🤔DID YOU KNOW? In our #quoteoftheday for #July18, we mentioned Joseph Lémann. He was a devout Jew from Lyon, France who joined the Catholic Church along w/ his twin bro at age 18 after mtg Hermann Cohen. In 1892 they helped found the Carmel of Haifa, seen here. @ocdcuria 1/5
The original monastery was built on the shores of Haifa Bay. It was scenic but unsafe; the nuns fled at the Turkish invasion, so the Turks used it as a hospital. After the nuns returned, the founders of LaFarge Cement built a new monastery (1937), an art deco jewel. 2/5
Of course, politics & war played a part: the British Mandate govt wanted to expropriate the nuns' bayshore property to build a port at Haifa. The nuns sold a parcel of land to the British, who built a hospital & the nuns bought land next to the friars on top of the mountain. 3/5
The old monastery (1892) was petite in comparison to the new, factory-sized, multi-story, mountaintop monastery. Typical Holy Land Carmelite austerity meant no heat. But the LaFarge all-concrete construction posed different problems with the climate in winter. Ascesis! 4/5
The Carmel of Haifa has always relied on other nations for vocations. In recent years, other Carmels have sent reinforcements, too. These intrepid nuns have made many great improvements to the monastery. The community & building will survive, God willing, for years to come. 5/5
Quote of the day, 19 July: Silvio José Báez, O.C.D. | "We rest when we seek a "solitary place" (Mk. 6:31) to be silent and enter into ourselves..." carmelitequotes.blog/2021/07/18/19j…
“And he said to them, 'Come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while'; for there were so many coming and going that there was no time for them even to eat.
Bishop @silviojbaez preaching (Mark 6:34)
"He saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things."
👉🏾"In many of our countries today, people live like "sheep without a shepherd"...
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"In many of our countries today, people live like "sheep without a shepherd", not only because of the scandalous lack of trustworthy leadership but also because those who rise to power have no compassion for the people." @silviojbaez
📸brightblightcafe/Flickr
Posoltega, 1999 2/7
"When there is compassion in politics, the dignity of each person is respected, leaders seek the welfare of all, they promote freedom, and foster social plurality as an asset...."
Bishop @silviojbaez
Homily 18 July 21 #GospelOfTheDay 3/7
There, at the beginning of the thirteenth century, under the title of “Saint Mary of Mount Carmel,” the Order of Carmelites had its formal beginning.
Photo: Ruins of the first Carmelite chapel in Wadi es-Siah on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land
2/11
From the fourteenth century this title, recalling the countless blessings of its patroness, began to be celebrated solemnly, first in England and then gradually throughout the whole Order.
Photo: Aylesford, England priory and St Simon Stock shrine
3/11
#OTD#history#22June 1948 the British Mandate ended & 50 British soldiers who were stationed at Stella Maris Church & Monastery on Mt Carmel hauled down their flag 🇬🇧 & marched down the street to set sail for England. As the time for their departure approached...
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... the Vicar for the Latin Patriarch🇻🇦 in Jerusalem met a political representative for the new Israeli government 🇮🇱 at Stella Maris Monastery on Mount Carmel at Haifa & pressed him for an assurance that the Carmelites' property, which the British army had requisitioned... 2/8
... would be fully restored to them when the British troops withdrew from the country. The Israeli representative replied that, if Stella Maris property had been retained by the British for almost 10 years, it was because of its obvious strategic importance... 3/8
🌊⛈️Bishop Silvio José Báez, O.C.D. preaching: "In the storm, the disciples cried out in despair, 'Master, don't you care that we are sinking'?" (Mk 4:38). @silviojbaez#BaezHomilia#GospelOfTheDay
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"...Jesus woke up, calmed the wind and the sea and a great calm ensued (Mk 4:39), and then he said to the disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Have you no faith?" (Mk 4:40)...."
Bishop @silviojbaez preaching on the #GospelOfTheDay 2/5 📷Mediterranean seen from Stella Maris, Israel
Bishop Silvio José Báez, O.C.D. preaching: "Where #fear begins, #faith ends. #Jesus reproaches them for their fear because they forgot him and felt that they were alone. Although Jesus was asleep, he was there with them..." @silviojbaez 3/5
📷Westminster College, Cambridge🏴
Bishop @silviojbaez preaching: "The evangelist does not neglect an important detail in relation to the cup of wine, saying: "And they all drank" (Mk 14:23). No one was excluded..." #CorpusChristiSunday
🎨Vasily Polenov, Last Supper
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"...The Eucharist is not a gift offered exclusively to select persons who have attained a high degree of sanctity. The Eucharist is destined for all disciples of Jesus..."
Bishop @silviojbaez #CorpusChristi Sunday 2/4
Bishop @silviojbaez preaching: "The Eucharist is destined for all disciples of Jesus, in a special way for the poor, those who are less fortunate, the sinner, those who are lost and have gone astray..." #CorpusChristiSunday 3/4