To come to possess all Desire the possession of nothing. --St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel This last Sunday I put clean sheets on my bed and realized that the last time I had slept in a bed, any bed, was in the rectory of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Chicago, February 11, 2012, during the Carmelites’ discernment retreat weekend. I would love to say that my long hiatus from bed-sleeping is due ...

I don’t want to make my sole theme the non-relaxing ways I spend my weekends, but this past Memorial Day weekend I spent exhibiting at the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit. For those unfamiliar with the glamorous world of outdoor art fairs, this involves setting up a booth on a Manhattan street corner and spending the weekend alternatively roasting in the 85-degree heat and soaking in sudden thundershowers.  Saturday, my main take was a hot ...

I don’t want to make my sole theme the non-relaxing ways I spend my weekends, but this past Memorial Day weekend I spent exhibiting at the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit. For those unfamiliar with the glamorous world of outdoor art fairs, this involves setting up a booth on a Manhattan street corner and spending the weekend alternatively roasting in the 85-degree heat and soaking in sudden thundershowers.  Saturday, my main take was a hot ...

Only a decade after a portion of the Carmelites had fled to Europe, we find them considering a modification of their formula vitae. This document, drawn up for a single hermitage, no longer suited their worldwide circumstances. The first foundations had indeed been made in remote places, but we soon see the hermits settling in more populated areas. This involved, too, a more cenobitical lifestyle. In 1247, accordingly, the Carmelites sent envoys to Pope Innocent IV, ...

Only a decade after a portion of the Carmelites had fled to Europe, we find them considering a modification of their formula vitae. This document, drawn up for a single hermitage, no longer suited their worldwide circumstances. The first foundations had indeed been made in remote places, but we soon see the hermits settling in more populated areas. This involved, too, a more cenobitical lifestyle. In 1247, accordingly, the Carmelites sent envoys to Pope Innocent IV, ...

According to the Dominican, Vincent of Beauvais (d. 1264), the Carmelites migrated to Europe in 1238. Nevertheless, the hermits must have suffered disturbance, for it is at this period that a number of them decided to return or migrate to the West. A religious foundation in the open countryside was always prey to raids by bands of bedouins or other hostile groups. “The inroads of the pagans,” Innocent IV was to write later, “have ...

According to the Dominican, Vincent of Beauvais (d. 1264), the Carmelites migrated to Europe in 1238. Nevertheless, the hermits must have suffered disturbance, for it is at this period that a number of them decided to return or migrate to the West. A religious foundation in the open countryside was always prey to raids by bands of bedouins or other hostile groups. “The inroads of the pagans,” Innocent IV was to write later, “have ...

During the second decade of the century the hermits of Carmel sought to solidify their juridical status. In 1226, they obtained confirmation of their “norm of living” from Pope Honorius III. April of 1229 brought several privileges and decisions from Pope Gregory IX. On April 9, he placed the hermitage on Carmel under the protection of the Holy See and granted permission for divine service to be held there behind closed doors in time ...

                                                                      During the second decade of the century the hermits of Carmel sought to solidify their juridical status. In 1226, they obtained confirmation of their “norm of living” from Pope Honorius III. April of 1229 brought several privileges and decisions from Pope Gregory IX. On April 9, he placed the hermitage on Carmel under the protection of the Holy See and granted permission for divine service to be held there behind closed doors in time of interdict. ...

The room was dark and small with a low ceiling and no stage. My band had played worse, much worse. Actually we were grateful to have it. This was our first show on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, UPJ, my alma mater. It was March 31st, 1994 and we had finally broken into the college circuit in western Pennsylvania, albeit through the backdoor or maybe it was ...