Carmelite Institute - Newsletter

As the year 2002 drew to an end I reflected on the new year and what 2003 would bring. This coming spring the Institute celebrates its 10th anniversary. In 1993 the five Provincials at that time–Aloysius Deeney, O.C.D., Quinn Conners, O. Carm., Gary O’Brien, O. Carm., Phillip Thomas, O.C.D., and Gerald Werner, O.C.D.–officially established the Carmelite Institute at an inaugural meeting held on April 13-15 at Whitefriars Hall.

The Institute began with enthusiasm and a vision of where it could go; the possibilities were numerous and the road ahead was wide open. Looking back and assessing the accomplishments of the first ten years, I recognize the generosity of those who came together to create quality programs. Both of the Carmelite Studies Programs, namely, the Distance Education and Residential programs, have proven to be a significant achievement. Through the Distance Education program we have reached out to more than twelve countries. The Residential program has brought together students from diverse backgrounds who share their lived experiences and learn from each other’s unique cultural viewpoints.

Our videotape and audiocassette collection offers excellent instruction through the effort and dedication of our Carmelite scholars and leaders. We have published four books and have presented three successful major conferences. We continue to provide information and address specialized inquiries through e-mail. Our modest offices are in the Annex building adjacent to Whitefriars Hall. We are grateful for the use of this space which functions as a headquarters for all our administrative tasks and coordination of our projects. Three years ago we grew into a "two full-time staff" office, but we still rely on the kindness of volunteers and friends to accomplish the work needed for our projects to run well.

I only wish I could list each individual who has contributed to our success, but space does not allow for that. I do, however, gratefully extend a sincere thanks to each of you who have served in a leadership role or on a committee, or worked as a volunteer, a consultant or a friend offering your talent to help bring things

together. I hope for many more decades ahead. I ask for your continued support, whether by volunteering some time, by informing us of means to raise funds, or by offering your expertise.

The Institute is at a crossroads and needs financial support to continue to prosper. We were challenged after September 11 and experienced uncertainty for many months like many people and businesses. The challenge now shifts and we look to you and invite you to help strengthen the work we have begun. The Carmelite tradition speaks to our troubled times by offering an alternative to the distress around us. Our mission "to promote the following of Jesus Christ through Carmelite Studies to all interested in the spiritual life" is meaningful and has a definite place in our times. Be a part of making our tradition known by helping us to continue the journey the Carmelite Institute began ten years ago.

According to our Statutes, one of the primary goals of the Carmelite Institute is "to cooperate with other centers of Carmelite studies." Our current "five year plan" also stresses establishing "links with other Carmelite centers for purposes of coordination and collaboration." Toward that end, we have tried to gather and share information over the years on various Carmelite programs and organizations, some of which are well established and well known to you. Thus, readers of this newsletter are already familiar with the contributions of groups such as the Carmelite Forum, the Institutum Carmelitanum in Rome, and the Institute of Carmelite Studies in Washington, DC–even though we may sometimes be confused by their similar sounding names!

Now a new program in Carmelite Studies has begun under the auspices of Chicago’s Lumen Christi Institute, and we thought you might like to know a little about it. The Lumen Christi Institute was founded in 1997 by Catholic scholars at the University of Chicago with the assistance of Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, who now serves as its episcopal moderator. Its current president is Paul Griffiths and its board of advisers includes such prominent theologians as Agnes Cunningham, Avery Dulles, Bernard McGinn, and David Tracy. Among its many activities, Lumen Christi has organized a Regional Program in Catholic Scholarship, hosted various symposia on science and religion, sponsored the Yves Simon Lecture series, and collaborated with the University of Chicago in selecting visiting fellows to teach in a "Joint Program in Liberal Arts and the Catholic Tradition." The aim of the Institute is to promote dialogue with the contemporary academy while remaining faithful to the church’s teaching and tradition.

CHICAGO

July 2004

The Carmelite Institute will bring another outstanding conference to you . . . Don’t miss our announcements in upcoming newsletters

...You won’t want to miss it!!!

Most recently, working with the Washington Province of the Discalced Carmelites, Lumen Christi has begun to develop its own Carmelite Studies Program to "promote a deeper understanding of the Carmelite intellectual tradition," and "to make the Carmelite tradition available to scholars and theologians of the church." Father Michael Dodd, O.C.D., who previously served in the administration of the Carmelite Institute, has been chosen as the first director. The program’s inaugural event was a one-day seminar last November 9 at the University of Chicago on the poetry of John of the Cross, with talks by Bernard McGinn, Keith Egan, Ciriaco Moron-Arroyo, and yours truly. Some of the activities envisioned for the future are an annual academic conference, a scholars symposium, occasional lectures, pastoral conferences, liturgical events, study retreats, and pilgrimages–all on Carmelite themes! More information about the program can be found on their website at: lumenchristi.org/carmelite_studies.html.

The program is still in its infancy, and whether it will be able to reach all its goals remains to be seen. But the Lumen Christi Institute is fortunate to have both the O.Carm. and O.C.D. branches so strongly represented in the Chicago area. This should provide valuable resources and a significant audience for its Carmelite offerings. We wish Lumen Christi’s "Carmelite Studies" program well. We look forward to fruitful collaboration. And we encourage you to let us know of other Carmelite centers and programs emerging across North America and around the world.

Stephanie Herlaine McCain

Stephanie, a native Washingtonian, is the Carmelite Institute’s new secretary/administrative assistant. Currently she is pursuing a degree in Management of Information Systems at the Catholic University of America. She has a variety of hobbies that range from reading, traveling, and fishing, to cooking and acting. Stephanie considers herself an actress and recently was in movie takes for the comedy film The Head of the State to be released in the summer of 2003. We hope the film directors will not be too heavy handed with the editing so that we can see her on the big silver screen.

Cooking is a great interest and pleasure for Stephanie and has brought her laughter as well. She recalls a story when Jehovah’s Witnesses brought lunch to her family. They prepared hot dogs and nicely decorated them with relish and mustard. In gratitude for their thoughtfulness, Stephanie baked them a delicious half sheet pie. The Witnesses raved about the dessert and asked her for the name of the pie–they confessed that they had finished it the night it was delivered. Stephanie was amazed that the pie was gone, but did not have the heart to tell them that they had consumed a Sin Pie. She quickly improvised another name.

Travels took Stephanie to Ghana, West Africa, in 1996 with her mission group from the Israel Baptist Church. She spent two weeks there, in part ministering to children who were in need of school supplies, and who were enthralled with the pencils and candy bars they received. The rest of the trip was spent visiting tourist sites and beaches which she thoroughly enjoyed.

We are delighted that Stephanie manages computer programs well. With her assistance we are certainly "taking care of business" for all of you. Stephanie is likely to greet you the next time you call us. Welcome, Stephanie!

Thank You

We are grateful for your generous response to our most recent appeal campaign. We want to continue to bring you quality programs and make available the resources for study that allow so many to further their knowledge of our spiritual tradition.

Bequests

If you would like information on how to remember us in your will, please contact the executive director at the Carmelite Institute.

Students in the Residential Program

Fall 2002 Residential Program participants in the Carmelite Studies program at the Washington Theological Union include:

Resources for Reflection, Prayer & Study
We offer a wide range of outstanding materials for formation groups and individuals. Items can be purchased from our website: www.carmeliteinstitute.org.

Patrick T. McMahon, O. Carm.

I never intended to become a history teacher. It’s funny, but when I was in the first grade and we had our school pictures taken, I was a very serious boy with big glasses and no smile. My first grade teacher, Sister Karen, called me "the professor." I can’t believe her curse came true. I was the most unlikely of kids to grow up and become a professor.

First of all, I never wanted to do that. It wasn’t that I didn’t like school, I just didn’t want to stay in it forever. Secondly, I was no brilliant student. Granted, I did do well in history, OK in English, but I could not spell to save my life and arithmetic–don’t even ask. It only got worse as I got older. I squeaked by in French, barely passed Latin and was clearly never meant for the sciences. All I wanted to be was a priest. College went fine once all the required math and science courses were out of the way. I had good grades in seminary, but I just wanted to be a parish priest. I was one for thirteen years. I married couples, buried the dead, baptized babies, visited the sick, taught CCD, preached sermons–and I loved it. I never wanted anything else.

I went back to school in my mid-thirties. I needed some intellectual stimulation and loved history. I figured out maybe studying more about who the Carmelites had been in the past might help me to figure out how to be a better Carmelite in the present. I went to school part-time while still working in the parish. I took my courses at New York University and managed to maintain a straight A average. It was hard work, but I found myself really growing through my studying. But I still wanted to keep working in the parish and doing the routine work of a parish priest. When I arrived at the dissertation phase, my provincial told me to go to Rome and do my research. He thought–correctly–that if I stayed in parish work I would never finish the dissertation. A doctoral dissertation is a huge effort and requires undivided attention. So I went and put my nose to the grindstone. I missed parish life and ministry tremendously, but as the studies unfolded I learned more and more not only about what Carmelites had done, but also who the Carmelites had been and still are. I began to see the Order and its tradition as a living organism, a collective person as it were, with a history that shaped its identity and continues to shape that still unfolding identity.

I began to see the Order and
its tradition as a living organism,
a collective person as it were,
with a history that shaped its identity
and continues to shape
that still unfolding identity.

By 1992 I was ready to come home to the States and had planned on returning to parish ministry as I had compiled the research for my dissertation. However, Father Jack Welch, O. Carm., came over to Rome and asked me to come to the Washington Theological Union and teach in the Carmelite Studies program that was just getting underway. Father Rob Steffanotti, O. Carm., was coming back at the same time and the three of us were to be a team. Rob and I would handle the historical part and Jack would teach the great mystics. It sounded like a plan, good at least for a few years until I finished writing the dissertation. I still wanted to go back to the parish.

I began to teach the medieval section of the tradition. My area of specialization is medieval history and so I taught from the foundation of the Order until the time of Saint Teresa and her reform. I continue to teach The Carmelite Rule, and The Fiery Arrow, and The Institute of the First Monks. Studying these ancient Carmelite texts is one thing, but teaching them is something else. These texts are the foundation of our Carmelite life. They are older, much older, than Saint Teresa and St. John of the Cross, and they influenced and shaped those mystics–and subsequent saints of Carmel. My students would point out things in these texts that I had never noticed. Each year the texts would come alive in new ways. We also found out that knowing the history helped us read Saint Teresa, St. John of the Cross, and St. Thérèse in a new light. The historical contexts in which they lived, prayed, and wrote help us understand them better. To study their wonderful books without knowing the worlds of their experience is like eating food that has most of the nutrition cooked away. History is not the only key to understanding, but it is an essential one.

I get to go to a parish on weekends and celebrate Mass at the Cathedral occasionally during the week. I preach and sometimes baptize. I still love that work, and my knowledge of our rich tradition, both as Catholics and as Carmelites, gives me gifts to bring to that ministry. I find that I am all the better a Christian, a priest, and a Carmelite for immersing myself in the study of our tradition. I know our Carmelites–nuns, friars, lay and secular orders–and many friends of Carmel will find studying our history to be a rich experience too.

And . . . we all owe it to Sr. Karen deciding that some first-grader looked professorial.