JMJT! Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!
Dear Ones-
When I think of these two saints, I think of the heart! We know our dear mother experienced the Transverberation of the Heart as a wound that united her to Our Lord Jesus. This is celebrated on August 27th. (See http://floscarmelivitisflorigera.blogspot.com/2007/08/august-27-is-date-of-commemoration-by.html) for more information. St. Philip Neri experienced such heartfelt love for Our Triune God, that his heart would beat violently and shake the bed! Additional information about this is as follows: "A peculiar charism was his burning love of God, a love that imperceptibly communicated itself to all about him. So ardently did this fire of divine love affect him during the octave of Pentecost in his twenty-ninth year that the beating of his heart broke two ribs. It was a wound that never healed." (see http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2011-05-26)
As we approach Pentecost and the month of June, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us strive to love more fully by immersing ourselves in the fire of God's love. The more empty we become, the more He can fill us up and make our hearts beat in pure love for Him! We can then give this love out to all those we meet. As Carmelites, our affair is of the heart.
If we give our fiat, He will do the rest.
Love in Carmel,
Candida Kirkpatrick, ocds
President
