Silence...

Retreat - Preparation for Diaconate - OSA

The three Reverends of the Order of St. Augustine, made their retreat in preparation for the ordination to diaconate. With them is Fr. Raymund, OSA, the one accompanying them during these days of retreat.
God bless and may the Spirit fill your heart with his love and zeal as you dedicate your life for the service of God's Kingdom.
CMCS sisters and staff

Sr. Mary Nieri, OCD

Sr. Mary Nieri, OCD is a Carmelite Nun from Davao who came to give a series of conferences to the Lipa clergy during their days of retreat.

Archbishop Ramon Arguelles gave thanks to her in the name of the whole Diocese of Lipa for sharing with them the Carmelite Spirituality.

THE ASSUMPTION OF OUR LADY, August 15

Thoughts to ponder

Recitation of the Psalm - Archdiocese of Lipa

In deep communion..

Archbishop Ramon Arguelles is in deep communion with Jesus after receiving the Holy Eucharist.

Archdiocese of Lipa - Retreat

The Archdiocese of Lipa clergy is on their third day of Retreat here in Tagaytay City. There are 117 priests who attended the said retreat. They had Sr. Mary Niere, OCD as their retreat directress. They started last August 11, 2008 with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and will end on Thursday, August 14, 2008, feast of Maximiliano Kolbe, martyr. Thus, they will go back to their respective parishes on the 15th of August after some meetings.

The CMCS sisters and staff assured them of their prayers so that they will really encounter God deeply in their interior and that they will go back renewed to their respective parishes.

It is beautiful to see priests spending time in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament during their free time. I do belive that Jesus is pleased to see them in the chapel. A good pastor must be prayerful and they are.

Keep on dear Fathers. You are doing well.

Carmelite Missionaries in Ibiza, Spain

Sr. Eva Calingo and Sr. Anafe Bello are the two representatives from the Fr. Francisco Palau Province to join the Re-reading of Charism in Ibiza, Spain.

Goodluck and God bless!

Greetings from the Philippines!!!

Through this blog we would like to greet all the participants of the Re-reading of the charism in Ibiza. To Sr. Anamaria Rejas, Sr. Vilma d'Silva and all the sisters, as you move onward, we pray to the Holy Spirit for your openness to His promptings so that this encounter will be a successful one and that it will be a tool for all of us Carmelite Missionaries to become effective witnesses of God's love in the Church, the "Beloved".

El Señor las bendiga en estos días de encuentros. Que sea el motivo de enriquecer a nuestras hermanas de cada provincia esta relectura. Como dice el P. Palau: "La obra grande de Dios, se labra en el interior". Asi sea. Que tengais buen día! Un abrazo para cada una.

Praying for you,

CMCS Community,

Srs. Yolanda, Loida, Joy, Jeanith and Florentina C.

WHO ARE WE?

The Carmelite Missionaries

We are a family born from the charismatic and ecclesial experience of Fr. Palau y Quer, our founder, who by drinking from the source of the Carmelite spirituality, and listening to the clamour of Spain, his native land, did not hesitate to seek the necessary means to save his beloved Church from the suffering of persecution.Francisco Palau was a tireless searcher of the Church, and he would give a million life for her. From this personal experience, he sensed the call to found a religious congregation that would respond to the challenges of a nineteenth century Church that was confused and persecuted. Religious Discalced Carmelite, Priest of his beloved Church, Francisco saw in Mary, Queen and Mother of Carmel, a mirror of the same Church; the spiritual legacy of the Order of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross gave strength and force to his vocation.Above all, he aspired that his religious congregation would live the contemplative and prayerful experience he lived, and bring about dynamism and strength to the mission.We, Carmelite Missionaries, are called at this present historical moment to rekindle the torch of fidelity, to traverse the paths of the Spirit in the Church, and to give creative response to the challenges that the world of today poses to us.We are women consecrated to the God of Life, followers of Jesus. From our experience of communion, we want to be a clear testimony of fraternity in the world.At this moment of history filled with grace and uncertainty, we want to welcome the light of the Spirit that guides us to new paths, inviting us to creatively unfold the vocational and charismatic gift received, in order to live the gift of communion in a visible and incarnated way.

Diagnosis...!!!

“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to paddle.” –Proverb

It was June 23, 2005 when I went to see my doctor Dott. Sandra Pietrini. She thought I was going there for a checkup of my swollen throat. In fact, it was urgent to treat my throat but I told her that I will still go to Spain so when I come back in August that’s the time she will do the treatment. On the other hand, I told her I had another reason why I came. She examined me and her face has changed. I heard a trembling voice talking to another doctor and an alarming looks as if I was going to die. She called the doctor for the urgent mammography and ultra sound and I was scheduled for the following day. In short my trip to Spain was cancelled.
June 24, 2005 I went to see Dott. Claudio, I was outside of the hospital schedule when I was accommodated at San Camillo Hospital (Rome) because of the urgency. I went through mammography and then ultra sound. Lying down I could see from the computer red spots and thick lumps as if a map where there were lots of islands. He pronounced it a “tumor”. The doctor took a deep breath and for the second time I could sense the ambience of so much sacredness and gentleness from the part of the doctor though I felt his way of talking communicates an atmosphere of as if I was going to die.
Diagnosis: Advanced cancer. I saw him picking up the phone and calling another doctor. This time it was an oncologist.
I became aware of my disposition, I was numb. I don’t want to believe it was true. I controlled my tears and I could feel the pain in my throat. Back home, I saw faces, shocked of the news. There was no mark of sickness and I was doing well but surprisingly the news was like a bomb for me and later for everyone who came to know when I broke the news. In the evening I slept well, unbelievable. I was fine as if nothing happened but deep down I had fears. I tried not to entertain, not to think about it, not to be affected by it and I maintained my peace.
June 25, 2008, I went in haste to San Camillo Hospital. It was Saturday and the clinic was closed but I was told to come at 12:00 noon and they will open the door for me. True enough my companion knocked and the door opened. We entered and for the third time I saw a face as if I was going to die. I could not anymore control and I told the doctor “I am not going to die, right?” I did not receive a yes or a no answer rather she told me, we will do the best we can. I did not feel any note of assurance from that statement. Right there and then I was told to do all the series of tests and soon will go through chemo therapy.
In the afternoon, I confessed with a Carmelite Priest and I told him I was there for confession to prepare myself in case I would die soon. And in the evening I met a Spanish bishop who was just installed as bishop and will be assigned to a diocese in Spain. I asked him too, to bless me and telling him later - at least I was blessed by a bishop before I would die.

To be continued…

"What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It's always the same step, but you have to take it." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Edith Stein, Feastday August 9

Edith Stein, saintly Carmelite, profound philosopher and brilliant writer, had a great influence on the women of her time, and is having a growing influence in the intellectual and philosophical circles of today’s Germany and of the whole world. She is an inspiration to all Christians whose heritage is the Cross, and her life was offered for her own Jewish people in their sufferings and persecutions.Born on October 12, 1891, of Jewish parents, Siegried Stein and Auguste Courant, in Breslau, Germany, Edith Stein from her earliest years showed a great aptitude for learning, and by the time of the outbreak of World War I, she had studied philology and philosophy at the universities of Breslau and Goettingen.After the war, she resumed her higher studies at the University of Freiburg and was awarded her doctorate in philosophy Suma Cum Laude. She later became the assistant and collaborator of Professor Husserl, the famous founder of phenomenology, who greatly appreciated her brilliant mind.In the midst of all her studies, Edith Stein was searching not only for the truth, but for Truth itself and she found both in the Catholic Church, after reading the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila. She was baptized on New Year’s Day, 1922.After her conversion, Edith spent her days teaching, lecturing, writing and translating, and she soon became known as a celebrated philosopher and author, but her own great longing was for the solitude and contemplation of Carmel, in which she could offer herself to God for her people. It was not until the Nazi persecution of the Jews brought her public activities and her influence in the Catholic world to a sudden close that her Benedictine spiritual director gave his approval to her entering the Discalced Carmelie Nuns’ cloistered community at Cologne-Lindenthal on 14 October 1933. The following April, Edith received the Habit of Carmel and the religious name of "Teresia Benedicta ac Cruce," and on Easter Sunday, 21 April 1935, she made her Profession of Vows.When the Jewish persecution increased in violence and fanaticism, Sister Teresa Benedicta soon realized the danger that her presence was to the Cologne Carmel, and she asked and received permission to transfer to a foreign monastery. On the night of 31 December 1938, she secretly crossed the border into Holland where she was warmly received in the Carmel of Echt. There she wrote her last work, The Science of the Cross.Her own Cross was just ahead of her, for the Nazis had invaded neutral Holland, and when the Dutch bishops issued a pastoral letter protesting the deportation of the Jews and the expulsion of Jewish children from the Catholic school system, the Nazis arrested all Catholics of Jewish extraction in Holland. Edith was taken from the Echt Carmel on 2 August 1942, and transported by cattle train to the death camp of Auschwitz, the conditions in the box cars being so inhuman that many died or went insane on the four day trip. She died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz on 9 August 1942.We no longer seek her on earth, but with God Who accepted her sacrifice and will give its fruit to the people for whom she prayed, suffered, and died. In her own words: "Once can only learn the science of the Cross by feeling the Cross in one’s own person." We can say that in the fullest sense of the word, Sister Teresa was "Benedicta a Cruce" -- blessed by the Cross.Pope John Paul II beatified Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross on 1 May 1987, and canonizes her on 11 October 1998."God is there in these moments of rest and can give us in a single instant exactly what we need. Then the rest of the day can take its course, under the same effort and strain, perhaps, but in peace. And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the rasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed: just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God’s hands and leave it with Him. Then you will be able to rest in Him -- really rest -- and start the next day as a new life."

"O my God, fill my soul with holy joy, courage and strength to serve You. Enkindle Your love in me and then walk with me along the next stretch of road before me. I do not see very far ahead, but when I have arrived where the horizon now closes down, a new prospect will prospect will open before me, and I shall meet it with peace."Learn from St. Thérèse to depend on God alone and serve Him with a wholly pure and detached heart. Then, like her, you will be able to say ‘I do not regret that I have given myself up to Love’."

Colegio de Calumpit (2nd batch) - Retreat

The second batch of 150 retreatants with their teachers started their retreat at 3:00 pm. Photo shown group of high school students going towards the St. Teresa of Avila Hall where they will hold their session.
They ended their retreat, August 8, 2008.

August 7-8, 2008

Carmelite Saints

Saints of Carmel:

St. Teresa of Avila

St. John of the Cross

St. Therese of the Child Jesus

St. Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

St. Teresa de los Andes (Chile)

Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity

Blessed Francisco Palau, founder of the Carmelite Missionaries

Sr. Juana Gratias, first CM sister of the Carmelite Missionaries

Four CM Martyrs, beatified by Pope Benedict XVI, October 28, 2007

Blessed Esperanza, Blessed Daniela, Blessed Refugio and Blessed Gabriela

Diocese of Imus - Retreat

The Diocese of Imus Clergy had their 4-day retreat at the CMCS Center Tagaytay City. There were 80 priests who attended the said retreat with Bishop Chito Tagle as their retreat master. Thanksgiving Mass today was officiated by their dear Bishop. At the end before the blessing he requested the assembly to sing the song "Mabuting Pastol" in a prayerful mood, praying for all priests in this diocese as well as the rest of the priests of other dioceses. It was a beautiful gesture of support to their ministry as pastors of the church. As the song goes: "I will be a true pastor and I will take care of my flock."

The seminarians of their diocese also came to be one with them in the thanksgiving Mass. They animated the celebration by their golden voices.

Congratulations dear Bishop Chito Tagle and the Priests.

From the CMCS Sisters and Staff.

August 4-7, 2008

Colegio de Calumpit (1st batch) - Retreat

Colegio de Calumpit made their retreat. There are 170 students who attended the said retreat.They left today and the second batch will take the retreat with the same retreat master.

Congratulations!!! You've made it.

August 6 and 7, 2008

My Prayer to the Divine Healer

Jesus, you are my Divine healer. I believe in your healing power. As you have said: “All things are possible”. You healed the lame, the woman with hemorrhage, you changed the destiny of the adulterous woman, and you restored the sight of the blind at Siloam, and so on…
When you asked the blind, what do you want? The blind said “I want to see”. Lord ask me too, what do I want, and I will tell you, “I want to be healed.”
I do believe that you continue to heal those who call upon your name, JESUS. You are the source of peace, healing, strength and love.
I, too, call on you with so much faith. In your name, JESUS, I plead you to heal me. Take away the tumor in my left breast and restore me to health. I believe it will happen. I praise your name Jesus and I glorify you. So be it. Amen!


Unconditional love is the most powerful stimulant of the immune system. The truth is: love heals. Miracles happen to exceptional patients every day – patients who have the courage to love, those who have the courage to work with their doctors to participate in and influence their own recovery.
(taken from the book of Dr. Bernie Siegel, M.D.)

On the Feast of Transfiguration

August 6, 2008
Feast of the Transfiguration

Today is August 6, 2008, Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus.
It was August 6, 2005 when I received the “graced word” from Jesus through Psalm 118: “I shall not die; I shall live and recount His deeds.”
As I write these words, I could still feel the ambience of a solemn presence relieving the past when I met Him strongly.
The story goes this way:
It was the 17th day after my first chemo therapy, when few of my hair strands were falling apart from my head. In the morning I woke up to attend the Holy Eucharist. During the Eucharistic celebration, at the moment of the elevation of Bread and Wine, as the priest was saying: Through Him, with Him and in Him… I whispered to Jesus these words: “I am restored to health.” It was followed by the singing of AMEN by the choir. I felt a strong power within me when I uttered those words; seems real, that I was really healed at that very moment.
After the Mass I spent some time to meditate in the chapel and there I looked back at the experience, wondering, amazed by the event that took place.
Later in the morning, I went to open my e-mail. I read one of the mails coming from my friend, Sr. May Salvatierra, OCD, the superior of the Monastery in Carmel, Bacolod City. It’s so amazing, when she wrote: “On the feast of Transfiguration, I lovingly claim the grace of today’s feast for your complete healing, recovery and wholeness… a Total Transfiguration through the power of Jesus’ Resurrection.” I felt deeply our communion at Mass with her claim for my total healing and my disposition of being restored to health at that moment. How marvelous you are O Lord, really how God works in our lives, in my life especially at that moment of my sickness. The confirmation took place at Mid day.
At Mid day, I joined the community to pray: Lo and behold, this encounter with Jesus during the Eucharist was confirmed at this moment. We were reciting the Psalm 118 and when I reached to the verses” “I shall not die, I shall live and recount His deeds”, I was choked because I felt strongly the confirmation of that Eucharistic encounter. I was not able to move on reciting the Psalm because tears started to fall on my cheek and I was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude to the Lord. It was real.
This encounter with Jesus has given me much hope and courage to move onward. The experience was unique and I believe it was a spirit filled encounter. So that the anticipation of my recovery was printed in my mind and I believed I will be cured. This attitude makes the foundation of cure already laid down before me. The coming days made me feel good, hopeful and joyful, as if the sickness was gone, though I knew I was still sick because the tumor was still on the first stage of reducing and considering that my case was a diagnosis of advanced cancer. Yet it was helping me to move onward. Because of this I made a decision to cooperate in my healing process as I go through chemo therapy, which in the beginning I was resistant. The grace of God helped me to accept the treatment through the help of my dear Spiritual Directress, Sr. Barbra Ostheimer, SND, who accompanied me during those difficult times in my life as well as some particular CM sisters in Rome who encouraged me and bring light and strength to my doubts and fears.

Now, I would say that the august 6 experience at the Eucharist was a transfiguration experience of my future healing, thus I shall live and recount His deeds to those I will meet along the way.

Therefore, this blog site will be used by me to proclaim the Lord’s marvels in my life, as He has told me: “I will recount His deeds”.
My sickness turned out to be a blessing. How? You will see the marvels of God as you move on reading the “Diary of a cancer survivor”.
May those who come across this page will discover the saving power of God in your life and you will be moved to recount His deeds in your own personal encounter with Him. I thank you Lord for your goodness and love. Amen!

Prayer of thanksgiving and rejoicing!!!

(My retreat experience for eight days)
“I GAINED BACK THE TREASURE,
I AM BORN ANEW,
MOVED TO START ANEW,
BEING RENEWED IN SPIRIT”
Carrying a heavy load, from an unpleasant experience, so strong…up to the brim… horrible… painful. How I struggled in order to survive. Not with my strength but with HIS strength.
After all, yes I gained back the treasure. Please, allow me Lord to proclaim that you are my only treasure and I too your very treasure in a form of a song:
“Ikaw ang aking tanging yaman na di lubusang masumpungan,
ang nilikha mong kariktan sulyap ng ‘yong kagandahan.”
Lord, you love me so much, that much! What more shall I ask, but to love you in return. For we are your “Beloved”
“MON BIEN-AIME”
« Mon bien-aime, beaute supreme,
A moi, tu te donnes toi-meme,
Mais en retour, Jesus, je t’aime,
Et ma vie n’est qu’un seul acte d’amour. »Thank you Lord for loving me as I am. Thank you for the trials, thank you for the privilege, for choosing me as one of your victim. I am not worthy Lord, yet, you made me as an instrument as well. Thank you Lord for your faithfulness. Thank you Lord for the constant assurance of your love and for BEING WITH ME ALL THE TIME. Thank you for saving me!
“In many ways O Lord I’ve seen your beauty. In many ways O Lord I’ve seen your love
And so in many ways I thank you greatly. And ever joyfully in many ways.”
Yes, Lord, you made my days…
You made this day…
And will continually make all the days for all whom you love.
In everything there is always a reason to celebrate…
For my gratefulness and gratitude.
A heart once lost in trials and blinded with pains…
Yet rescued with your Merciful Love!
Now, I can’t contain but celebrate your mercy, your faithfulness, your LOVE!
For my soul rejoices!
“Ito ang araw na ginawa ng Panginoon
Tayo’y magsaya at magalak”
Ahead of me, there will be challenges. So, in faith and with grace of the Holy Trinity I will continually respond by saying:
“HÁGASE”
Hágase en mí según tu palabra.
Hágase en mí según tu sueño.
Hágase en mí tu amor. //Hágase Señor!//
MUCHAS GRACIAS SEÑOR ! MERCI BEAUCOUP SEIGNEUR!
Sr. Rosemin Padilla, cm
Carmelite Missionary
August 3, 2008
CMCS, Tagaytay City

"The gospel of my life"

“WHAT A JOY!!!

WHAT MARVELS!!!

WHAT A THANKSGIVING!!!”

(My 8-day Retreat)

I knew only of my selfish ambition and I was eager to enjoy life at the level of earthly fortunes. I struggled to affirm my own identity and dreamt of being totally independent, successful and rich.
But Jesus passed by, inviting me to come with Him and see the real treasure that “neither moth nor rust can destroy and where thieves can steal”. Ah what a joy, what marvels, what avthanksgiving filled my heart for the wonders God has shown me.
With unbelief I uttered like a Psalmist: “What is the mortal that you be mindful of him, the son of man that you should care for him? Yet you made him a little lower than the angels, you have crowned him with glory and honor.”
Come my friends, let us not be afraid to surrender ourselves and our treasures to the Lord and enter His courts empty handed and naked. One thing though He asks from us: “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” The beginning of the challenging journey…
What joy, what marvels, what thanksgiving filled my heart for the works of God in me. I hardly knew myself except my “projected self.’ I relate in a “world of roles and functions”, live in a world of denial, masks and deceiving images.” I built walls that separated me from others. Yes, I built my own prison cell without knowing it. But God wanted me to be free and to be home to my “family”. So, He paved the way, crashed down walls of selfishness and inhibitions…
At first, I was afraid to move forward but Jesus assures me, “Do not be afraid, I am with you always.”
Come my friends, let us move on together with Jesus.
Jesus is the GOOD SHEPHERD who laid down His life for us. He will protect us from the “wolves” that attack us both from within and outside ourselves.
What a joy, what marvels, what a grace… God has given us so much.

Sr. Maricel Humpay, cm
Carmelite Missionary
July 24, 2008

Orchard Property marketing Corporation

The Orchard Property Marketing Corporation were gathered together at CMCS Tagaytay City. Participants were coming from Luzon Visayas and Mindanao to hold their encounter on "Self-empowerment through awareness, assessment and action". From July 30-August 1, 2008, at the CM Center of Spirituality, Tagaytay City, Philippines.