There is no doubt in my mind Hamlet was a Carmelite at heart. Granted, he doesn't show it in the first four acts but certainly by the final scene of the play it is clear he finally gets it. Gone are the extremes of revenge, despair, self righteousness, and indecision and the soaring soliloquies of "to be's and not to be's" in iambic pentameter. After a five-act roller coaster of emotions, three ...

During the 15th century, the life of the Order was intimately linked to the frequent general councils attended by the major superiors and the best talent of the Order. The religious trends of the time find echoes in the Order: the desire of autonomy, the desperate sense of the need for reform and the inability to effect it. There is no record that the prior general, John Grossi, attended the Council of Pavia-Sienna (1423-1424). In his ...

During the 15th century, the life of the Order was intimately linked to the frequent general councils attended by the major superiors and the best talent of the Order. The religious trends of the time find echoes in the Order: the desire of autonomy, the desperate sense of the need for reform and the inability to effect it. There is no record that the prior general, John Grossi, attended the Council of Pavia-Sienna (1423-1424). In his ...

This novena in preparation for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16 is based on the titles of Mary that are specifically Carmelite. Novena Day Two: Flower of Carmel “It shall bring forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise: the glory of Lebanon is given to it: the beauty of Carmel, and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty of our God.” – Isaiah ...

This novena in preparation for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16 is based on the titles of Mary that are specifically Carmelite. Novena Day Two: Flower of Carmel “It shall bring forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise: the glory of Lebanon is given to it: the beauty of Carmel, and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty of our God.” – Isaiah ...

This novena in preparation for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16 is based on the titles of Mary that are specifically Carmelite. Novena Day One: Our Lady of Mount Carmel “I brought you into the land of Carmel to partake of its fine fruits, but you entered only to refuse and to defile my land.” – Jeremiah 2:7 Mount Carmel is a mountain ridge running alongside the Mediterranean Sea in ...

This novena in preparation for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16 is based on the titles of Mary that are specifically Carmelite. Novena Day One: Our Lady of Mount Carmel “I brought you into the land of Carmel to partake of its fine fruits, but you entered only to refuse and to defile my land.” – Jeremiah 2:7 Mount Carmel is a mountain ridge running alongside the Mediterranean Sea in ...

The early years of the Order’s intellectual life produced several literary figures of note. The earliest example of a writer on secular themes is Robert Baston, who was present at the battle of Bannockburn (1314) and celebrated it in 131 lines of rather pedestrian verse. Guido da Pisa wrote Fiori d’Italia, meant to be a history in seven books of Italy from the earliest times to the fall of the empire in the West, but he got ...

The early years of the Order’s intellectual life produced several literary figures of note. The earliest example of a writer on secular themes is Robert Baston, who was present at the battle of Bannockburn (1314) and celebrated it in 131 lines of rather pedestrian verse. Guido da Pisa wrote Fiori d’Italia, meant to be a history in seven books of Italy from the earliest times to the fall of the empire in the West, but he got ...

The Carmelites were the last of the mendicants to enter the schools and they arrived when the golden age of Scholasticism was already drawing to a close. The philosophical systems, each with its firmly entrenched exponents, were already well defined, so it was difficult for a Carmelite doctor to head a distinctive school. Nevertheless, the Order did produce a number of distinguished scholars. To make a few, the earliest of the Paris doctors, Gerard of Bologna ...