SECULAR ORDER OF DISCALCED CARMELITES
England, Wales and Scotland

I found this passage on our foundress, Teresa of Avila (1515-1582, feast day today) on catholicireland.net. It was written by Eugene McCaffrey OCD about her in her historical context. ‘Like ourselves, Teresa lived in the age of a great council. The Council of Trent opened in 1545 and continued intermittently till 1563. These years correspond to one of the most crucial periods in Teresa’s life – her own interior struggle to surrender herself whole-heartedly to God and her exterior struggle...

Friends have been inspired recently by the Holy Face devotion. I came across these paragraphs in reference to St Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face. ‘Saint Therese was introduced to the devotion by Sister Agnes of Jesus. She studied it in a personal way …. She did this principally at the time of her father’s illness. She signed her name for the first time as “Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face” the day she received the habit on January 10, 1889. Before her...

I was privileged last night to take part in a Zoom for UK converts to the Catholic Church. This had its origins in the magnificent ministry of the American Coming Home Network. They have produced a plethora of videos and podcasts containing a wealth of apologetics materials and inspirational conversion stories. They have helped many individuals on the way into the Church, and that includes reverts – people with a Catholic upbringing who have wandered away and subsequently returned. Many...