Dear Friends, Family, and Fellow Carmelites,
“As we begin this Chronicle we would be remiss not to mention the havoc Mother Nature has wreaked these past few months. States all around us have been battered by tornadoes and flooding and Oklahoma has not escaped.” Last year we began our newsletter with these words and, unfortunately, we need to repeat them again this year. Our prayers go with those who have suffered from the terrible flooding caused by both the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and from the many tornadoes throughout the United States. We remember all those who died and their families in Tuscaloosa, AL; Joplin, MO and Piedmont, OK. The F-5 tornado that ripped through the outlying areas of Piedmont on May 24th left a path of total devastation. This tornado was too close for comfort and we were blessed when it slightly changed course as we believe we would have been hit. While most of us were in the basement our Sr. Mary kept ringing the bells which have been blessed for protection against storms. We thank all of you who checked to make sure we were all right.
Our world has been plagued by many disasters this year . . . and many might feel our journey on earth is a perilous one. While life is uncertain faith is the anchor which keeps us on an even keel. Faith is what sustained Mary on her earthly pilgrimage and she can be a model for our spiritual life as well. In his book, Our Lady of the Place by Fr. Emanuele Boaga, O. Carm., explains the role of Mary as interior guide using the example of several Carmelite saints.
In the experience of the indwelling of the Trinity, Elizabeth of the Trinity (+1906) saw in Mary the habitation of the Trinity as the mirror of the beauty of God; as a reflection of the tenderness and mercy of God towards human beings. Mary is the living model for all those who allow themselves to be transformed by the action of the Trinity.
Edith Stein (+1942) considers Mary in the context of women’s issues and women’s education. She presents Mary as the type of the feminine “the woman Mary at the side of the man Christ”. In this model comes together the “Mother-Virgin” and the “Spouse of Christ”. In other words, Mary, as Mother and Virgin is the type of those who live for others. As Spouse, Mary is the type of the woman who is dedicated totally to God, the Church and the community. In the life of women the “Mother-Virgin” and the “Sponsa Christi” take on a concrete form. Imitation of Mary, prototype of genuine femininity, helps women to express in a feminine way the image of Christ.
Finally Titus Brandsma (+1942) exhorts us “to strive to be like Mary” because the goal of true devotion to Our Lady is to become “theotokos or another Mother of God: God must be conceived also in us and by us be offered to the world.”
We want to invite you to join us for our celebration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Father Gerard MacAulay will celebrate the Eucharist for us on Saturday July 16th at 10:30am. We also invite you to send us your petitions for our novena which will start on July 15th and continue through July 23rd (Our Lady of Grace).
In late March, after the meeting with the Father General, we tried to settle back into the spirit of Lent. It was difficult since Easter was so late this year and the earth was bursting forth in new life all around us. We were happy to have Fr. Bonaventure Sauer, OCD as our celebrant for both the Tridiuum and Easter Sunday. We have not seen Father for awhile and enjoyed visiting with him and catching up on what has been happening in the Province. Our faith is renewed each year during the Tridiuum and at Easter as we celebrate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. We always look forward to these days which celebrate the story of our salvation and rejoiced when the Easter fire was lit and Alleluia’s once again filled the air! Marie Connolly provided the music for these Holy Days and we are so grateful to her for her generous gift.
We were happy to have Dave and Kerry Goeckner with us for Easter weekend. They now have two beautiful children, Joseph who is three and Therese six months. Dave works at a parish in South Dakota so we do not get to see them often. Easter week was a time of good-byes as well. One of our chaplains, Fr. Dan Letoureau was appointed pastor of Perry, OK and left for his new assignment. This is Fr. Dan’s home parish and, as his mother was sick, this move allowed him to be closer to his family. Sadly his mother died on Easter Saturday. We also said goodbye to Father Kirk Larkin who completed his earthly journey on Easter Friday. He was greatly loved and his funeral was very well attended.
Some of the Sisters planted vegetable gardens earlier and are now beginning to reap the harvest of their hard work. (The rest of us are enjoying their bounty as well)! Although we have received a shower or two we still remain in a drought. This means extra work for our gardeners who need to water especially during the record breaking heat we are now experiencing. The image of watering a garden is a favorite one for Carmelites. In the Book of Her Life St. Teresa uses this image to explain the stages of prayer. Having to manually water takes a lot of time and energy just as trying to keep our senses recollected does when we begin a life of prayer. As we persevere in prayer the labor becomes less and God sends his gift of soft refreshing rain (contemplation) to nourish our souls. Here in Oklahoma we are also praying for ‘heavenly’ rain to nourish our parched earth!
We welcomed Fr. John Magdalene, OCD here in mid May. He is still recovering from a near fatal car crash in October. Father has family in Kansas and had been visiting them while undergoing more physical therapy. He stayed two days and gave us a conference on Elijah while here.
Our new Archbishop, Paul Coakley came to meet us on May 24th. He celebrated Mass and then joined us for breakfast and a quick tour of the monastery. We enjoyed meeting him and asked him questions on different topics. We did not know then that our peaceful day would be shattered by a string of deadly tornadoes. The Archbishop was kind enough to call us the next morning to find out if we were all right. The Benedictines at Red Plains Monastery on the other side of Piedmont had minor damage from the tornado and lost their electricity. We invited them to stay with us but they felt they needed to remain at home although they did join us for dinner on Wednesday.
On Memorial Day we usually have a barbeque but this year some unexpected guests madebirds us alter our plans. A pair of wrens decided our grill would make the perfect place to raise their scaredyoung and in early June six new wrens made their debut. The Sisters enjoyed watching them as they made their first solo flights into the outside world. We were also thrilled to see our bluebird house occupied with a new family. While we are on the subject, our Sr. Maria went out to open the chicken coop one morning and was delighted to see how the chickens flapped their wings as they passed the fence into the open yard. “They are so happy!”, she thought . . . then she remembered she had forgotten to turn off the electric current surrounding their fence which keeps predators away. . . oops! Needless to say, the chickens were a little wary of returning home that evening.
The new Council for the Oklahoma Province of Carmelite Friars was elected in late May. While in San Antonio for their Chapter the Fathers celebrated their 75th anniversary of foundation. This joyous celebration was also attended by our Sr. Donna. Every three years the Prioresses from the Oklahoma Province meet with the new Council and share how their particular monastery is doing. This year the meeting allowed them to participate in the Mass which was concelebrated by Bishop Cantu, the auxiliary bishop of San Antonio. The new Provincial is Fr. Luis Castañeda who is currently stationed at Little Flower Church here in Oklahoma City. As the Council was meeting here at Little Flower we invited them to dinner on June 14th. We had a wonderful time.
We wish each of you a pleasant summer. Be assured of our prayers and remember to send us your petitions for the Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.