World Youth Day, Lisbon 2023

Are you trying to discern where God is calling you? Do you want to draw closer to Jesus Christ? Do you want to meet other Catholics from across the globe? The Carmelites have planned a pilgrimage week ahead of World Youth Day to be able to learn, pray and explore places of significance for Catholics and Carmelites, on our journey to Lisbon. We start in Avila on the 24th of July, journey to Fatima on the 29th of July and stay until the 31st for the International Meeting for Carmelite Youth (Young Adults). We then enter Lisbon for WYD until the 6th of August. To find out more, click here.

Spiritual Direction Course

Registration is now open for the Carmelite Spiritual Direction Formation Programme 2023-2025! The Programme begins in September 2023 and is centred on journeying with others who seek to deepen and grow in their personal relationship with God. There are no set rules for this, and no single pathway, but a willingness to deepen one’s contemplative awareness and to respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit who is ever calling us and working towards the greater fulfilment and wholeness of each person. To learn more about this exciting opportuinity click here.

Anniversaries of St Therese

January 2, 2023 marked the 150th anniversary of St Thérèse's birth in Alencon, France. In addition to this, April 29th will be the 100th anniversary of her Beatification in 1923, an event which sparked worldwide devotion to this most popular saint. There are special celebrations taking place in Alencon and Lisieux to mark this jubilee year. The Holy Doors of the Basilicas of Lisieux and of Alençon were opened simultaneously on January 8th. UNESCO have also decided to pay tribute to Therese. “Her works show an integral humanism advocating for solidarity, justice, and peace between peoples, at the service of a call to universal love,” UNESCO’s press release reads. Please let us know if you find any glitches or problems with this website, and we will do our best to rectify them as soon as possible! Thank you for visiting, God bless, and happy browsing!!

Death of Pope

Emeritus

Benedict XVI

On the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict on 31 December we thank God for his life and teachings and wisdom, and we remember fondly his words of affirmation to contemplatives back in 2006: “These brothers and sisters silently witness that in the midst of daily vicissitudes, at times extremely convulsive, God is the only support that never falters, the unbreakable rock of fidelity and love. "Todo se pasa, Dios no se muda" [Everything passes, God is unchanging], wrote the great spiritual teacher Teresa of Avila in her famous text. And, given the widespread need that many experience to leave the daily routine of the great urban agglomerations in search of appropriate spaces for silence and meditation, monasteries of contemplative life appear as "oases" in which man, a pilgrim on earth, can go to the sources of the Spirit and slake his thirst along the way. These places, apparently useless, are, on the contrary, indispensable, like the green "lungs" of a city: They are beneficial for all, including for those who do not visit them or perhaps do not know that they exist.” Image: Wikipedia

St Raphael Kalinowski’s relics

introduced

On Nov 11, 2022, Polish Independence Day, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz presided at the Mass at the Shrine of Divine Providence, concelebrated by Archbishop Field Wiesław Lechowicz and Archbishop Grzegorz Kaszak, by the two OCD Provincials of Poland, by a multitude of priests and by numerous friars of the Order. Representatives of public authorities, including the President of the Republic, Andrzej Duda, also participated. At the beginning of the celebration, the relics of St. Raphael Kalinowski were introduced into the sanctuary, after which the President of the Polish Republic lit the candle of Independence. The initiative to introduce the relics of St. Rafał Kalinowski among the 16 relics of other Polish Saints and Blesseds already gathered in the Shrine of Divine Providence was carried out by the custodian of the Shrine of Czerny, Father Paweł Hańczak, who is promoting the cult of the Patron Saint of Siberia, railway workers and soldiers.

What’s New

29 Mar: Sisters’ Reflection page updated 26 Mar: new Sunday Scripture reflection 25 Mar: Sisters’ Reflection page updated 20 Mar: new Sunday Scripture reflection and Sisters’ Reflection page updated 8 Mar: Sisters’ Reflection page updated 5 Mar: new Sunday Scripture reflection and Sisters’ Reflection page updated

Seeking the Face of God

Occasionally we hold Carmelite Vocations Discernment Days for women aged 25-45 If you would like to attend our next Vocations Discernment Day, please contact us.

Regular Liturgies

Holy Mass Mon, Tue, Wed and Fri 8.00am Sunday & Bank Holidays: 9.00am Communion Service Thursday: 8.00am Saturday: 9.00am Evening Prayer 4.35pm daily Eucharistic Adoration 4.30-6.00pm every Sunday 8.30am-12 noon on First Fridays

Vox Hiberniae Recently "Vox Hiberniae" recorded their latest video in our chapel: “A Celtic Journey with the Irish Saints - Harp, Voice and Strings” features photos of our community, plus our voices reading texts from various Irish saints. Click here to watch on YouTube

Prayer for Ukraine

Loving God, we pray for the people of Ukraine, for all those suffering or afraid, that you will be close to them and protect them. We pray for world leaders, for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices. We pray for the world that in this moment of crisis, we may reach out in solidarity to our brothers and sisters in need. May we walk in your ways so that peace and justice become a reality for the people of Ukraine and for all the world. Amen