St. Kuriakos Elias Chavara – January 4 - Carmelite Saints

Summary: Barbe Avrillot, also known as Madame Acarie, was born in Paris in 1566. At the age of sixteen, she married Pierre Acarie, by whom she had seven children. In spite of her household duties and many hardships, she attained the heights of the mystical life. Under the influence of St. Teresa’s writings, and after mystical contact with the Saint herself, she spared no effort in introducing the Discalced Carmelite nuns into France. After her husband’s death, she asked to be admitted among them as a lay sister, taking the name of Mary of the Incarnation; she was professed at the Carmel of Amiens in 1615. She was esteemed by some of the greatest men of her time, including St. Francis de Sales; and she was distinguished by her spirit of prayer and her zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith. She died at Pontoise on April 18th, 1618. History: Mary of the Incarnation, born Barbe Avrillot on February 1, 1566, in Paris, was the daughter of Nicholas Avrillot, lord of Champlâtreux and the accountant general in the Chamber of Paris, as well as chancellor of Queen Marguerite of Navarre. Her mother was Mary L'Huillier, a descendant of Etienne Marcel. Before she was born, her parents had several other children, but all died in infancy. While her mother awaited this child, she vowed her to the Blessed Virgin and Saint Claude. She promised to clothe her in white until age seven and to offer her in a church of the Blessed Virgin. She was born healthy and baptized as Barbe, the day after the Purification of Our Lady. Her parents instilled piety in her from childhood. As a young girl, she was entrusted to the care of the Little Sisters of the Humility of Our Lady at Longchamp, where she had a maternal aunt. There, she was educated. The girls were taught to read and sing and joined the nuns in the Divine Office. She advanced in virtue and developed a distaste for worldly things. She was drawn to heavenly things with great ardor. There, she formed a vocation for the cloister, which was not altered by later life in the world. At fourteen, she returned to her father's house. She expressed her wish to enter a religious Order in Paris to care for the sick, but her parents opposed this plan. Her mother told her that she would never permit her to become a nun. The young girl believed God spoke to her through her mother and chose to obey. She agreed to the marriage her father proposed because she feared opposing him might resist the divine will. In 1582, when she was 16, she obeyed her parents’ wishes and married Pierre Acarie, the Viscount of Villemoran. He was a wealthy young man of high standing, a fervent Catholic, and a Government Treasury Official. Six children were born to them. Their pious mother raised them with great care. She taught them never to complain of circumstances or persons. She inspired horror of lying in them and strove to make them recognize any sentiments of vainglory. Her three daughters became Carmelites. Her three sons entered, in turn, the magistracy, the priesthood, and the military. After her second child was born, Barbe read some words of St. Augustine that made a great impression on her: ‘He is indeed a miser to whom God is not enough.’ After this, she began to have mystical experiences. These worried her at first, but gradually she gained more control. She could be at rest in God while still caring for her family and other works. She sought only to correspond with God's graces by perfectly fulfilling her duties toward her husband, her six children, and her dependents, whose devoted affection she won. Throughout thirty years of marriage, she demonstrated how Christian spouses could achieve sanctity. She bore herself so well in married life that St. Francis de Sales testified she was a perfect example of Christian virtue. Although she longed for prayer and practices of piety, she more than fulfilled every duty as wife and mother. She respected her husband, was watchful in teaching her children, and cared for her household. She was mild in handling servants and housemaids, whom she encouraged in virtue by word and example. In 1589, after the death of Henry III, political turmoil entered France as many opposed the succession of Henry of Navarre to the French throne. Henry was baptized a Catholic but raised as a Huguenot by his mother, Queen Jeanne III of Navarre. Barbe’s husband, Pierre, was one of the staunchest members of the Catholic League, which opposed the Huguenots. He was one of the sixteen who organized the resistance in Paris, which led to a famine caused by the siege of Paris in 1590. The cruel famine gave Barbe an occasion to display her charity. She was so wise in her almsgiving that, during the famine, the wealthy who desired to help the poor entrusted their alms to her, and she was widely respected. When Henry became King in 1594, Pierre was exiled from Paris, and the Acarie estates were seized, as were those of many others in the League, even though he never joined in the violent activities of some members. Barbe had to remain behind in Paris while Pierre went to Bourgfontaine. Driven from her house and stripped of her wealth, she also had to contend with creditors and irate businessmen. Pierre’s zeal for his faith had outstripped his prudence, and he recklessly lent money to other League members. Barbe faced sudden debts and had to give up most remaining possessions to pay them off. Her once-prosperous state became so dire that she barely had enough money for bread for herself and her children. Many people began to treat her with contempt. When she went to seek help for her husband, servants sometimes refused to let her in. She sent her four oldest children away to school and the two youngest to live with relatives. Barbe herself stayed with her cousin. Barbe never criticized her husband for his reckless ways, and her love for him never faltered despite the hardship. She traveled 45 miles to Bourgfontaine to see him. There, he was captured by bandits. She raised the ransom to free him and arranged his transfer to the Chateau at Luzarches, which was closer to Paris. There, she saw him more often. On returning from one visit, her horse stumbled, and Barbe broke her hip. Medical treatment only made things worse, leaving her an invalid for the rest of her life. Nevertheless, she put all her trust in God and did not yield to despair. She worked hard to provide for her children and restore her husband’s liberty. She defended Pierre in court by drafting memoirs, writing letters, and furnishing proof of his innocence. She won, and he was acquitted and able to return after three years. The family also reclaimed part of their property and fortune. She accepted these circumstances without becoming troubled. She endured want, insults, and pain. And yet afterwards, she often said that this had been a happy time. It was sweeter to her than any other. After four years, the family reunited and regained their home and holdings. Barbe regained popular esteem, including that of the royal family. She devoted herself to expanding the worship of God and became well known in Paris for her charity to the sick and poor. She also opened a refuge for prostitutes who wanted a new start and made vestments for missionaries. By the early seventeenth century, the Acarie home became a gathering place for clergy and devout laity. Many came to ask Barbe’s advice. She accommodated clergy who wanted to stay during convalescence. Many distinguished and devout people came to her home. Her cousin, Cardinal Pierre Bérulle, was a frequent visitor. Others included Madame Jourdain, Madame de Bréauté, the Chancellor de Merillac, Père Coton, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Francis de Sales, who was Barbara’s spiritual director for six months. It has been said that Barbe provided the first definite impulse towards the interior growth of St. Francis de Sales, making him a fit guide for the soul of St. Jane Frances de Chantal. In 1601, Abbé de Brétigny’s translation of Ribera’s life of St. Teresa was published. After Barbe began reading it, St. Teresa appeared to her and told her that God had chosen her to found Carmels in France. Barbe consulted her friends and advisers, but they felt the time was not right. They advised her to abandon the idea or put it aside. She tried to set it aside. Eight months later, St. Teresa appeared again and assured her that the difficulties would be overcome. Barbe approached the Duchess of Longueville to serve as the foundress. This meant financing the project and securing letters patent from the king. She convinced the Duchess, and Barbe persuaded her friends and advisers to support her. Barbara’s good works later won the admiration and support of King Henry, who assisted in bringing the reformed Carmelites of St Teresa to France. St. Francis de Sales wrote to Pope Clement VIII to obtain his permission to found monasteries of Discalced Carmelite nuns in France under the jurisdiction of secular clergy, as there were no Carmelite Friars in France at that time.  They all considered it essential to bring nuns from Spain who had known St. Teresa, so that the French Carmelites would be authentically Teresian. The Pope granted authorization for the new monastery in Paris, and Barbe gathered a group of future postulants. Abbé de Brétigny travelled to Spain to bring back Spanish Carmelites who had known St. Teresa, but he was initially refused, so he called on Barbe for advice. She sent her cousin, Cardinal Pierre Bérulle, to help him, and together with some ladies of the nobility, they returned with six of Teresa’s best nuns, including Bl. Anne of St. Bartholomew and Bl. Anne of Jesus. Two Spanish Carmelite friars accompanied them and gave the habit to the first French novices. The Spanish nuns all went to the newly built Paris Carmel in 1604, but more foundations followed, and Barbe was much involved in those at Pontoise in 1605, Dijon in 1605, and Amiens in 1606. By the time of her death, 12 years later, there were fourteen Carmels in France, which profoundly influenced the French religious and secular society of the day. Blessed Mary of the Incarnation also contributed to the works of the first Ursulines in Paris for the education of youth, and to the establishment of the Oratorians of Italy in France. Among the young women Barbe had gathered together to train as future Carmelites, she found that some clearly did not have a Carmelite vocation. Yet they were dedicated women sincerely seeking to serve God.  It occurred to Barbe that they would make excellent teaching sisters, so she set about founding the Ursulines in Paris, convinced that if girls were taught their faith well they could reform morality in the country, as most of these girls would go on to be mothers and would pass on the teaching to their children. She also urged Cardinal Bérulle to refuse the tutorship of Louis XIII, and on November 11, 1611, she, with St Vincent de Paul, assisted at the Mass of the installation of the Oratory of France. In 1613, her husband fell gravely ill, and she never left his bedside until, nine days later, she saw him die. The tears and the prayers of the blessed widow were comforted by the heavenly confirmation of the eternal salvation of her pious husband. Barbara settled her affairs and, now free from her duties towards her family, broke every bond with the world and decided to become a Carmelite as a lay sister. In 1614, she withdrew to the Monastery of Amiens, which she had founded. Her three daughters had preceded her into the cloister, and one of them, Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament,  was Sub-prioress at Amiens. She took the name Sr. Mary of the Incarnation and made her solemn profession on April 8, 1615, but her health had deteriorated significantly.   As a religious, Mary edified her fervent sisters by her attention to the humblest kitchen tasks, by her complete submission to all, by her practice of poverty, and by a unique finesse in charity, especially towards the sick. Although favored by God with exceptional gifts, she was extremely cautious and preferred the simple practice of the common, solid virtues. She was ever a shining example of poverty, obedience, and the practice of every rule. Her love of humility, in particular, was so great that despite being the parent and mistress of the rest, she chose the humble duties of a lay Sister. She could in no way be persuaded to accept the office of Prioress, although all of the nuns requested her to do so. She preferred to obey her own daughter, who held that place in the absence of the Superior. In 1616, at the request of her Superiors for health reasons, she went to the Carmelite Convent at Pontoise, which she had likewise founded. She spent a year there, patiently bearing a long and severe illness. Her health deteriorated further, and she received the last Sacraments and died on the Wednesday of Easter week, April 18, 1618, amid the prayers and tears of her companions. She was then fifty-three years old. She was heavily influenced by the piety exhibited in the death of St. Francis Xavier, and asserted a desire to die as he had died, namely, bereft of all physical recourse. St. Francis de Sales considered her death in spiritual poverty as laudable as that of St. Francis Xavier, who died in utter physical poverty. Mary’s prime glory is to have contributed more than all others to the introduction of the reform of St. Teresa of Jesus into France, so much so that she merits the title of mother and foundress of the Discalced Carmel in France. The process for beatification was opened in Rome in 1627. The successive decrees of Pope Urban VIII and other circumstances led to the cause's suspension, and it was not resumed until 1782. It was concluded with her beatification, proclaimed by Pope Pius VI on June 5, 1791. Her Feast Day is kept on April 18 in Paris and in the Carmelite order. Her body lies in the Chapel of the Carmelites of Pontoise. Prayer: Heavenly Father, You gave Blessed Mary of the Incarnation heroic strength in the face of the adversities she met along life’s road, and zeal for the extension of the Carmelite family. May we your children courageously endure every trial and persevere to the end in Your love. 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.

Summary: Simon, an Englishman, died at Bordeaux in the mid-thirteenth century. He has been venerated in the Carmelite Order for his personal holiness and his devotion to Our Lady. A liturgical celebration in his honor was observed locally in the fifteenth century, and later extended to the whole Order. History: St. Simon Stock, also known as Simon Anglus or Simon the Englishman, was born in Kent, England, in 1165 to noble parents. Growing up during a period of intense religious fervor, he showed deep devotion to God from a young age. When he was 12, he left home and became a hermit, living in the hollow trunk of an oak tree. Like the earliest monks, he survived on fruit and water while dedicating his days to prayer and meditation. Alone in his tree, he prayed without ceasing, which inspired the belief that his surname, Stock, comes from the Old English word for a tree trunk. After two decades of solitude in the wilderness, he returned to society to pursue an education in theology and become a priest. Later, he served as an itinerant preacher and went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. However, his pilgrimage ended abruptly when invading Muslims expelled Christians, forcing his return to England. Upon returning to his hermitage, Simon remained there until 1212. In that year, his calling to join the Carmelite Order, which had only recently entered England, was revealed to him. Tradition says the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Simon Stock and told him to leave his hermitage and join the order. Impressed by the Carmelites’ form of monasticism, Simon joined them in 1212. Seeking a deeper commitment, he studied sacred scripture at Oxford and then in Rome. After his studies, he spent several years at Mt. Carmel. Soon after his arrival, he became vicar general in 1215. In this new role, he defended the Carmelites' legitimacy, a dispute later settled by the Popes. In 1237, Simon attended a general chapter in the Holy Land. Facing Muslim persecution, most monks relocated to Europe, including England. After Simon returned to England from Mount Carmel with a group of Carmelites, they were sent to found a house at Aylesford, Kent. In 1247, Alan, the General of the Order, died. Simon was elected to succeed him as the sixth general of the Carmelites. This election happened at the first general chapter of the Carmelite Order held outside the Holy Land, in Aylesford. At that time, he was about 82 years old. Despite his advanced age, Simon displayed remarkable energy as general and achieved much for the order's benefit. Due to his accomplishments, he is justly regarded as the most celebrated of its generals. After his appointment, Simon led the Order with extraordinary prudence and won widespread admiration. Many described him as a man sent from Heaven to spread throughout Europe the zeal of Elijah. Under Simon's leadership, the Carmelite Order expanded its influence in England and across Europe. He oversaw the establishment of new Carmelite houses in Cambridge (1248), Oxford (1253), Paris (1260), and Bologna (1260), greatly advancing the Order's growth and providing training for its younger members in those university towns. Additionally, Simon revised the Rule of the Order, changing it from a hermitic Order to one of mendicant friars. He loved and respected the Order’s traditions but saw the need to adapt to European society. He sought to make the Carmelite way of life practicable in a new European society without altering the essence of the Rule or detracting from the prophetic vocation. Simon secured temporary approval from Pope Innocent IV for the altered rule. Despite its growth, the Carmelite Order faced many challenges, including opposition from clergy and other religious groups. During these difficulties, the monks prayed to the Blessed Virgin. Tradition holds that she told Simon they should petition Pope Innocent IV. He obeyed, and on January 13, 1252, the Order received a letter of protection. Throughout his life, St. Simon Stock was deeply devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tradition credits him as the author of "Flos Carmeli" and "Ave Stella Matutina." He continually pleaded with the Mother of God to grant some privilege to the Order of Carmelites. Tradition says the Blessed Virgin appeared to Simon on July 16, 1251, accompanied by a host of angels. She held in her hands the scapular of the Order and said to Simon, "This shall be a sign unto thee, and the privilege of all Carmelites, that he who shall die piously, wearing this scapular, shall not fall into the eternal flames." Saint Simon Stock is often depicted as a Carmelite friar holding a scapular or receiving one from the Blessed Virgin. Later, in 1265, St. Simon Stock passed through Toulouse and met Bl. Jane of Toulouse. She was a devout woman who, after the founding of a Carmelite monastery in the city in 1240, chose to live as a recluse near the monastery, leading a life of great austerity. In meeting Simon, she requested affiliation with the Carmelites. Simon agreed, and Jane became the first member of the Carmelite tertiary order, receiving the habit from him. In Carmelite tradition, she is considered the first woman Carmelite and the founder of the Carmelite Third Order. Soon after, Simon died on May 16, 1265, at the age of 100 while visiting the Carmelite monastery in Bordeaux, France. His remains were kept in the room where he died, which became a chapel. Eventually, his remains were moved to the Carmelite friary in Aylesford, England. Saint Simon Stock's life embodied unwavering commitment to the Carmelite Order and devotion to the Virgin Mary. His spiritual leadership and drive for reform left a profound legacy on the Church, especially among the Carmelites, who continue to honor his memory and seek his intercession. Following his death, reports of numerous miracles began to occur at his resting place. In 1435, Pope Eugene IV permitted the Carmelites of Bordeaux to celebrate a Mass in his honor; this permission was extended to the entire Order in 1564. After the Carmelite calendar reform in 1584, the feast was dropped. In the 17th century, the celebration of St. Simon was reinstated, delisted again in 1972, and finally restored in 1978 with the Pope’s approval. Prayer: Father, You called St. Simon Stock to serve you in the brotherhood of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Through his prayers help us like him to live in your presence and to work for man’s salvation. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.