News & Events – Latest Update
Dear Friends,
I just returned from my wee break in Nigeria where it’s such a lovely weather and a real blessing to visit family and friends. I hope you too are finding some quality time for yourselves.
Just an update re the Priory as many are asking about where things are. Well, work is progressing well. Thanks to our architect, the contractors, and the builders. We’re hopeful that we’ll make the September 1st reopening date. We’re still in need of the necessary funds to see us launch back well. If you can help us, please do, and know your donation will be very much appreciated.
We’re still enjoying the blessings of the feast of promise and hope fulfilled – the Assumption of Mary the Mother of Jesus, our Saviour and Lord. In the event of the Assumption, God assures us that he will never give up on us. We will, like Mary, be reunited with God in heaven, body, soul, and spirit. We are precious to God. We may draw from this divine desire of God for complete union with us to take care of ourselves (w)holistically.
The feast of the Assumption also encourages us to cherish one another more for as the English author, C. S. Lewis reminds us in his sermon, The Weight of Glory,
“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.”
Wishing you continued blessing in the Lord.
Happy Assumptiontide!
In Carmel,
Fr Alexander Ezechukwu, OCD
Conference Highlights
“The Conference on John of the Cross was an amazing experience”
Find out More & Watch the Video
Shared Thoughts – God Ordains All
Lucinda M.Vardey
Lucinda shares a poem on gifts received from the conference on John of the Cross and the Experience of Transforming Love. You can read it here.
You can see more of Lucinda’s work at: http://www.dallaluce.com/home_lucinda.html
Evening of Reflection
Audrey Hamilton
I thought the Evening of Reflection was wonderful – both the artwork and the paintings, as well as the quality of the production that brought it all together. Someone (Fr Alex or Fr Kelvin?) commented that we were ‘deep in the presence of beauty’ and that’s what it felt like. Sr Sa Ra commented that painting helped her find who she is, which I thought was lovely and a great encouragement to all of us to explore other mediums beyond words. The music and lyrics of Sr Claire, bringing out the complementarity of fire and water, was a lovely synthesis of John and Teresa and helped me engage with Teresa’s Four Waters of prayer in a deeper way than her text alone does.
Wholly in Love: St. John of the Cross on Every Disciple’s Desire for Union with the Beloved
John Quigley OCDS
Dr Muto, a prolific author, delivered a fascinating presentation that focussed on chapters 2 – 7 of the First Book of the Dark Night of John of the Cross.
You can read more of John’s review here.
Summer School
Some of your Comments
- I was so excited in anticipation of it, and I loved every minute of it.
- Prayer times of shared silence were Surprisingly (?) extremely fruitful for me. In fact, some of the biggest impacts happened there.
- Medium – Virtual So thankful that this was possible. I believe I had seen offerings advertised in past years, and there is simply no way I would have been able to travel to do this in person.
- I emailed Fr Iain, stating that I had enough reflective material available for the rest of my life.
- I was completely satisfied with all of the above. Everything progressed very smoothly.
- As a Secular Carmelite, it deepened my understanding and appreciation of the teachings and spirituality of St John of the Cross, allowing me to apply them more directly to my life situation. It also reignited my love for poetry, enhanced by Fr Iain’s translations.
Mass with the Carmelites
Please also take a look at our Mass Times Page with news of our daily online Mass and special monthly Healing Mass (First Tuesday of every month) and Holy Spirit Mass (first Monday of every month). You’re very welcome to join us online for these Masses.
Featured Events
Friends in Carmel
The Daughters of Teresa Series
Prayer Guides Course 2022
Carmelite Spirituality Network (CSN)
