This year we will be celebrating the 70th annual Mothers’ Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Middle Park (VIC).

Mass celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (16 July) was originally offered for all Australians serving or killed during World War II.

With the dawn of peace in 1945 this Mass was then offered for all mothers, living and deceased.

Welcome to this special issue celebrating the 70th anniversary of our annual Mothers' Mass.

First celebrated in 1945 this mass has been offered for all mothers (living and deceased) every year since. Join us at 10.30am on 19 July at the National Shrine, Middle Park for this year's special anniversary Mass.

Also in this issue we celebrate the life of Fr Noel Kierce who died recently and Fr Pat Harney who is still 'going strong' at 94 years of age!

You can also join us in our annual Novena of Prayer for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel using the prayers in this issue. These 9 days of prayer are offered for all the members of our Carmelite Family in Australia and Timor Leste.

Download this issue.

Pope Francis has approved decrees permitting the canonisation of the parents of St Thérèse of Lisieux.

Louis and Zélie Martin will be the first couple to be canonised together as husband and wife. Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, said the canonisation would testify to their “extraordinary witness of conjugal and familial spirituality”. (Source: Catholic Herald UK)

This teacher genuinely relates to struggling students.

As part of a special promotion in The Weekly Review (June 10-16 2015) Br Sean Keefe from Whitefriars College was interviewed by reporter Cheryl Critchley.

'Now a youthful 68, Sean is the perfect fit for a Carmelite school that prides itself on a strong community and social justice ethos. He has also been asked to mentor several Carmelite students, mostly from East Timor, as they train for the priesthood. It is a far cry from the days when he thought he was “a stupid boy from Louisville”', the article says.

Read more of Br Sean's story by clicking pdf here (1.18 MB) .

The Sisters of Mount Carmel's mission work in Timor-Leste has been enormously blessed since its foundation on 18 July 2013.

Four young Timorese women have entered the formation program in The Philippines. They are becoming ac­quainted with Carmel in the Philippines and began their postulancy program of studies at the end of May. Pic­tured from left: Sister Mailyn Batocabe, who accompanied the postulants to the Philippines; Natalina Exposto, Maria Sirene, Rosita Dos Santos, Anastacia Lima, Sister Remedios Natonton and Father Bruce Clark, OCarm., Regional Prior and Novice Master.

(Adapted from Contemplatives In Action, newsletter of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, US, Philippines & Timor Leste)

Monthly newsletter of the Carmelite Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Commission.

This month's issue is all about Pope Francis' new Encyclical, Laudato Si' - On the care of our common home.

It contains some reflections on the Encyclical from a Carmelite point of view together with a 10 point summary of the main message.

Download this issue by clicking the link below.

JPIC No 43 July 2015

You can download the full text of the Encyclical pdf here (423 KB) .