Please Join me in Remembering my son who died 4-26-2010

Please Join my event to remember my son, wherever you are...

No need to go anywhere, just say his name and join the event...

https://www.facebook.com/events/129393707231162/

Becoming a Carmelite...

Any member of the Catholic Church, lay person or cleric, at least 18 years of age, may apply for admission to the Aspirancy Program in a Secular Carmelite Community.  This introductory program normally lasts a year, after which a candidate may be admitted into the Community’s Formation Program.  At the beginning of this period of formation, a large, ceremonial Brown Scapular will be given to the candidate, an outward symbol of affiliation with the Order and a sign that the Blessed Virgin Mary is both Mother and Model of Carmel. 

The formation Program is composed in three categories:

1. Preparation of First or Temporary Promise:  a 2-year program  deepening the life of prayer and preparing a candidate for making the First  Promise

2. Preparation of Final or Definitive Promise:  a 3 year program preparing the candicate for a lifelong program with the goal of continuing and deepening the Carmelite vocation.

3. On-going formation:  a lifelong program with the goal of continuing and deepening the Carmelite vocation. 

Aspirant
Goal:
Preparation for receiving the  Scapular

Duration: A minimum  of 12 months
Course of Study: 
1) History of the Order
2) Overview of Carmelite Spirituality
3) Nature of OCDS vocation 
4) Discussion of Discernment Process
5) Rule of St. Albert 
6) Constitutions and Statues 
7) Deepening of Teaching on:
      a) Mental  prayer
      b) Divine Office
      c) Spiritual Reading
8)  Ecclescial Dimension of the Teresian

Temporary Promise 
Goal:
Deepening  the life of prayer and  preparation for making Temporary Promise.

Duration: A  minimum of 2 years
Course of  Study:

1) Introduction  to the Writings
    of St. Teresa
      a)  Way of Perfection
      b) Life 2) Introductions to the Writings
     of St. John of the  Cross
       a)  Poetry
       b) Spiritual Canticle
3) Prayer  
      a) Carmelite  approach to prayer
      b) Methods of prayer 
4)  Additional study  of
       a) Rule of St. Albert 
       b) Constitutions and Statues 
5) Theology of the Promise
       a) Evangelical Counsels
       b)  Beatitudes 

Definitive  Promise
Goal:
Preparation for a life-time commitment to Carmel

Duration:  A minimum of  3 years

Course of Study:

1) Works of St. Teresa
      a) Interior Castle
      b) Foundations 2) Works  of St. John of the Cross
      a) Spiritual Canticle
      b) Living  Flame
      c)  Ascent of Mt. Carmel
      d) Dark Night 3) Works of St. Therese
      a) Story of a Soul       b) Last Conversations
4)  Other Carmelite Saints
5)  Prayer– Deeper study of prayer in the Works of Carmelite Saints
6)  Review of  the Theology of  the Promises
      a. Evangelical Counsels
      b. Beatitudes 

On-Going Formation

Goal:
To  continue and deepen one’s  Carmelite  vocation.

Durations:  Throughout one’s  life
Course of Study:
1)  Scripture
2) Teaching of St. Teresa
3) Teaching of St. John of the  Cross
4) Teaching of St  Therese
5) Other Saints and Blessed of the  Order
6) History of the Order 
7)  Christian Doctrine

Quote from: St. Teresa of Avila

“Prayer is nothing  else 

than an intimate sharing between friends;

it means  taking time frequently  

to be alone with Him who we know loves  us.”   

St. Teresa of  Avila

Quote from St. Therese'

I understand so well

that only love

could make me

acceptable to God,

and that love is the

only thing I aspire to.

- St. Therese

Happy Feast Day!

http://ocds-carmelite.blogspot.com/2008/07/our-lady-of-mount-carmel.html

Empower

Empower us not to mourn the losses nor count the cost of following you

and working for your reign.

http://ow.ly/m0l1k

Prayer for our Family

Heavenly Father, you have given us the model of life in the Holy Family of Nazareth. Help us, O Loving Father, to make our family another Nazareth where love, peace and joy reign. May it be deeply contemplative, intensely Eucharistic, revived with joy.

Help us to stay together in joy and sorrow in family prayer. Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our families, especially in their distressing disguise. May the eucharistic heart of Jesus make our hearts humble like his and help us to carry out our family duties in a holy way. May we love one another as God loves each one of us, more and more each day, and forgive each other's faults as you forgive our sins. Help us, O Loving Father, to take whatever you give and give whatever you take with a big smile.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, cause of our joy, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Holy Guardian Angels, be always with us, guide and protect us.
Amen

When the Lord saw her,

he was moved with pity for her 

and said to her,

“Do not weep.”

He stepped forward 

and touched the coffin;

at this the bearers halted,

and he said, 

“Young man, I tell you, arise!”

The dead man sat up 

and began to speak,

and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Today is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On this feast, we focus our attention on Jesus truly present in the Holy Eucharist and reflect on God’s unconditional love and boundless mercy as symbolized by His heart.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has as its dogmatic foundation the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. On account of the hypostatic union, every part of our Lord's Human Nature is worthy of adoration. Hence, therefore, we adore His bodily Heart, beating in His Bosom. We also honor the Heart of Jesus as a reminder, or symbol, of His love for us, and we are moved to make Him a return of love, because He has loved us and He is not loved by men. Love, consecration, and reparation are the characteristic acts of this devotion. In this form it is now solemnly approved by the Church.

On the feast of the Sacred Heart celebrated on the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi an act of reparation is prescribed for recitation in every church in the world. On the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King, the last Sunday of October, an act of consecration of the human race is prescribed. Though this devotion was practiced by saintly souls before 1675, it is due to the apparitions of our Lord to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in the Visitation Monastery at Paray-le-Monial that the feast of the Sacred Heart is now kept on the day assigned by Our Lord.

Poem
O Heart of Jesus, treasured tenderness,
Thou art my joy supreme, my hope, my all!
Thou who didst charm my youth and sweetly bless,
Stay with me now till twilight shadows fall.
Master, to Thee alone my life I give,
To Thee the longings of my heart are known.
Lost in Thy goodness infinite, I live,
O Heart of Jesus, lost in Thee alone!
Thy Heart is all my need and it will be
My strength abiding, my unfailing stay,
I need a love that takes my frailty
And holds me in its keeping night and day.
No creature heart I find whose love is mine
Ever and always with undying power.
Jesus, Thy love must make my nature Thine.
Be Thou my Brother in each suff’ring hour.
If I to see Thy glory would aspire
Then I must know Thy crucible of flame,
But here I choose my purgatory’s fire:
Thy burning love, Heart of my God, I claim.
Then when my soul wings upward like a dove
Called from the earth to heaven’s home of light,
May it go forth in one pure act of love,
Plunge to Thy Heart in one unswerving flight.

~ St Therese of the Child Jesus  (from the Carmelite Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours)

History of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Meaning of the word CATHOLIC...

I pray...

St. Therese Quote

We must love our nothingness,

and think only of

All which is infinitely lovable.

- St. Therese

A FaceBook Remembrance Event for my son

Greggy's 3rd Angelversary 

APRIL 26th, 2013

(Anywhere you are)

It's so hard to believe he's been gone for

almost 3 years now...

Please say you'll attend!

 Last year there were 510 people who attended

& I'd like to match that or exceed that this year...

All you have to do is select JOIN,

you can even click the star on the top right...

and then select "Turn OFF Notifications"

so you don't get notified of each post...

Thanks in advance...

https://www.facebook.com/events/155983044563998/

The Visual Picture...

The other day, I was driving down a busy road when I came upon a traffic light that was both green and red at the the same time. I slowed, unsure of what I should do. I finally made it through the intersection and thought about this unusual happening.. It was as if God were showing me a visual picture of what it's like when a person is indecisive in her obedience to Him. We can't seek to follow God wholeheartedly if part of our heart is being pulled in a different direction. We can't pursue the radically obedient life and still continue to flirt with disobedience in certain area of our life. We can't be both red and green toward God at the same time. It get us nowhere. It's confusing. It's dangerous.

written by Anna Parsons