Carmelite Institute - Newsletter

CARMELITE INSTITUTE Newsletter
Summer 2002

DISTANCE EDUCATION GRADUATES

Two of this year’s recipients of the certificate in Carmelite Studies had a legitimate excuse for missing the Washington Theological Union’s graduation ceremony in May: They live on the other side of the world! Both completed the certificate entirely by correspondence, through the Carmelite Institute’s distance education program.

Sr. Miriam Margaret Vaughan, O.C.D.M., is a nun of the Carmelite Monastery in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, where she has spent most of her life. She has a strong background in art and art history (the front covers of her papers alone deserved an A+!), as well as a keen interest in Spanish, French and Italian languages and literature. She would like to continue pursuing their connections to the Carmelite tradition and their role as "aids, revealers, and catalysts to spirituality." Sr. Miriam writes that she hopes the Carmelite Studies program will continue to grow and prosper. "It has a great contribution to offer, firstly to all Carmelites, especially those in formation, both for our own personal spiritual growth and that we might be better prepared to meet the challenge of helping transmit Carmel’s ideals and values to generations yet to come."

Daniel Idiahi-Imoleh Ehigie, O.C.D., is a Discalced Carmelite friar from the eastern part of Nigeria who was ordained to the priesthood in July. In 1988 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture, with honors in crop science, from the University of Ibaden. After joining the Carmelites, he attended the Spiritan School of Philosophy in Islenu-Nsukka, where he earned his diploma in philosophy in 1996. He did his theological studies at Tangaza College in Nairobi, Kenya. During his final year of theological studies I was serving as the director of theologians at the Carmelite Community in Nairobi, and so I had the pleasure of getting to know Daniel and his six Nigerian classmate-confreres, all excellent students and exemplary Carmelites. I was also privileged to attend the solemn profession and diaconate ordinations of several of these students (including Daniel) back in Nigeria in December 2001. The celebrations were quite wonderful (despite my evident lack of skill in African dancing!). Daniel continues to be interested in deepening his knowledge of the Carmelite tradition placing it in dialogue with the rich religious traditions of Western Africa. We are hopeful that someday we may be able to show him around our Carmelite Institute offices in Washington, DC, if ever he manages to hop the Atlantic for a visit to his relatives here in the USA.

Steven Payne, O.C.D.

RESIDENTIAL CERTIFICATES AWARDED

The thirty-third graduation ceremony of the Washington Theological Union (WTU) was celebrated at the Church of the Nativity in Washington, DC, the evening of May 17, 2002. After the opening procession, the congregation sang How Can I Keep From Singing, a Quaker hymn that most everyone knows and loves. The hymn was altogether fitting since the rain outside was pounding steadily on the pavement, manifesting a summer storm that contested the words of the refrain:

No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that rock I’m clinging.

Since Love is Lord of heaven and earth, How can I keep from singing?

Singing these words was especially appropriate for graduates of a theological institution. The Carmelite Institute in conjunction with WTU sponsors the Carmelite Studies program. Graduate Certificates were conferred upon:

Andrée Bindewald, O.Carm.
Daryl J. Moresco, O. Carm.
Anthony Parsons, O.C.D.
Mary Edith Rodriguez-Harrington, O.C.D.S.
Froilan R. Torres, O.C.D.S.
Corazon H. Untal, Carm.O.L.
Wilson Varikatt, O. Carm.

Congratulations to each and all!

TOWARDS A MORE CONTEMPLATIVE CHURCH...
THE CARMELITE FORUM

The fourth centenary of the death of Saint Teresa of Avila in 1982 was celebrated in Washington, DC, at Catholic University and elsewhere in the city, under the auspices of the Washington Province of the Discalced Carmelites. The lectures presented at Catholic University were published as The Centenary of Saint Teresa, volume 3 of Carmelite Studies (1984). This celebration of Teresa’s fourth centenary was a clear demonstration of a widespread and profound hunger in North America for Carmelite Spirituality. As an aftermath of these festivities a gathering of Discalced Carmelites and Carmelites of the Ancient Observance occurred not long afterwards at Whitefriars Hall in Washington, DC. At this meeting the Carmelite Forum came into existence. Gathered for this first meeting were Constance FitzGerald, O.C.D., Vilma Seelaus, O.C.D., Thomas Kilduff, O.C.D., Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D., Kevin Culligan, O.C.D., Ernest Larkin, O. Carm., John Welch, O. Carm., and Keith J. Egan, T. O. Carm. Subsequently Donald Buggert, O. Carm., and Steven Payne, O.C.D., became members of the Carmelite Forum.

In their initial meeting the Carmelite Forum responded to the signs of the times that called for closer collaboration between the two branches of the Carmelite Order, Calced and Discalced, in disseminating the riches of the Carmelite tradition. Members of the Forum had witnessed the effective dissemination of the Exercises of Saint Ignatius throughout North America in the late 1960’s and the 1970’s. In the wake of Vatican II the Jesuits had energetically made these Exercises available to clergy, religious, and laity of many faiths who have profited immensely from entering into the process of discernment that arose from the genius of Saint Ignatius. It was clearly time that more be done to acquaint Christians with the spiritual legacy of Carmel. The charisms of religious orders are not the private property of their members. Rather, these charisms are graces, spiritual gifts intended to enrich the life of the whole church; in fact, these charisms have been dispensed by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of everyone who seeks a deeper relationship with the divine.

These initial conversations at Whitefriars Hall set the Carmelite Forum on a course that it still pursues. As a group and as individuals they have over the last two decades introduced spiritual seekers in the English speaking world to Carmelite classics. These classics contain "inexhaustible wisdom" about human existence and, in particular, about the journey to union with God in love. It was the hope of those at their first meeting that the Carmelite Forum might inspire a growing number of laity to take up the study of Carmelite Spirituality. They have also earnestly hoped that their work may inspire other Carmelites to undertake the ministry of Carmelite scholarship so that the riches of the Carmelite tradition might be accessible to all who are in search of a loving and liberating God. Just as biblical and liturgical scholars prepared the way for the Second Vatican Council, so too the work of Carmelite scholars can insure that those who look to Carmel for wisdom about the spiritual life will have access to authentic Carmelite spirituality.

One venture that the Carmelite Forum undertook was the inauguration of the Summer Seminars on Carmelite Spirituality hosted by the Center for Spirituality at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN. These seminars, at first for two weeks each June, then subsequently for one week each year, began in the summer of 1985, and have been offered annually ever since with the exception of a few summers when members of the Carmelite Forum were occupied in other undertakings, for example, when they made presentations at the two hundredth anniversary of the Baltimore Carmel in 1990.

The summer seminars at Saint Mary’s are open to laity, religious, and clergy of all faiths. For the most part they concentrate on workshops and lectures about the great classics of Carmelite spirituality, especially the writings of the three Carmelite doctors of the church, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Thérèse of Lisieux. The seminars have also explored the Carmelite Rule and The Institution of the First Monks as well as the writings of Edith Stein, Titus Brandsma, Elizabeth of the Trinity and other Carmelite writers. Attendance at these seminars has been consistently large with as many as 225 in one of the early programs. A substantial attendance has been maintained through the years.

A number of the lectures and workshops from these seminars have been published in print form by members of the Carmelite Forum. (See, for example, the volume Carmel and Contemplation, edited by Kevin Culligan and Regis Jordan [Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 2000]). Lectures presented at the 2000 seminar in honor of Ernest Larkin, O. Carm., are scheduled for publication by Paulist Press in 2003, under the title Carmelite Prayer: Essays by the Carmelite Forum, edited by Keith J. Egan. Selected presentations of these summer seminars are published as audio cassettes by Alba House Publications and the Institute of Carmelite Studies.

In addition, video tapes of seminar presentations are published by the Carmelite Institute. These resources create a veritable library of Carmelite spirituality and are available from their respective publishers.

Other well known writers on Carmelite themes have collaborated with the Carmelite Forum at these summer seminars, for example: Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm., Margaret Dorgan, D.C.M., Allan Budzin, John Russell, O. Carm., Daniel Chowning, O.C.D., and Dr. Dianne Traflet. The summer seminar of 2001 honored Carmelite sisters Constance FitzGerald, O.C.D., and Vilma Seelaus, O.C.D., whose ministry in the retrieval of Carmelite spirituality has for decades made a truly remarkable impact in spreading the good news of the Carmelite tradition.

At the end of August 2002, through a travel grant by a generous donor, the Carmelite Forum will travel on a research trip to Spain. They will center their activities first at Granada, where John of the Cross did so much of his writing and then at Avila, Teresa’s home as well as where John served as Teresa’s confessor. The Carmelite Forum expects that this journey in which they will follow in the footsteps of Teresa of Jesus and John of the Cross will be an opportunity for them to further explore the wisdom of these two distinguished doctors of the church. Their holiness and teachings challenge followers of Jesus to live and pray more contemplatively so that there may be in our times a more contemplative church. A more contemplative church will be a more loving and a more just church. Carmel and its traditions have much to offer a church that seeks to be more contemplative.

Keith J. Egan, T.O.Carm.

IN MEMORIAM
THE REVEREND ROLAND MURPHY, O.CARM.
JULY 19, 1917 ~ JULY 20, 2002

Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

We have come together to pay our last respects to Fr. Roland Murphy, a dedicated priest, a loyal Carmelite friar, and a renowned Catholic biblical scholar. As we commend him to God’s gracious mercy, we realize what his passing means to us. It is an occasion not only of sorrow, but also of joy.
It is an occasion of sadness and sorrow for us, because we realize that all the good that Fr. Roland did or inspired in his lifetime has suddenly come to an end. He lived a long life, having died on the day after he celebrated his eighty-fifth birthday, on the feast of Elijah. We are reminded by Psalm 90 that "the days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong," but "even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away." During his eighty-five years, Fr. Roland toiled much, and wrought many good things as a priest, teacher, lecturer, writer, and above all as a dedicated interpreter of the written Word of God in what we Christians call the Old Testament.
Those of us who toiled with him realize how much his study of the Old Testament guided his own personal life. He concentrated his study on the Wisdom literature of that Testament and wrote learned and highly appreciated commentaries on the Song of Songs, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Psalms. That concentration on Wisdom literature, an area of Old Testament studies that had been somewhat neglected before his time, not only made his name known as a specialist in such an area, but it also gave him many insights into human life itself. As a result, he developed a wise and discerning approach to human existence. He lived by Wisdom.

I can no longer recall when I first met Fr. Roland, but it must have been close to fifty years ago, during the time that I was a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins University from 1953 to 1956. By that time he was already teaching at the Catholic University of America. Since then, we became not only close friends, but even collaborators in a work that many of you know well. Along with Fr. Raymond Brown and myself, he was one of the editors of The Jerome Biblical Commentary, first published in 1968, and later of The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, published in 1990. Those two one-volume commentaries on the Bible sold thousands of copies and influenced the lives of many pastors, Catholic and Protestant, not only in this country and Canada, but all over the world. Fr. Roland’s part in the work of publishing those commentaries was considerable, because he alone competently edited all the material for the Old Testament. For this, Fr. Brown and I have always been extremely thankful.

During the many years of our friendship, Fr. Roland always sent me copies of his commentaries and offprints of the many articles that he published over those years. The bulk of that production stands as a rich testimony to the productive life that he led as a biblical scholar. With Horace he could easily say, Exegi monumentum aere perennius, "I have built a monument more lasting than bronze."

Fr. Roland was also a great teacher and lecturer. He taught Scripture at Whitefriars Hall from 1943 to 1970, Semitic languages in the School of Arts and Sciences of the Catholic University of America from 1948 to 1956, when he was asked to join the faculty of what was then called the School of Sacred Theology, where he taught the Old Testament from 1956 until 1970, when he resigned from the university. He was a visiting professor of Old Testament at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Yale Divinity School, and Princeton Theological Seminary, before he accepted the call to become professor of Old Testament at Duke University in 1971. There he remained until his mandatory retirement at seventy in the year 1986. After that he functioned as an adjunct professor in recent years at the Washington Theological Union. This teaching career in various institutions helped make him the outstanding Catholic Old Testament scholar in the U.S.A. That status was widely recognized mainly because of his concentration on the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament, and several institutions awarded him honorary doctorates.

We have to recall also that Fr. Roland played an important role over the years in the translation of the Bible into English in the forms that we have been using in the lectionaries for our liturgies. He was a member of the editorial board that produced the New American Bible of 1970, and the revision of its Psalter in 1991, and had been working constantly in recent years on the revision of the rest of the Old Testament that is presently being brought to an end and will presumably be published in the near future. In this way his ability to turn a phrase in English made him a valuable contributor to that translation process.

When Fr. Roland became eighty years old, he was greeted with the publication of two Festschriften in his honor. One was Master of the Sacred Page, a collection of essays and articles written by a group of his fellow Carmelites; the other was Wisdom, You Are My Sister, a collection of studies composed in his honor by members of the Catholic Biblical Association. In this way, his fellow friars acknowledged his worth, and fellow members of the CBA paid welcome homage to this giant among us.

But now all the good that has come into our American Catholic world because of Fr. Roland’s toil has come to an end with his passing from life among us, and that makes us sad.

His death, however, is an occasion for joy among us, for we know that he has at last gone home to his Maker. Fittingly, the first Scripture reading, to which we have just listened, was taken from the Old Testament and the Book of Wisdom. It reminded us that "the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them." Fr. Roland

was certainly one of the dikaioi, the just or the righteous, among us mortals, and now he is like the rest of them, "at peace."

Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, also made us aware once more that "no one lives for himself, and no one dies for himself," but rather, "if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord." Those of us who knew Fr. Roland recognize that his life was lived as a good Catholic priest "for the Lord." Moreover, it is a cause of joy to acknowledge that he has also died "for the Lord," and we all pray that the same may be said of us when our own lives come to an end.

The third reading from the Gospel according to John has also reminded us how Jesus, when he was near the end of his life on earth, told his disciples that he was leaving them in order to prepare a place for them in the many dwelling places in his Father’s house. He counselled them not to let their hearts be troubled over his death. That is the reason, then, why we too can acknowledge our joy at the passing of Fr. Roland Murphy from this earthly life. We know that he has now found a place in that heavenly mansion of the Father.

A short time before he died, Fr. Roland penned a few instructions about his funeral, asking that it be "modest, and let the homilist, whoever he/she be, speak no more than ten minutes on LIFE as we know it from both Testaments." Accordingly, I curtail my remarks, as we bid our final farewell to Roland Murphy with the prayer, "Saints of God, come to meet him; and may Christ, who called him, now take him to himself and bring him to Abraham’s bosom. Amen!"

Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J.

Eulogy given at the Mass of Christian Burial at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on July 23, 2002.

Roland Murphy will be remembered as a good friend of the Carmelite Institute. We are grateful for his contributions as a Scholar, a man of Prayer, and a lover of the Word. His support of our ministry and his exemplar life as a dedicated Carmelite will continue to inspire our work.

We dedicate the following verse to you, Roland:

"Many and varied are the ways in which our saintly predecessors laid down how everyone, whatever one’s station or the kind of religious observance one has chosen, should live a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ–how pure in heart and stout in conscience, we must be unswerving in the service of our Master."

– from the Rule of St. Albert

A REPORT FROM THE 2002 SPRING MEETINGS AT
WHITEFRIARS HALL, WASHINGTON, DC

The weekend of April 12-14 at Whitefriars Hall was notably busy. The succession of meetings began on the evening of April 12 with the dedication and blessing of the Joachim Smet, O. Carm., Resource Center (The Carmelitana Collection). Sally Gardner, a friend of Carmel, opened the ceremony with her rendition of Loreena McKennitt’s Dark Night of the Soul and Michael Driscoll, O. Carm., officiated at the ceremony. Members of Joachim’s family, the Carmelite community, and friends gathered to honor him for his lifetime dedication to research, writing, and building this extraordinary collection of Carmelite texts. Sally’s select repertoire and delightful singing made for a lively celebration throughout the evening. Students and members of foreign communities presented reports of work performed in their countries and its connection to the Carmelite Institute.

bottom left clockwise: Mary Harrington, O.C.D.S., Lois Ann Wetzel, O. Carm., Gerald Werner, O.C.D., Sandra Malkovsky, O.C.D.S., Patrick McMahon, O. Carm., Marie Mingo, O.C.D.S., Donald Kinney, O.C.D., Teresa Becerra, O.C.D., Daryl Moresco, O. Carm., Michael Dodd, O.C.D., Ann Dailey, O. Carm., Marjorie Antus, O.C.D.S., William Hummel, Eamon Carroll, O.Carm., Anthony Parsons, O.C.D., Maria Valla, O.C.D., Suzanne Treis, O.C.D.S., Contance FitzGerald, O.C.D., Brocard Connors, O. Carm., John Williams, T.O.Carm., Regis Jordan, O.C.D., Michael Wastag, O.Carm., Nancy Thompson, O.C.D.S., Jan Sengers, O.C.D.S., Margaret Mary Flynn, O.C.D., Ezequiel Machado, O.C.D.S., David Centner, O.C.D., Susan Cordsen, T.O.Carm., Dianne Massiello, T.O.Carm., Steven Payne, O.C.D. (Not all participants pictured.)

After a joyous Mass the following morning, the President’s annual report was presented to the General Assembly. The financial report reflected a significant decrease in revenue which was explained primarily as a consequence of 9/11. The educational programs continue to function well even though enrollment in the Distance Education program was low in the fall semester. Seven students were enrolled in the fall semester and six in the spring semester in the Carmelite Studies program at the Washington Theological Union. Nine students received their graduate certificates in May. The general assessment is that the educational programs remain the most significant achievement of the Carmelite Institute so far.

The sales of video and audio cassettes are improving, particularly since the release of the four videos of the 2001 conference on The Rule of Carmel: A Mystical Way. Two thousand copies of the book, Carmel and Mary (1998 Reno, NV, symposium talks) have been printed. Updates to the website have been made, but it will be revamped to a higher level of technological innovation.

The suggestions from the three discussion groups that arose from the general session were the following: 1) The Lay-Secular Carmelites expressed the need for continuing communication and interaction. However, a platform for their ongoing relationship with each other needs to be explored. 2) The Development/Fundraising group concluded that it is essential to network with existing Carmelite fundraisers, develop fundraising goals for specific projects, and identify potential donors and others who would invest in spiritual endeavors. 3) The Formation of Formators group stressed the importance of knowledge of Carmelite texts, prayer, community, and familiarity with human learning theories and relationship development. They believe that there is a need for a program that can be implemented readily and embrace both the academic and practical (pastoral) components.

Other tasks were identified during the meetings. A committee was appointed to review the existing statutes and it will suggest changes at the 2003 General Assembly. Another committee will reevaluate the 5-year plan and consider changes and/or revisions that better suit the Institute’s goals and objectives.

New officers are Michael Driscoll, O. Carm., already representing the New York province, but elected Chair of the Board of Directors, John Russell, O. Carm., representing the Chicago province, Annamae Dannes, O.C.D., representing contemplative nuns in Carmelite Communities Associated, and Maria Valla, O.C.D. representing the contemplative nuns in Mary, Queen of Carmel Association.

Our deep gratitude and appreciation are extended to: Bonaventure Sauer, O.C.D., Leo McCarthy, O. Carm., Mary Margaret Yascolt, O.C.D., Margaret Mary Flynn, O.C.D. for their service to the Institute!

Mary E. Rodríquez-Harrington, O.C.D.S.

HEADQUARTERS' BULLETIN BOARD

The Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre (Carmelite Friars) in association with the Hadden Institute offer a two-year certified training program for Spiritual Directors. For information, applications, costs, and curriculum for the fall semester please contact:
Mt. Carmel Spiritual Centre
P.O. Box 767
Niagara Falls, NY 14302
Tel (905) 356-4113
mtcarmel@computan.on.ca

June 22-28, 2003
Saint Mary’s College
Next Summer’s Seminar
by the Carmelite Forum:

Brochures will be available from late fall 2002 from the Center for Spirituality, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame IN 46556. Phone 574-284-4636. Send inquiries to

Mary Ann Manuszak at manuszak@saintmarys.edu

Next
General Assembly
March 29, 2003
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