J M J T

 

The Carmelite Novitiate

OUTLOOK

 

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

Volume II, No. 8                                                                                                          July 1963

 

Dear Friends of Carmel,

 

            Were it not for the angels in the background it would be easy to believe that the picture of all those Carmelites on the insert was taken at a Police line-up (or wherever it is they take the photos that appear in rogues’ galleries).  But actually, it was taken on the steps of the Shrine Altar of our Monastery Church at Holy Hill, Wisconsin, during the recent triennial Chapter.  (We told you about that Chapter in the April-May issue of this monthly letter, remember?)  To this group of men will fall the praise or the blame for everything that comes about during this new regime (they look as if they couldn’t care less) because they are the ones who elected the Provincial, his Definitors, and the Priors for the next three years.  Since it’s considered normal to wonder what title is given to a piece of art that is ultra modern, way, way out, I’ve assumed you would like to know their names.  (Maybe I shouldn’t assume that the people who read OUTLOOK are normal.  I sometimes wonder whether its author is.)  So here they are:

 

            Front row, left to right:  Very Rev. Kieran Kavanaugh, 3rd Definitor; Very Rev. Martin Herman, 1st Definitor (our Master of Novices); Very Rev. Christopher Latimer, Provincial; Very Rev. Peter Duggan, 2nd Definitor, Very Rev. Emmanuel Sullivan, 4th Definitor, Second row, left to right:  Rev. Michael Griffin, Rev. Timothy McGough, Rev. Edward Lanzilla, Rev. Columban McGough (no relative to Fr. Timothy, however), Very Rev. Fidelis Fosselman, Prior of Holy Hill, and myself, Rev. Bruno Cocuzzi.  Back row, left to right:  Very Rev. Guy Lofy, Vicar (local superior) of St. Florian’s Monastery, Milwaukee, Rev. Joachim Bowes, Rev. Gregory Miller, Very Rev. Peter-Thomas Rohrbach, Prior of our House of Theology, Washington, Rev. Richard Madden, Very Rev. Benedict Bishop, Vicar of our Minor Seminary, Peterborough, N. H., and Very Rev. Joseph-Mary Flanery, Vicar Provincial of our missionaries in the Philippines.

 

            Unfortunately, the statue of Our Lady, Help of Christians, which those golden angels are supporting, isn’t entirely visible.  But as you can well imagine, my first thought after seeing the photograph was:  “Thank God she is there standing behind us and watching over us”.

 

            *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

 

            “All good things come to him who waits”.  This is a saying I first heard in Carmel, and it is used to console someone suffering under a long enduring trial.  The nice part of it is that it’s incontestable.  Should the sufferer question its validity, we can always say:  “You haven’t waited long enough”.

 

            Happily, our novices haven’t had to wait till the end of their Novitiate training to have this saying fulfilled.  Their waiting has already been rewarded to some extent in virtue of some nice things that have happened recently.

 

            First it was the airplane ride.  One Sunday the parents of Brother Thomas came flying down from Erie, Pa., to visit their son.  They came in a borrowed Beechcraft “Bonanza”.  (A few months earlier Mr. Luthringer had come flying down by car, but was ‘grounded’ by a State Trooper and made to pay a stiff fine).  That afternoon he took Fr. Master and all the Novices up for a spin in shifts.  (I don’t mean to say they were wearing nightgowns).  They all loved it.  In case you wonder, though, how I kept from worrying something might happen to them, it was by being too busy worrying the Novices might do something to the airplane.  (If you want to find out if anything you own is breakable, just send it to us The Novices are better at it than the Post Office).  But happily all went well.

 

            Second, we acquired a baby raccoon.  One afternoon Brother Marcellus heard some faint whimpering out by the loading dock.  When he went to investigate, he found Cynthia, who was so young she had a hard time of it, trying to drink milk from a saucer.  She too (oh, marvel!) survived the ministrations of the Novices, and we have been caring for her ever since.  A few of the Novices are very fond of her (Cynthia is really a he, by the way), and I dread having to tell them, eventually, that she is big enough to fend for herself and that we must set her free.  On the picture page you can see Brother Sebastian introducing her to the camera.

 

            The next nice thing to happen was receiving, as a gift, an International Cub Cadet.  (or is it Cadet Cub?)  It happened this way.  Two friends of Father Martin (also called Father Master), who came in to advise him on the laying of the floor tile, noticed on one occasion that the grass surrounding the building was in frightful condition.  Learning we have no mower, they offered to bring their own power mowers and cut it for us.  This they did, but discovered that there is more property around the building than meets the eye, and that the terrain makes it a long, tedious job.  The next day they phoned to ask if we would mind if they solicited donations from among their friends, acquaintances and the merchants of the valley for the purpose of buying us a power mower.  Well, we had enough wits about us that day to say we wouldn’t mind, and so in less than two weeks, lo and behold, they came up with the International Cadet Cub (or is it Cub Cadet?).  It is a miniature tractor and has twin-mowing rotors mounted underneath.  I mention this stroke of good fortune among nice things that have happened to the Novices, because they are the ones who will enjoy cutting the grass with it.  There you see Brother Brendan, smiling (?) happily as he tries it out.

 

            Just yesterday, as a sequel, the three of them (the original two enlisted the aid of a third friend to engineer the project) brought up a small hand power mower to use as a trimmer.  You can well imagine how pleased we are and grateful to our friends in the valley.  The valley, incidentally, is a valley lying at the foot of our Hill and in which are situated the towns of Waverly, in New York, South Waverly, Sayre, and Athens, all in Pennsylvania.

 

            The last of the happy incidents to brighten our life has been the tiling of the Novices’ cell floors.  This is perhaps the most appreciated of all.  Now our rooms no longer look like prison cells (don’t ask me if they feel like prison cells).  There you see Brother Columba doing his spiritual reading in his newly tiled cell.  Yes, indeed, all good things come to him who waits!

 

            It’s amazing how a dignified title can dress up a situation.  One day a laundry equipment salesman phoned and asked to speak with the administrator of the laundry.  Since I was not in at the time, Brother Joachim, who answers the door and phone, put on Brother Sebastian.  Besides being the barber, Brother does our weekly wash.  When the man started talking about selling us some marvelous new laundry machine, Brother Sebastian referred him to me (spoken like a true administrator) telling him to contact me by mail.  Shortly after, a letter did arrive, and with it an advertisement about the machine.  When Brother Sebastian asked me about it, I explained that this new laundry machine, which was newly developed, was so wonderful that all you had to do was put the dirty clothes in one end, and about an hour later they would come out the other end damp-dried and ready to be mangled.  With it one weak little Nun, so the blurb implied, could do all the laundry of a large institution (in this case the Franciscan Novitiate – or was it the Seminary – in Syracuse).  Well, Brother Sebastian was not impressed.  “Yeah”, he said.  “And at 5:00 o’clock four little old washerwomen climb out of the machine and go home.”  (We’ve got a gold mine here and don’t know it.)

 

            *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

            This is not the place to mention it, in view of that last parenthetical remark, because it will give the wrong impression.  Nevertheless, I am constrained to say how deeply grateful we are to all of you who have responded to our first annual appeal for financial assistance.  We are also very grateful to those of you who have sent alms unsolicited, and those of you who send us Mass offerings.  Your generosity is really out of the ordinary.  God will bless and reward you all.  Don’t be surprised, therefore, when an abundance of spiritual dividends come rolling in to you and your dear ones.

 

            *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

 

            Another pleasant surprise is to learn that people like this newsletter.  Some say they even give it to others (their enemies?) to read.  If any of you ‘others’ would also like to receive it, we will be glad to send it.  You see, we send it gratis to all our friends and benefactors.  (Dare I say that it is a terrible price to pay, being a friend of ours?)  Just write to us at the Carmelite Novitiate, Our Lady’s Hill, and P.O. BOX 189, WAVERLY, NEW YORK, 14892.

 

            *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

 

            It is a pleasure to introduce to you this month the Very Rev. Father Joseph-Mary of the Child Jesus, who appears in the large photo on the picture page.  As we noted above, he is the Vicar Provincial of our Fathers serving as missionaries in the Philippines.  The only snapshot of him we have was taken while he visited us briefly during May.  There you see him (he is on the left) with Father Daniel, O.C.D., breakfasting at the bar built by Father Martin.

 

            Father was born John P. Flanery in Rosiclaire (sounds like a breakfast roll), Illinois, on Christmas day, 1921.  For his primary and secondary education, Father attended the public schools of Rosiclaire, and then entered Southern Illinois University, at Carbondale.  It was there, at the age of 21, that he was reborn in the waters of Baptism, for Father Joseph-Mary is a convert.  Thus he was able to do what some of us often wish we were able to do:  embrace Christianity at the prime of life, with all the delicious freedom of a mature decision.  In March 1942, he became a child of God and an heir to heaven.

 

            Not long after, Father enlisted in the United States Air Force.  In due time he was sent overseas where he served as navigator on a B-24 bomber, fulfilling the entire quota of 50 missions.  Stationed in Italy with the 15th Air Force, he went on bombing forays over such towns as Vienna, Munich, Bucharest, Ploesti, etc.  On returning to the States he began pilot training for a B-25, in which he remained till the end of the war.  He didn’t say whether it was because he was a slow learner or because the war ended soon after.  I would say it was because of the latter reason.

 

            Father Joseph-Mary’s was a powerful, far-reaching, conversion.  It swept him right into a Religious order and the Priesthood.  From the very first he was mission-minded, for he began studies with the Maryknoll Fathers.  Two years he spent in their minor Seminary, studying Latin and Logic.  At the end of this time, in spring of 1948, he entered the Discalced Carmelite Novitiate at Brookline, Mass. 02146 (no address is complete without a ZIP code number.)

 

            On May 4, a year later, he made profession of Simple Vows.  The scholastic years, beginning September 1949 and ending in June 1953, he spent at our college of Philosophy at Holy Hill, Wisc. 53033.  The next four years were devoted to Studies in Theology, with Ordination to the Sacred Priesthood in June 1955, in the nation’s Capital.

 

            Father’s first assignment upon completing studies was at our Minor Seminary in Peterborough, NH. (alas, I don’t know its ZIP number), where he taught English Literature for one year.  That was during the school year 1956-1957.  Following this he was designated to go to our mission territory in the Philippines, and embarked for those shores in January 1958.

 

            Ordinarily, our Missionary Fathers remain on the Island for six years, then came back for a six-month rest.  Father Joseph-Mary returned a year earlier, in January 1963, in view of the fact that he was appointed the ‘Procurator’, that is the representative of the missionaries at the Triennial Chapter.  In genuine American tradition our Fathers believe in “No taxation without representation”.  (Actually, the Order was doing the same even before this great nation of ours came into existence).  It was after the conclusion of the Chapter, during the deliberations of the Provincial Definitory, that Father Joseph-Mary was appointed the Vicar Provincial in the Philippines.  If his experience there is any indication, he is well fitted for the post.  He has served at all of the mission parishes with the exception of Baler.  In other words, he was at the stations of Polillo, Infanta, Casiguran (all of the Province of Quezon), at Palanan (Province of Isabella) and at Dipaculao (Province not listed in the directory I have at hand).

 

            I consider it my good fortune to have become pretty well acquainted with Father Joseph-Mary.  He is a member of the class ahead of me in Theology, and so we lived together for three years as students.  What we can say of him is perhaps the best tribute that can be given to a Religious, namely, that he is an outstanding community man.  You see, nothing so helps to endure the rigors and privations of Religious life, as does the company of men of edifying conduct, and agreeable temperament, who are at the same time endowed with all the social graces.  Father Joseph-Mary is unquestionably all of this.  His company was also much sought after during the hours of recreation because he is an excellent pianist and a stimulating conversationalist, witty and quick to see the humorous side of things.  No doubt because of his great interest in Literature, Father is also an acute observer and a captivated student of human nature and human personalities.  His remarkable talent for peering into the human personality and discerning its many facets and distinguishing the subtle nuances is somewhat disconcerting, to me, at least.  I always wonder how deeply he could see into me.  But he is, withal, the essence of Charity:  kind, considerate of others’ feelings, always willing to lend a helping hand.  He is a redhead (if that means anything), tall and thin.  As to his height, his being over six feet has always made me conscious of how short I am in comparison.  But I can say, to his credit, that he has never made me feel small, whenever we were together.

 

            To round out the picture, I might mention that he is interested in and quite good at tennis and swimming.  But there is one thing about him that makes me shudder when I think of it. He sprinkles liberal quantities of sugar over Italian style spaghetti (before eating it).  But we all love him, anyway, and are happy to have him as a fellow Religious.

 

            *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

 

            To most people, July 20 is just one more hot day in summer.  But to a Carmelite, it is the Feast of St. Elias, the great, the fiery prophet of the Old Testament.  He is the man we Carmelites look to as our “Dux et Pater” (our Leader and Father).

 

            Elias certainly ranks with Moses as one of the greatest figures of the Old Alliance.  At least, this is what we may rightly deduce from that very important incident in the life of Our Divine Saviour, the Transfiguration.  As you well know, when Jesus deigned to reveal His glory as the only begotten of the Father to the three favorite Apostles on Mount Tabor, there appeared Moses and Elias conversing with Him.  The subject of their discourse was the death Jesus was soon to undergo in Jerusalem.

 

            Scripture scholars and commentators are unanimous in declaring that Moses and Elias were there as representatives, respectively, of the Law and the Prophets.  Thus it was to be clear to the Apostles, and to all of us who are their disciples, that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets; that this was Heaven’s way of bearing witness to the truth that Christ was the one announced both by the Law and the Prophets.

 

            In a flash of brilliant insight, St. John Chrysostom asserts that the appearance of Moses and Elias on this occasion was invincible proof that the charges leveled against Jesus by the Scribes and Pharisees were utterly false, out-right calumnies.  They claimed, you remember, that Jesus was a sinner because he performed cures on the Sabbath day, thereby violating that important item of the Law.  They claimed, likewise, that Our Lord was a blasphemer, since He, a man, claimed to be the equal of God.  Chrysostom points out that Moses would never be seen in the company of a man who showed contempt for the Law, and here he was standing by as an admirer of Jesus.  Similarly, Elias was a man whose life could be summed up precisely in these few words, “I have been aflame with zeal for the Lord God of Hosts”. Undoubtedly, he would never in a million years enter into familiar discourse with a man who tried to usurp the reverence and respect due to Almighty God alone.  And so it was made clear to Peter, James and John, that Jesus was not a violator of the Sabbath observance; He was the Lord of the Sabbath, as He claimed.  Neither was He a blasphemer, nor a usurper of God’s rightful place; He and the Father were one, as He claimed.  That Moses and Elias should be called to render testimony to the truth and validity of the claims of Our Saviour shows us, secondarily, that those two men really were among the greatest saints of the Old Testament.  It is significant, too, that St. John the Baptist, whom Jesus called the greatest prophet born of woman, came, according to the word of the Angel to Zachary his father, “in the spirit and power of Elias.”

 

            Although Elias lived about eight centuries before the fullness of revelation, and about 2,000 years before the Carmelite Order came into existence as a recognized juridical entity, we look to him as an examplar because he embodies the ideal of Carmel.  If we are faithful followers and imitators of Elias, then we can feel we are fulfilling the objectives of our vocation.

 

            This last statement may jar you somewhat, because, as you might object, the days of prophets and prophecy are gone forever.  But this is not so.  The term ‘prophet’ has a wider application than we sometimes think.  It applies to anyone in the Old Testament who fulfilled one or more of three distinct roles:  first, who rendered to God due honor, praise and worship by singing psalms and dancing (a form of holy exultation) to the accompaniment of musical instruments; second, who was appointed by God to vindicate His rights, that is to openly rebuke the rulers and people of Israel whenever they strayed from the terms of the Alliance made with God on Mount Sinai, and to recall them to faithful and total adherence to Yahweh; and third, who foretold the future.  It is this last that we mistakenly consider the only office fulfilled by the prophets.  Actually, the most important of the three is the second.

 

            You see, whenever the Prophets did foretell future events, it was always in conjunction with their preaching and inveighing against the abominable sin of the nation of the Chosen People:  forsaking their God to put their trust in alliances made with their pagan neighbors.  What they principally foretold was the punishments that would be meted out to the Israelites if they did not repent and return to the conditions of the Covenant.  When these predictions turned out to be true – witness the destruction and overthrow of the Israelite nation and their captivity in both Assyria and Babylon – then the children of Israel would know that the prophet was really sent by God, and the descendents of the delinquent generation would learn a valuable lesson.

 

            When the prophets were predicting the overthrow of the Northern Kingdom (in contrast to the Southern Kingdom, the Kingdom of Judah), very little was said about the expected Messiah.  But when Isaiah and Jeremiah, who were active in the Kingdom of Judea, preached against the crimes of that nation, they did give many minute details about the Saviour who would appear about five centuries later.  But there was a special reason for this.  The Lord God had promised the kingdom of Judah forever.  No such promise was made to the men who rebelled against Roboam, the grandson of David, and made themselves Kings over the ten Northern Tribes.  So when Isaiah and Jeremiah began to predict the overthrow of the Kingdom of Judah (to which the tribe of Benjamin was annexed), in order not to give the people the impression that the Lord God was lying when He promised to David’s line an eternal Kingship, they had perforce to speak of that one very special Son of David who would “sit upon the throne of David His father forever” (cf. words of the Angel to Mary, in the Gospel of St. Luke).  Thus it would be clear to subsequent generations, that God did not intend to renege on the promise He had made to the Royal Prophet.

 

            Now when a Carmelite says that his, or hers, is a prophetic vocation, this does not mean that they can foretell the future.  It means that their special objective in life is to fulfill the first two roles that were listed above.  It is possible for them to do both, the first in a figurative sense, and the second in the fullest sense of the word.  Carmelites don’t ordinarily sing psalms and dance to the sound of musical instruments in their daily praise and worship of God.  But they do the spiritual equivalent.  They serve God with a gladsome and joyous heart, singing His praises in the depths of their souls, rejoicing and exulting in His goodness, in His greatness, and in His mercies, the most wonderful of all His works.

 

            By pointing out that a prophet is one assigned by God to vindicate His rights and to bear witness to His supreme majesty and to His utter dominion over us, by showing that it belongs to a prophet to tell the world very plainly that it is going astray in search of false gods and trying to find in created nature what God alone can give, then it is clear that a vocation to Carmel is a prophetic vocation, for the very presence of the Order of Carmel in the world does all of this.  The only difference is that the prophets of old went out and preached openly and publicly, by word of mouth.  Carmel does exactly the same, but by silence and solitude.

 

            Of old, God instructed the Chosen People to set up monuments to commemorate the great works He had performed on their behalf in bringing them out of Egypt with a great show of might.  Then when their children and their children’s children would inquire about these monuments they were to be told the entire history of God’s dealing with their fathers, and thus they would learn both of God, His dignity, His might, His majesty, and also of their own dignity as the Chosen Race, and their obligations to Him. 

 

            Likewise, when the young among the Faithful, and even adults among the Faithful, hear about Carmel and ask about what kind of life the members of Carmel lead in their Cloisters and Monasteries, then they are advised as to the utter transcendence of God, that He alone is good and the unique source of all that is good, that He deserves primacy of place in our hearts and in our minds, that we owe Him all the love we are capable of, and to deprive Him of the tiniest shred of affection and devotion in order to bestow it instead upon a creature is to do him a colossal injustice.  (Obviously, we are not forbidden to love and use the things of this world, but we are reminded that to love them and use them in a way that is not subordinate to the love of God or in a way that cannot be reconciled with the will of God ranks with idolatry.)  By giving themselves to the love and contemplation of divine things, and to a routine of life which includes assiduous worship of God, Carmelites do preach to all men in the world and recall them to the fulfillment of all the obligations incumbent upon us as creatures of God and as children of God the Father, brothers and co-heirs with Christ, animated by the Spirit of God Himself.

 

            Scripture also says of Elias that he will return before the second coming of Christ to restore the children’s hearts to their fathers and the fathers’ hearts to their children.  In other words, it promises that Elias will be a harbinger, or better, a cause of peace among men.  Well, we can say that Carmel is in the world to restore the children’s hearts to their Father, and the Father’s Heart to His children.  Carmel is upon earth to work for peace between God and man.  You all know that prayer and penance are synonymous with Carmel.  By penance, every Carmelite strives to restore the Heart of God to His children.  Sin causes enmity between God and man.  By repairing for the ravages of sin, by satisfying for the injuries done to God’s majesty and the violation of His rights, God is appeased and able to look with propitious eye upon His children once again.  Then, by their prayers of intercession, by standing before the throne of God and supplicating without cease on behalf of men their brethren (as well as for themselves) they obtain from God, through the Virgin Mary, all the graces a man needs to turn completely from sin and to give his heart totally to God.  This does indeed bring about peace of soul in the individual, which is a necessary prerequisite to peace in the world.

 

            St. James, in his Epistle, tells us to emulate Elias.  He says (5, 17), “Elias was a man like ourselves, subject to the same infirmities; and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain upon the earth, and it did not rain for three years and six months.  He prayed again ad the heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth its fruit.”  It has always been a tradition in Carmel that one of its objectives is to draw down a rain of graces upon the earth.  In this it is the forerunner of Jesus Christ.  What is true of the designs of God on the human race as a whole, is true of each individual (with necessary adjustments in scale).  Just as there will be a general judgment, so there will be a particular judgment for each and every one of us.  Just as there is a first coming to us of Christ in the water of baptism, so also there is a second coming to us of Christ in the full flowering of all Christian virtue, by means of which we are sanctified and made over into facsimiles of Christ.  Carmel is on hand to figure in, at least by way of intercession, on every coming of Christ into souls.

 

            I need to affirm that this prophetic vocation is not restricted to Carmel.  Every religious order, in virtue of its vows, does proclaim the supreme majesty of God and vindicates the rights of God.  So also does the parish priest, who speaks out openly against sin and instructs the faithful on how to return to the terms of the relationship existing between God and the faithful soul, that of Father and child.  But with others, or at least most, Religious Orders and Congregations, that prophetic scope is not specifically intended.  With Carmel, it enters into its very reason for existing.

 

            Because Elias was living under the Old Dispensation, we should not think that he has no timely message for us.  Really, there is never a time we should not strive to be like him:  namely, to stand always in the presence of the Living God, and to be aflame with zeal for His honor and glory.  This shows that there is much value in the books of the Old Testament and that just because we know now that God is our Father, we cannot afford to omit stirring up in ourselves a profound respect for His infinite dignity and majesty.  What the people of Israel said after Elias’ victory over the priests of Baal (cf. Third Book of Kings) is what we should want all people to say who have come into contact with us;  “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God”.  Is it possible to think of a greater tribute?

 

            Pray for us.  We pray for you.  God bless you all.

 

Cordially yours in Our Lady,

Father Bruno, OCD, Prior

                                                                                                [With permission of Religious]

                                                                                                [and Ecclesiastical Superiors   ]

 

 

Note to Readers:  The Novitiate at Waverly no longer exists, however the Carmelites are still in need of your support.  If you would like to make a donation, please send “In appreciation of Fr. Bruno’s Works”, The Mission Procurator, P.O. Box 270136, Hartford, WI 53027.