Feast of All Saints of the Carmelite Order - November 14 - Carmelite Saints

Summary: Josefa Naval Girbes was born at Algemesi in the Archdiocese of Valencia, Spain, on December 11, 1820. As a very young woman, she consecrated herself to the Lord by a perpetual vow of chastity. Josefa’s life was simple. She stood out for her ardent love, and she made progress along the way of prayer and evangelical perfection while dedicating herself generously to apostolic works in her parish community. In her own home, she opened a school where she taught needlework, prayer, and the evangelical virtues. She formed many young girls and women and shared with them her wisdom and spiritual understanding. She was a member of the Third Order Secular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Teresa of Jesus and had a special love for the Virgin Mother of God. Her holy death took place on February 24, 1893. She is buried in her parish church of Saint James in her native city. History: Josefa Naval Girbes was born on December 11, 1820, in Algemesi, Spain, as the eldest of six children of Vincenzo Naval and Josefa Girbes, who were of modest means. She was baptized the day she was born and was named Josefa Maria. Raised in a devout family, she had a Christian upbringing. She was confirmed in 1828 and made her First Communion a year later at the age of nine. Public schools were only partially available, so she attended a neighbor's school, where she had a basic education in reading and writing. She also learned embroidery, which later proved to be a way to educate and save souls for Jesus. In addition, she became very knowledgeable in the Catholic Faith. On June 19, 1833, at age thirteen, Josefa’s mother died at the age of 35. As the eldest, Josefa left school to help her father care for the household and her siblings. The family moved into her maternal grandmother’s home, where Josefa also cared for her grandmother and her uncle, both of whom were ill. During this time, her love for Jesus and the Blessed Mother continued to grow, and while praying, she felt assured that the Blessed Mother would never abandon her. As a young adult, she diligently attended the nearby parish, took Communion every day, and received spiritual direction from her parish priest, Fr. Gaspar Silvestre, who directed her for twenty-eight years, from 1833 to 1860. It was through his influence and her commitment to God that, on December 4, 1838, at the age of 18, she consecrated herself to the Lord with a vow of perpetual chastity. She dedicated herself to answering the call to be holy, to serve the Church, and to serve her neighbor. Because of this dedication to God and her spiritual experiences, she felt compelled to help others. In 1850, when she was 30, Josefa began gathering her friends at her home for reading and spiritual formation meetings. To concretely help many other young women, she turned the house into a veritable workshop, teaching embroidery free of charge. Her free homeschool was attended by young women from all social levels. During needlework sessions, there were readings and spiritual conversations. Under her care, women practiced needlepoint and learned the practice of virtues. She touched many lives, teaching basic catechism, emphasizing prayer and meditation, preparing children for first communion, and encouraging parish involvement. Josefa’s place became known as a sort of novitiate for preparing young women to be wives, mothers, or to enter religious life. Through these efforts and, more importantly, by her example, many young women were formed to be models of Christian charity. She accepted no gifts, nor any special services from the young women; each brought her own private work, and she directed them in its execution. Her greatest concern was the limited space available, now insufficient for the number of students, which she would have liked to expand to include all the young women of Algemesí. Josefa’s dedication to her family and young women kept her from becoming a nun. She was, in effect, a "house nun," a choice made by many who did so much good outside the cloister in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Although she did not become a nun,  she did enter the Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and of St. Teresa. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936, many documents were lost, and the date of her entry is unknown. As a member of the Order, her lay Carmelite community was served by the Discalced Carmelite Fathers of the Province of Valencia. In an age when spirituality in Third Orders endeavored to replicate religious life, Josefa lived out her Carmelite spirituality in her secular condition and was shaped by the writings of Discalced Carmelite saints such as John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. Josefa’s strong Catholic faith was evident in her deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. She always wore her scapular and rosary as a necklace. Josefa and her students prayed the Angelus at noon when the church bells rang and recited a Hail Mary every hour. On Saturdays, she dedicated her morning prayers to Mary. As a secular Carmelite, Josefa was especially devoted to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and repeatedly requested to be clothed in the Carmelite habit at the time of her death, which was later granted. Josefa had a deep interior life. Her message was simple: “prayer, prayer; pray for a while each day, and life will be easier and bearable. Learn to speak with God without words and, in this way, practice the prayer of meditation. Be faithful and reverent before the Lord in the Holy Eucharist.” Josefa later expanded her apostolate: she taught catechism to children, trained married and single women, assisted the sick as a member of the Conference of St. Vincent, counseled married couples, and reconciled family discords. However, Josefa began experiencing chronic pain in 1891 due to a heart condition. Chronically ill, she spent her last two years bedridden at home in Algemesí. On February 24, 1893, at the age of 72, she died in her home after receiving the last sacraments. She was surrounded by her spiritual daughters, whom she nurtured and fed the word of God to, and was buried in the local cemetery with a great public attendance. Even after her death, her reputation grew because of her holy life and abundant charity. On October 20, 1946, Josefa’s remains were removed to the parish Church of St. James and placed in a beautiful metal and glass coffin for all to venerate. After careful investigation of her life, Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed the Decree for her heroic virtues on January 3, 1987. On September 1, 1988, the proposed miracle for her Beatification was accepted. The Beatification ceremony was celebrated in Saint Peter’s Basilica on September 25, 1988. A quote from Monsignor Petti says: “Josefa Navel Girbes is an exceptional mistress of secular holiness: a model of Christian life in her heroic simplicity; a model of parish life. Her entire life proves how one can reach holiness in all states of life in a total consecration to God and in a selfless love for one’s brothers and sisters, even while living in the world. Without extraordinary gifts and without dazzling events in her life, the Servant of God was an exceptional woman in her genuine simplicity as a daughter of the people. She carried out her duties faithfully, in intense union with God, in the midst of the ordinary circumstances of her working day.” Prayer: O God, through the new leaven of the Gospel, you call men and women and empower them to serve you faithfully in secular life. Grant that they may fervently imitate the example of Blessed Josefa, and, through her intercession, work tirelessly as true Christians to build up your kingdom by fulfilling their duties in the world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

Summary: John Soreth was born in Caen, Normandy, and entered Carmel as a young man. He took a doctorate of theology in Paris and served as regent of studies and provincial of his province. He was prior general from 1451 until his death in 1471 at Angers. He restored observance within the Order and promoted its reform, wrote a famous commentary on the Rule, issued new Constitutions in 1462, and promoted the growth of the nuns and the Third Order. History: John Soreth was born in 1394 to a respectable family in Caen, Normandy. From an early age, he was noted for his great piety. As a boy, he entered the Carmelite Order in that city to consecrate himself wholly to the Virgin Mother of God. He was ordained a priest around 1417 and then went to Paris to study advanced theology. After earning a Licentiate in Theology in 1437 and a Doctorate in 1438, he became regent of studies at the house of studies at Place Maubert. He was then elected Provincial for north-central France and served in that role from 1440 until 1451. During this period, his learning, eloquence, and holiness of life drew many from vice to the path of Gospel perfection. In 1451, Fr. John was elected Prior General of the Carmelites at the chapter in Avignon and remained in that office until his death in 1471. He fulfilled his duties faithfully, setting an example for those under him and never omitting what the Rule prescribed for general observance. A lover of humility, he showed himself, in word and deed, a living picture of that virtue, refusing a bishopric and, later, a cardinalate offered by Pope Calixtus III. In a particularly critical period for the Church and for civil society itself, he was a tireless reformer, working above all to restore the Order to the purity of observance. The Carmelites of his time had largely slipped into a spirit of laxity in their prayer and community life, especially in their failure to observe poverty. His main aim was to secure observance of the Rule and Constitutions and to promote, in as many convents as possible, the Carmelite character of poverty and interior and exterior recollection. To that end, John pursued this monumental task with a two-pronged strategy: good legislation and personal visits to as many communities as he could reach. In his canonical visits to many houses, he often stayed longer to enforce observance and encourage the friars toward a truly virtuous life. In some cases, he led entire communities through a formal repetition of their formation and then celebrated the renewal of their vows. As contemporaries describe him, he was gentle, humorous, and always courageous in this role. Among his better-known activities was Fr. John’s broadening of the Order to include women. Under his governance, the bull Cum nulla, authorizing the Second Order, the Carmelite nuns, was obtained from Pope Nicholas V in 1452. He established communities of nuns in the Netherlands, including Gueldren, Nieukirk, Dinant, Liege, Harlem, and Huy. He then collaborated with Bl. Frances d’Amboise to found women’s communities in Brittany. He eventually received Bl. Frances into the Order himself. As a result of the same bull, he helped develop the Carmelite Third Order. Informal associations of lay people with the Carmelites already existed in parts of Italy, but Fr. John Soreth wrote the first rule for the Third Order. From this, lay people promised to follow a stricter, more dedicated way of life based on Carmelite spirituality. Around 1455, Fr. John Soreth wrote Expositio paraenetica, a commentary on the Carmelite Rule. Its aim was to present the Carmelite charism while preserving it within the broad framework of tradition. In this spirit, Fr. John wanted to convey that, despite mitigations relating to the ascetic life, one point remained firm and indisputable: the Carmelite's striving for union with God and the constant practice of prayer. He also published a revised edition of the Constitutions in 1462. Throughout his life, Fr. John was remarkable for his firmness and courage in adversity. This was seen in Liege during the city's 1468 sack by Charles the Bold, when a violent mob broke into the church of St. Christopher and strewn consecrated hosts on the ground. John boldly entered through the crowd, gathered the hosts, and took them to the Carmelite church, where he placed them with the utmost reverence. For this reason, artists often picture Bl. John Soreth with a ciborium. When he felt his end approaching, he received the Sacraments of the Church and exhorted his brethren to live in harmony and keep the Rule. He died at Angers on July 25, 1471. His final words were, "Oh Jesus! be to me, Jesus!" Following his death, Bl. Baptist Spagnoli praised his hard work and dedicated an elegy to him. On account of his miracles, Fr. John came to be honored as a blessed. His cultus was officially recognized by Pope Bl. Pius IX, and he was beatified in 1866. His feast is celebrated on July 28. Prayer: Lord God, you willed that Blessed John Soreth should renew religious life and establish communities for women in the Order of Carmel. May his prayers and merits help us to be ever more faithful in following Christ and His Mother. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.