This cell is dedicated to inspiration from the Carmelite tradition.
from St Therese of Lisieux
“For me, prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy; finally it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus.”
“Then, overcome by joy, I cried, 'Jesus, my love. At last I have found my vocation. My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and then I will be all things.”
“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… don’t listen to the demon, laugh at him, and go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love…”
“My whole strength lies in prayer and sacrifice, these are my invincible arms; they can move hearts far better than words, I know it by experience.”
“When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens,I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.”
“Then, overcome by joy, I cried, 'Jesus, my love. At last I have found my vocation. My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and then I will be all things.”
“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… don’t listen to the demon, laugh at him, and go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love…”
“My whole strength lies in prayer and sacrifice, these are my invincible arms; they can move hearts far better than words, I know it by experience.”
“When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens,I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.”
St Teresa of Avila on Contemplative Prayer
“As I see it, contemplative prayer is simply an intimate sharing between friends. It’s about frequently taking time to be alone with the One we know loves us. If the friendship is to endure, the love must be honored and tended. The will of the two friends needs to be in harmony.” ...
“I used unexpectedly to experience a consciousness of the presence of God, or such a kind that I could not possibly doubt that He was within me or that I was wholly engulfed in Him. This was in no sense a vision: I believe it is called mystical theology. The soul is suspended in such a way that it seems to be completely outside itself. The will loves; the memory, I think, is almost lost; while the understanding, I believe, thought it is not lost, does not reason—I mean that it does not work, but is amazed at the extent of all it can understand; for God wills it to realize that it understands nothing of what His Majesty represents to it.” ...
“Just as His Majesty has a room of his own in heaven, so he has a special place inside the soul where he alone dwells. Let’s call it another heaven. ....
The soul is more amazed every day as she discovers that these divine Persons never leave her anymore. Through this sublime knowing she clearly sees that they are with her always. She perceives their sacred presence in a radically inner place, inside her own depths. She just hasn’t learned the language to be able to explain this knowing.”
from the Primitive Rule of Carmel - St Albert of Jerusalem
Saints of Carmel
"Each one of you is to stay in his own cell or nearby, pondering the Lord's law day and night and keeping watch at his prayers unless attending to some other duty."
"The Apostle would have us keep silence, for in silence he tells us to work. As the Prophet also makes known to us: Silence is the way to foster holiness. Elsewhere he says: Your strength will lie in silence and hope. For this reason I lay down that you are to keep silence from after Compline until after Prime the next day. At other times, although you need not keep silence so strictly, be careful not to indulge in a great deal of talk, for, as Scripture has it -- and experience teaches us no less -- sin will not be wanting where there is much talk, and he who is careless in speech will come to harm; and elsewhere: The use of many words brings harm to the speaker's soul. And our Lord says in the Gospel: Every rash word uttered will have to be accounted for on judgement day. Make a balance then, each of you, to weigh his words in; keep a tight rein on your mouths, lest you should stumble and fall in speech, and your fall be irreparable and prove mortal. Like the Prophet, watch your step lest your tongue give offence, and employ every care in keeping silent, which is the way to foster holiness."
"The Apostle would have us keep silence, for in silence he tells us to work. As the Prophet also makes known to us: Silence is the way to foster holiness. Elsewhere he says: Your strength will lie in silence and hope. For this reason I lay down that you are to keep silence from after Compline until after Prime the next day. At other times, although you need not keep silence so strictly, be careful not to indulge in a great deal of talk, for, as Scripture has it -- and experience teaches us no less -- sin will not be wanting where there is much talk, and he who is careless in speech will come to harm; and elsewhere: The use of many words brings harm to the speaker's soul. And our Lord says in the Gospel: Every rash word uttered will have to be accounted for on judgement day. Make a balance then, each of you, to weigh his words in; keep a tight rein on your mouths, lest you should stumble and fall in speech, and your fall be irreparable and prove mortal. Like the Prophet, watch your step lest your tongue give offence, and employ every care in keeping silent, which is the way to foster holiness."
from Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity
PERPETUAL ADORATION
"O Jesus of the Eucharist,
My spouse, my love, my life,
How I love to listen to you,
To speak to you, to see you every evening.
O, how sweet are these tears...
You, my supreme love, O my king,
My Jesus, captive and solitary,
When I am near you,
It seems to me that I am no longer on earth.
When I hear your voice,
O my spouse, O my good master,
My whole being is silenced.
I hear and see nothing but you.
O those sublime, ecstatic moments,
Intimate and sweet union,
When my heart beats in unison with my savior!
Would that I could spend
Long hours in that holy abode.
Would that I could live eternally close to Jesus,
My sole love...
Nothing keeps me on earth.
Jesus alone can satisfy me.
Apart from Jesus, I care for nothing.
He is my treasure, my sole wealth.
Near to him I am happy.
He is my life and my love.
For him I am eager to suffer, yes, to suffer for ever!
O, to suffer and to prove thereby that I love him,
Jesus, my only love!
Jesus, God of the Eucharist!
Jesus, my sustenance, my life!
Jesus who deigns to choose me,
That I may love him, console him
And suffer with and for him."
"O Jesus of the Eucharist,
My spouse, my love, my life,
How I love to listen to you,
To speak to you, to see you every evening.
O, how sweet are these tears...
You, my supreme love, O my king,
My Jesus, captive and solitary,
When I am near you,
It seems to me that I am no longer on earth.
When I hear your voice,
O my spouse, O my good master,
My whole being is silenced.
I hear and see nothing but you.
O those sublime, ecstatic moments,
Intimate and sweet union,
When my heart beats in unison with my savior!
Would that I could spend
Long hours in that holy abode.
Would that I could live eternally close to Jesus,
My sole love...
Nothing keeps me on earth.
Jesus alone can satisfy me.
Apart from Jesus, I care for nothing.
He is my treasure, my sole wealth.
Near to him I am happy.
He is my life and my love.
For him I am eager to suffer, yes, to suffer for ever!
O, to suffer and to prove thereby that I love him,
Jesus, my only love!
Jesus, God of the Eucharist!
Jesus, my sustenance, my life!
Jesus who deigns to choose me,
That I may love him, console him
And suffer with and for him."
THOSE WHO LOVE WILL UNDERSTAND . . .
"He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, remains in Me and I in Him." "The first sign of love is this; that Jesus has given us His flesh to eat and His blood to drink." The property of love is to be always giving and always receiving. Now the love of Christ is generous. All that he has, all that He is, He gives; all that we have, all that we are, He takes away. He asks for more than we of ourselves are capable of giving. He has an immense hunger which wants to devour us absolutely. He enters even into the marrow of our bones, and the more lovingly we allow Him to do so, the more fully we savor Him. He knows that we are poor, but He pays no heed to it and does not spare us.
He himself becomes in us His own bread, first burning up, in His love, all our vices, faults and sins. Then when He sees that we are pure, He comes like a gaping vulture that is going to devour everything. He wants to consume our life in order to change it int His own; ours, full of vices, His, full of grace and glory and all prepared for us. If only we will renounce ourselves. Even if our eyes were good enough to see this avid appetite of Christ who hungers for our salvation, all our efforts would not prevent us from disappearing into His open mouth. Now, this sounds absurd, but those who love will understand. When we receive Christ with interior devotion, His blood, full of warmth and glory, flows into our veins and a fire is enkindled in our depths. We receive the likeness of His virtues, and He lives in us, and we in Him. He gives us His soul with the fullness of grace, by which the soul perseveres in love and praise of the Father.
Love draws its object into itself; we draw Jesus into ourselves; Jesus draws us into Himself. Then carried above ourselves into love's interior, seeking God, we go to meet Him, to meet His Spirit, which is His love, and this love burns us, consumes us, and draws us into unity where beatitude awaits us. Jesus meant this when he said: "With great desire have I desired to eat this pasch with you."
"He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, remains in Me and I in Him." "The first sign of love is this; that Jesus has given us His flesh to eat and His blood to drink." The property of love is to be always giving and always receiving. Now the love of Christ is generous. All that he has, all that He is, He gives; all that we have, all that we are, He takes away. He asks for more than we of ourselves are capable of giving. He has an immense hunger which wants to devour us absolutely. He enters even into the marrow of our bones, and the more lovingly we allow Him to do so, the more fully we savor Him. He knows that we are poor, but He pays no heed to it and does not spare us.
He himself becomes in us His own bread, first burning up, in His love, all our vices, faults and sins. Then when He sees that we are pure, He comes like a gaping vulture that is going to devour everything. He wants to consume our life in order to change it int His own; ours, full of vices, His, full of grace and glory and all prepared for us. If only we will renounce ourselves. Even if our eyes were good enough to see this avid appetite of Christ who hungers for our salvation, all our efforts would not prevent us from disappearing into His open mouth. Now, this sounds absurd, but those who love will understand. When we receive Christ with interior devotion, His blood, full of warmth and glory, flows into our veins and a fire is enkindled in our depths. We receive the likeness of His virtues, and He lives in us, and we in Him. He gives us His soul with the fullness of grace, by which the soul perseveres in love and praise of the Father.
Love draws its object into itself; we draw Jesus into ourselves; Jesus draws us into Himself. Then carried above ourselves into love's interior, seeking God, we go to meet Him, to meet His Spirit, which is His love, and this love burns us, consumes us, and draws us into unity where beatitude awaits us. Jesus meant this when he said: "With great desire have I desired to eat this pasch with you."
Click the picture for a music video "Flos Carmeli"
