J M J T
The
Carmelite Novitiate
OUTLOOK
Published
Monthly by the Discalced Carmelite Fathers, Our Lady’s Hill, Waverly, New York
Volume 1, No. 4 March 1962
Dear
Friends,
Anyone who visits a Carmelite
Monastery can’t help noticing the tranquil, restful and prayerful atmosphere
that pervades it. That same atmosphere
is to be found here, except that, from the day we took up residence, it took on
and retained a somewhat ‘hectic’ quality.
The last weeks of January and the first weeks of February, however, were
noticeably quieter. During this time a
certain amount of orderliness and neatness became evident; even the dust
remained pretty much out of circulation.
Since then a new rash of activity has broken out and the monastery is a
‘mess’ once again. You see, we brought
to a close the consultation and discussion phase of our interior finishing
project, and entered upon the experimental stage.
A trio of tile-setters were here on
a voluntary basis to lay, as an experiment, a couple of hundred square feet of
flagstone tile. Trial furniture for one
of the cells was made for us by a designer friend of the Novice-Master. But the really ‘big’ experiment has been in
regard to the painting. We’ve been
trying out the suggested color schemes for cells and corridors.
The paint experts we called in
advised us to paint the walls and ceilings of the corridors a light, soft
gray. For the sake of contrast, we were
told to paint the bottom edges of the pre-stressed concrete beams (which are of
an inverted, shallow U-shape in cross-section) a bright red. We tried this out at one end of the second
floor corridor just outside the Novice-Master’s office and bedroom (Imagine! He
has a suite of cells). The result is a
soft, pleasant-looking gray field intersected at close intervals by twin bars
of bright red. When we gathered around
it to inspect it, Father Timothy couldn’t conceal his amusement. “You know that it makes me think of?” he
asked. “The Peppermint Lounge.” Perhaps it is the thought of this ceiling
that makes the Novices, who must go frequently to the Novice-Master’s cell,
twist and squirm so during the time of Mental Prayer. We have since decided to paint the ceiling an off-white. We also chose beige instead of green as the
color for the individual cells.
Having spoken of the Novice-Master,
I now call your attention to his picture.
It was snapped in his office shortly after it had been painted. You can still see the scaffolding in the
picture. He is shown putting the
finishing touches on the main ‘stations’ of the Intercom system. This place is so big he needs one in order
to keep in touch with his charges who during work periods are dispersed
throughout the monastery.
Father Master’s (this is the title
by which the Novice-Master is customarily addressed) name in the Order is
Father Martin of Jesus. He was born
Richard Herman, a native of Chicago, Illinois, (but we love him anyway) in
December 1924. He attended public
grammar school and then entered Mt. Carmel High in Chicago. While a student there he joined the
wrestling team and won the regional title of the heavyweight division. This gives him tremendous prestige with the
Novices (and with the Fathers, too).
In November of 1943 Father Martin went into the Army
and served 2 ½ years. Four months were
spent in the European Theatre, and ten months with the occupation troops in the
Philippines. While on the Islands he
befriended the Carmelite Nuns of Manila, and helped them considerably in those
trying times. (I am convinced that it
was thus that he earned his vocation to Carmel. You can’t believe it till you’ve experienced it, how many and
great blessings come to those who befriend and assist our Carmelite Nuns.)
After his return from the Armed
Forces, Father Martin entered the Order.
In August 1946 he began his Novitiate and a year later made his Simple
(first and temporary) Profession of Vows.
From there he went to our Monastery at Holy Hill, Wisconsin for his
studies in Philosophy. In due time
(after three years) he made his Solemn (final and perpetual) Profession of Vows
and was sent to study Theology at our International College in Rome,
Italy. It was in the Eternal City, in
June of 1953, that he was ordained a Priest.
Upon his return to the States in
1954, Father Martin was appointed Vice-Rector of our Minor Seminary (St.
Joseph’s) in Peterborough, N.H.
Following the triennial election of 1954 he was appointed Master of
Novices. Then in the most recent
elections, those of 1960, he was elected 3rd Provincial
Definitor. (The Provincial and his
board of four definitors – counselors – are the ones who govern the
Province). He was also reappointed the
Master of Novices, an office he continues to hold and administer with
distinction.
We are very proud and fond of Father
Master. He is somewhat a clown (in the
good sense) and it is a delight to live in the same community with him. What is more important, he is an exemplary
Carmelite. His love and zeal for the
ideals of Carmel are outstanding. With
him to guide and form our Novices, we are confident of a bright future for the
Province and for the Order in America.
We call your attention, also, to the
new Novices. They completed their
six-month Postulancy and received the habit of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on March
13. Seated left to right are: Brother Guy of the Blessed Virgin Mary and
Brother Columba of the Most Precious Blood.
Standing left to right are: Brother
Brendan of Our Lady of Sorrows, Brother Joachim of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and
Brother James of the Infant Jesus. We
ask you to pray that they persevere in their exalted vocation. They will be lay brothers.
The other pictures are included for
your general interest. (Note to
reader: We no longer have these photos
to share with you.)
* * * *
We were surprised to receive quite a number of
‘green stamps’ from three or four of our friends. We did not solicit them, but since we are saving them anyway, we
were very happy to receive them. We
would be very grateful if others were to send them to us, too.
* * * *
We don’t know whether it is just a coincidence or
whether, subconsciously, we are straining for effect, but several features of
our interior decorating project have reminded us of characteristic elements
that constitutes the effort a man must make in order to adorn his soul with
outstanding virtue. Because the
similarities are so striking, and because we seemed to achieve modest success
in comparing the ascent of the mount of perfection with driving up our
snow-covered hill, we are emboldened to record these thoughts, also.
Spiritual authors liken the soul of a saintly man to
a garden in which are growing the most beautiful flowers of virtue. The Divine Gardener, they tell us, loves to
walk through this garden to take His delight and to find refreshment for His
spirit. For our purpose, we will have
to compare the sanctified soul to a palace whose many rooms are variously and
exquisitely appointed. In this case it
would be the different rooms that would gladden the heart of the Divine Lord of
the palace.
We might begin by comparing our unadorned monastery
to a man who manages to stay out of serious sin and who is able adequately
enough to fulfill his obligations to God and man. Our building is solid and serviceable. It even possesses a kind of rough, raw beauty. But looking at it in its unfinished state
day after day and week after week wearies and depresses our spirits. So it is in the case of the man we have just
described. Our Lord finds him
substantially serviceable and finds a certain amount of order in his life, but
cannot really take His complacence in such a one because, seeing the
possibilities of vast improvement, even to the point of rare beauty, without
seeing him make any efforts to acquire it, weary and depress Him.
We notice, next, that our decorating project
proceeds about as quickly as our progress in gaining virtue. Here at the monastery we are moving forward
at the speed of a lethargic snail.
Sometimes it seems we are not advancing at all, but perpetually
beginning. Those who have made some
efforts to acquire virtue know that this is ordinarily true. Most of our forays after sanctity seem to
lead into blind alleys. How few and
far between the substantial gains, and how modest.
Again, in setting about finishing the interior of
the monastery, we have had to throw it into a state of confusion. We have to drag in all the props: scaffolding, drop cloths, messy paint
buckets, cement mixers, sand, and other equipment. This makes the monastery look much worse. But when the work has been done, and all
this is cleared away, then how pleased we are with the results, how well
worthwhile were those few days of greater disorder.
In making the virtues our own, we have to throw our
lives into a kind of confusion, too. We
do so by doing violence to our easy-going, relaxed habits of mediocrity and
indifference. This upsets our ‘route’,
it forces us out of our comfortable rut and we feel uneasy and unsettled. But when violence has done its work, is laid
aside, and we experience the ‘kingdom of heaven’ within us, then we realize
that what we have purchased far, far exceeds the price paid.
In planning the décor, we had to have the help of
experts. The new novitiate admits of so
many possibilities that not even they could decide in an instant upon the most
suitable overall plan. This reminds us
of our need for a spiritual director. A
man who as yet does not possess the virtues doesn’t know what differences they
would make in his conduct if he had them.
A perfect grasp of the overall perspective and the orientation of soul
that virtues afford are beyond him. A
prudent and virtuous advisor must be consulted.
A visit to the monastery by Father Adrian, professor
of English at our Minor Seminary in Peterborough, N.H. brought home to us one
of the most important advantages of having an advisor. Father is an artist and has extraordinary
good taste in architecture, interior decorating and furnishing. He suggested something we never thought
of: finishing certain walls and
sections of walls in two or three rooms in wood paneling. This, he said, would soften the effect of
the brick, cement block and concrete beams.
It would add warmth and charm, besides.
He also suggested that on the brick wall, the first thing seen upon
entering the monastery, we place a stylized aluminum shield of the Order and
the words, also in aluminum: On
Mount Carmel – God alone and I.
Now, Sanctity that is achieved without the aid of a spiritual director (if this is possible) is almost always of a cold, rigid and harsh variety. The assistance of a saintly (or learned) advisor will insure that our virtues possess warmth and charm and sweetness. Another thing, our director keeps the goal (God alone) always before our eyes. He never lets us lose sight of it lest we get lost in a maze of technical procedures or begin to confuse the means with the end in view.
Finally, no progress is made without the aid of
divine grace. In fact, grace and virtue
grow and develop together. A certain
amount of grace can be earned by our own efforts through the performance of
good works. The greater share of grace,
we soon discover, is granted as an outright gift. Not only that, but we have to ask for it. The more we protest in prayer our need of
supernatural grace and the more successful we are in convincing Jesus of our
need (by humility), the sooner and more abundantly will it be bestowed.
The last feature is the one that most closely
resembles our situation here. Because
there are so few priests assigned here, the amount of income we earn by
preaching and other priestly ministrations falls far short of our needs. We must depend upon outside help. It is easy to proclaim our needs, it is not
easy to be convincing. As things stand
right now we are bogged down for lack of funds to purchase paint, tile, lumber
and other necessary supplies. We hate
to ask our readers for donations because most of them are of moderate
means. So we humbly suggest that, this
being lent, perhaps they would be willing to save their small change for us
during the Holy Season and send us the accumulation at Eastertime. This, we are sure, would be a considerable
help. Those doing so can rejoice in the
thought that they are making this monastery a suitable place in which to train
our young men for the Priesthood and the Brotherhood in the Discalced Carmelite
Order. For time and for eternity donors
will share in the Masses, prayers and good works of all the priests and
brothers who are trained here.
* * * *
Every year, when we come to the beginning
of Lent, we resolve that this time we are going to reap some rich spiritual
profit from the penitential discipline prescribed by Holy Mother Church. And from the Preface appointed to be read at
all the Lenten Masses, we discover what the results should be: “…by means of bodily fast Thou dost crush
vice, elevate the mind, bestow virtue and rewards.” These ends are well worth working for. Once they have been attained, we can say we have risen to a new
life with Christ.
To further sharpen our appetite for
this risen life, and to get an insight into what it involved, we can meditate
briefly upon an event in the life of Our Lord that symbolizes beautifully a
“new life” in Christ. That incident is
the Transfiguration.
You all know the story well. It is appointed to be read as the Gospel of
the Second Sunday of Lent:
“At that time Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves and was transfigured before them and his face shone as the sun, and his garments became white as snow. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking together with him. Then Peter addressed Jesus saying, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If thou wilt, let us set up three tents here, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias.” As he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him.”
In this story, Jesus represents the
Church; Peter, James and John represent our intellect (mind), memory, and will
(heart). Jesus leading them up the high
mountain apart signifies the church prescribing the penitential season of Lent,
whose practices faithfully observed enable us to rise up and live on a lofty
plane, the level of intense Faith, Hope and Charity. By reason of these virtues we transcend the purely natural, and
participate in the life of God Himself.
When we have reached this level, we
find our life transformed. A new
dimension is added. We find Jesus
transfigured. His face shines as the
sun and His garments are as white as snow.
This means we see the Church in a new light. If our Faith is weak the Church seems to be just another society
composed of sinful men subject to the same frailties we have all fallen heirs
to as children of a fallen race.
Scandals arise even among the clergy and the hierarchy.
Profound Faith, however, enables us
to see the Church as she really is, the Mystical Christ living among us. In and through the Church He continues to be
the brilliant sun that sheds light for the mind, warmth for the heart and the
divine energy without which no one supernaturally lives or moves. In His body, the Church, He continues to
suffer, to redeem, to offer sacrifice, to act as the unique mediator between
God and man.
It is Faith; too, that makes the
garments of the Mystical Christ shine resplendently white. These garments are the Dogmas of the Church,
the word symbols and the human concepts, which clothe the Mysteries of Divine
Revelation. Because they are mysteries,
that is, beyond the power of any created intellect to understand, they often
seem cold, arid and unappealing. But
firm Faith gives us an insight into them.
In some unaccountable way, under the influence of Faith, the formulations
in human language of supernatural truth become freighted with meaning,
luminous. We see that they convey pure,
unadulterated, unrefracted reality.
Though we still cannot comprehend Divine Mysteries, they shine with a
clarity that dispels all fog of doubt.
Moses and Elias appear talking together
with Jesus. Moses, as you well know,
represents the Law, i.e., moral and liturgical law. He is its personification. Hope is related to the moral law and the liturgy
for it is these which beget confidenc7e and security in the spiritual life.
They are the infallible means, which, if we are faithful to them, will
guarantee our entrance into eternal life.
Without hope, though, they seem to be dead letter.
Worse yet, they seem arbitrary, unconvincing, and therefore burdensome,
confining. They seem to take all the zest out of life.
Hope founded upon lively Faith
changes our attitude toward these codes.
Under its influence the church’s legal and liturgical discipline are
seen to be alive with the spirit of God, dynamic, vivifying. The way of life she prescribes for her
children no longer is narrow and restricting.
It broadens and liberates.
Everything is seen to be perfectly consistent with the conduct and
activities of God the Supreme Reality.
A Catholic life fully lived makes a man conversant with Jesus
Christ. Those virtues, which
distinguished the life of Christ on earth, are its predominant traits.
Elias represents the prophets, those
chosen souls who enjoyed divine intimacy and to whom God was pleased to
communicate His mind and His thoughts, His plans and His purposes on behalf of
Humankind. Thus Elias is the
personification of personal prayer, contemplation and their first fruits, the
Apostolate. All these are obviously
related to ardent Charity.
Without Charity we are likely to see
a fellow Catholic, and ourselves, and just another name on a Church register,
as just another statistic sitting in the Sunday morning congregation. An appreciation of his (and our own) true
nature and dignity is conspicuous for its absence. Fervent Charity, however, awakens in us the awareness of our
identity (and that of our fellows) as children of God, brothers of Jesus
Christ, heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Charity inspires sentiments of filial devotion to God the Father and
emboldens us to enter into terms of loving intimacy with Him. Charity gives us an instinct by which we are
gently, powerfully urged from within to seek the company of God the Trinity in
prayerfulness and recollection. To
those who follow these inclinations God sees fit to communicate His secrets and
to refresh and strengthen their spirit with a subtle sense of sweetness of His
presence and His loving concern.
These things in turn make a man
zealous for the Lord God of Hosts. Like
Elias (the Leader and Father of Carmelites) he does not fear to stand up and
fight to vindicate His rights; he is unflagging in his efforts to lead a
straying people back to their God.
Charity gives us new eyes for our
fellow men. We don’t see the evil and
ugliness (it’s in us, too), which infects them, but rather the image of God in
them. Mercy and compassion becomes our
habitual response in the face of physical, moral and spiritual suffering.
Peter, speaking for James and John
as well as for himself, wanted to stay there on the Mount with Jesus, Moses and
Elias forever. But God the Father came
in a cloud to overshadow the vision and commanded rather that they hear His
Son. What does the Son say? “Go ye therefore, make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them…”
The fact of our earthly mode of
existence casts a shadow over the joy that Faith, Hope and Charity are well
calculated to bring us. It is not for
us to enjoy the sweetness of contemplation all the time here below. God wills instead that we should combine it
with some kind of Apostolate. The
ultimate proof that we have attained to the risen life here below does not lie
in the personal satisfaction we derive from the practice of our Religion, but in
our sincere efforts (which are fruitless without the Cross) to share with
others the spiritual blessings and riches that are our inheritance.
Cordially yours in Our Lady,
Father Bruno, OCD Prior
(With permission of
Religious
And Ecclesiastical Superiors)
L.D.V.Q.M
* * * *
Note
to the reader: This newsletter was written in the 60’s and
Waverly Novitiate no longer exists, however, the Carmelites are always in
need of funds to carry out their work. If
anyone wishes to contribute to the cause of the Discalced Carmelite Friars,
please send your donations to: In appreciation
for Fr. Bruno's Works, Mission Procurator, P.O. Box 270136, Hartford, WI
53027.