October - Month of Mary

Mary, Assumed into Heaven, Main Shrine, Aylesford Priory

Dear Mother of Carmel, we ask you to commend to your divine Son all the cares and anxieties of those who have asked our prayers. Succour and restore the suffering in body and mind, pity those who are tried by ill health and disease, give them light in darkness and, in your great compassion for the afflicted and unhappy, lead them close to the strength of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.

We commend to your safe keeping our parents, relatives, and friends and all who have done good to us for the sake of your holy name. Guard them from temptation and surprise and keep them from evil and misfortune.

At your feet may we learn the true spirit of Carmel. May our hearts burn with the zeal of St. Elias; we implore the childlike trust in you of St. Simon Stock; we would crave the undaunted desires of St. Teresa, the mystic love born of suffering of St. John of the Cross and St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, the courage and shining purity of St. Albert and St. Andrew. In simplicity with St. Thérèse may our souls grow in trust and deepen in love.

We ask you for vocations: lead other sons and daughters into your land of Carmel. Be our right hand in our weakness: give us greater trust in your promise of blessing and protection: ever renew in us the true spirit of our vocation: desert not your own; give us courage to build anew; quicken our desire to grow and increase and grant us good success.

Let us give God thanks for all his gracious gifts. Blessed be the Most Holy Trinity. May holy Mary and all the angels and saints of God be praised now and for evermore.

Fr Malachy Lynch, O.Carm. (adapted)

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Choir Chapel, Aylesford Priory.

Forty Years of the Forty Martyrs

Chapel of the English and Welsh Martyrs, Aylesford Priory

On this day, 25th October 1970, Pope Paul VI canonised 40 men and women from England and Wales who had been martyred for their Catholic faith. They came from all walks of life and diverse vocations. They loved their faith and were prepared to pay the ultimate price for their faithfulness. Over the years many people would gather at Aylesford, aroiund the relics of these holy man and women, and through prayer and simply being together would have their faith renewed. These pilgrimages were a strong part of my own childhood and one of my earliest memories is coming to Aylesford with my father and being part of the thousands of people walking in torch lit procession in praise of God and in thanksgiving for the martyrs.

Altar piece of the Shrine of the Martyrs of England and Wales, Tyburn Convent

God our Father,

you raised up martyrs - saints among our countrymen

from every walk of life.

they vindicated the authority of your Church

in teaching and worship.

Through their prayers

may all people be gathered once again

to celebrate the same sacraments

under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God for ever and ever.

The Roman Missal

Thought for the Week

"Spiritual practices must invade, touch, and heal the unconscious, where 95% of our real motivation lies.  Faith-filled actions, contemplative prayer, solitude, silence, and many life events have the power to expose and change our unconscious agendas and motivations.  Most "belief systems" are just laid on top of our egoic world view, and unfortunately do little damage to it.  We can say all the right words, practice all the right rituals, and our heart can remain cold and unconnected."

- Richard Rohr

New book by Fr Joseph Chalmers, O.Carm

Saint Albert's Press, the publishing house of the British Province of Carmelites, has published (with Edizioni Carmelitane in Rome) the latest book of Father Joseph Chalmers, O.Carm., Prior General of the Carmelite Order between 1995 and 2007. The book came on sale on the feast of Saint Teresa of Jesus (of Avila), 15th October 2010.

The book is entitled Let It Be: Pondering the Scriptures in company with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and offers a reflection on all the passages in the Bible which relate to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Drawing on the ancient traditions underlying the practice of Lectio Divina (holy reading), Father Joseph shares insights from the Christian contemplative tradition, particularly the teachings of Saint John of the Cross on the need to overcome the ‘false self’, and enter into the ‘dark night’ of sense and spirit, through which God’s transforming love takes hold.

Most Rev. Joseph Chalmers, O.Carm.

The book has already been met with great acclaim. It has been endorsed by Cardinal Keith O'Brien who has made it his 'recommended reading for Advent 2010' in his Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh. The Cardinal said: "Father Joseph’s excellent meditations help us, like Christ’s Mother, to read our lives in the light of God’s Word. I pray that this book will draw readers to a deeper knowledge and love of God through Scripture and the Church’s contemplative tradition.’

Bishop Malcolm McMahon, O.P., has likewise adopted the book as his official Advent reading in Nottingham Diocese, stating: "Praying with Mary as we approach the birth of her Son Jesus at Christmas is a wonderful way to prepare for the coming of Christ who enters our life every day. Fr. Joseph's reflections provide a guide which is full of insight and wisdom."

The book is a sequel to Fr. Joseph's best-seller of 2007, entitled The Sound of Silence, which offered guided readings of the Scripture passages relating to the Old Testament Prophet Elijah. Carmelites regard Elijah and Mary as the two patrons of their Order, hence a book of Scriptural reflections on Our Lady was a natural development. Like The Sound of Silence, Let It Be is beautifully illustrated, with over 25 images of Mary as she is depicted in Carmelite art around the world.

The book is both easy to read yet spiritually profound, inspiring the Jesuit priest Nicholas King, S.J. - who teaches the New Testament at the University of Oxford and is the Chair of the Catholic Biblical Association of Great Britain - to remark: "This is an outstanding book, just the thing for those who feel a bit embarrassed at either the idea of praying the Scriptures or the Catholic devotion to Mary. Buy it, read it, and pray your way through it; your life will not be the same again.’ Fr. Nicholas kindly wrote the Foreword to the book.

The book retails at £12.95 (plus £2 postage and packing within the United Kingdom; overseas customers should check international postage rates with Saint Albert's Press when ordering). To order please send a cheque for £14.95 per copy, made payable to Carmelite Friars Projects & Publications, to:

Saint Albert's Press Distribution

Carmelite Friars

P.O. Box 140

Kent

ME20 7SJ
United Kingdom

To order a copy by phone, please call: 01795 537038.

Source: British Province of Carmelites website

Teresa of Avila, Carmelite & Doctor of the Church

Today the Carmelite Family and the universal Church celebrates the feast of St Teresa of Avila, Carmelite nun, Doctor of the Church and reformer of the Order.

"Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ looks compassion into the world.
Yours are the feet
with which Christ walks to do good.
Yours are the hands
with which Christ blesses the world"

St. Teresa of Avila

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL4rWllTMTM

Carmelite Community on Retreat

This week the Carmelite friars at Aylesford are on retreat. There will be no 7.30am Mass and no priest friar will be availble for confessions until Friday 15th October. Please keep the community in your prayers.

Clothing of Novices

Yesterday was an important day in the life of our community. Two young men, one from Germany and one from Portugal received the Carmelite habit and began their year and a day that marks the period of the noviciate. Torsten is a novice for the Upper German province and Tiago from the General Commisariat of Portugal. The Rite of Reception of Novices and Clothing in the habit takes place during Evening Prayer. The Aylesford community gathered with friars from Germany, Portugal and our own communities of Walworth, York and Faversham

Torsten and Tiago before Evening Prayer

The Rite begins after the scripture reading. Fr Joseph, the novice director, called each candidate forward

Fr Joseph:  Let Torsten Rolfes and Tiago Casaleiro who are to be received as novices please come forward.

Provincial: Dear brother, what do you seek?

Postulants: Drawn by God's love, I have come here to live the Carmelite way of life. I ask you to teach me to follow Jesus Christ: obedient, chaste and poor. Intsruct me in the way of the Gospel so that observing yout Rule and Constitutions I may live constantly in the presence of God. Guided by the Holy Spirit to serve the Church, may I be one in mind and heart with all the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.

Provincial: God has begun a good work in you. May our mercifula nd loving Father bring it to fulfilment; may the Lord Jesus instruct you, and may the Holy Spirit overwhellm you with the gift of love.

After a brief homily the postulants then receive the habit, a tunic, belt, scapular and capuce (hood). The new novices are welcomed by the other frairs present with a sign of peace and take their place in choir.

The service of evening prayer then concluded with the singing of the Magnificat, intercessions and the blessing.

Back row: Br. Torsten Rolfes, Fr. Joseph Chalmers (Novice Director) Br. Tiago Casaleiro
Front Row: Br Gunther Benker (Formator, Germany) Fr Wilfrid McGreal,(Provincial of the British Province)
 Fr Agostinho Castro (Commisary Provincial, Portugal)

Br Torsten & Br Tiago after receiving the habit

Please keep Torsten and Tiago in your prayers and pray for our community as we journey with them over the coming year. If you would like to know more about the vocation of a Carmelite friar plase follow the link http://www.carmelite.org/index.php?nuc=content&id=27

New Arrivals

The Aylesford community are eagerly awaiting the arrival of two new novices today. Torsten and Tiago come from the Carmelite provinces of Upper Germany and Portugal. They will begin their time among us with a five day retreat led by Fr Damian Cassidy, O.Carm. before being recieved into the noviciate and being clothed with the habit of our Order. Please pray for them as they continue on their journey discerning God's will for them and also for the community here who will be accompanying them over the next twelve months.

Feast of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face

Welcome to the blog pages of the Carmelite community at Aylesford Priory. It is our hope that through these pages, you, gentle reader, may accompnay us in the daily rythmn of our life at Aylesford.

Today the universal Church and the Carmelite family celebrate the feast of one of our great saints - St Therese of the Child Jesus, affectionately known in the English speaking world as the 'Little Flower'. Here at Aylesford we have wonderful memories of the visit of our sister's relics to our community last October. The pictures below capture some of those fond memories.



Candles, a sign of prayer



The Most Reverend Fr Fernando Milan, O.Carm., Prior General of the Carmelite Oder
venerates the relics of St Therese at Aylesford, October 2009

Local school children welcome the relics to Aylesford

Preface of St Therese of the Child Jesus, (Carmelite Missal.)

Father, all powerful and everliving God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.

You reveal the secrets of your kingdom
to those who become like little children.
Among them you chose Saint Therese, hidden in Christ,
to proclaim the good news of your merciful love.
Your Holy Spirit moved her
to make her life a loving oblation
of prayer and self denial
for the salvation of all mankind
through Christ and his Church.

Now with the saints and all the angels,
we praise you forever