All Carmelite SaintsNovember 14 | Feast"Like the prophet Elijah, all the Saints of Carmel have been shaped through a school of spiritual fire. They also intimated the example of Mary and made their truest expression in the experience of love and that love makes the history of the Order. They became a hymn of praise to offer to our God."Read more about the Feast ...+           +           + Todos los S ...Continue Reading

  Beatification of Mother Scrilli --- Roman Amphitheatre at Fiesole, Florence//Sunday, October 8, 2006/   Bl. Maria Teresa Scrilli, virginNovember 13 | Optional Memorial in the Italian ProvincesSome Observations on the Spirituality of Mother ScrilliFrom childhood she showed signs of extraordinary piety and, thanks to the positive influence of her teachers, cultivated her spiritual life through assiduous attendance at the sacraments and readings from the lives of the saints, especially St. Mary M ...Continue Reading

  *Celebrating the End of World War I with True Peace Today*Today, November 11, we remember the end of World War I, the so-called "Great War," the "War to End All Wars," on this date at the 11th hour in 1918. Listen to the guns go silent in an recreation of the moment based on based on actual recordings.The war was not great nor did it stop future wars. As we find our world in conflict in at least 32 places 105 years after this armistice, let us make this Day of Remembrance also a Day of Pr ...Continue Reading

  +     +     ++ Welcome to the latest issue of CITOC News!  We invite you to read the 5 articles below + + Bienvenido al nuevo número de CITOC Noticias! Le invitamos a leer los 5 artículos que aparecen a continuación + + Benvenuti al nuovo numero di CITOC Notizie!  Vi invitiamo a leggere i 5   articoli qui sotto + +     +     + Philippines Confers Titus Brandsma AwardIn August, the Carmelite Province ...Continue Reading

Photo courtesy of the Carmel of Mary--Wahpeton Carmelite Nuns in Wahpeton, United States, Celebrate Elective Chapter The Carmelite nuns of Wahpeton (USA) held their triennial elections on November 1, 2023. Presiding over the election was Bishop John T. Folda, Bishop of Fargo. He also offered Mass before the beginning of the meetings and opened the Chapter with a prayer that the Holy Spirit would open minds and hearts to God’s grace in the lives of the sisters and the community and that the prioress would be a servant ...Continue Reading

  Celebrating at Home: Ready and Waiting32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time*Wisdom is at the heart of the first reading and Gospel. In the Bible, wisdom is not separate from God but a feminine personification of various attributes of God.The first reading presents wisdom as like a light which never fails. The parable in the Gospel continues the theme of wisdom. The ten virgins (representing the disciples) are waiting for the coming of the bridegroom (the return of Christ). The wise ones brought both their lamps and e ...Continue Reading

  St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, virginNovember 8 | Optional MemorialElizabeth Catez was born on 18th July 1880 in Campo d'Avor near Bourges, France. In 1894, she took a vow of virginity.She made her religious profession on 11th January 1903 and 21st January the same year she was given the monastic veil. The five years that she spent in religious life brought her ever closer to God although the Lord tested her with many spiritual trials and severe physical suffering due to Addison's disease which finally brough ...Continue Reading

St. Nuno Álvares Pereira, religious November 6 | Memorial St. Nuno Alvares was always a religious man. As a soldier and knight of the noble class, he carried the sacred images of the crucified Christ, the Virgin Mary, and of the two patron saints of the knight, St. George and St. James. Having fulfilled his obligations as parent, re-established the peace with Castile, and concluded the African expeditions which he took part in as supreme head of the Portuguese army, the Constable began his work on ...Continue Reading

Bl. Frances d'Amboise, religious November 5 | Optional Memorial On November 5, we celebrate the memory of Frances D’Amboise, once duchess of Brittany, who died as a Carmelite nun in Nantes, France. Her meeting with the prior general, John Soreth, and her subsequent efforts on behalf of the Carmelites had a transforming effect on Carmel in France. The Carmelite historian, Joachim Smet, calls it “one of those warm and human friendships between saints.” In fact, the establishment of enclosed Carmelite monas ...Continue Reading

  Celebrating at Home: Sincere and Grounded Faith31st Sunday in Ordinary Time*The warnings against the leaders conclude this week. This is the final part of this series of readings in which Jesus strongly criticises various groups of leaders who have failed to grasp what religion and faith in God are really about.The problem centres around the belief that religious practice is all that is necessary to be justified in God’s eyes. According to Jesus, however, it is really about conversion, th ...Continue Reading