Angelus was born in Florence or near there; the year is unknown but it was before 1386. He was the first member of the reformed observance of Our Lady of the Wood, was many times prior of various houses and noted for his work in preaching the Word of God. He died in Florence in 1438.
Bartholomew Fanti was born in Mantua: the year is unknown, but in 1452 he was already a Carmelite priest of the Congregation of Mantua. For thirty-five years at the Order's church in Mantua he was spiritual father and rector of the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for which he composed a rule and statutes. He is especially remembered for his love of the Eucharist. He died in 1495.
Frances was born in 1427, probably in Thouars in France. She was the wife of Peter II, Duke of Britanny. After his death, and under the direction of Blessed John Soreth, the prior general, she took the habit of the Carmelite Order in the monastery she had previously founded in Bondon. Afterwards she transferred to another foundation in Nantes, also erected by her, where she held the office of prioress and nourished the sisters with wise teaching. She is considered the foundress of the Carmelite nuns in France. She died in 1485.
Hilary Januszewski was born on 11 June 1907 in Krajenki (Poland). In 1927 he entered the Order of Carmel and was ordained on 15 July 1934. In 1939, Poland was occupied by the Germans and one year later, Fr. Hilary decided to present himself in exchange for an older and sick friar. He was sent to Dachau, where he was a model of prayer life, encouraging others and giving hope for a better tomorrow. He died from typhus on 25 March 1945, a few days before the liberation of the concentration camp. Fr. Hilary Januszewski was beatified by John Paul II on 13 June 1999.
Bl. Jacques Retouret was born at Limoges in France on 15th September 1746 to a merchant family. He was a serious young man, a lover of books and greatly gifted. At fifteen years of age, he entered the Carmelite house in his native city. After ordination, his zeal and learning were widely admired and large crowds of people were attracted by his way of preaching.
The French Revolution did not spare him. Like the majority of his fellow clergy, Jacques refused to accept the civil law, unilaterally introduced by the state. He was arrested and condemned, together with many other priests and religious, and sentenced to exile in French Guinea in South America. Jacques died at Madame Isle on 26th August 1794 at the age of 48 years. He was beatified, together with 63 other priests and religious, as martyrs for the faith, on 1st October 1995 by Pope John Paul II.
Mother Euphrasia was born on October 17, 1877. Her pious mother taught her to pray the rosary and to participate in the Holy Mass. She had a vision of Mother Mary at the age of nine and she offered her virginity to God eternally. Her father was opposed to her entering the Convent but eventually gave her permission to go to the Carmelite Convent in 1888. For the rest of her life she was immersed in prayer, in contemplation or praying the Rosary. People began to call her “The Praying Mother.” She was most devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and had a great longing to be with the Eucharistic Lord and participate in the Holy Mass and adore the Blessed Sacrament. She was canonized by Pope Francis on November 23, 2014 in Vatican City.
Saint Kuriakos Elias Chavara, co-founder and first prior general of the congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, was born at Kainakary in Kersala, India, February 10, 1805. He entered the seminary in 1818, and was ordained priest in 1829. He made his religious profession in 1855, in the congregation he founded. Throughout his life he worked for the renovation of the church in Malabar. Above all, he was a man of prayer, zealous for the Eucharistic Lord and devoted to the Immaculate Virgin Mary. He died at Koonammavu in 1871. Kuriakose Kathanar was beatified on February 8, 1986 and canonized on November 23, 2014.
Born about 1305 in southern Perigord in France, Peter Thomas entered the Carmelites when he was twenty-one. He was chosen by the Order as its procurator general to the Papal Court at Avignon in 1345. After being made bishop of Patti and Lipari in 1354, he was entrusted with many papal missions to promote peace and unity with the Eastern Churches. He was transferred to the see of Corone in the Peloponnesus in 1359 and made Papal Legate for the East. In 1363 he was appointed Archbishop of Crete and 1364 Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. He won a reputation as an apostle of church unity before he died at Famagosta on Cyprus in 1366.
Raphael Kalinowski was born to Polish parents in the city of Vilnius in 1835. Following military service, he was condemned in 1864 to ten years of forced labor in Siberia. In 1877 he became a Carmelite and was ordained a priest in 1882. He contributed greatly to the restoration of the Discalced Carmelites in Poland. His life was distinguished by zeal for Church unity and by his unflagging devotion to his ministry as confessor and spiritual director. He died in Wadowice in 1907.
Being a Lay Carmelite is not simply a devotion added to life; it is a way of life, a vocation. By entering the Order, the Lay Carmelite takes upon him/herself the Carmelite charism of prayer, community, and service to others.
People who are seeking to deepen their Baptismal Promises by following the Carmelite way of life begin the process by attending formation classes offered by their local Lay Carmelite Community. The call to Carmel is fundamentallly a call to seek God’s will in the ordinary circumstances of everyday life. This call roots Lay Carmelites in a love of those with whom they live and work, in the recognition of God’s presence in all circumstances, and in solidarity with God’s People everywhere. Above all, it calls Lay Carmelites to a life of prayer...prayer in the heart of the Church.
A candidate must be a Catholic fully participating in the sacramental life of the Church, who feels called by God to live more deeply one’s baptismal vocation as a member of the Carmelite Family. A candidate must be at least 18 years of age when seeking entry to the formation program.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is Patroness, Sister, and Mother to all Carmelites. Lay Carmelites live this relationship by imitating her virtues and by pondering the Word of God in and through daily life. Saint Elijah is an example of the prophetic life spent in service of God, a service that finds its source in a profound experience of God in prayer. These two models serve as our guides and inspiration.
A person is admitted to Initial Formation through an existing Lay Carmelite community. Initial Formation is a time of discernment, divided into three specific periods, followed by Ongoing Formation after final profession.
During Phase I, which is approximately 12 months, a candidate will attend a separate class examining an overview of the History of the Order, the Carmelite Rule, the Local Provincial Statutes, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Elijah our spiritual founders, and other Saints of the Order as well as some Carmelite prayer forms - in particular the Liturgy of the Hours and Lectio Divina. At the end of this stage of Initial Formation if the person feels called and ready they may ask to be Received into the Carmelite Order and be given their Ceremonial Scapular which is the outward symbol of lay membership. More info
Formation now continues for approximately 2 years with more in-depth study of our roots and traditions within Carmelite spirituality, our responsibilities as a Lay Carmelite to the community, and to our daily prayer life. When this is completed, a member can request Temporary Profession. If the community council agrees that a person is being called by God to continue on in this vocation they can make a Profession of Promises for three years. More info
During the third stage of Initial Formation the person will live the life of a Professed Lay Carmelite for three years. They attend all community meetings, Days of Recollection and other opportunities to grow in their Carmelite life. As were Phases 1 and 2, this is also a period of discernment. After a period of three years the person may ask to make their Final Profession as a Lay Carmelite for life. More info
Ongoing Formation. This begins after Final Profession and continues for the life of the Carmelite. Ongoing formation entails a continual exploration and study of the varied aspects of life in Carmel including, but not limited to, the life of prayer, Sacred Scripture, the Saints and Blesseds, and apostolic ministry. Ongoing Formation is part of each community’s monthly meeting but can reach far beyond the meetings to their personal spiritual reading and study. Ongoing Formation becomes a pattern for a life lived in allegiance to Jesus Christ. More info
SOURCE: Descriptions of the three stages of Initial Formation are based on information from Lay Carmelites, Province of Saint Elias
ILLUSTRATIONS: Mary — Detail from “Madonna with Child” by Pietro Lorenzetti (Public Domain); Elijah — Detail from Andrea di Bonaiuto’s “Madonna and Child with Saints” (Public Domain)
...you are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens
with the holy ones and members
of the household of God.
Ephesians 2:19
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