#carmelite

If anyone is seeking God, the Beloved is seeking that person much more.

Links to free downloads of Traditional Catholic texts:

Way of Perfection for the Laity

Carmelite 1953 Daily Missal (good for daily Gospel readings)

Goffine's Devout Instructions for Epistles and Gospels for Sundays and Holydays

Pictorial Lives of the Saints

Daily:

1. Holy Gospels

2. Lives of the Saints

This is the recommended list of authors in "A Way of Perfection for the Laity":

1. The Imitation of Christ

2. By St. Teresa of Avila

ii. The Book of the Foundations

iii. Minor Works

iv. The Letters

v. The Interior Castle

vi. The Life

3. By St. John of the Cross

i. Ascent of Mount Carmel

ii. The Dark Night of the Soul (The Obscure Night)

4. By St. Teresa of Lisieux: Story of a Soul

5. By St. Francis De Sales

i. Introduction to the Devout Life

ii. Treatise on the Love of God

6. By St. Alphonsus Liguori

i. True Spouse of Christ

ii. Glories of Mary

iii. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament

My 2025 Liturgical Reading List

I took the list above and put a different author per month. The new liturgical year begins December 1st!

Dec: The Imitation of Christ

Jan: The Way of Perfection (St. Teresa of Avila)

Feb: Ascent of Mount Carmel (St. John of the Cross)

Mar: Story of a Soul (St. Therese of Lisieux)

Apr: Introduction to the Devout Life (St. Francis De Sales)

May: True Spouse of Christ (St. Alphonsus Liguori)

Jun: The Book of the Foundations (St. Teresa of Avila)

Jul: The Dark Night of the Soul (St. John of the Cross)

Aug: Treatise on the Love of God (St. Francis De Sales)

Sep: Glories of Mary (St. Alphonsus Liguori)

Oct: Minor Works (St. Teresa of Avila)

Nov: Visits to the Blessed Sacrament (St. Alphonsus Liguori)

On July 16, the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Mount Carmel is the mountain in the middle of the plain of Galilee on which the prophet Elijah called down a miracle of fire from the Lord to show the people of Israel who had strayed that "The Lord is God!" and that the prophets of Baal were worshipping a false god.

There is a tradition that traces the Carmelite Order's informal beginnings to the prophet Elijah himself, even though there is no evidence of this.

The formal beginnings are attributed to a group of monks who, in the 13th century, began living and praying on the mountain.

They venerated the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Mount Carmel and from this veneration was derived the name Carmelite.

In 1226, the rule of the Order was approved by Pope Honorius III, and 21 years later, St. Simon Stock, an Englishman, was elected superior of the Order.

On 16 July 1251, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Simon and gave him the brown scapular and promised her protection to all those who wear the brown habit.

Pope Pius X decreed in the early 20th century that this blessing of the Blessed Virgin would extend to all who wear the medal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.