450 Teresian Reform

450TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TERESIAN REFORM Message of the Superior General Communicationes ROMA-ITALIA (19-08-2012).- This year we celebrate an anniversary of particular significance: the 24th of August will see the completion of 450 years since the foundation of St. Joseph’s in Avila, and therefore too, since the beginning of Teresa’s reform.To read the entire message and other related events you may visit the website of the OCD Generalate in Rome www.carmelitaniscalzi.com. Vatican City, (VIS) - The holy father, Pope Benedict XVI has also sent a message to Bishop Jesus Garcia Burillo of Avila, Spain, to mark the 450th anniversary of the foundation of the Monastery of St. Joseph and the beginning of the Carmelite reform by St. Teresa of Avila. The message, ample extracts of which are given below, is dated 16 July. "The reform of the Carmelite Order, the anniversary of which fills us with inner joy, arose from prayer and tends towards prayer. In promoting a radical return to the original Rule and abandoning the mitigated Rule, St. Teresa of Jesus sought to create a form of life which favoured a personal encounter with the Lord, finding 'a place where we can be alone and look upon Him present within us. Nor need we feel strange in the presence of so kind a Guest'". "St. Teresa presented a new way of being Carmelite in a world which was also new.

Reopening of the Troostbasilica

On 18 March, was the Troostbasilica reopened to the public (after 2 and a haf years of the interior restoration). The significant event was marked by a solemn concelebrated Mass with Godfried Cardinal Danneels as the main celebrant. There were 14 concelebrating priests and around 400 people who joined in the celebration. Some had to sit in the verrijzenispandwhere they could follow the Mass through a large screen. We will try to publish an excert of the beautiful and touching of the homily of the Cardinal when we get hold of the copy.

The most touching parts were the re-enthronement of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Consolation and the moment of Adoration after the blessing of the new altar-tabernacle while the choir was singing Ave Verum.

More photos to follow...

Please our apology for the delay in updating our blog. We had problem in accessing our blog account. Thank you for your understanding and patience! A blessed lenten season

Blessng of our new devotional room

Fr. Paul De Bois blessing the new devotional room

Chanting the Litany to Our Lady

On 30 September after the 11:30 Mass, our Carmelite confessor, Fr. Paul De Bois, blessed our new devotional room at the entrance of the Troostbasilica. The Sisters led the chanting of the Litany to Our Lady while in procession from the inside chapel to this area followed our daily church goers. After praying the blessing, Father sprinkle the room with holy water then everyone laid down his/her votive candle. From this day on, the people can already pass through the basilica to the inside chapel for daily Mass, Rosary and the Divine Office.

First Profession of Vows of Sr. Marie Paul Thérèse

Sr. Marie Paul Therese of Jesus the Good Shepherd

On October 1, feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Sr. Marie Paul Therese, made her First Profession of Vows in the hands of our Reverend Mother Prioress, Mother Lutgardis, within the Mass presided by our Carmelite confessor, Fr. Paul De Bois.



Signing her profession document before giving to the presider, who in turn lays it on the altar.



prostrating on the ground while the community sings the Te Deum



Father hands her the Cross as a sign of her being abride of Christ



and a copy of our Rule and Contsitutions.



Everyone embraces the bride while we sing the Magnificat.



Sr. Luisa and Sr. Socoro accompanying with guitar and flute
the offertory song, "Shepherd of My Soul"




The bride receiving Holy Communion



Sr. Lugart accompanying Sr. Carmela with the cithar for the Communion song.



Community photo after the Mass




The community singing a song for the bride at recreation.



A treat to the bride

Opening her gifts

Her profession liturgy booklet

16 July- Solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Our celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel was simple yet solemn.
As in the previous years, we re-introduced to the people the brown scapular, which is not so popular anymore here in Belgium as before. An Orthodox priest, who was present in the Mass, called up later during the day that he found our Eucharistic celebration very beautiful!

We had also a paraliturgy in the choir on the eve of the feast in Her honor and and our Mother prioress' feast. We have agreed to celebrate her feast as prioress every July 16 instead of the Good Shepherd Sunday, which always falls on the same week with our "Troostkermis"".

In the well-decorated recreation room, some gifts were laid on the table. We first sang an opening hymne, Mother shared with us her retreat account and then we ended with a hymne to Our Blessed Mother.

Our Mother looking intently at the gifts of the Sisters.

Below is an excerpt from our DVD recorded presentation for Mother's feast, which was entitled in Flemish: "Karmel in beelden en liederen" (Carmel in images and songs)
This particular song that the Sisters interpreted with actions is our holy Mother St. Teresa's famous prayer, "Let Nothing Disturb You".

Another song was : "My Love" based on the Spiritual Canticle of St John of the Cross.

First visit of our new archbishop

Our new archbishop, Monsignor André Joseph Léonard,
came to meet our community for the first time on 3 July 2011,
feast of St. Thomas, the apostle.

Paying homage to Our Lady of Consolation.

After joining us in praying the Rosary, Vespers and one-hour Adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament, we invited him for supper, so we could exchange some words with him. He obviously loves our spirituality especially the "Little Way" of St. Therese.

Monsignor signed our Golden Book for the archives before he left.

June 16- Feastday of Mother Prioress and Sister subprioress

Our Mother and Sister subrprioress happen to have the same patron Saint, St Lutgardis, a Flemish mystic, so we celebrate their name-feastday together every year on June 16. This year our presentation was a combination of relgious and children's songs, which we interpretated with actions.

Group singing of a Marian hymne with Sr Luisa playing the guitar.

Sr. Marie Paul Therese played in the organ: " Be Gentle"

Sr. Marie Elisabeth played with her flute the music: " Play Before the Lord"

A duet-flute: "Sanctissima"

Sr. Carmela singing Maria Trapp's "Do-re-mi" with her banjitaar.

Sr. Luisa playing an instrumental music with the cithaar.

And this was after our nursery rhymes' presentation. Unfortunately, nobody has taken picture of the actual presentation because we were all participants. So we just posed after the number to give you an idea how we were dressed. We sang and interpreted songs; which we learned in our cathecism classes in the elementary years such; "Who made all the trees that grow...", "Anchona chicken", "Twinkle, twinkle little stars", "Ten Little Indians", "I am but a small voice" and finally "It is a small world after all."