1 October is the feast day of St Thérèse of Lisieux famous for her teaching on the 'the little way of confidence and love' found in her autobiography, The Story of a Soul. Thérèse Martin was born in Alencon in France in 1873. Whilst still young she entered the Discalced Carmel of Lisieux. Her writings reveal a very human character. She frequently fell asleep during the long hours of prayer in the monastery chapel. She always had a strong sense of God's love for her and felt her calling was to be love. 'What matters,' she wrote, 'is not great deeds, but great love'. She died on 30 September 1897, just 24 years old. She was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1997.
Australia's Carmelite Centre has featured at the International Congress of the Carmelite Family in Rome. Damien Peile and Irene Hayes from the Centre took along the 2018 Centre program brochures and spoke with other participants about the work of the Carmelite Centre. Damien also took the opportunity to talk about his work as Provincial Delegate for the Carmelite Family in Australia. See more photos.
Australian Lay Carmelite Moderator, Chris Wade, gave the second keynote address at the Carmelite Family Congress in Rome. Chris beautifully told of her journey to Carmel and of the role significant woman played in her life, from her grandmother to the other women Chris met later on in life. To live the Carmelite Way, Christine said, involved certain principles: one had to recognise the importance of the Incarnation and to become 'a spark of life' the importance of listening and of receiving other people as they are without trying to change them and lastly, that we be people of joyful service. Her talk was very well received and many expressed gratitude for inspiring them to reflect on their own journey. See more photos.
Damien Peile (Carmelite Family Delegate), Irene Hayes (Carmelite Centre Director), Chris Wade (Lay Carmelite Moderator) and Ann Baumber, Bernie Howe and Maria Howe (Lay Carmelites) are attending the Congress of Carmelite Laity at Sassone, Italy. The focus of the Congress is the role of Mary in bringing us to Jesus.
At the beginning of the Congress, Archbishop Antonio Muniz, OCarm. (Brazil) reflected on his own experience of ‘always being a Carmelite’ ...
Fr Ken Petersen recently celebrated both his 80th birthday and 50th anniversary of Ordination. Family, friends and Carmelites gathered on Sunday 16 September to celebrate these milestones with Ken.
In his homily at Mass, Fr Paul Cahill (Prior Provincial) said that living in, witnessing to, proclaiming, giving thanks for and inviting others to experience the presence of God has been the hallmark of Ken’s life and ministry. Congratulations, Ken!
On 31 August Bishop Norberto do Amaral (Maliana Diocese) blessed and opened the new Church in our parish at Zumalai in Timor-Leste. As usual the celebrations began the day before with a welcome to the Bishop and to Fr Paul Cahill (Prior Provincial) and other dignitaries. After the welcome Bishop Norberto and Fr Paul and the people toured the new Church. The following day Bishop Norberto celebrated the Mass of Blessing together with Fr Paul, Fr Manuel Almeida Da Costa (Parish Priest), Aniçeto Maia Da Costa (Timor-Leste Delegate) and Carmelite and Diocesan priests. See more photos
A plaque commemorating the ten Carmelites who died in Dachau Concentration Camp was unveiled by Fr Fernando Millán Romeral (Prior General) during the International Course for young Carmelites in August.
The plaque sits in the camp's Memorial Centre among many others commemorating those who died. Blesseds Titus Brandsma and Hilary Januszewski are among the 8 Poles and 2 Dutch whose names are recorded on the plaque.
Welcome to the final issue of our newsletter covering the International Student Course in Holland Germany. In this issue, José, Francisco and Matthew are visiting Dachau Concentration Camp where Blessed Titus Brandsma died in 1942. Back in Munich for the final day the young Carmelites were led through a day of reflection on their experiences.
Over 124,000 people are now part of our Facebook Family! And over 22,500 people in Timor-Leste are now following us. Through our Facebook page people regularly ask us to pray for their needs, view our news and download our publications. We also have over 747 followers on Instagram. See the full size images of our 120k and 700 posts here.
Find us on Facebook.com/CarmelitesAET and instagram.com/carmelitesaet and click on ‘follow’ so you can see all our posts in your news feed.
Blessed are you, Lord and Father of all life;
You have given us the gift of the fathers of our families.
Today we honour them, and we thank you for the numerous good things
that are ours because of them.
Their love for us has been a sign of your love for us.
Their continuous concern for our needs and welfare
mirrors care for us.
