Teresian Carmel and the Little Way Community

On 5 January, 2021, the Holy See added seven new titles for St. Joseph to his litany. The new litany is as follows (new titles in bold):

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us
St. Joseph,
Renowned offspring of David,
Light of Patriarchs,
Spouse of the Mother of God,
Guardian of the Redeemer,
Chaste guardian of the Virgin,
Foster father of the Son of God,
Diligent protector of Christ,
Servant of Christ,
Minister of Salvation,
Head of the Holy Family,
Joseph most just,
Joseph most chaste,
Joseph most prudent,
Joseph most strong,
Joseph most obedient,
Joseph most faithful,
Mirror of patience,
Lover of poverty,
Model of artisans,

Glory of home life,
Guardian of virgins,
Pillar of families,
Guide in times of trouble,
Solace of the wretched,
Hope of the sick,
Patron of exiles,
Patron of the afflicted,
Patron of the poor,
Patron of the dying,
Terror of demons,
Protector of Holy Church,

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

He made him the lord of his household. And prince over all his possessions.

Let us pray.

O God, in your ineffable providence you were pleased to choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of your most holy Mother; grant, we beg you, that we may be worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom on earth we venerate as our Protector: You who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

Our sister in Carmel, Marcia, took her vows of chastity and obedience after a year of discernment and spiritual direction.

On January 23, 2021, we had several members take their definitive promises and temporary promises. In addition, we had three individuals enter the community with their clothing in the brown scapular. Congratulations to everyone!

The Colorado Springs OCDS Community had our annual silent retreat the weekend of August 21st at the Mt. St. Francis Retreat Center. We also had members from the Ft. Collins community in attendance. Here is the group that was able to make it to the retreat:

Fr Paul Wicker presided at the Masses. The current President of the community, David Bell, OCDS, presented the conferences on St. Joseph and Carmel.

The first conference was entitled “St Joseph’s Silent Kingship”. Silence is a big part of our life (particularly at a silent retreat). There was also an emphasis of the important role of St Joseph in the Holy Family and for the Church today. Since this talk was given on the feast of the Queenship of Mary, it was only fitting to talk of St. Joseph’s kingship. The talk can be heard here:

The second conference was entitled “St. Joseph and Our Promises” and looked out how we can turn to St. Joseph to help us live out our promises. The talk can be heard here:

The third conference was a brief conference where consecration to St. Joseph was discussed and then a question and answer period was held. It can be heard here:

The final conference was on “Taking St. Joseph into our Secular Vocation” and dealt with turning to St. Joseph to help us throughout the various areas of our life. It can be heard here:

A big thank you goes to Pat Harrison, OCDS, for doing some editing on the audio files to clean them up.

Here is the handout that was provided at the retreat, which includes the Litany of St. Joseph, other prayers and quotes related to St. Joseph:

For the health of the people in our state, the Governor has placed the state under a Stay At Home order; in addition, our Bishop has cancelled all Masses at least through Easter Sunday. This is a time for us to focus on our true charism: prayer. Please pray for the health of our Community, our city, our state, the country, and the world. We know how powerful prayer is!

Because of the social distancing requirement, we missed our March meeting. It remains to be seen whether we will be able to have our planned meeting in April. Keep up with the reading for your formation classes and if you have questions, I would encourage you to contact your formation teacher.

Whenever our next meeting is, we will conduct our triennial elections. I and the rest of the Council have been blessed by our service to you and I know whoever is chosen to follow us will also be blessed and be a blessing to the Community. Keep praying for our Community elections.

Yours in Christ,

David

Here is a flyer for this year’s retreat for Permanently Professed members of the Province to be held in Redlands, CA at El Carmelo Retreat House from 25-29 September: https://ocdscos.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019-OCDS-Intensive-Retreat-1.pdf

Here is a recent letter from Fr. General Saverio where he discusses the Council in OCDS Communities: https://ocdscos.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LETTERA-OCDS-2019_EN.pdf

Due to the weather, today’s (23 Feb) meeting is cancelled. Please be safe and keep warm!

“Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you – for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart… The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us – that is all He asks.”

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing dismay you,
All thing pass,
God never changes.
Patience attains all.
He who has God lacks nothing:
God alone suffices.

(Original Spanish)

Nada te turbe,
nada te espante;
todo se pasa,
Dios no se muda.
La pacientia todo lo alcanza.
Quien a Dios tiene nada la falta:
solo Dios basta.