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.
We have come to the end of our questions from last year’s Convocation. I think we had a good array of questions and hopefully, I was able to give you clear and understandable replies. Some of you have written back with additional questions and I have tried to incorporate them into these weekly e-mails. Please continue to send me your questions and I will relay them to you all, as well as the answers, as time goes by.
Cindy A. Perazzo, T.O.Carm., Coordinator of Lay Carmelites
for the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary
I want to encourage everyone to have at your fingertips our most recent manuals and documents: Carmel’s Call, the Community Manual, Phase I Candidate Workbook and Formators Manual, and the Phase II Formators Manual. All of these documents have the information you need to answer many questions with definitive answers and if you are a leader, it is your responsibility to make sure you have them and know what is in them. For example, there is good information in even the introduction of these manuals and the more familiar you are with the material the better.
Even though the main reason for my weekly e-mails is complete, you will continue to hear from me regularly (although probably not weekly). I want to keep an open channel with the leaders in our Province and honestly, I find this has been a good way to accomplish that. I hope you agree.
When the Lay Carmelite Office (LCO) becomes self-sufficient will you communicate this to our communities?
Yes, definitely.
Our Provincial and his Council have for many years contributed to the LCO operating budget in the form of a “subsidy.” The subsidy has decreased over recent years but it is still being provided in the FY 2019-2020 budget. Provincial dues are the major source of the LCO operating budget, with some additional seasonal donations, community and regional donations, and our only fundraiser, an annual “All Souls Day” appeal in addition to the subsidy. These make up our funding sources. Our members have been very faithful in seeing to their responsibility to pay dues and that is why we have been able to hold our dues amount to $55.00 per member.
Last year I re-instituted the practice of providing a financial statement to all communities for the previous fiscal year. I will be sending this financial statement (FY 2018-2019) again in February.
Are the annual dues voluntary or taken out of the community fund, for members that are indigent or inactive? Does a member lose his/her status if the annual dues are not paid?
Dues are not voluntary but the responsibility of each member. I have found that Lay Carmelites who struggle financially want to contribute any way that they can and are often relieved to be told that any portion that they can manage is appreciated by the Community Council and by the LCO. Many communities pay the dues for members who are truly not able to pay anything. If that is just not possible then the member should still be included in all Annual Reports with non-payment noted with -0- in the dues column.
No Lay Carmelite would ever be dispensed or dismissed for the lack of the ability to pay dues. Only by the grace of God are most of us able to pay dues.
How long is the waiting period for a candidate to discern he/she is ready for Reception or Profession (after interview)?
The discernment period begins from Lesson 1, Day 1, Phase I. It continues through Phase II and once again at the beginning of Temporary Profession. The discernment period involves the Candidate and the Community Council. By the time of the final interview prior to Reception, Temporary Profession and Final Profession there should be a general consensus of whether or not the Candidate is ready to move forward, needs a little more time, or should be dismissed.
If I could say one additional thing about this it would be please do not wait until the end of each phase to consider whether the Candidate has truly been called to Carmel. Likewise, if there are red flags observed they should be brought up immediately with the Candidate. It is really unjust to wait until the end of the process to bring up valid concerns the Council may have with the Candidate.
Thank you all for following this Q&A Series. The Lay Carmelite Office remains busy. We are currently evaluating the past three year term with your Regional Coordinators and Regional Formation Coordinators. Appointments and re-appointments will be made over the summer. You will be notified of those results prior to September 1, 2020.
The Interprovincial Lay Carmelite Commission (IPLCC) is completing the revisions to our Provincial Statutes. Once the final revisions have been made it will be sent to the Prior Provincial and his Council for approval and promulgation. We will then print them and make them available to update your current Carmel's Call. I cannot promise this will be finalized in 2020 but the IPLCC is working diligently to complete the task.
