El Vedra, the mountain of Encounter
Today we are celebrating the feast of our founder, Blessed Francisco Palau, OCD. November 7, is the day that the whole Carmelite Missionary family in five continents of the world unites their hearts and spirit to give praise and thank the Lord for the gift of our Founder in the Church.
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.
The Carmelite Missionaries have a fundamental role in the Church: to be visible signs and prophetic expressions of communion with God and with the brothers and sisters, by which the whole Church is called to live and have as her goal. Our presence and mission within the mystical body of Christ is characterized by being authentic signs of communion.
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