AUTUMN 2023
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.
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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.
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
Feast of St Therese
This year the feast of St Therese
(1st Oct) falls on a Sunday.
We will have blessing of roses after
Mass on Sunday 1st October.
Sisters on Retreat
Our annual retreat will be
from 23rd-30th September incl.
We request no visitors
during this time please.
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