“Happy is the man you choose, and bring to dwell in your courts.”
– Psalm 65:5 –
Beneath the external activities, our life is one of JOY and FREEDOM of heart. God, our Father calls us to this life, He sustains our life and rewards our life with PEACE and LOVE . Our life in Carmel is one of praising and thanking Him, repaying His LOVE with our LOVE. Like St. Therese, we are "Living on Love."
“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you
to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name He may give you.”
– John 15:16 –
Our Maker knows that we are but dust. Yet He is a Father to us. Treating us with compassion, in His merciful love,
His only desire from us is the good will in our heart and the way we perfect our LOVE .
My Beloved, my weakness is extreme.
Ah, I'm far from being an angel from heaven!...
But if I fall with each passing hour,
You come to my aid, lifting me up.
At each moment you give me your grace;
I live on Love.
– St. Therese of the Child Jesus –
“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him
will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.”
– John 15:5 –
Nourished by our Beloved in our daily Mass, we have the grace and strength to imitate His life on earth,
in His obedience to the Father, living in poverty and chastity, a life of heaven on earth, in the vocation of LOVE .
Living on Love is living on your life,
Glorious King, delight of the elect.
You live for me, hidden in a host.
I want to hide myself for you, O Jesus!
Lovers must have solitude,
A heart-to-heart lasting night and day.
Just one glance of yours makes my beatitude.
I live on Love!...
–- St. Therese of the Child Jesus –
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
– Luke 1:38 -
Imitating the Blessed Virgin Mary, her life and virtues, seeking her maternal protection and guidance,
O my dearest Mother, on this foreign shore
How many tears you shed to draw me to you! ….
You make me feel that it's not impossible
To follow in your footsteps, O Queen of the elect.
You made visible the narrow road to Heaven,
while practicing the humblest virtues.
The treasures of a mother belong to her child,
And I am your child, O my dearest Mother.
Aren't your virtues and your love mine too?
- St. Therese of the Child Jesus -
“By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, in quiet and in trust your strength lies.”
– Isaiah 30:15 –
Attending to our Beloved in the silence and solitude of the heart, we withdraw from the distractions of the world.
We imitate Jesus and Mary in service, doing every duty in prayer with LOVE.
Living on Love, what strange folly!”
The world says to me, “Ah! Stop your singing,
Don't waste your perfumes, your life.
Learn to use them well…”
Loving you, Jesus, is such a fruitful loss!...
All my perfumes are yours forever.
I want to sing on leaving this world: “I'm dying of Love!”
– St. Therese of the Child Jesus –
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
– Matthew 5:3 –
We choose to possess nothing so as to have Everything, Jesus, our Maker, our LOVE .
He provides for all our needs. We own everything in common and if we are ever in need, it is a sacrifice to make with LOVE .
Living on Love is giving without limit
Without claiming any wages here below.
Ah! I give without counting, truly sure
That when one loves, one does not keep count!...
Overflowing with tenderness, I have given everything,
To His Divine Heart…lightly I run.
I have nothing left but my only wealth:
Living on Love.
– St. Therese of the Child Jesus –
“I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”
– John 13:34 –
We live in a small family setting where all are equal and loved. Committed to be together for life,
we share each other's sorrows and joys, bearing with one another in love.
United in Jesus, desiring to advance together in virtues, we LOVE .
Living on Love is sailing unceasingly, Sowing peace and joy in every heart.
Beloved Pilot, Charity impels me, for I see you in my sister souls.
Charity is my only star.
In its brightness I sail straight ahead.
I've my motto written on my sail: “Living on Love.”
– St. Therese of the Child Jesus –
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross,and follow me.”
– Mark 8:34 –
To help in Jesus' redeeming work, we persevere in prayer in spite of dryness, distractions and temptations.
Above all, we wage war on our self-love. Mortifications, fasting and not having “my way” are ways we LOVE.
Living on Love is not setting up one's tent
At the top of Tabor.
It is climbing Calvary with Jesus,
It's looking at the Cross as a treasure!...
In Heaven I'm to live on joy.
Then trials will have fled forever,
But in exile, in suffering I want to live on Love.
– St. Therese of the Child Jesus –
“I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people will be filled with My blessings, says the LORD.”
– Jeremiah 31:13-15 –
To be the hidden helpers of our brother priests, ministers of Jesus,
who have to be angels living in the world fighting the spiritual battle
for the Church, inside the cloister of Carmel we Love .
Living on Love, O my Divine Master,
Is begging you to spread your Fire
In the holy, sacred soul of your Priest.
May he be purer than a seraphim in Heaven! …
Ah! Glorify your Immortal Church !
Jesus, do not be deaf to my sighs.
I, her child, sacrifice myself for her, I live on Love.
– St. Therese of the Child Jesus –
“God sent the spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!'
So you are no longer a slave but a child, and since you are a child,
God has made you also an heir.”
– Galatians 4:6-7 –
For all of us who live in darkness and the shadow of death, enslaved by the evil powers of the world,
we pray for our liberation and freedom to be children of our Father, we LOVE .
Living on Love is wiping your Face,
It's obtaining the pardon of sinners.
O God of Love! May they return to your grace,
And may they forever bless your Name…
Even in my heart the blasphemy resounds.
To efface it, I always want to sing:
“I adore and love your Sacred Name. I live on Love!...”
– St. Therese of the Child Jesus –
