Feast of Saint Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)

Today is the feast of Saint Edith Stein, also known by her religious name as a Carmelite nun, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Edith was born to a Jewish family in Breslau in 1891. Through her passionate study of philosophy, she searched after truth. She declared that she had found the truth after reading the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Jesus (of Avila) in a single sitting.

In 1922 Edith was baptised a Catholic, and continued her work as a philosopher and academic. In 1933 she entered the Carmel of Cologne to live as a nun.

Like many of her fellow Jews, Edith suffered during the Nazi persecution of World War II. She was gassed and cremated at Auschwitz concentration camp on 9th August 1942, dying both as a Jewish woman and a martyr for the Christian faith, having offered her holocaust for the people of Israel.

A woman of singular intelligence and learning, Edith left behind a body of writing notable for its doctrinal richness and profound spirituality.

She was declared one of the six co-patron saints of Europe by Pope Saint John Paul II.

This beautiful icon of Saint Edith is revered at the National Shrine of Saint Jude in Faversham, England. Written by Sister Petra Clare, the icon was installed in 2008. It shows Edith in her Carmelite habit, on which has been sewn the Star of David, as Jews were required by the Nazis to wear. She holds the image of Jesus' crucifixion drawn by Saint John of the Cross, as a reminder of her profound 'science of the cross'.

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us.

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On-line shop highlights - 5

Prayer card to Saint Gerard - for Motherhood

Our new on-line shop includes not only a number of religious gifts and souvenirs connected with Saint Jude, but there is so much more on offer too.

For the next few weeks, we're going to show our blog and Facebook friends some special items you can purchase from our new shop.

This time we want to highlight the various prayer cards for many special saints. We have a massive range of prayer cards and booklets available at the shop. Most of our stock are exclusively designed by the Shrine to help raise money for the Shrine and the work of the Carmelites in Britain and worldwide.

Our shop can be found here and prayer cards like those pictured can be found, here.

Prayer booklet to Saint Joseph

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Future events at the Shrine of Saint Jude - 2016

We have a number of events coming up at the National Shrine of Saint Jude:

Children's Mass

For the first time, a shared Mass will be celebrated at the National Shrine of Saint Jude in honour of the Infant of Prague and all children.Simply add the name(s) of a child with a message on our donation site.

Those listed can be your child, someone else’s child, or a child who has passed away. You can add a name, here.

Anyone is welcome to attend our Mass, which will be celebrated on 23 September 2016 at 11am.


Feast of Saint Jude

Friday 28 October
12.00 - Saint Jude Mass with the Blessing of Oil and Anointing
16.00 - Saint Jude Mass with the Blessing of Oil and Anointing

Saturday 29 October
12.00 - Saint Jude Mass with the Blessing of Oil and Anointing
14.00 - Saint Jude Mass with the Blessing of Oil and Anointing

Sunday 30 October
12.30 - Saint Jude Mass with the Blessing of Oil and Anointing
14.30 - Saint Jude Mass with the Blessing of Oil and Anointing

All welcome

Christmas Carols at the Shrine
3 December 2016

Christmas Carols at the Shrine. We will be singing all the great carols in the Shrine of Saint Jude. All our visitors will be able to sing with our musicians.

Mince pies, mulled wine, teas and coffees and fruit juice available. A book stall with lots of fiction and non-fiction will be available too. The whole day will be a great Christmas celebration.

All welcome. Carol singing starts at 2.30pm, but there will be plenty of activities before and after.

Happy Feast Day of Saint Simon Stock

Happy feast of Saint Simon Stock, English Carmelite Prior General. The picture is from one of the Shrine's prayer cards. You can read an excellent blog update on Saint Simon Stock written by Fr Wilfrid McGreal, O.Carm back in 2014, here.

Carmelite Holy Souls Society

‘It does not matter where you bury my body. All I ask of you, is that wherever you may be, you should remember me at the altar of the Lord.’: St Monica to St Augustine

Fr Antony Lester, O.Carm writes: "The Carmelite Holy Souls Society reminds us that the Church is not confined to this world, but extends into the next as well. By praying for the dead, as we prayed for them when they were alive, we can establish a special link with the communion of saints. In a way this is a two-way street. We remember them in prayer and we ask them to pray for us. It is a helpful reminder that our brothers and sisters who die do not lose their identity, or their relationship with us. They remain the people that they are and the core of their identity is carefully reserved by God as they are transformed by God’s love and set free to love.

If you are anything like me, I imagine that you may be increasingly aware of just how much unfinished business we have in life. Things we may have said or done which we shouldn’t have, and which we now cannot put right. Often, once a word leaves our mouth, we lose all control over it!

Prayer, true prayer, is always an act of love. Our Catholic Christian tradition assures us that our prayer for the Holy Souls is one of the ways in which God loves our departed brothers and sisters into life in all its fullness. It is a gift of the tenderness of God to allow us to share in this loving process."

For many years, the National Shrine of Saint Jude has promoted the Carmelite devotion to the souls of the departed by establishing a Dead List that is renewed each year. People simply send in their lists of dead relatives and friends to be included in our prayers for the Holy Souls.

All those on your list will become members of the Carmelite Holy Souls Society for the year. 

Membership includes:

1. A daily Mass for deceased relatives and friends through the year (except the three days of Holy Week); 

2. A Mass each month for deceased members and benefactors;

3. A share in the Masses, prayers and good works of the whole Carmelite Order.

There is no fixed membership fee, or annual subscription. Please simply donate what you would like to become a member. You can either donate and send in your names via our on-line service, or by printing a form and sending it to the Shrine office.

Novena for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: 8 - 16 July 2015

The following novena from the National Shrine of Saint Jude is for the nine days leading up to the Feast of Our Lady of Carmel, which falls on 16 July. You can pray the novena in private, with your friends or family, or in a group. The novena starts today.

Statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, National Shrine of Saint Jude

O God, 

you have given us Mary as our Mother

and, through the Order of Carmel, 

we learn to call her sister.

May we imitate her goodness and faith

and be ever joyful in the wonderful things

you have done for us.

May Mary watch over and protect us

on our pilgrim way to your holy mountain,

Christ the Lord.

We make our prayer through the same Christ, 

Our Lord. Amen.

Make your special request now

Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory be...

Canonisation of Kuriakose Elias Chavara

On 23 November 2014, the Feast of Christ the King, Pope Francis will canonise six blesseds and inscribe them in the roll call of Saints. One of these will be the Carmelite priest: Kuriakose Elias Chavara. The National Shrine of Saint Jude has a beautiful icon of this future Saint (pictured).

In 2004 a fire broke out in the Shrine Chapel destroying the murals which once hung there and damaging much of the other artwork. Happily, the windows and ceramics could be repaired, but the murals had to be replaced.

The decision was made to install icons depicting saints inspired by the Carmelite Rule of Saint Albert, in commemoration of the 8th centenary of the Carmelite Rule in 2007. The icons were written by Sister Petra Clare, a Benedictine hermit living in Scotland.

Fr Chavara was a priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. He is remembered for his solid leadership and is recognised for having saved the Church in Kerala from a schism in 1861.

Matt Betts

Feast of Blessed Isidore Bakanja

Happy Feast of Blessed Isidore Bakanja. At the National Shrine of Saint Jude, we have a beautiful icon of this holy man (see below).

Blessed Isidore Bakanja was born in 1888 in a fishing community in the Congo. He was baptised on 6 May 1906 and from that day he wore faithfully the Carmelite scapular.

He was working in a plantation run by a colonialist who did not want Christianity to be spread. By wearing the scapular and showing everyone his faith, Blessed Isidore was flogged several times. In 1909, the superintendent of the business tore off the scapular and severely beat him. He died on 15 August 1909 as a result of the wounds inflicted in "punishment" for his faith and which he bore patiently while forgiving his aggressor.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 24 April 1994.

St Simon Stock

Today is the feast of St Simon Stock one of the first Carmelites to come to Europe from the Holy Land.

Simon was an English man probably from Kent, and helped the Carmelites change from hermits to being part of the new movement of friars. He was prior general of the Order and died in Bordeaux in 1265. Tradition has it that in those difficult days of transition, Simon had a vision of Our Lady who promised to protect the Carmelites and that the Carmelite habit would be a sign of her care.

It is from this tradition that the Brown Scapular devotion grew, and that wearing the Scapular (a smaller version of the habit) was a way of being open to Mary’s care. It was also a sign of Christian commitment. The Scapular is now a world-wide devotion.

Since 1951, St Simon Stocks relics have rested at Aylesford Priory, and are housed in a beautiful reliquary created by the Polish artist Adam Kossowski. Thousands of pilgrims come to Aylesford every year to pay honour to St Simon Stock and Our Lady.

St Simon of England pray for us.

The National Shrine of Saint Jude is currently selling a number of saints’ prayer cards that were created and printed in the early years of this peaceful place. They are all beautifully prepared, in full colour and mostly A7 size or larger. Most of them include a prayer to the saint on the back. You can purchase these, here. 

Fr Wilfrid McGreal, O.Carm

Brother Paul, vocations and how you can help

Yesterday, Paul Jenkins was ordained to the diaconate, and it was a really joyful occasion. Paul was ordained by Archbishop Peter Smith, and he spoke movingly about the importance of vocations to the church. The whole celebration was one of hope and thanksgiving, and it was wonderful to celebrate it on the Feast of St Joseph. I pray that Joseph will give courage and help to Paul in his ministry to the church.

As I said in the recent Carmelite News: “The Harvest is great, but the labourers are few. There is wonderful work to be done in spreading the Gospel and all of us are called to be heralds of good news. The Carmelites are called in a special way to be a school of prayer, helping people to relate in an intimate way with God. St Teresa spoke of prayer as having a conversation with God. Besides being praying communities, Carmelites are called to be prophetic;  proclaiming God’s message in and out of season. As Pope Francis has said, we speak to the people on the margins from the margins ourselves. We are called to be in solidarity with those who could be voiceless.”

“I am conscious that my time working for the Lord is limited, and I would like you to join my prayer to ask the Lord to call folk to continue God’s calling  to Carmel. No calling is easy, but we do not answer the call relying on our own resources but open to God’s grace, this is his gift of helping us risk doing something that’s new. I was moved to become a Carmelite because I saw great humanity in those who were living the Carmelite way. The more human we become, the more we are like Jesus Christ who has shown us what it is to be fully human, fully alive.”

THANK YOU to all the supporters of the Shrine of Saint Jude who have made Paul’s special day possible. It is YOUR support, through your donations and prayers, which enable the Carmelites to minister in Britain and beyond. GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR KINDNESS. If you would like to help us further, please visit our online shop where you can purchase gifts from the Shrine, or make a donation. THANK YOU.

Fr Wilfrid McGreal, O.Carm

Saint Joseph - Principal Protector of the Carmelite Order

The Catholic Church keeps the 19 March as the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the Husband of Mary and Foster Father of Jesus Christ each year. The scriptures refers to St Joseph being upright and honourable. Certainly his sensitivity towards Mary and his care for both Mary and Jesus shows him as a person of action and care.

The Carmelite Order has had a particular devotion to St. Joseph for many centuries, venerating him with the title "Principal Protector of the Carmelite Order". Since Joseph cared for Mary and Christ in a particular way, we believe that he also cares for the Carmelite Order which is devoted to Mary and Christ. St Teresa of Avila had great devotion to St Joseph and saw him as a protector of her new foundations. 

In our prayers, we can turn to St Joseph and pray that he will care for us in difficult times when loving protection is needed. I often pray at the statue of St Joseph here at the Shrine (see photo below) when I pray for his protection.

We have a number of prayer cards to Saint Joseph that can be purchased from our Gift Shop.

Our novena to Saint Joseph starts today and can be viewed here, or below.

God our Father,
creator and ruler of the universe,
in every age you call humanity
to develop and use our gifts
for the good of others.

With Saint Joseph as our example and guide,
help us to do the work you have asked
and come to the life you have promised.

We ask this through
our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Saint Joseph, National Shrine of Saint Jude