On 26 July 2019, the Carmelite nuns at Thicket Priory near York celebrated their 10thanniversary in their purpose-built monastery with a Mass of thanksgiving.   The community was originally founded at Exmouth in 1926 but relocated to Yorkshire on 26 July 1955, to the Victorian manor house known as Thicket Priory, built on the grounds of a medieval Cistercian convent.  In 2006 the Carmelites made the decision to sell the large house and build a smaller monastery within their own grounds, which would be more suitable for their needs. They moved on 21 May 2009. In his homily, main celebrant Fr Tony
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In the Eastern Churches, it is common to celebrate feast days of Old Testament Saints.  This tradition is almost unheard of in the West. On 20 July the Carmelite family celebrates the feast of St Elijah the prophet, who is known as the father of Carmel. Our Rule of life, the Rule of St Albert, written in the early 13thCentury, addresses a group of hermits “who live near the spring of Elias on Mount Carmel.”  Medieval Carmelites looked to Elijah as the founder of the Order. They believed that hermits had dwelt on Mount Carmel in the tradition of Elijah in an
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St John of the Cross Conference A major international conference on St John of the Cross, entitled Carmel, Desire and Transformation is to take place at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, from 25 -27 June 2020. Confirmed speakers include Fr Iain Matthew OCD, Fr Stephen Payne OCD, Professor Bernard McGinn, Professor Peter Tyler, Professor Christopher Cook, Dr Louise Nelstrop, Fr Ronald Rolheiser OMI, Fr Kevin Alban O.Carm, Dr Edward Howells. For further information see: www.stmarys.ac.uk/st-john-of-the-cross
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This open letter to the Italian president and prime minister from the Carmelites and Poor Clares of Italy was published on Saturday 13 July in the Italian newspaper ‘Avvenire’.  It is an important and prophetic letter which deserves to be read as widely as possible, not only in Italy.  We are grateful to Christian Kendall-Daw for providing the following English translation: Dear Editor,  We wish to share with you and all the readers of ‘Avvenire’ the open letter which, inspired by the Gospel of Matthew (23.8): ‘You are all brothers’, we decided to send to President Mattarella and to Prime Minister Conte
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On 18 October 2015, Pope Francis canonised a married couple together for the first time in the Church’s history. Louis and Zélie Martin (neé Guerin) were married for 19 years before Zélie died of breast cancer at the age of 46. She bore 9 children, 4 of whom sadly died in infancy. The remaining 5, all girls, became nuns.  Their youngest daughter, Thérèse, was described by Pope St Pius X as “The greatest saint of modern times” even before her canonisation. Thérèse wrote of her parents: “The good God gave me a father and a mother more worthy of heaven than of
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