Newsletter #30 - June 2021
Dear Friends of Mary,
Here’s a (slightly belated) Memorial Day Weekend greeting from Georgetown! We just finished our annual retreat, and it was delightfully and unseasonably cool for almost the whole eight days. We focused on the teaching of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, OCD, so here are a few key points to share with you:
By virtue of our baptism, we are made sons and daughters of God, and our souls are made beautiful for Him with sanctifying grace, and the gifts and virtues of the Holy Spirit. We can begin right now on earth what we shall be doing eternally in heaven: praising His glory!
If we follow the gospel fully and faithfully, we will be “social revolutionaries” (doesn’t that make your ears perk up?)! Since the teachings of Our Lord run counter to the “current wisdom of the age” we will be swimming upstream against public opinion and perhaps against those we love and care for. It’s painful to be a faithful Christian nowadays, but it’s still “ the only game in town.”
St. Elizabeth wrote to many of her friends outside the monastery, and she gave them encouragement and helps on how to practice prayer, how to be detached and virtuous, how to persevere in the Christian life. As Ginger Rogers sang in one of her movies with Fred Astaire, “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again!” St. Elizabeth would say to us, Don’t lose heart or give up – keep your eyes on Jesus – keep going. And believe me, we nuns have to hear this too!
Are we post-Covid yet? Will we be allowed to take off the masks and show our faces to one another again? We can hope and pray that this summer won’t be like the last one. You Auxiliary members are an inspiration to us nuns, and we’re deeply grateful for your help and support, without which we wouldn’t have gotten through this “lockdown” time! Our prayers are for you, and for our country at large; it’s got to be time to “pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start all over again”!
Happy summer with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!
Mother Mary Bethany and Sisters
Auxiliary News
We are working hard on trying to fix a location for our 2021 Carmelite Fundraiser Luncheon. We have applied to St. Clare in Roseville; if that doesn’t work out, we can possibly use St. Mel’s again, or Holy Trinity in El Dorado Hills. We have applied for Saturday, October 23. Mark your calendars! As our parishes try to open back up again, we also would like to opportunity to come back together as a community to support the Carmelite Sisters in Georgetown.
Do you know about our Holy Face kits? We make and distribute a small brown bag full of pamphlets and a chaplet rosary that promotes the Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. This devotion is a few hundred years old, and was given to a Carmelite nun by Our Lord Himself. While people are very familiar with the Divine Mercy Chaplet, this Holy Face Chaplet is less familiar, but is becoming increasingly popular. The purpose of the Divine Mercy Chaplet is to beg God for His mercy in our lives, and the purpose of the Holy Face Chaplet is to offer reparation to God for our sinful nature. The world needs both devotions desperately!
To learn about the Holy Face Devotion, go to http://www.holyfacedevotion.com. You can also read about it on our own dear Sisters’ website: https://carmelitemonastery.org/holy-face-of-jesus.php . If you are interested in obtaining a Holy Face kit from us, please contact us on our website.
The sisters are so grateful to all who have been sending them a monthly donation. Their mailing address is still P.O. Box 4210, Georgetown, CA 95634. Remember, they cannot receive USPS mail at their street location: it has to be sent to the P.O Box. However, UPS, Fed EX, and Amazon do deliver to their street address. Also, please remember to make any checks out to their correct bank name: Carmel of the Holy Family and St. Therese.
For all Mail:
Carmel of the Holy Family and St. Therese
P.O. Box 4210
Georgetown, CA 95634
For all deliveries, UPS, Fed Ex, Amazon
Carmel of the Holy Family and St. Therese
6981 Teresian Way
Georgetown, CA 95634
Also, since we are a Catholic community of support and love, I would ask you in your prayers to remember to pray for all of the Sisters’ intentions. Join the Sisters in praying for all the intentions that come through our website, as well as all of your intentions too. Together in prayer we are stronger!
In Christ,
Patty MacEgan
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Auxiliary