Author: motherangelinesociety

Carmelite Sister for the Aged and Infirm
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From the Pen of Brother Bob

Brother Bob Chiulli, O.Carm.

With the holidays long past, and springtime upon us, it is that time of year where we start cleaning out the closets, drawers, garages of all that stuff that seems to have mysteriously accumulated.  Even those of us who try to consciously limit our consumption seem somehow to have more things than we really need.  Of course, the internet makes shopping so easy. With only a click or two, that item that before would have taken a trip to the store and hours of browsing, can be on our doorstep in a couple of days.  And then where to put this stuff? It is interesting to see the proliferation of self-storage units in small towns and large cities alike, as we run out of places in our homes to store all this stuff. In my musings about material possessions, I am reminded of the re-creation of Mother Angeline’s office and bedroom in the Mother Angeline Heritage Center, located at the Carmelite Sisters’ Motherhouse in Germantown, NY. Mother’s quarters are refreshingly uncluttered. There are a few books, small statues, and holy pictures, things that would help Mother focus on what she considered most important, her relationship with God.  Mother had an eye for good taste, and wanted the chapels in her convents and nursing homes to be decorated with art that was dignified and graceful. And the small items in her own rooms reflect Mother’s style: a simple, but elegant, piety.

For the visitors who come to the Mother Angeline Heritage Center, what can be learned about Mother Angeline as they gaze at her desk, bookcase, and bed? How do things she lived with, and surrounded herself with, reflect something about her personality? Mother had a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother and all the saints, so one finds in her room a few small statues and pictures. No doubt, Mother, as she went about her work, desired to be surrounded by holy men and women. As she made the many important decisions in guiding the Congregation she founded, she likely called upon their support and guidance.

One also sees in the rooms that several of the items are gifts from friends or dear associates. Mother was known within and outside the Congregation to be a generous and  thoughtful woman, the type of person who would remember anniversaries and important events, who would send a sympathetic note to one going through a difficult time. She deeply cherished her relationships with her sisters, her family, and her friends. And her sisters and friends cherished her, and would often send her small gifts as expressions of gratitude.

And one can glean from that lack of ornamentation in Mother’s rooms that poverty was an important virtue for her. As the Superior General of a religious congregation, one might think she was entitled to an elaborate and sumptuous residence. However, Mother’s simple office and room conveyed her deep belief that we are made for God, and to serve Him, not to acquire possessions. As Mother wrote to her sisters, “Our Blessed Lady practiced Poverty and knew its blessings as no other creature could know them. Let us learn from her…so that like her we may truly abandon all things and find Christ.”

If you haven’t yet made a visit to the Mother Angeline Heritage Center, I would recommend you plan a visit soon and discover what there is to know about this remarkable faith-filled, visionary woman.

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The Carmelite System: Beacon of Hope for Twenty Years

The mission of caring for the elderly began in 1929 when Mother Angeline McCrory founded the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.  In 1999, the Sisters formed a non-profit corporation known as the Carmelite System for the Aged and Infirm, Inc. In 2010, renamed The Carmelite System, Inc. it was headquartered in a new building on the grounds of the Motherhouse in Germantown, New York. The Carmelite System is a not-for-profit health system consisting of facilities located in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Dublin, Ireland where senior care services are provided, including skilled nursing, assisted-living, independent living and post- acute care.

The Carmelite System is unique in its focus to the elderly, following in the tradition of Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa, O.Carm.  The Carmelite System fosters the healing ministry of Christ in Catholic health care by proclaiming the value and dignity of the aged and infirm, and providing collaborative ways to meet the needs of today’s elderly. The hallmark of programs and services rendered is a commitment to compassionate, loving care of the highest standards, with wise stewardship of resources.

The System staff are committed to assisting member facilities to achieve quality care in long-term care and short-term rehab within a homelike and dignified setting.  Not only do they zero in on the important components of clinical services, but they also promote the collaboration of services such as mission effectiveness and quality improvement.  The Carmelite System provides financial and business services, management of information services, strategic planning, public policy, and education.

“We want our homes not to be better, but the best.”- Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa

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EWTN Filming

The Carmelite Sisters were invited to participate in a project to be aired on EWTN as part of a series called “They Might Be Saints”. From January 18-21, Saint Teresa’s Motherhouse was bustling with activity as interviews were conducted and scenes from Mother Angeline’s early life were filmed. Despite a major snowstorm that meant moving schedules around, with God’s help everything was accomplished. The Producer, Michael O’Neill, was open to Mother’s family portraying her in the scenes, so Karen, Angeline, Katie and Michael McCrory depicted Mother and her family during Mother’s teenage years in Scotland. Some of the filming was done in St. Sylvia’s Church and Rectory in Tivoli, NY. The McCrory family welcomed two Little Sisters into the house (Sr. Veronica and Sr. Mary of Jesus), and Angeline portrayed Mother arranging flowers in the local parish and taking a book from Dean Cronin’s library the evening before her entrance into the convent. Later, Brigid McCrory Amundson played Mother as a Little Sister of the Poor receiving blessed roses from Fr. Flanagan (Fr. Jim Hess) and meeting with Cardinal Hayes (an actor) accompanied as far as the door by Sr. Julie. There is no dialogue in the scenes, but a voice-over narration will be used.

The episode will be aired later in the year on EWTN.  Stay tuned for details.

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Homily: Model of Prayer for Our Time

+Maria

Reverend Fathers, Members of the McCrory Family and guests, Mother Mark Louis Anne and members of the General Council, and all of my dear Sisters and Brothers in Carmel –

Here we are again in beautiful, “spring-like weather”, keeping the anniversary of the birth and death of Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory, the beloved foundress of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm. Thank you to all who braved the weather to be here this morning, and to all those who are here in spirit, but could not make it in bodily form. This 35th annual Mass is a fitting tribute to a wonderful and saintly woman, who deserves the veneration she receives. There is, really, no end to what we can say about Mother Angeline, because as we continually get to know her, she is always ready to teach us something new. A woman of her time, she was, who has continued to be a woman of our time as well. It is our fondest hope that through such avenues as the EWTN production we are engaged in at the moment, Mother can become still better known, loved, appreciated and venerated. And, we wouldn’t mind one tiny, little verifiable miracle, would we?

One time Father John Horan who many of you know, told a story about celebrating a funeral Mass in Trinidad with a full Church and a lot of emotion. A little girl who obviously was anxious and maybe confused, kept talking to her mother quite audibly, and the mother finally decided the best thing to do was to leave. However, the girl did not go quietly and everyone in the Church could hear her asking her mother, “What are we doing here? What are we doing here?” Now, this is a good question for us today, and for other days when we are together for the Mass. What are we doing here? As believers, we know that the Holy Mass is our greatest act of worship; it is of great praise to God, that it is the most perfect act of thanksgiving to God, and unites us through the sacrifice of Jesus, to the Father, to the Church and to all of creation by the action of the Holy Spirit. The Mass, though it takes place in time and space, lifts us out of time and space up to heaven to the eternal, and brings down upon us all grace, healing and life. Mass can become a routine unless we keep that lively sense of what we are doing here, and how great it is.

Today, we are keeping an anniversary and remembering Mother Angeline. She is worth remembrance, for she – along with her companions – did great things. She was certainly the inspiration, the leader, the soul of the group, the nucleus of a new religious family. She was bold, without being brash, had a vision without being a visionary, courageous while still being meek, and full of confident faith while still remaining humble. She was joyful, grateful, and optimistic, had a sense of humor, worked hard, was a sister to her Sisters, an Aunt to her family, a child of the Church yet a valiant coworker with Bishops and priests in the vineyard. Why are we here today? To remember her, yes. To thank God for the gift of who she was, yes. To try and learn something from her, yes. In addition, to ask her help and prayers for ourselves and all of her Sisters and their ministry.

I think we can learn again that she was a woman of prayer for our time. Here is the heart of who she was. When I am asked about who I think Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa is and what is the secret of her holiness, I answer: she was 100%. She was always 100% the same – same dedication, same drive, same goals, same love, no change, no variation. By this I don’t mean she was unbending or unable to adjust and change, but her core – firmly rooted in faith and prayer, never wavered. She was 100 % for God, 100 % for her Sisters, 100 % for the Church and for the old people. No duplicity, no compromise, always acting from the center which was united with the Lord in prayer and love. For me, this is her holiness, something to ponder and appreciate the heroic virtue of being steadfast.

How can we tell if a person is prayerful? Not by following them around with a clipboard and checklist to see if they put in their time praying, or, having a Smartwatch that can measure prayer time like steps for exercise. I think we can sense the prayerfulness of a person by their actions and attitudes. For example, the Book of Wisdom announces today, “I prayed and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.” Prudence is the moderator of all virtues, a cardinal virtue, and wisdom is a characteristic that takes us beyond the knowledge of facts, to the meaning of facts, of life, of people, and of God’s ways. In the instruction of the Cause, among the heroic virtues Mother practiced prudence was clearly demonstrated in her dealings with people, with her Sisters and with difficulties. She manifested wisdom in her choices, her plans, her method of administration and her dealings with men and women.

Mother Angeline spent hours in prayer – a fact that no one can deny. When she chose a religious family to affiliate her new work with, she chose Carmel, whose very charism is of prayer. And her own prayer life contained all the elements of a well-rounded prayer experience: a deep love and devotion for the Eucharist and the Liturgy; a practice of spiritual reading and devotion to the Sacred Scripture – often saying that the reading she loved best was of the gospels – devotional prayer to Mary and the Saints and, finally, and most noteworthy, a love for silent prayer, contemplation and reflection before the Blessed Sacrament, heart speaking to heart. Here is the soul of her character.

This life of prayer led her to the practice of the Christian virtues, such as we hear St. Paul enumerate in today’s second reading: compassion, a hallmark of the ministry of the Carmelite Sisters, kindness, patience, forbearance and  forgiveness, and above all love, charity, an open heart, and gentle spirit. This led Mother Angeline to value worship so much and to pass that love on to her Sisters reminding them constantly to keep the balance between their lives of prayer and service, never neglecting time with the Lord because there we all find the nourishment and strength to serve in Christ’s name.

There is no doubt that at the end of the ages, when the sheep are separated from the goats, Mother Angeline and all those who follow her example of care and service for the least of the Lord’s brothers and sisters will be numbered among the righteous ones in eternity. We need her kind of inner life today. There are new questions, new crises, new challenges, new horizons that must be faced in society, in the Church, in health care and in the religious life. “What are we doing here?” We are remembering a woman that from her own inner core and dedication to God and doing His will, could face down the opposition of her former religious congregation, the depression, and all nay- sayers, to launch a new ministry in the service of God’s elderly, a new religious family and, in a sense, a new active way of living the Carmelite contemplative charism in our world. She did this by being a woman of prayer, of faith, a religious who lived in community and built a community where the spiritual life could flourish, and each Sister find her own personal vocation in peace and joy. She is a model of prayer, and the completeness of her dedication even until death can remind each of us that, as Blessed Titus Brandsma, a Carmelite contemporary of Mother Angeline once wrote, “For the Carmelite, prayer is not an oasis in life, it IS life.”

Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa, pray for us.

Very Reverend Mario Esposito, O.Carm. /Vice Postulator

St. Teresa’s Motherhouse, Avila-On-The Hudson

January 21, 2019