St. Raphael Kalinowski

(1 September, 1835 – 15 November, 1907)

Feast: 19 November

Canonized: 17 November, 1991

“God refuses only the person who does not admit his own weakness; He sends away only the unhappy proud person. You must "hold him" well and strongly, with a poor spirit, with a poor heart, with a life entirely poor.”

Today is the memoria of St. Raphael of St. Joseph Kalinowski. 

He was a Polish Discalced Carmelite friar. He was born Józef Kalinowski to Polish parents Andrew and Josepha Kalinowski in the city of Vilnius in present day Lithuania.

He did his studies at the Academy of Military Engineering and became a Lieutenant in the Russian Military Engineering Corps in 1857. A Polish engineer and freedom fighter, he was exiled to Siberia, and became the restorer of Carmel in Poland. St. Raphael was ordained as priest at Czerna on 15 January, 1882 where he served as Prior.

He served the Discalced Carmelite Order for thirty years, working to unite the Eastern Christians during a time of tension and distrust. He was a devout leader among his Carmelite brothers, and his passion for reconciliation drew him to his flock's confessional for hours on end. As a champion of Christian unification, St. Raphael built his life on St. Teresa's words: “God alone suffices”.

He founded monasteries in Premislia (1884) and Leopoli (1888). In 1899, St. Raphael was named Visitator and Vicar Provincial of these monasteries.

In his seventy-two years of life, St. Raphael was a teacher, engineer, prisoner of war, royal tutor, and a Discalced Carmelite friar and priest. He completed his 'Memoirs 1805-1887' at the request of his superiors, detailing his life as a Discalced Carmelite and ecumenical Christian leader. His other books are Central European Olympiad, A: The Mathematical Duel.

In 1864, St. Raphael was arrested by the Russian authorities and sentenced to death. He was imprisoned in a former Dominican monastery. By his death in 1907, St. Raphael was regarded as a great saint throughout Poland and Lithuania.

Pope John Paul II declared his boyhood hero a saint in St. Peter's Basilica which is also St. Raphael’s place of burial.

What caught my attention about this Carmelite Saint is that he read only two books - the Gospels in the morning and the Carmelite Rules in the evening! I also want to do this!

All Carmelite Saints

Today we celebrate the Feast of all Carmelite Saints. While researching on the Carmelite saints, I came to know about so many saints about whom I had never heard.

Sadly for me it has always been St. Elizabeth of the Trinity and St. John of the Cross. But I was surprised to read about so many other saints and blesseds who led an equally beautiful life. There are so many saints about whom we have never been told and taught and asked to read. It's always the same few popular ones that we keep reading and writing and learning about.

Yes, they are important but it doesn't mean we neglect the others. It's sad to note that so many of them have almost been forgotten.

For example, Blessed Baptist Spagnoli of Mantua. Even though he's a Blessed, he led quite an exemplary life. He wrote eclogues which have been used in European schools for centuries. He is the only Carmelite quoted in the works of William Shakespeare - Love's Labour Lost - (Act IV, scene 2, line 95 FF).

Then Blessed Mary of the Incarnation. She joined the Order after she was widowed at the age of 47. She was the foundress of the nuns of Discalced Carmelite Order in France, who later became a lay sister of the Order. She has been called the Mother of Carmel in France.

Then Saints Louis Martin and Marie Azelia (Zelie) Guerin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux. Their lives are so beautiful and inspiring!

Then of course St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart! In fact she's known only as the forgotten Saint of Carmel. Her life inspires me because when she died, her body didn't decompose and a sweet perfume was noticed coming from the underground burial place! 

How beautiful!

So I got inspired by some of these lesser known figures in the Carmelite fraternity. So what if they have not written anything great and some of them are still blesseds! Their lives inspire me especially the married ones!

It's not only the virgins who loved Jesus so much! We married women also can love Jesus with equal fervour. Our hearts and souls are also united in Jesus' love. We too give priority to Him in all the aspects of our life. We too have left our father and mother and brothers to embrace His love. 

All are called to be saints and so are we!

My Conception Day

Dear DLL Jesus,

Today is my conception day!

The day you "set me apart before I was born, and called me by your grace". (Galatians 1:15)

Thank you so much, Lord! 

As per Psalm 139:13-16, "you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."

I am so grateful to you for keeping me alive and then calling me to be your own. For rescuing this lost sheep and rejoicing over it and carrying it on your shoulder.

I am indebted to you for shining your bright light in my dark life. So today I will light diyas and celebrate my conception day with you! I will celebrate the festival of lights because you have lighted up my life with your love and mercy and grace!

And I love you so very much!

💕 💕

Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran

Today is the feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

The anniversary has been celebrated as a feast of the Latin Church on this date since the twelfth century.

The feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran is celebrated by the entire Church. It marks the dedication of the cathedral church of Rome by Pope Sylvester I in 324.

The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the oldest and highest ranking of the four major basilicas in Rome.

It is the cathedral of the diocese of Rome, the official ecclesiastical seat of the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome.

Also called the Church of Holy Saviour or the Church of St. John Baptist,  it is called St. John Lateran because it was built on property donated to the Church by the Laterani family, and because the monks from the monastery of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Divine served it.

The dedication of this basilica is a happy occasion for the Church because it reminds us of our beginnings, our unity. It stands as a monument to God and all that God does through the Church.

One of the most marvelous and imposing churches in Rome, it has five large statues of Christ, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and twelve Doctors of the Church, and holds beneath the high altar what is left of the wooden table which St. Peter himself used as an altar to celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Transformed in Christ!

Yes Lord, I have been transformed in you!

This transformation is evident even in my writings! From writing "Sporting Encounters" in the TIMES OF INDIA newspaper to writing the SAINTS column in the HERALD WEEKLY, I have come a long way!

This above writing is from the November issue of JC4ME children's E-Mag!

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

(18 July, 1880 – 9 November, 1906)

Canonized: 16 October, 2016

Feast Day: 8 November

“It is the whole Trinity who dwells in the soul who truly loves him, that is, keeping his word!”

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity was a French Carmelite nun and writer. She was born on a Sunday into a military family and baptized Marie Rolland Josephine Elizabeth Catez on July 22, the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, a fact which she treasured. Her name was Elizabeth Catez, and her family's fond nickname for her was not Lizzie or Beth, but Sabeth. Her father died when she was only seven. Elizabeth and her sister Marguerite were raised by her mother. When she was 21, Elizabeth entered a Carmelite monastery, over her mother’s objections.

Despite the objections, on 2nd August 1901, the postulant entered the Dijon Carmel and was given the name of Elizabeth of the Trinity. Mother Germaine was her prioress.

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity had true depth of prayer, was a mystic, a great lover of Jesus, and a real friend to her sisters in Carmel and her family. She spent six years as a Carmelite nun, but like St. Thérèse of Lisieux she advanced in holiness in a very short time.

Though a hot-tempered child, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity possessed a deep love for God in her youth. She prayed often and wanted to give herself completely to God. “It is the whole Trinity who dwells in the soul who truly loves him, that is, keeping his word!” she wrote in the Last retreat 27-28.

Her prayer "O my God, Trinity whom I adore" the prayer to the Holy Trinity has been translated into thirty-four languages. Though noted for great spiritual growth, she was also plagued with periods of powerful darkness. But she has been given such titles as "the prophet of the presence of God" and "the saint of the divine indwelling".

Though St. Elizabeth of the Trinity died at the age of 26 she has become a great mystic of our times. She is the patroness against illness and of those who are sick. She believed that “TO LOVE, and to be loved, is the deepest of all human needs; it alone gives meaning and a sense of fulfilment.”

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity confided her purity to Saint Joseph in a very special way.

She was canonized on 16 October, 2016 by Pope Francis. The Church celebrates her feast day on 8 November.

 

Blessed Francis Palau y Quer

(29 December, 1811 - 20 March, 1872)

Beatified: 24 April, 1988

Optional Memoria: 7 November

“God allows your defects to humble you. Try to correct them, counting on the assistance of grace.” 

Blessed Francis Palau y Quer is a beatified Discalced Carmelite Spanish priest. Born in Aytona, Lerida, Spain, he entered the Order in 1832 and was ordained priest in Barbastro (province of Huesca, Spain) in 1836. But because of the civil turmoil he was forced to live in exile and outside his community.

Though he grew up in the chaos of the Peninsular War in Spain, by age 14, Francis was certain of his vocation to the priesthood. Like all the other great figures of Carmelite history, Francisco Palau was captivated by St. Teresa of Avila through her writings. He had felt called to the priesthood from childhood, but in 1828, at the age of twenty, he enrolled himself in the diocesan seminary.

A Catalan Discalced Carmelite mystic, friar and priest, he wrote the book THE STRUGGLE OF THE SOUL WITH GOD.  He founded The School of the Virtue — which was a model of catechetical teaching for adult persons—at Barcelona. Around 1860-1861, he also founded the Carmelite Missionaries – an international religious congregation for women.

He was beatified by 24 April, 1988 by Pope John Paul II.