Born in Florence in 1566, St. Mary Magdalene d’Pazzi had a religious upbringing and entered the monastery of the Carmelite nuns there. She led a hidden life in prayer and self-denial, praying particularly for the renewal of the Church and encouraging the sisters in holiness. Her life was marked by many extraordinary graces. She died in 1607.
“Elijah came upon Elisha and threw his cloak over him. Immediately Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah as his attendant.” (cf 1 Kgs 19:19-21). Elisha was filled with the spirit of Elijah; among the many signs he performed, he cured Naaman of leprosy and raised a dead child to life.
Married in 1858, just three months after meeting each other, Sts. Louis and Zélie lived in celibacy for nearly a year, but eventually went on to have nine children. Four died in infancy, while the remaining five daughters entered religious life.
Juanita Fernandez Solar was born at Santiago, Chile on July 13, 1900. From her adolescence she was devoted to Christ. She entered the monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns at Los Andes on May 7, 1919, where she was given the name Teresa of Jesus. She died on April 12 of the following year after having made her religious profession.
The prophet Elijah appears in Scripture (1 Kings 17–19 and 2 Kings 1–2) as a man of God who lived always in his presence and fought zealously for the worship of the one true God. He defended God's law in a solemn contest on Mount Carmel, and afterwards was given on Mount Horeb an intimate experience of the living God.
By tradition Joachim and Anne are considered to be the names of the parents of Mary, the Mother of God. We have no historical evidence, however, of any elements of their lives, including their names. Any stories about Mary's father and mother come to us through legend and tradition.
Born at Bolsward (The Netherlands) in 1881, Saint Titus Brandsma joined the Carmelite Order as a young man. Ordained a priest in 1905, he earned a doctorate in philosophy in Rome. He then taught in various schools in Holland and was named professor of philosophy and of the history of mysticism in the Catholic University of Nijmegen, where he also served as Rector Magnificus.
Albert degli Abbati was born in Trapani in Sicily in the thirteenth century. Having joined the Carmelites and been ordained a priest, he soon became famous for his preaching and miracles. He was provincial in Sicily in 1296, and died at Messina, probably in 1307, with a reputation for purity and prayer.
Edith Stein was born to a Jewish family at Breslau on October 12, 1891. Through her passionate study of philosophy she searched after truth and found it in reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Jesus. In 1922 she was baptized a Catholic and in 1933 she entered the Carmel of Cologne where she took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified (the little Arab) was born of the Baouardy family, Catholics of the Greek Melchite Rite, Abellin in Galilee in 1846. In 1867 she entered the Discalced Carmelites at Pau in France and went with the founding group to the Carmel of Mangalore in India where, in 1870, she made her profession. She return to France in 1872.
