouraged us to live in fraternity, full of emotion made this moment remain service and prayer .... and in contemplation. In the in the heart of each one. One young person 12 stands there were different activities. In one of said: “We were full of euphoria and youthful them we got to know the work of the Carmelite joy and a silence came down, as if there NGO called KARIT (a description of the work that

CITOC | PAGE 17 the Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and around us in order to grasp the little signs the Carmelite Sisters of the Sacred Heart are of the presence of God in our lives. All of us doing) We prayed and sang the Flos Carmeli. We had to return to our bases; for these young made fraternity by playing and we got a taste of people it was a week of intense emotion and contemplation ... it was obvious that the young all could be lost if in the places where they people wanted to live in this style that belongs live that do not pass on and bring to life all to Carmel. that they have received. Contemplation as Fr. We got ready for evening prayer and once Fernando so rightly said is not an escape again the silence descended. The nuns and the importance of this meeting brought in the icon which they brought began when we said goodbye to from “Mount Carmel”. We heard that place with the beauty of the story again, because this icon a sign: we gave the flag of began its life in the monastery of the meeting to each of the Ravenna and the young people participating groups. These received it from the cloister. flags remind us of who we Spontaneous and wholehearted are and that we are part of applause burst out, an applause one great common project. that was a recognition of the In the crowds that took part testimonies of our sisters, and a in the WYD, they helped us thanksgiving for their vocation. not to lose our direction and to be a meeting place for others. Each of the continents shared in When these flags wave in the gentle evening prayer with a song. There was breeze the emotions and feelings, the a great sharing of joy. There was great faces and smiles, the fraternity of this day meaning in the Spanish song that ended with will be rekindled in the hearts of these young all the young staff joining in. Service unites. people and in the hearts of all the others who The day was getting towards evening and through the hidden presence of their prayer, in the time to say goodbye was getting closer the Prayer Space, made this meeting possible. and closer (we refer to the farewell from the Through the Carmelite website, anyone could Carmelite Gathering and not to the farewell share a prayer and participate online (Prayer from the Carmelite activities with the WYD). Space). The testimonies of young people Carmel is contemplative. The Prior General said from the San José project and Vacare Deo to us that contemplation does not mean looking group, both from Peru, were very meaningful, up vacantly at the sky but much more looking as were the testimonies of the youth from at what is happening Venezuela, the young contemplative nuns and the messages that arrived from all over the world. The joys and the misfortunes will be many in our lives, but, just like this day, in our lives always there will be a sign that will show us the way and will unite us in a place that we know as the fertile heights of Mount Carmel, a sign that is like an umbilical chord uniting us to Mary, Our Mother and teaching us to be silent, to contemplate and to store in our hearts …. There in her lap, is our LIFE.

CITOC | PAGE 18 CARMELITAE SANCTI ELIAE (CSE)

them there are 10 priests. In 1987 a Lay Community was born at the same place in Ngadireso and took the name Komunitas Tritunggal Mahakudus (KTM), which means Holy Community. They form cell groups and at the moment have about 15.000 members spread all over the world. They evangelize especially through the retreat work and a cell system, but now they also have some volunteers doing evangelization in different places. The members received a solid spiritual formation, especially through the help of Putri Karmel and CSE. Bishop Michael C. Angkur OFM., Fr. Yohanes Indrakusuma, founder of CSE and Bishop Datubara OFM Cap. 3. Spirituality of CSE

1. Introduction Rooted in Carmel On July 20, 2011 Carmelitae Sancti Eliae (CSE) celebrated its 25th CSE and Putri Karmel are Anniversary of Foundation. The Eucharist was presided by the local Bishop rooted in the spirituality Mgr. Michael C. Angkur OFM, assisted by Mgr. Datubara OFM Cap, bishop of Carmel, especially the emeritus of the Arhdiocese of Medan, North Sumatera. The celebration contemplative dimension. of the Eucharist was attended by Fr. Albertus Herwanto O.Carm and That is why their houses Fr. Raúl Maraví O.Carm., both Councilors General, and by many other are built in remote places, guests coming from different cities. After the Eucharist there was a little in small villages, preserving celebration with the guests. silence and solitude. CSE and Putri Karmel have each 2. The Birth of Carmelitae Sancti Eliae (CSE) a “Desert Community”, In 1976 Fr. Yohanes Indrakusuma together with Fr. Verbeek that is to say, a hermitage. started a small hermitage in Batu, East Java, in the diocese of Malang. In Some members opted to 1977 Fr. C. Verbeek left the hermitage and Fr. Yohanes continued alone. In stay permanently in the 1979 he moved to Ngadireso, the present Mother House of Putri Karmel, desert community, but this The Daughters of Carmel, which was founded in 1982 and now has 132 community is also open to members. the other members. Each member of CSE and Putri In July 1985 three young men joined Fr. Yohanes in pursuing the same Karmel after a certain ideal. Finally after one year of serious discernment, on July 20, 1986, number of years has to pass this group decided to form a new religious group under the guidance and at least one month in the direction of Fr. Yohanes. They took the name of Carmelitae Sancti Eliae hermitage, and after some (Carmelites of Saint Elijah). In 1988 CSE moved to the diocese of Bogor. years they have to stay for Besides the monastery and the hermitage in Cikanyere, they have a large one year in the hermitage, Spiritual Center in Cikanyere, in the diocese of Bogor. The students study to preserve the spirit of in the Theological Institute of Malang. They have now 67 members. Among prayer and contemplation. CITOC | PAGE 19 Integrating the Asian heritage In the present situation of the world CSE feel called CSE (and Putri Karmel) is an indigenous religious to respond to the call of the Spirit that is heard all congregation and have their own originality, as over the Church: to proclaim in the power of the Holy they try to live Carmelite spirituality integrating Spirit that Jesus is Lord. For this they want to be open consciously the spiritual heritage of Asia into to all the gifts that the Holy Spirit offers to the Church this concrete form of Carmelite life. Long before for the building up of the whole Body of Christ, The the coming of Christianity, the Indonesians, People of God. especially the Javanese, had already their own In fact Putri Karmel and CSE have received with an spiritual culture and heritage, which is marked open heart the beautiful gift of the Holy Spirit brought by a great inner quest for the Absolute, and a into the Church by the Renewal in the Spirit or the great yearning for the Infinite. Charismatic Renewal, understood theologically, There is a great affinity between the Carmelite which is an openness to the workings of the Holy ideal and the spiritual heritage of Asia. As Carmel Spirit and His charisms, but without loosing the is constantly in a quest for God who surpasses contemplative dimension of their Carmelite roots. In every understanding and knowledge. This is the fact the two great currents of spiritualities, that is the God who chooses to dwell in the depth of the Carmelite and the Charismatic spirituality, have been human heart, and constantly invites the human blended into one beautiful unity in the lives of CSE person into an intimate union with Himself. and Putri Karmel. They adopted the great grace of the So it is with the Asian heritage. In the ageold Charismatic Renewal in a more theological sense, and traditions of Asia we find many people who were then gave a more Carmelite form to this renewal by and are still in search of the Absolute. They are preserving the contemplative dimension of prayer and hungering for the vision of Him who unknown Christian life. to them, is nevertheless constantly attracting them to Himself in the depth of their hearts. 4. Becoming witnesses of God’s loving and Putri Karmel and CSE feel, that they are called saving Presence to respond to this challenge by their life and studies, trying to integrate all those elements in one unity of life and vision. The apostolate of the community The mission of Putri Karmel and CSE is to witness to the loving and saving presence of God in this Integrating the gift of the Spirit through world, through their way of life as well as through the the Charismatic Renewal proclamation of the Gospel. The main apostolate is CSE wants to be open to all that the Spirit of to bring people to an encounter with the living God, God has revealed in different ways to modern having themselves first encountered Him in daily men. They want to be especially open to the conversion and prayer. They are called to lead others new outpourings of the Holy Spirit in the Church into the living presence of the Lord and to teach them today.

CITOC | PAGE 20 The main ministry of CSE is retreat-work, spiritual formation, counseling, praying for people, mainly for lay people, but in these last few years many religious are coming to their monastery for counseling and inner healing too. Some of the retreats, e.g. the initial retreat, inner healing, are usually very crowded, sometimes there are more than 700 participants. Besides these retreats, CSE together with Putri Karmel sisters, organize every year what we call a Youth-Camp, which is in fact a kind of weeklong retreat for young people. Every year more than 2000 young people participate in these camps, usually between 2100 – 2600 people. During these camps some of the young people slept in tents.

The amphibious life-style Conscious of the demands of such ministries that drain a lot of energy, and because they are aware that the more they are needed by the people, the more they need God himself, the sisters of Putri Karmel and the CSE brothers emphasize the importance of a balanced life- style: they emphasize the importance of prayer before all else and then they will be really ready to minister to the needs of the people. In this electronic age they need an amphibious life-style. Like the amphibians they spend some times in how to walk in the Spirit, how to live in the Spirit, and the water of silence, solitude and prayer, so that to lead them into the way of prayer and contemplation; afterwards they can safely go on land to minister to teach people how to avoid pitfalls and to overcome to their fellow people, bringing with them the all hindrances and obstacles, and finally to be entirely fragrance of God’s loving and merciful presence. docile to the Holy Spirit and His actions. That is why most of their houses are in rural Through the experience of the so called “ in areas, so that after proclaiming God’s word, they the Holy Spirit”, they help people to come into deep can return into solitude to be refreshed anew. conversion. Then they deepen this experience through the teachings of our Carmelite saints.

A Meeting of the Formation Directors of the Carmelite Family in Brazil

From 27th June to 2nd July, a meeting of the formation directors, men and women, of the Carmelite Family in Brazil took place in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. The sessions were directed by Fr. Jaldemir Vitorio, S.J. and Frei Carlos Mesters, O.Carm. The theme of the meeting was, The challenge of coming under the spell of Jesus Christ and the mission of the formation director in this calling. The days were intense with formation, prayer, fraternity, and, above all, the time to take a good look at what is happening in Carmelite Formation in Brazil. The meeting was attended by members of the Carmelite Province of St. Elias, the Carmelite Province of Pernambuco, the Commissariat of Paraná, the Carmelite Missionary Sisters, the Carmelite Sisters Daughters of St. Teresa, the Carmelite Sisters of Divine Providence and the Carmelite Missionary Sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus.

CITOC | PAGE 21 Ca r m e l i t e La i t y : Ou r He r i t a g e , i d e n t i t y a n d Fu t u r e By Eugenie Bellanger, T.O.Carm., Regional Formation Coordinator, Southeast Louisiana

ay Carmelites from the Province of the Most The Carmelite Saints and Blesseds are a most Pure Heart of Mary (Chicago) and the Province cherished part of our heritage. To that end, Father Lof Saint Elias (New York) along with several Fernando chose for his topic, `Blessed Titus Carmelite friars and sisters gathered in Chicago, Brandsma, an Inspiration for Lay Carmelites.” Titus Illinois, July 22-24, 2011, for the Lay Carmelite Brandsma was a friar, a consecrated man, who lived Convocation. Approximately 400 Carmelite in community and professed religious vows. While members from communities throughout the we as lay people, cannot copy him, we can adopt United States and Canada attended. We were most his attitudes and characteristics. Blessed Titus privileged to have the Most Reverend Fernando should be an inspirational figure whose virtues we Millán, O.Carm., Prior General of the Carmelite should imitate in our own lives. Order, Very Reverend Carl Markelz, O.Carm., Prior Father Fernando recommended seven Provincial of the Most Pure Heart of Mary Province, characteristics of Blessed Titus Brandsma that Lay and Very Reverend Mario Esposito, O.Carm,, Prior Carmelites could emulate as lay people. Provincial of Saint Elias Province as our honored Titus was a man with a missionary spirit in his heart, guests. in his prayer, and in support of social justice. We, “Carmelite Laity; Heritage, Identity, Future,” like Titus, should be focused on being missionaries was the theme for this year’s convocation. Coming in our own families, the workplace, parish, and the together the weekend officially began Friday Church worldwide. evening by the Most Reverend Fernando Millán, Titus was a man of compassion, sympathy, and O.Carm., who delivered the keynote address. Father empathy. He was a man of solidarity who made Fernando shared with us that he had recently been his own the sufferings of the people of his time. present with large Carmelite gatherings in different For example, when the young lady at the Dachau Concentration Camp who was assigned to give him parts of the world. This indicated to him that the the injection that would end his life approached him, Carmelite family was indeed thriving and making he felt compassion for her, he offered her a , an impact on the world. “Carmelite family,” he said, and asked her to pray to Our Lady for peace. She is hard to define, and should be felt rather than accepted the rosary and then did her assigned duty. defined. We should think family, build family, and Twenty years later, she went to Rome to witness pray family. The convocation is a good opportunity for Titus Brandsma when he was declared Blessed. to unite our Carmelite family and to meet new She gave as the reason for her actions, “He felt members. compassion for me.” Compassion must show through

CITOC | PAGE 22 vividly in the lives of Lay Carmelites. We laugh with those who laugh and we cry with those who cry. Titus was a man of great tenderness. He made the feelings of others his own. He often offered his food to the homeless he met on his way home from the university where he taught. In the concentration camp he shared the little that was given to him and often went hungry. Father Fernando encouraged us to be like Titus, to show tender feelings especially for the homeless, less fortunate and the marginalized. Blessed Titus Brandsma was a man of joy in the spiritual sense of the word. He kept a spiritual attitude toward everything in his life. Titus accepted every day as a new life, a life which was given to him to do his best for love of God. Lay Carmelites are to be spiritually joyful. Never should and Georgia, and Cynthia Perazzo, T.O.Carm., Regional Coordinator for our joy be surrendered to struggles, the communities in Northern California and Nevada, opened the sessions frustrations or inconveniences. on Saturday with their presentation of “Our Identity Rooted in our Heri- The apostolate of ecumenism was tage”. They noted that knowing our heritage is Paramount to knowing especially dear to Blessed Titus. where we are going. They reminded us that as Lay Carmelites we take He dreamed of unification through upon ourselves the Carmelite charism of prayer. Carmelites find comfort reconciliation; he built bridges and in the psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours, and in listening to the Word worked tirelessly to break down of God in Lectio Divina. Referring to the Rule of Albert we are told, “to walls which separated nations. pray day and night for meditation will save you.” We must to space for Lay Carmelites are to be people of God— vacare Deo. peace—to build bridges that will Our tradition teaches us how to identify with our Mother Mary through bring about reconciliation in the listening and pondering the word of God. Our fiat is our response to world around us. our call to Carmel; we receive through Mary all that we aspire to be. Titus was a man of contemplation We unite in Carmel with those from the past and those yet to come. a real contemplative, not one who This is our heritage with God as our help and our right hand. prayed on bended knee all the time, The Brown Scapular is an important aspect of our identity. Although but one who could look around in we seek no reaction, the fact remains that when we wear our scapular, everyday life and see the presence­ others do notice. They are aware of our dedication to parish life; they of God. It is our challenge to imitate look to us for sincerity and ethical behavior. Patricia and Cynthia closed this contemplative attitude in our their presentation with the assurance that living our vocation as Lay lives. Carmelites will us to God. The last characteristic of Titus is The climax of the day on Saturday was the celebration of the Eucharist, that he was a Carmelite. The spirit of presided by Father Fernando. We were blessed and edified in a special Carmel fascinated him. He embraced way to witness Sister Mary Martin’s renewal of vows during Mass in his vocation with great love and celebration of her Golden Jubilee of vowed life. The liturgy was followed passion. He had great passion toward by a luncheon after which a presentation in honor of Blessed Titus his religious family, duty and beauty Brandsma was made to Father Fernando. of Carmel. Carmel means garden; Workshops, facilitated by former and present Regional Coordinators and it is an Order of beauty Titus was in Regional Formation Coordinators, were conducted during the remainder love with the symbols and traditions of Saturday. Four topics were covered: Leadership, Healthy Communities, of Carmel and was so very proud of Daily Carmelite Living and Formation. Lay members are encouraged to his voca­tion as a Carmelite. Father love, heed and hold on to the Word of God as a means of sustaining daily Fernando asked us, “Are you living Carmelite living. Facilitators of the Formation Workshop presented an your Carmelite vocation with the overview of the new Phase I Formation Book and demonstrated a typical same love and passion that Titus had presentation of the lessons. for his vocation?” Very Reverend Mario Esposito, O.Carm., Prior Provincial of Saint Elias Patricia Whitlock, T.O.Carm., Re- Province, gave the final address of the convocation, “Future is Formed gional Coordinator for the lay Car- melite communities in the Carolinas (continued on page 30) CITOC | PAGE 23 THE NEED FOR MISSIONS

by Fr. Anthony Scerri, O.Carm.

aids and just sheer hunger. We are living in painful Preamble times when there are long and continuous wars in so many parts of the globe with the consequence The sign of vitality and maturity of an ecclesiastical of hundreds of thousands dying from violence and community lies in its universal missionary zeal and hundreds of thousands fleeing to refugee camps or responsibility (cf AG 6, EN 15). Lumen Gentium simply risking their lives on the high seas to reach (13) states: “In virtue of this each a safe haven somewhere, anywhere. individual part of the Church contributes through its special gifts to the good of the other parts of Most of the excitement and well-being is enjoyed the whole Church”. This is true of individuals, by the wealthy countries of Europe, North America, communities and institutions, because as Evangelii Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore Nuntiandi (13) puts it, evangelisation ad gentes is and Hong Kong, whereas most of the pain is an essential duty of the Church. “No believer in suffered by the poor countries in Africa, Asia. Christ, no institution of the Church can be exempt Oceania and Latin America. In this equation there of this supreme obligation to proclaim Christ to all is a correlation, which put very simply is, “I am peoples”. hungry because you are living in luxury, I am poor because you are rich”. We are living through exciting times, when almost every day we hear of some new scientific, We Carmelites are living in these times and technological or electronic useful invention, some share in these excitements and pains. We must new advances in medicine, some new probes into not only share our faith and charism with others, the distant universe and so on. We are also living but we must do all in our power to alleviate their through painful times, when two-thirds of humanity pain and suffering. We Carmelites are privileged in live in poor and sometimes squalid circumstances that we have received an extremely rich charism and the advances in science and health do not and spirituality from the Holy Spirit. These gifts seem to reach them and so they die in their are not for us to keep nor are they for the glory of hundreds of thousands of malaria, tuberculosis, the Order. The Order is but the custodian of these gifts for the sake of the Church and the world. CITOC | PAGE 24 This is what our missions are about then: sharing in the joys and sorrows of the people we serve, sharing our goods, our charism and our spirituality with them, because it is what Jesus commanded us to do when he told us to go out into the whole world and preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God. The Order has always been missionary, but never have conditions of travel and communications favoured so much missionary work ad gentes as they do today. This is a sign of the times and we must respond to this grace of God to the utmost. A few statistics from the whole Carmelite Family will illustrate what I mean. I am the late bishop Donal Lamont, O.Carm. only speaking of missions ad • In the Dem. Rep. of the Congo we have the friars and the gentes, that is to Africa, Asia, HVMMC. Oceania and Latin America, and I include missions established • In Tanzania we have the friars and the SMSTBG. by Carmelite friars, nuns, sisters • In we have the friars and the HCSCJ. and lay organisations. • In Burkina Faso we have the friars and the Donum Dei. In the 16th century only • In Cameroon we have the friars and the Donum Dei. one Carmelite mission was • In Kenya we have the friars, the enclosed nuns and the th established. In the 17 century Donum Dei. only one again. In the 18th century • In Rwanda we have the HVMMC. none was established, and in the 19th century only one. But in the • In Madagascar we have the Donum Dei. first half of theth 20 century 11 missions were established and Asia in the second half of the 20th • In Indonesia we have the friars, the enclosed nuns, the century, after the second world HCSCJ, the Putri Karmel, the Congregation of St. Elijah and war, as many as 67 missions. In the Holy Trinity lay organisation. the few years that have gone by • In the Philippines we have the friars, the enclosed nuns, of the 21st century, so far about the Carmelite Sisters of OL, the Congregation of OLMC, the 15 new Carmelite missions have Donum Dei, the SCMSTBG and the INSC. already been established. • In India we have the friars, the INSC and the Donum Dei. I can only give you a fleeting picture of the Carmelite presence • In Vietnam we have the friars and the Donum Dei. in Africa, Asia and Oceania. I am • In Timor Leste we have the friars and the HVMMC. not in a position to give you a • In China we have the friars, the Putri Karmel and the CSE. picture of our Carmelite presence in Central and South America and the Caribbean. I leave that Oceania to someone else more qualified. • In Papua New Guinea we have the friars. • In New Caledonia we have the Donum Dei. Africa • In Wallis and Futuna we have the Donum Dei. • In we have the friars and the Handmaids of Our Lady, a local (continued on page 29) congregation founded by

CITOC | PAGE 25 Ca r m e l Lo s e s On e o f It s Le a d i n g Hi s t o r i a n s

by Fr. Richard Copsey, O.Carm. something which would have otherwise have been impossible at that time of economic depression. r. Joachim Smet, O.Carm., one of the leading Having completed his high school studies, historians of the Carmelite Order, died on 4th Joachim entered the Carmelite Order and made his October at the age of 95. first profession on 15th August 1935. By chance, F the Dutch Carmelite Blessed Titus Brandsma Fr. Joachim Smet, O.Carm., passed away was visiting the United States on a lecture tour peacefully at the Providence Hospital in Washington and attended Joachim’s profession ceremony. D.C., U.S.A., on the evening of 4th October after a Blessed Titus was one of five Carmelites who brief illness. Joachim was born in Chicago on 9th signed Joachim’s profession paper. Sadly, after the October 1915, so he missed celebrating his 96th outbreak of the Second World War, Blessed Titus birthday by a mere 5 days. was arrested for his work for the Church in Holland Brought up in a very devout family, he made and died in Dachau concentration camp. his first communion onth 17 May 1925, the day Whilst at Niagara, Joachim made up his mind that on which St. Thérèse of Lisieux was canonised by he would write a history of the Carmelite Order, Pius XI, and Joachim attributed his religious but it was not until 1947 that his desire started vocation to her intercession. Soon afterwards he to come to fruition. At the General Chapter that sat the scholarship examination for the Carmelite year, someone proposed that a history of the Order Minor Seminary in Niagara Falls and was notified should be written and Matt O’Neill, the provincial of that he had won a scholarship, once again on the P.C.M. Province – Joachim’s province – said, “I 17th May. This award enabled his parents to send have just the guy to do it”. So it was that Joachim Joachim, now 14 years of age, to a , found himself on a boat sailing off to Rome and a complete change in his way of life. Arriving in Rome, though, Joachim found that writing a history of the Order was going to be very difficult. Talking to him in later years, I remember him pointing out how little information there was available, very few of the early Carmelite texts had been printed, and even the few in print dated back to the 17th and 18th centuries. Studies of early Carmelite history were rare and many were coloured by pious preconceptions. It was no wonder that most non-Carmelite historians writing about the mendicant friars assumed that only the and Dominicans were worthy of mention. Once in Rome, Joachim set to work quietly and unassumally, developing his skills and his knowledge. He became one of the key figures in a revival of Carmelite scholarship and learning. Initially, Joachim followed his own studies and his first major work was published in 1954 entitledThe Life of Saint Peter Thomas by Philippe de Mézières, the subject of his doctoral thesis. This work, dedicated to Matt O’Neill, bore all the hallmarks of Joachim’s publications: a meticulously researched study, careful attention to sources, and a gentle, comprehensive introduction backed up with extensive footnotes. At the same time, Joachim became one of the founding members of the Institutum Carmelitanum, a small team of scholars working in the Collegio Sant’Alberto in Rome, and the Fr. Joachim Smet, O.Carm., 1915-2011 CITOC | PAGE 26 first editor of Carmelus its scholarly journal, a the series of events around St. Teresa of Avila and position he held until I arrived in Rome in 1993 St. John of the Cross which led to the separation of to relieve him. Joachim saw Carmelus as a way of the Order into two parts. stimulating Carmelite scholarship and it was due After his history of the friars, Joachim turned his to his encouragement that many young Carmelite attention to the nuns and in 1987 he produced a scholars were emboldened to publish their studies. slim volume entitled Cloistered Carmel. Then he Joachim set himself to work on his history of the started a project for cataloguing the surviving Order but the work took time and was delayed by Carmelite manuscripts, and his volume on the Joachim acquiring other tasks and responsibilities, manuscripts preserved in the - the most notable of which was his election as Bibliotheca Carmelitana Manuscripta. Series 1: Assistant General of the Order, serving under Fr. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana - emerged in 1994. Kilian Healy for six years. During this period, he Sadly this remains the only volume so far in print, edited a quarterly review in English for Carmelite although Joachim tried without success to get other sisters which contained not only articles on Carmelites to collaborate in this project. Another spirituality and religious life but also translations of slim volume - Canons, , nuns, , some important early Carmelite texts. and friars in Crusader Palestine - is still awaiting In the mid 1960s, Joachim produced an offset a publisher. In addition to all these, Joachim edition of his historical notes, entitled An Outline of completed a number of translations, among which Carmelite History which gave a tantalising preview were the autobiography of Blessed Maria Scrilli in of the contents of Joachim’s magnus opus. Also, 1995, and a volume of articles written by Blessed his article on the Carmelites in the New Catholic Titus Brandsma (awaiting publication). Encyclopedia in 1967 demonstrated his grasp Throughout his life, Joachim never forgot the of the overall development of the Order, and he needs of his own province and he devoted himself contributed articles to numerous other prestigious to collecting books for the Carmelite Library encyclopedias. in Washington. His efforts were crowned with However, Joachim’s progress on his projected four success when the collection was moved to a new volume history was agonisingly slow, and nothing specially-designed location, funded from the Rogge had appeared when Joachim’s provincial, Paul Foundation. This Carmelite Library is unique in Hoban, visited him in 1975. Paul asked Joachim the U.S.A. and now attracts many scholars doing how much progress he had made and was told that research. volume 1 was in draft form and being corrected. For many of us, though, Joachim will be Paul asked if he could borrow the manuscript to remembered as a very unassuming, delightful read it in his room. That was the last Joachim saw companion, a most generous friend, and someone of his text as Paul took it back to America with him whose faith shone through all his actions. His and sent it straight to the printers. Joachim was generosity was done quietly and very humbly and, mortified as the footnotes had not been organised throughout his life, he used money given to him for and there were many other corrections needed. personal needs to pay the school fees for a number However, with his customary forebearance, he of boys in India and, on his trips to England, he accepted the fait accompli and started on the would always make sure that he left a gift for the remaining volumes. Volume 2 emerged in 1976, person who did his laundry or cleaned his room. volume 3 (in two parts) in 1982, and volume 4 In Rome, his room was always open and many of in 1985. Then he returned to volume 1, finished us learning the trade of history benefitted greatly correcting the text and footnotes, and a revised from the pre-prandial conversations in his room - edition appeared in 1988. Thereafter, Joachim lubricated, it must be confessed, with a glass of devoted himself to tracing copies of the first edition whisky. and replacing them with the revised edition. Joachim was extremely generous in sharing Translations of Joachim’s work soon began to his knowledge, his notes and the results of his appear in other languages and the sumptious researches. He was quite content for others to use Italian edition, complete with beautiful illustrations, his material; for him, what mattered was not his gave Joachim’s work the true dignity it deserved. own reputation but the good of the Order. Much of Joachim’s somewhat dry English style was not what I have written on Carmelite history owes its suited to a novel or adventure story, but his skill lay origins to conversations with Joachim and material in his ability to analyse a complex situation and to which he has shared with me. We did not always condense the significant elements into a readable agree on the conclusions that I drew, but Joachim text. This, coupled with his innate sympathy with remained a good friend and a great example of the the historical characters involved, give his history Christian virtues. He will be greatly missed. a unique value. Perhaps the best of his writing is to (printed with the permission of www.carmelite.org) be found in the early chapters of volume 2 where he describes with great sensitivity and sympathy

CITOC | PAGE 27 Kenyans mourn Irish doctor and priest who served poor with courage and devotion

Jody Clarke In Nairobi

ressed in a pair of old-fashioned shorts, half- emaciated after another year spent in northern DKenya’s semi-arid desert, Fr. Robbie MacCabe, O.Carm. did not look like the most intimidating of tennis opponents. Into his 60s and 70s, he’d climb down off of his racing bike, into the Fitzwilliam club in Dublin or the Rhiwbina in Cardiff, an eccentric-looking old man with a glove on his right hand. The kind of person you’d go easy on, give a couple of shots to, before putting him out of his misery. And then he’d leather them, running club champions off the court with balls so perfectly placed you could point to a mark on the ground and he’d hit it. The first set might be close, but after that men a third his age would be worn out, going down 6-0 6-0. If people stared he might tell them that he had been the 1944 Irish junior champion, who went on to play at Fr. Robbie MacCabe, O.Carm. 1926-2011 Wimbledon and might have gone further if the TB hadn’t Fr MacCabe was awarded the Gold got him as a medical student at UCD. Medal by the Liverpool School of Tropical But then Fr MacCabe, who died last month at the age Medicine in 1972 and the degree of Doctor of 83, was an unassuming man, a Carmelite missionary of Medicine by University College Dublin in and qualified doctor with a shyness that belied a fierce 1973 for a dissertation on the “Study of the determination to succeed, whether on the tennis Pattern of Diseases among Africans living in court or Turkana, one of the world’s most unforgiving Nyamamaropa, Zimbabwe”. environments. But stationed on the border of Southern For over 30 years, he worked in this part of northern and Mozambique at the height of Kenya, running a mobile medical unit that he said was the Rhodesian bush war, he was putting his just a fancy name for a 1965 SUV with no power-steering own life at risk. and a shot gearbox and a few bottles of medicine. ’s minority white government in Born in Mallow in 1926, Robert MacCabe grew up in was pitted against Robert Sandycove in Dublin, the latest in a long line of doctors. Mugabe’s independence movement, who were His grandfather Patrick, a fellow at the Royal College of using Mozambique as a base from which they Surgeons, was knighted for his medical services to the could launch raids. It was a dangerous time. crown. His father – Col Fred MacCabe, a veteran of the He was almost blown up by a land mine Boer War and the first World War – worked as a doctor while driving to a field clinic. Two colleagues in the newly established Free State army. The horrors were shot dead. He was finally expelled in he had witnessed made an impression on his son, who 1977 for treating patients considered by abhorred violence. the government to be rebels. Having been MacCabe became a keen athlete, taking to tennis, forced to leave one remote place, he found cricket and swimming. He studied medicine at UCD, but another one, Lokitaung, west of Lake Turkana after contracting TB, underwent enforced seclusion for in northern Kenya, close to the borders with six months. He told his brother that if he survived the Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda. disease he would join a religious order. Four years after A hot, hilly area plagued by frequent bouts qualifying as a doctor, he was ordained as a Carmelite of drought, Turkana has historically been priest in 1960. isolated from the rest of Kenya.

CITOC | PAGE 28 Fr MacCabe learned the local Mission...(continued from page 25) language and established his mobile medical unit after realising that a hospital and fixed clinics would not These are our missions at present in Africa, Asia and Oceania. work, as the people moved from one Africa and Asia are huge continents with huge populations. transient settlement to another. In all of these missions there are many and good vocations to the Order. We are only limited by funds and accommodation “The sky in Turkana at night- for them and, of course, the process of discernment. We time is absolutely beautiful because must go on looking for possibilities of further missions. Some there is no electric light, there are of the missions themselves are now in a position to send no clouds, and you see the stars personnel to help or start other missions. spread out over a vast area. Not for nothing,” he told The Irish Times in The Congolese Carmelites are helping to establish a 2009, “do the Turkana people use mission in Cameroon. The Indonesian Province has started the same word, akuj, to describe a mission in China and is preparing to establish a mission both the sky and God.” in Hong Kong. The Indian Province of St. Thomas helped to set up the mission in Kenya. The Philippine Carmelites have Aid workers come and go, but Fr taken the responsibility for the mission in Papua New Guinea. MacCabe stayed with the Turkana The Province of Pernambuco, the oldest and first mission ad until his very last days, living in a gentes of the Order (1583), is responsible for the mission in hut with little more than a mosquito Mozambique. Our missions are also now sending missionaries net and a fridge, where he kept his to the old world in a reverse missionary endeavour. medicines and anti-venom serums. The problem, as always is money. However, money has Nine months of the year were spent always eventually been provided by Providence through the visiting patients, administering generosity of the good Catholic people throughout the world, polio, BCG and measles vaccines, especially the supporters of the Society of the Little Flower. caring for people with tuberculosis, What is more important, is the continued realisation that we Aids and malaria. He carried out are all, by nature of our baptism, missionary in one way or , said Mass and regularly another. As Ad Gentes (2) puts it, “The Church is missionary brought the sick on journeys to by its nature”, and we are the Church. the hospital in Lodwar that could take eight hours on rough, often Whenever I am asked what is needed to be a good impassable roads. missionary, I always reply, two things: a strong faith and a strong stomach. From my observation, most Carmelites have The rest of the year he would spend a strong stomach! in Dublin, where he was a lecturer at the Royal College of Surgeons. In 2010, he was conferred with an honorary doctorate there. A much-loved uncle and brother, he spent hours speaking with his nieces and nephews in Dublin and Wales talking about which SUVs he should drive, about bikes and special rubbers to prevent the tyres being burst by thorns in Kenya, about cars he owned and cameras. To many, he was the embodiment of what it means to be human. Some called him a saint. “I can tell you he was the most caring man to be with and he was really good at making you feel special,” his two grandnephews, aged eight and 11, said at his funeral. “We will miss him.” (reprinted with the permission of ‘The Irish Times’)

CITOC | PAGE 29 Bishop Donal Lamont, O. Carm.

by Most Rev. Fr. Fenando Millán, O.Carm.

onal Lamont, an Irish Carmelite and first bishop of Umtali (now , DZimbabwe) was born in in Northern Ireland in 1911. So, in 2011 we celebrate the centenary of his birth. It so happens that in 2009 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the publication of his famous pastoral letter “Purchased People”. This pastoral letter was a milestone in the history of the African Church and a clear and strong stance against the system of racial discrimination. For this reason, Analecta, the official journal of record of the Order, reissued the original English text of the letter (vol. 61, letter, Lamont’s participation in Vatican II and the pp.. 117-147), whose title is taken from the biography of this Irish Carmelite. Also included is words of the First Letter of Peter (I Peter 2,9). a translation of his autobiography “Speech from the Several magazines and publications have dock”. The presentation ceremony was attended by echoed this centennial, like “The Irish Catholic” the Prior General, Fernando Millán Romeral, O. Carm., or the magazine “Acontecimiento” of the the Prior Provincial of Ireland, Martin Kilmurray, O. Emmanuel Mounier Institute of Madrid. Also, Carm., The Prior of , Michael Troy, O. on September 29 the Spanish translation Carm., as well as several professors of this university, of “Chosen People” was presented at the who have collaborated in the project. Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid. The Carmel today thrives on the African continent and book (belonging to the prestigious collection has a very bright future. Lamont can be an incentive “Texts for a Millennium” of the joint team of and a source of hope and inspiration for our presence Carmelites in the Iberian Region) includes two on this continent. studies examining the theology of the pastoral

Carmelite Laity... (continued from page 23) by Identity.” Father Mario had one important question for us, “Wiry are you here?” He then went on to give us the answer. We are here in imitation of those who carne before us. We are searching for the face of the living God and as pilgrims, our searching will lead us into the future. We are here as penitents, in imitation of the first group of penitents on Mount Carmel, journeying, looking for conversion and purification of mind, heart and spirit. Listening and seeing with a clean and pure heart will bring us into the future. We are here to fight as the Crusaders did, by attesting to the cause of Christ with the Word of God as our sword. This will carry us into the future. And lastly, like the hermits of old, we have as our goal, union with Christ in silence, solitude and prayer. We turn to Elijah and Mary as our models and inspira­tion. In summary, in order to answer the question, “Why are you here?” we need to live the answer as Pilgrim (searching for God), Penitent (cleansed and open for God), Crusader (battles for God with spiritual weapons), and (alone with God). The convocation closed with liturgy, celebrated by the Very Reverend Carl Markelz, O.Carm., Prior Provincial of the Most Pure Heart of Mary Province. The weekend came to an end with hugs and best wishes for continued Carmelite living. We wish to thank Father Joseph Atcher, O.Carm., Sister Mary Martin, O.Carm., Sister Libby Dahlstrom, O.carm., and the Inter-Provincial Lay Carmelite Commission who dedicated so much time and effort to organizing and making the Convocation possible. May our love, prayers and God’s blessing be their reward. (reprinted with the permission of Carmelite Review)

CITOC | PAGE 30 to the specific situation in each country. It News should also help to unify Formation for Lay Carmelites in both its themes and its form. The Commentary, finally, is meant to encourage Regional Bursars Tertiaries to assume their responsibility in the area of their community life especially, where Meeting in the this may not yet be the norm. Philippines Carmelite Study Week The second regional bursars’ meeting was held in the Carmelite Missionary Retreat in Kenya House, Tagaytay City, Philippines on 17- 22 October 2011. Seventeen participants From 4th to 8th July, 2011 around 40 (bursars, mission procurators, and fund- members of the Carmelite Family gathered raisers) from India (2), Philippines and Papua in the ODC house in Karen, Nairobi, Kenya to New Guinea (7), Indonesia (4), Australia take part in a seminar on “Carmel and Mary: (2), Fr. Kevin Alban (General Bursar) and Fr. Carmel’s Marian Spirituality and its Importance Albertus Herwanta (General Councilor for Asia- for the Church and World Today”. The Australia-Oceania) were present. The meeting participants came from Kenya, Uganda and discussed the questionnaire and preliminary Tanzania and included OCarm. and OCD friars, considerations on fund-raising prepared OCD active sisters, OCarm. nuns and a number by the Regional Fund-raising Committee of lay people. The seminar was organised by Fr which met in Jakarta in January 2011. Steven Payne OCD, director of the Institute of The main topic of the meeting was fund- Spirituality at Tangaza College, Nairobi, and led raising, where each province, commissary, by Fr Kevin Alban O. Carm., Bursar General and and delegation presented and shared their lecturer in in Rome and London. experience and method of raising-fund. This sharing was very enriching and encouraging. An ad-hoc regional task-force was formed A Visit to the Curia which consists of Fr. Jim DesLauriers (Aust), by the “Carmel Fr. Paul Poovan (Ind), Fr. Aris Escobal (Phil), Fr. Alexander Agung (Indo). A member for this Foundation” task-force from Vietnam is still to be named. The responsibility of this task-force is to gather, On the 8th of October last, the members analyze fund-raising data in the Asian area, and of the Supervisory Board of the Carmel to prepare material for the third Asian bursars Foundation visited our Curia. The Foundation is meeting to be held in Sassone, Italy, during an association that coordinates 24 colleges with the triennial international bursars meeting in more than 35,000 students in the Netherlands. October 2012. The origins of the association go back to 1922, when Bl. Titus Brandsma and other Dutch Carmelites began to work in education Meeting of the by setting up the first Carmelite colleges in Secretariat for Laity that country. The members of the Board were accompanied by Fr. Falco Thuis O.Carm. and Fr. Kees Waaijman, O.Carm. as the representatives A meeting of Secretariat for Carmelite Laity of the Carmelite Order. They explained to the took place recently, from November 28 to members of the General Council the nature and December 2. The purpose of the meeting was objectives of the association. The Prior General, to edit and finalize the Commentary to the Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., in reply Guidelines for Formation for Lay Carmelites. The reiterated the commitment of the Order to the new document is now ready for final comments field of education, telling the group about the and corrections. Many thanks are due to all various initiatives that are in train in this area. who contributed to this work. This Commentary On behalf of the Order, he thanked the group is seen as a starting point for the writing of for the work they are doing. the provincial Manual for Formation according

CITOC | PAGE 31 Pi l g r i m a g e t o Fa t i m a

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