Carmelite vicissitudes

Sometimes in search of inspiration for the day’s blog I like to search the net by combining the name of the saint of the day with the words ‘Carmel’ or ‘Carmelites’.  Today’s saint is the Frenchman St Hilaire, and by this means I found a story about a Carmelite community in the south of France.  The Abbaye Saint Hilaire in the Vaucluse is believed to have been founded in the 12th century and dedicated to one of the local Provençal saints, another Saint Hilaire.  It was built by Carmelite refugees from the Holy Land. It is about 5 miles from the old Roman road, the via Domitia, which connected the towns of Cavaillon and Apt.  It remained occupied by the Carmelites until 1656, when the Bishop of Cavaillon got Pope Alexander VII to allow the seizure of the property to house his seminary.  The Carmelites were forcibly expelled but they appealed to King Louis XIV, arguing that they were supposedly founded by his illustrious ancestor, Saint King Louis on his return from the Crusades. In 1660 they won their case and the priory was again occupied by monks.  However, the number of monks living here eventually diminished and around the time of the French Revolution the Priory was sold to a factory owner.  Such are the vicissitudes of history, which Carmelites cannot of course avoid. The pendulum swings back and forth between prosperity and hardship.

Intercessions:

Cancer: Brian Davis, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Jacqui, Theresa K, Fr Jon Bielowski (Plymouth Diocese), Catherine, Alex (43 with five children)

Illness: Roy Seymour, Katy Keeling

Siena, Elara – sick children

David OCDS – housebound

Sophia – blind infant

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)

Lucia – Overwhelmed by weariness

Mark – brain infection

Michael – youngster with occult influences

Defence of the unborn and the elderly

RIP Richard Parker, Martin Gilham, Sue Burton, Wojtek, Joy Smith OCDS, Dr Alan Rodgers