Newsletter

Dear Friends of Carmel,

Speaking of Journey and the Joy, our summer issue was sent out just before this current Mt. Carmel mailing. The journal's over-all theme is Things Common to All of Us. The readers will enjoy such topics as what it means to pray for another person, how to live the simple life, quieting the restless heart and the Carmel within us. If you happened to have missed your renewal, the opportunity is still open. Please check the form on this flyer. The center-page features Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in full color, as depicted on the reverse side of this letter. All of this was made possible through our generous O. Carmelite Brothers, in Rome. The original hangs in their dining room.

With all the rains at the time of writing, we are thinking of declaring a sump pump appreciation day. More to the point, we hope to invest in an emergency generator. We smile at each other as we think about who will be the one to go out into the storm to start it. Janet Erskine Stuart used to tell her Sisters that it is the set of the soul that decides the goal and not the storm or the strife. We say, "There is no friend like a sister in calm or stormy weather." (Rossetti)

We have discovered a way to promise the world a rose garden, having already begun one to the east of our new building. We chose this site so that the roses would be sheltered from the harsh northwest winter winds. We are thinking that maybe our friends and family would like to be a part of this, by way of a memorial rose bush for their loved one or just having one planted in honor of someone special.

What does it mean to pray for another? It means to make their concerns our concerns. Be assured that we do this for you, every day. Shakespeare says that small showers may last long, but that sudden storms are usually short. We wish you just the right kind of showers, and a very happy summer. Thank you for being in our lives.

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O holy woman of tenderness and wise counsel

soothe a world that longs for simple joys and peaceful days.

With your gentleness, strengthen and renew all those who feel weighed down, and put all of us in touch with our own goodness.

Quietly, bring to harvest the season of growth within, and around us.

You, who hold our All within your embrace, tell us, again, that the best things in life are free, and usually are close at hand.

O Companion by Day and Comfort by Night, we believe that all true yearnings come from God and will be accomplished.

We place this cause in your hands. (Three Hail Marys. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us.)