Pope Leo XIV, I stand with you if there was any doubt and thank you for your poetry that flows from your faithful service. "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you," Lord. And includes all the hearts that are grateful and vulnerable and thirsting with Holy Rejoicing in God's recreation in His Son, Jesus, the living water come down from heaven hiding in plain sight for life of the world.
I am surprised to see this on your site. The Pope is hardly a Carmelite, nor does he, I think, have understanding of Carmelite spirituality. As usual, he starts out well, but then he says something like this:
“Let us drink anew from this Eucharistic spring, which does not enclose us in private devotion…”
and I say, “Huh?”If the Eucharist does not lead us into the most intense “private devotion “ then we have failed to respond appropriately to the grace with which Our Lord endows it and us.
Thanks for your comment, Richard. It is my impression that Pope Leo has a fine understanding of Carmelite spirituality. His reading of John and Teresa, expressed in his speeches and homilies, has been enthusiastically received by our Discalced Carmelite academics, as well as by our communities and, in particular, by the Spanish province. Let's recall that Pope Leo has been studying, even memorizing, Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, OCD, for many years. And Brother Lawrence, I submit, is Saint Teresa's most famous and foremost French disciple. In her autobiography, she wrote: "Keeping Christ present is what we of ourselves can do" (The Book of Her Life, 12.4). And a side note: Teresa was an Augustinian at heart (cf. Life 9.7).
I think this particular phrase of Pope Leo counters the modern lie that religion should be simply private and have no place in public life. True devotion always flows out into the larger world. This is how St. Thérèse became the patron saint of missionaries from her cloister.
It seems, perhaps that you're skimming past the word "enclose." Absolutely, the devotion to the Eucharist leads to deep and rich private devotion. But if it is true devotion won't it spill out of our private spiritual life into something more like evangelization? And isn't that the point?
I should think our love of the Eucharist should transform us in the most intimate way, ultimately flowing from us in all we do.
Agreed. And that is the entire point of Teresa's reform: both for her nuns and for her friars, evangelization is key. Teresa wrote:
"When I began to take the first steps toward founding this monastery... news reached me of the harm being done in France and of the havoc the Lutherans had caused and how much this miserable sect was growing. The news distressed me greatly, and, as though I could do something or were something, I cried to the Lord and begged Him that I might remedy so much evil. It seemed to me that I would have given a thousand lives to save one soul out of the many that were being lost there. I realized I was a woman and wretched and incapable of doing any of the useful things I desired to do in the service of the Lord. All my longing was and still is that since He has so many enemies and so few friends that these few friends be good ones. As a result I resolved to do the little that was in my power; that is, to follow the evangelical counsels as perfectly as I could and strive that these few persons who live here do the same" (The Way of Perfection, 1.2).
Saint John of the Cross's Counsels to a Religious and Precautions, in addition to the Sayings of Light and Love and his letters, expose his thoughts and attitudes toward the attainment of perfection and the means we have to evangelize.
Pope Leo XIV, I stand with you if there was any doubt and thank you for your poetry that flows from your faithful service. "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you," Lord. And includes all the hearts that are grateful and vulnerable and thirsting with Holy Rejoicing in God's recreation in His Son, Jesus, the living water come down from heaven hiding in plain sight for life of the world.
🕯️God reward you
I am surprised to see this on your site. The Pope is hardly a Carmelite, nor does he, I think, have understanding of Carmelite spirituality. As usual, he starts out well, but then he says something like this:
“Let us drink anew from this Eucharistic spring, which does not enclose us in private devotion…”
and I say, “Huh?”If the Eucharist does not lead us into the most intense “private devotion “ then we have failed to respond appropriately to the grace with which Our Lord endows it and us.
Thanks for your comment, Richard. It is my impression that Pope Leo has a fine understanding of Carmelite spirituality. His reading of John and Teresa, expressed in his speeches and homilies, has been enthusiastically received by our Discalced Carmelite academics, as well as by our communities and, in particular, by the Spanish province. Let's recall that Pope Leo has been studying, even memorizing, Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, OCD, for many years. And Brother Lawrence, I submit, is Saint Teresa's most famous and foremost French disciple. In her autobiography, she wrote: "Keeping Christ present is what we of ourselves can do" (The Book of Her Life, 12.4). And a side note: Teresa was an Augustinian at heart (cf. Life 9.7).
I think this particular phrase of Pope Leo counters the modern lie that religion should be simply private and have no place in public life. True devotion always flows out into the larger world. This is how St. Thérèse became the patron saint of missionaries from her cloister.
Truth!
It seems, perhaps that you're skimming past the word "enclose." Absolutely, the devotion to the Eucharist leads to deep and rich private devotion. But if it is true devotion won't it spill out of our private spiritual life into something more like evangelization? And isn't that the point?
I should think our love of the Eucharist should transform us in the most intimate way, ultimately flowing from us in all we do.
Agreed. And that is the entire point of Teresa's reform: both for her nuns and for her friars, evangelization is key. Teresa wrote:
"When I began to take the first steps toward founding this monastery... news reached me of the harm being done in France and of the havoc the Lutherans had caused and how much this miserable sect was growing. The news distressed me greatly, and, as though I could do something or were something, I cried to the Lord and begged Him that I might remedy so much evil. It seemed to me that I would have given a thousand lives to save one soul out of the many that were being lost there. I realized I was a woman and wretched and incapable of doing any of the useful things I desired to do in the service of the Lord. All my longing was and still is that since He has so many enemies and so few friends that these few friends be good ones. As a result I resolved to do the little that was in my power; that is, to follow the evangelical counsels as perfectly as I could and strive that these few persons who live here do the same" (The Way of Perfection, 1.2).
Saint John of the Cross's Counsels to a Religious and Precautions, in addition to the Sayings of Light and Love and his letters, expose his thoughts and attitudes toward the attainment of perfection and the means we have to evangelize.
I would like to bring it to these poor souls who will use any excuse to go anywhere but communion with Rome
Be not afraid!