Carmelite Conversations

Père Jacques (aka Lucien Bunel) was a French Roman Catholic priest who became a Discalced Carmelite Friar.  He was born in France in 1900 and died in 1945.  He lived through two earth-shattering wars in a country scarred by intense class conflict. Père Jacques was a talented preacher and youth group leader; a teacher with a revolutionary vision of education and love of human culture; a patriot who knew the life of a conscript, prisoner of war and member of the French Resistance; a “martyr of love” who died in a concentration camp. In all, he was a Carmelite priest on fire with love for God and neighbor.

In this conversation, we focus on his life and how he lived war and imprisonment humanly.

SOURCES:

Père Jacques

“Père Jacques: Resplendent in Victory”

By Francis J. Murphy

ICS Publications

“Listen to the Silence: A Retreat with Père Jacques”

Translated and Edited by Francis J. Murphy

ICS Publications

During the life of St. Maria Maravillas, a Discalced Carmelite nun and foundress, Spain was going through much upheaval.  Religious persecution increased daily. 

In this conversation, you will learn how St. Maria Maravillas displayed courage in the face of opposition, even face to face opposition!  The revolutionaries were a constant threat.  What was this Saint’s response?  What was her “martyrdom of heart?”

You’ll also learn of a “Cinderella” moment she had that is quite an amusing story and connection with Holy Mother Teresa (St. Teresa of Avila).

RESOURCES on Saint Maria Maravillas:

“Following the Path of Divine Love”

By the Discalced Carmelites of Cerro de los Ageles and La Aldehuela, Spain

Published by the Carmel International Publishing House in Kerala, India

https://santamaravillasdejesus.es

This is the website to the convent near Cerro de los Ángeles. This is the convent from which she was first arrested during the Spanish Civil War; this is the one she rebuilt after it had been destroyed after being occupied by both sides at various times throughout the war. ~

Sainteté au Carmel: Vie et message de Mère Maravillas de Jésus

By the Carmel at the Cerro de los Ángeles

Éditions du Carmel

Second in the Series:  featuring General Louis-Gaston de Sonis

In this podcast, the conversation focuses on the life of General Louis-Gaston de Sonis, from France.  Born in 1825 and 1887.  He was a husband, father of 12, a military officer and a member of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites.

He displayed courage in the midst of many struggles, both in the military and in the world, personally and as a Catholic. 

Our guest, Colleen Sollinger, tells us about his life and some of the adverse situations he was in.  She then points out how the General dealt with these situations.  He has much wise counsel to give us.

After he died, his body was found to be incorrupt.  Some miracles were declared and attributed to his intercession.  What a joy it would be to see his cause for canonization to be completed.

“The Life of General de Sonis, From his Papers and Correspondence”

By Msgr Baunard, Translated by Lady Herbert

Available from Amazon

Also found online at:  https://archive.org/stream/lifeofgeneraldes00baunuoft/lifeofgeneraldes00baunuoft_djvu.txt

In our day, there is much social upheaval and unrest and a strident political atmosphere.  Additionally, living during the pandemic of Covid-19, has caused many pressures and struggles for the whole world.

“Courage in the Face of Opposition” is needed as much, or even more, today as in previous times. 

Our guest, Colleen Sollinger, has put together several teaching points  and nuggets of wisdom from our Carmelites that will help us to live now in our challenging situation, as they did in theirs.

We will get wise counsel from several Carmelites.  Those featured in this podcast are:  St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, the Martyrs of Compiegne, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, St. Maria Maravillas, St. Benedicta of the Cross, Pere Jacques (Bunel) of Jesus, and General Louis-Gaston de Sonis.

SOURCES

Père Jacques

“Père Jacques: Resplendent in Victory”

By Francis J. Murphy

ICS Publications

“Listen to the Silence: A Retreat with Père Jacques”

Translated and Edited by Francis J. Murphy

ICS Publications

General de Sonis

“The Life of General de Sonis, From his Papers and Correspondence”

By Msgr Baunard, Translated by Lady Herbert

Available from Amazon

“Le Général de Sonis”

By Gérard Bedel

Via Romana (it’s French but the most up-to-date, if you can read it.)

Martyrs of Compiègne

“To Quell the Terror: The True Story of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne”

William Bush

ICS Publications

Saint Maria Maravillas

There isn’t a lot about St. Maria Maravillas in English, alas. If you can read Spanish or French, you’re in luck. However, we can offer one English source:

“Following the Path of Divine Love:  Saint Maravillas, O.C.D., Daughter of the Church and of Saint Teresa of Jesus”

by the Discalced Carmelites of Cerro de los Angeles and La Aldehuela, Spain;

Carmel International Publishing House; Kerala, India. 2011.

https://santamaravillasdejesus.es

~ This is the website to the convent near Cerro de los Ángeles. This is the convent from which she was first arrested during the Spanish Civil War; this is the one she rebuilt after it had been destroyed after being occupied by both sides at various times throughout the war. ~

Sainteté au Carmel: Vie et message de Mère Maravillas de Jésus

By the Carmel at the Cerro de los Ángeles

Éditions du Carmel

We all are called by Heaven, but how many of us hear it?  How many answer the call?  What help do we receive in order to answer the call and fulfill the call? 

In this podcast, Deacon Rusty Baldwin, OCDS, examines the “call.” Here, he specifically addresses the call to Carmel as indicated in the “Promise” made by members.  The content of this talk, however, pertains to every call from Heaven.

With great clarity, Deacon Baldwin, lays out how the call may come. Additionally, he addresses the correlation of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit with the Theological and Cardinal Virtues. 

May God grant us the grace to favorably answer His Call.

Laura Reece Hogan is a is a professed Third Order Carmelite and the award-winning author of the chapbook O Garden-Dweller and a book of spiritual theology, I Live, No Longer I. Laura earned a law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, and an Masters in Theology from St. John’s Seminary in California. She is also a poet and her poems can be found in America, First Things, The Christian Century, Dappled Things, and Whale Road Review, among other publications.

Laura is winner of the 2020 Paraclete Poetry Prize for her poetry collection titled Litany of Flights. The book remind us to behold the extraordinary in the ordinary, and that the secret workings of the divine occur even through the difficult.

Buy the book on Amazon.

The blessings from God are considered in this presentation in the light of Evangelical Perfection.

St. Joseph is becoming more and more prominent in the eyes of the Church.  It wasn’t long ago that St. Joseph’s name was added to the Eucharistic Prayers in the Masses of the Catholic Church.  Fr. Don Calloway also wrote a wonderful book in 2020 called “Consecration to St. Joseph: the Wonders of Our Spiritual Father” that has meditations to warm your heart greatly toward St. Joseph.  Now, we have a whole year dedicated to him as Pope Francis has declared the year from Dec. 8, 2020 to Dec. 8, 2021 as the Year of St. Joseph. 

It’s very fitting, then, that we ask St. Joseph to accompany us through this year in particular.  I am confident St. Joseph will be helping us in a special way as we journey along this Way of Perfection.  For Carmelites, he is known as the Protector of our Order. 

St. Teresa of Avila had a great devotion to St. Joseph.  My guest today, Deacon Rusty Baldwin, is going to highlight some points for us to consider from her writings on St. Joseph. 

More than that, Deacon Baldwin asks us how we are imitating St. Joseph in our own life. 

As a supplement, you may want to read from Pope Francis’s Apostolic Letter “Patris Corde”  found on the Vatican website at  http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/papa-francesco-lettera-ap_20201208_patris-corde.html

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection's book The Practice of the Presence of God is a spiritual classic and provides great insight into the important of our secular work to uniting us with God. In this podcast, Tim Bete, OCDS, summarizes Brother Lawrence's wisdom for our daily lives.

Poet Sarah Law talks about her new book Therese: Poems, which is a wonderful way to meditate on the life of St. Therese of Lisieux. Sarah also reads several poems. The book can be purchased at:

Paraclete Press: https://paracletepress.com/collections/vendors?q=Sarah%20Law&contributorID=100447

Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Thérèse-Paraclete-Poetry-Sarah-Law/dp/1640603948