OUTLOOK

Published Monthly by the Discalced Carmelite Fathers, Our Lady’s Hill, Waverly, New York

Volume 1, No. 6 May 1962

Dear Friends of Carmel,

We owe some of you an apology. As you recall, in last month’s OUTLOOK we said we were enclosing a leaflet prayer card bearing a picture and a very brief sketch of the life of Mother Aloysius, Discalced Carmelite and foundress of the Carmel of Concord, New Hampshire. Unfortunately we ran out of them with still about 200 envelopes to stuff. We had forgotten to take into account the fact that our mailing list has grown. (Woe to him who shows us an amiable countenance; we put his name on our OUTLOOK file.) Since we were late in getting out that last issue, we didn’t take time out to note the names of those of you who did not receive the prayer leaflet. Our hope is that your curiosity about her has been sufficiently aroused to induce you to write for information of your own accord. The address is:

Discalced Carmelite Monastery, 265 Pleasant Street, Concord, New Hampshire. It will be well worth the effort, really!

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On May 7, the day I began preparing the text of OUTLOOK for the printer, I wrote, among other things, “Spring has come at last to Our Lady’s Hill (that hollow sound you hear is me knocking on wood—my head) …” I included the part in parenthesis because I had a premonition, as I blithely announced the arrival of Spring, that I was courting trouble. Well, the next morning, May 8^th, my worst fears were justified. We got up to a driving snow-squall. The ground was completely white and the trees weighted down with the heavy, damp stuff. What a disappointment! I couldn’t help thinking: This is a terrible price to pay for discovering that my head is not made of wood! I think I would have preferred to remain in my ignorance.

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We had also intended to announce joyfully that, with the coming of the warm weather, we were able to shut off our boiler for good until the fall. This would have been a most valid reason for rejoicing, for the boiler gulps away fuel oil in fearsome draughts, 950 gallons per week. As it is, we have had (Oh! Sob!) to start it up again. In all, it was off about ten days. It makes us feel like the stranger in downtown New York, who, after he was bowled over and trampled by a rush-hour crowd, picked himself up, brushed himself off, sighed with relief, turned and walked briskly away… smack into a lamp post.

You will notice that we are including a different type of picture for (the most part) in this month’s OUTLOOK. Up to now almost all the photos we have shown were of the Novices and Friars working, recreating, eating or sitting at their desks. We had also put in some random shots (not the same as pot shots) we had taken of the building and of the landscape. For fear that our readers will think that we never do any praying, we decided it was time we showed some pictures of ourselves taking part in various liturgical functions. After all, it is the religious aspect of our life, which is most important.

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We also depart from our usual wont this month in showing a picture of my friends from Rochester, N.Y., who came again on April 28 and painted our Refectory. You see them resting and refreshing themselves after an exhausting day. This will sound like a pack of lies, I know, but they say they enjoyed every phase of their stay here: sleeping on our Carmelite beds, partaking of our Carmelite diet (the Rule forbids the use of flesh meat except in the case of illness or infirmity) and putting in a full day of hard work. And, wonder of wonders, they seem to be more anxious to see the painting completed than we are. In fact, they claim that there are gangs of people who would be delighted to come and volunteer a day’s work every now and then, and they keep encouraging us to advertise for such help. So, since we trust in their judgment, we will do as they say. We hereby invite every male reader of OUTLOOK (and his friends—provided he lives within a reasonable distance) to come and help us paint the interior of the monastery. We will supply all the equipment. If necessary, you may come on a Friday evening and sleep here overnight, so as not to lose too much time on one day traveling. If you live in Rochester, get in touch with Mr. Michael Macaluso, Jr. of 222 Chili Avenue, FA 8-9707. If you live in Waverly, Sayre, Athens, Elmira, the Tri-Cities or Syracuse, get in touch with either Father Martin (the Notice Master) or myself, Father Bruno, here at the Monastery, LN 5-2801, area code 607, and reverse the charges. We guarantee you will find the experience rewarding (of coming and painting, that is).

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One day in May we were visited by the sophomore class of the Muncy, Pa. Public High School, a fine bunch of youngsters. Several weeks before, their History Teacher had arranged with me for a tour of the Monastery. It turned out that only one of the group of 49 students was a Catholic. This didn’t seem to make any difference and as the tour proceeded, it was easy enough to speak to them and feel that I was being understood. Then we came to the Choir, Chapel, Sacristy etc., and I started to tell them about the Divine Office, the Mass, and to show them the Mass vestments and appurtenances. Then I began to feel as if I were addressing people from another planet. Almost every other word I used was a technical one that only a Catholic could understand. If I had wanted to explain each one as we went along, I felt it would have been necessary to bring them through a complete course of instructions. So, whereas I had hoped to throw some light on the Catholic Faith and its practices, I must have succeeded only in confusing them altogether. Ah! How true it is, we should all be one! What an incentive to pray for the success of the Ecumenical Council!

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Well, it hasn’t taken us long to get to the bottom of our list of resident Fathers (Most Religious Superiors are glad when they get to the bottom of things), because of the six who are assigned to this Monastery, only four of us are here most of the time. Father Thomas Kilduff, O.C.D., our chief breadwinner, without whom we could never subsist, is almost always away on preaching assignments. The others, Father Gerard Taylor, O.C.D., upon whom we also lean heavily for support, is a Chaplain in the Navy. As a matter of fact, he is stationed aboard the Carrier Randolph. In our subsequent issues, we will say something about them, too.

This month’s featured Friar, then, is Father Timothy of Jesus Mary. Born John Patrick McGough on November 26, 1923, in Philadelphia (Germantown), Pennsylvania. Father Timothy received his elementary education in his Parish School, under the direction of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Father is one of a small group of our men who share the extraordinary distinction of having received all of their secondary and higher education from the Order. At the age of 13, when, (to use his own words) he was a big hulk of a fellow weighing 95 pounds and towering 4’4” into space, he entered our Minor Seminary, then located at Holy Hill, Wisconsin. His four years of high school having been completed, Father then entered, together with seven other young men, the Novitiate of the Province, which was at that time also at Holy Hill. Of this group of eight, all but one persevered and are today priests of the Order. The one who did not remain was forced to withdraw because of ill health, and later on, just one week before the Ordination of Father Timothy and his classmates, he died. Percentage-wise, the yield from this class of Novices remains the best in the History of the Province, and as a whole, was one of the most talented.

About four months after Father Timothy received the habit at Holy Hill, the Novitiate was transferred to Brookline, Mass. (It seems that Father Timothy has a penchant for moving with new Novitiates). It was there, then, that his noviceship was completed, and he made his profession of simple vows on August 30, 1943.From then on his career as a student-Friar followed the customary course: back to Holy Hill to our College of Philosophy, where, after 3 years in simple vows he made profession of solemn vows, then on to Washington, D.C., for theological studies and Ordination. December 14, 1949 is the memorable day on which Father Timothy was consecrated a priest of God.

For his first assignment as a priest, Father returned to Brookline, Massachusetts, where he served as confessor to the Novices. (He serves in that capacity here at Waverly, too. Since the Constitutions of the Order decree that only Religious who are exemplary in virtue and in the genuine Spirit of Carmel are to be appointed as confessors of Novices, this assignment stands as an official tribute to his personal sanctity.

During the six years he was first at Brookline, Father Timothy also engaged frequently in the preaching of retreats, novenas, days of recollection, etc., and at times assisted on weekends in nearby parishes. Before long he had earned a reputation as an excellent preacher, and was particularly successful in dealing with teenagers, as the many requests he receives to preach high school retreats clearly attest. Then, in 1954, Father Timothy was appointed Sub-prior and Master of Students at Holy Hill. When his term of office terminated, he returned to Brookline to assume the duties of Director of Vocations in the Eastern part of the Province. Though he continues to fulfill that office, Father’s territory is now restricted to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, since there has been a priest appointed in various of the other monasteries throughout the province to serve as regional directors.

There is little we can add to what is already said to indicate the depth and breadth and variety of Father Timothy’s character, personality and interests because he didn’t have much of a ‘past’ outside the Order. He is, though, a well-rounded man (aside from the fact that, like most of us, he is fighting the battle of the bulge.) Most important of all, he has been one of the nicest and most likeable personalities of anyone I have ever met. His presence in the monastery exerts, I find, a stabilizing influence, and contributes powerfully to keeping the atmosphere calm and cheerful and relaxed. He laughs readily, even to my (to borrow an expression) jokes. We all love him and thank God for having called him to our beloved Order.

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This being May the month of the Blessed Mother and of all mothers, it is only right that we make some feeble effort to pay fitting tribute to those most wonderful and lovable of all God’s creatures. The goodness and greatness of God is manifested in all creation, since to each and every individual creature He has imparted at least some degree of participation in His Being and Perfection. But of them all, none so perfectly embody and mirror His most characteristic attributes, as do mothers.

At first sight, this may seem to be utterly false, since we call God “Father”, and in point of fact, this is the most appropriate of all His titles. It seems to violate Scripture, too, for St. Paul told the faithful of Corinth: “…he (a man) is the image and glory of God. But woman is the glory of man.” (1 Cor. 11.7) Nevertheless we stand by our assertion.

Were we to defend it on sentimental grounds only, there would be no argument, for we all admit that it is the thought of our mother that ordinarily awakens in us the most tender and affectionate memories. Likewise we are all accustomed, taking the hint from the heart, to attribute the best and most noble that is in us to the direct influence of our mother. There are, however, some sound reasons, which justify our statement.

What is it that distinguishes a mother and is most proper to her? The maternal instinct! And what else is this but the constant and permanent disposition to hasten to the aid of the little, the helpless, the indigent, the suffering, in a word, to all less fortunate than herself. Just think of a mother in relation to her little child! She has everything, the perfection of human nature and its faculties. The child is a bundle of helplessness and indigence. What does a mother’s instinct impel her to do? To dedicate her whole being to the welfare of the child, to share with it all she has and is, to communicate herself, to give of herself, to exhaust herself in its service, rearing it and bringing it along to the state of maturity. A mother has no separate interests, no distinct goals. Hers are the interests and the goals of her children. She is not happy unless they are happy. This is true, I say, of every good mother, indeed of every good woman since God has given them all the maternal instinct.

But is this not exactly what is most proper to God? Is He not Love? Is not love described as ‘diffusivum sui’ (diffusive of itself)? Is it not proper to God to share, to communicate and to exercise providential care over the needy and the indigent? Yes, His is the constant and permanent disposition to take what is not and bring it into being, to take what is injured and faulty and repair it, to take what is already good and enhance it, making it better and nobler. A mother continues to give until there is complete equality between herself and her child. God, too, gives until he has made us equal to Himself. We share His life; we are His children in virtue of Sanctifying grace. We are gods by participation. It is clear, then, that mothers are the embodiment of all that is most perfect and lovable in God Himself.

Therefore we thank God for our mothers. We ask Him to bless them all and to make them more like Himself, for in being true and perfect mothers they find their own consummate happiness, which is, after all, what we most want for them.

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Since we are on the subject of mothers, let us make use of the concept of maternity to illustrate the relationship that exists between the soul of every faithful Christian and Jesus Christ. Every true Christian soul is the bride of Christ, and the union of man and woman in wedlock is but the image of the union that makes a Christian soul one with Jesus its spouse. Let us consider the analogy.

A woman becomes a mother by receiving the seed of life from the one she loves most in this world and hiding it deep in the darkness and warmth within her. There she nourishes it out of her very substance. Though it is the father who nourishes the life of both mother and unborn child by providing the bread, which will sustain them, nevertheless, the manner in which a mother nourishes her unborn child is more perfect and more direct. The elements that go to constitute the body of her unborn child must first be incorporated into her own body. Then she is able to communicate them to the child; they must be her own first.

Again, a man cannot become a father without the cooperation of a woman, who, because of her love for him, consents to accept the seed of life. All this is verified by way of similarity, between Christ and the faithful Christian soul.

Every human soul loves truth and goodness, for these are the proper objects of mind and heart. But a true Christian knows that Jesus, the Word of God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, is incarnate truth and goodness. Therefore every good Christian is enamoured of Jesus. In the Messianic prophecies He is called the Father of the World-To-Come. But He needs the cooperation of others if He is to engender divine life in souls. He desires to impart the seed of divine life to every Christian soul. He wills they all hide it deep within them in the darkness of Faith and the ardor of Charity; that they nourish it and develop it by the faithful practice of the Christian Religion until finally they bring forth new souls unto supernatural life. When the Christian soul has earned divine life for some soul that would never have enjoyed it otherwise, it has brought forth children of Jesus, its spouse.

Now it is well known that Jesus provides the bread and is the Bread that nourishes the divine life of His spouses, and thereby supplies them with what they need to engender new divine life. Notice here too, that, by the Divine Plan, the life of grace is transmitted only by those who possess it themselves, by those who already enjoy a modicum of sanctity. So a Christian soul cannot become the spiritual mother of souls unless it first incorporates the supernatural nourishment its spouse provides into its own divine life. Then it confers it upon, or at least obtains it for, other souls.

Every Christian soul, therefore, is expected to conceive children supernaturally by Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, a terrestrial dispensation, it was a reproach for a woman not to bear children, for thus she failed to achieve the perfection of her womanly nature. In the new and heavenly dispensation this is not so. But when we appear before the judgment seat of God, woe betide us if we cannot point to at least one other Christian soul that enjoys divine sonship through our instrumentality.

The greater the Saint, the greater the number of his or her spiritual offspring and the greater, ordinarily, the degree of participation in divine life the latter enjoy. This fact indicates how sublimely Holy is the Blessed Virgin Mary; she is the perfect and ever fruitful spouse of God the Holy Ghost. She is the mother of all souls who enjoy divine life, for it is her son, Jesus, who is the Father of them all. Then, too, her Son is not God by participation as all other faithful Christians. He is Very God. We can never love and reverence her enough.

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In speaking of mothers, we should not forget to pay tribute to Consecrated Virgins. They are Christian souls who, in virtue of their vow of Perfect Chastity, are Brides of Christ in a more perfect manner than any other of the Faithful. We especially wish to vindicate the Vow of Perfect Chastity against those who say that marriage and motherhood is better than the Religious State because Matrimony is a Sacrament. Were the ones who say this to understand the nature of a Sacrament, they would see the fallacy of their argument.

Actually, a Sacrament is essentially a symbol, an external act that signifies a supernatural effect. True, the sign confers what it symbolizes, but only because of a deliberate act of God which goes beyond His ordinary Providence in regard to nature. For of itself, the sign is not capable of achieving a supernatural effect. That power must be given to it by God.

In the sacrament of Matrimony, the marriage contract is the sensible sign. Of itself, this contract is not capable of bestowing sanctifying grace upon the two contracting parties. Neither is the union of wedlock capable of itself to produce children of God. Of itself it produces children of wrath, a far cry from divine life. So it is only by an act of Jesus’ will that marriage between two Christians has the power to confer grace. He had to raise it to the dignity of a sacrament, in other words. It is by fidelity to the practice of their Faith that Christian parents are able to obtain divine life for their children, and only in that way do they merit to become spiritual parents also. Matrimony, therefore, is a symbol, a mere shadow of the union that exists between Jesus and His Church.

Now the Vow of Chastity is capable of producing grace of its own accord. It doesn’t need a special act of God’s might to have this power. A Vow of Perfect Chastity amounts to a very intense act of Charity. The Church teaches that intense acts of Charity cause an increase of sanctifying grace. Besides, the union between Jesus with His consecrated Virgins is not a mere type of the union between Him and His Immaculate Bride, the Church. It is in and through these same Consecrated Virgins that He is united to the Church and begets children in Her. This is not the shadow; this is the Reality.

Thus we take special pride and joy in saluting also all Consecrated Virgins, whether they live in the Religious State or in the world. May our Divine Saviour see fit to attract to Himself a vast number of young and talented women to follow in their footsteps? We ask God to bless them all and make them all mothers of great throngs of spiritual progeny.

God bless you all.

Cordially yours in Our Lady,

Father Bruno, OCD, Prior

[With permission of Religious]

[And Ecclesiastical Superiors

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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.