Very Rev. John Russell, O. Carm., 1934-2012

With the gracious permission of the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary I reproduce below the province's announcement of the death of Father John Russell, a scholar of St. Therese, and the story of his life. May St. Therese obtain from God for him the complete fulfillment of the desire he shared with her: "to love Jesus and to make Him loved."

 Very Rev. John Russell, O. Carm.
1934-2012

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(September 24, 2012) The Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary, Order of Carmelites, mourns the death of the Very Reverend John Russell, O.Carm., who died at the age of 78 on September 23, 2012 at Englewood Hospital in Englewood, New Jersey, following a lengthy illness

 Visitation for Father John was held on Thursday, September 27, 2012, from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 10 County Road, Tenafly, New Jersey, with a Vigil Prayer Service following at 7:30 PM.  The Mass of Christian Burial took place at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Tenafly, on Friday, September 28, 2012, at 10:00 AM.  Interment followed immediately at Mount Carmel Cemetery, Tenafly, New Jersey.

 Father John was born to (the late) David Joseph Russell and (the late) Ellen Theresa (Shea) Russell on July 19, 1934, in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts.  He is predeceased in death by his brother David Russell. He is survived by many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

 John Russell attended the Carmelite Junior Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts, professing simple vows to the Carmelites in the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary on August 26, 1954, taking the religious name of Fintan.  On August 26, 1957, John made his solemn profession with the Carmelites.  He then attended Saint Bonaventure University in Olean, New Jersey, from where he received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.  He then attended the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, Italy, receiving a bachelor’s in sacred theology, and a licentiate in sacred theology.  He also holds a master’s degree in educational administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois, and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.  He was ordained a priest on July 25, 1960.

 Father John began his ministry in 1962 as a dean and teacher at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, Illinois.  In 1967 he taught theology at the Carmelite Junior Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts.  In 1970 he moved to Whitefriars Hall in Washington, DC, where he served as assistant professor until 1975 and as Assistant Provincial until 1978.  In 1977 he moved to New Jersey, where he was professor of theology at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, until 1994.  During that time, from 1978 to 1981, he also served as Eastern Commissary Provincial for the Most Pure Heart of Mary Province of Carmelites.  From 1994-2000 he served as professor of theology and as spiritual director at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University.   He then became the Director of Novices at Brandsma Priory in Middletown, New York, for two years before becoming Prior Provincial for the Most Pure Heart of Mary Province in 2002.  Father John served as Prior Provincial for one three-year term, and in 2005 returned to teaching theology and to spiritual direction at Immaculate Conception Seminary, where he served until his retirement in July, 2010. 

 A well-known writer, Father John published over 75 articles,  letters, homilies, book chapters and book reviews in such publications as The Irish Theological Quarterly, Carmelus, Downside Review, Church, Living Pulpit, The Sword, Ecumenical Trends, America, Vocations, The Catholic Advocate, Review for Religious, Spirit and Life, Beginnings, Karmel-Kontakt, Studies in Spirituality, Sicut Parvuli, Dizionario di Mistica, Catholic Digest, Experiencing Saint Therese Today, Today’s Parish, The Carmelite Review, Furrow, Ascent, The Catholic Educator, The Review of Metaphysics, Spiritual Life, Theological Studies, Religious Studies Review, Nova: A Voice of Ministry, Master of the Sacred Page, Pastoral Life, Sisters Today, Studies in Spirituality, and The New York Times.  He also published several audio and video cassettes on various topics in spirituality and Saint Therese of Lisieux, as well as The Path to Spiritual Maturity: Saint Therese of Lisieux, a novena booklet published by the Society of the Little Flower.  He was also the editor of the Carmelite publication The Sword from 1990 to 1996.  He was “Teacher of the Month” at Seton Hall University in New Jersey in December, 1986, and received the Merit Award for Excellence in Teaching at Seton Hall University in 1989 and 1992.  In the spring of 2009, Father John received the Benemerenti Papal Honors from Pope Benedict XVI for his long and exceptional service to the Church.  

 A final thought from Father John: “I am grateful for the many blessings which God has given me through the Carmelites, family, and friends.”  He lived at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Priory in Tenafly, New Jersey until his death.

 May he rest in peace.

Memorials in honor of the Very Reverend John Russell can be made to the Order of Carmelites, 8501 Bailey Road, Darien, Illinois, 60561.

 For further information on the Very Reverend John Russell, O. Carm., or the Order of Carmelites contact Carmelite Media at (630) 971-0724 or visit the Carmelite website at www.carmelnet.org.

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Professor Keith Egan, Ph. D., T.O.C., to speak on "St. Therese's Struggle to Believe" on Sunday, October 21 in Tarrytown, New York

 Keith J. Egan, T.O.C.

On Sunday, October 21, at 3:00 p.m. at Transfiguration Church in Tarrytown, New York, Professor Keith J. Egan, T.O.C. wll speak on "Saint Therese's Struggle to Believe."  Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend the lecture at this parish staffed by the Carmelite friars.  Please take advantage of this chance to hear this theologian reflect on St. Therese's struggle for faith as we begin the year of faith and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vatican II, which brought into the life of the Church so many themes from the prophetic spirituality of St. Therese. 

Keith Egan has several audio/DVD programs about Carmelite spirituality available from Now You Know Media, including Therese of Lisieux: Wisdom's Daughter. Below you may view one session, "Therese: A Child Surrounded by Love" from his 12-part program.

 Professor Egan is Aquinas Chair in Catholic Theology Emeritus at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana.  He founded the College's Center for Spirituality, where the Carmelite Summer Seminar has taken place for more than 25 years, and is a founding member of the North American Carmelite Forum.   Keith Egan s Adjunct Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and is the former president of the Carmelite Institute.  He has spoken and published much on Christian spirituality and mysticism, especially on Carmelite spirituality, to audiences in North America, Ireland, England, and Rome.  With Laurence Cunningham, he is the co-author of Christian Spiritualty: Themes from the Tradition.  He is the editor of Carmelite Prayer: A Tradition for the 21st Century.  His lectures "Saint Therese: Doctor of the Church" and "The Discovery of Merciful Love" are available on CD from Carmel Clarion Communications.

Pope Benedict XV names St. Hildegarde of Bingen and St. John of Avila doctors of the Church

On Sunday, October 7, 2012, Pope Benedict XV named St. Hildegarde of Bingen and St. John of Avila doctors of the Church, the first doctors named during his papacy.  He described Hildegarde:

“Saint Hildegard of Bingen, an important female figure of the twelfth century, offered her
precious contribution to the growth of the Church of her time, employing the gifts received from God and showing herself to be a woman of brilliant intelligence, deep sensitivity and recognized spiritual authority.”

The Pope described John:

“A profound expert on the sacred Scriptures, he was gifted with an ardent missionary
spirit. He knew how to penetrate in a uniquely profound way the mysteries of the redemption
worked by Christ for humanity. A man of God, he united constant prayer to apostolic action.”

The video of the Romereports story is above; see the text here.

Saint Therese of Lisieux, until now the most recently named doctor of the Church, was the only person named a doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II during his twenty-five years as Popel  She was the third woman doctor, so Saint Hildegarde is the fourth. 

"The Miracle of St. Therese," a column by guest blogger Br. Joseph Schmdit, FSC

Many devotees of Thérèse have discovered that her intercessory power is enormous.  Even before her canonization many miracles, both great and small, were credited to Thérèse, and these miracles, in fact, contributed to her quick canonization.  Rome, it was then said, must canonize Thérèse rapidly, simply tyo catch up with the devotion of the faithful.  And since Thérèse was canonized miracles have not ceased.

But perhaps the most significant miracle associated with Thérèse, was that she was remembered at all after her death.

By all standards, her memory should have simply passed out of history, just as the memories of the vast majority of holy people have vanished into oblivion.

Actually very few people ever got to know Thérèse during her lifetime.  Only a small group of people attended her funeral; and the number of people who knew her in any personal way at the time of her death might have been less than 100.  Most of us get to know more people in a year than got to know Thérèse in her lifetime.

Even the sisters she lived with for nine years in Carmel did not get to know her well.  At the end of her life one of them thought that she had not done anything really noteworthy during her religious life, and most did not think that she should be remembered in any special way.

It was really her writings and then the miracles that followed her death that attracted attention to her, moved her to canonization, and led to her becoming the most famous saint in modern times.  The writings – autobiography, letters, and poems - alone would probably not have drawn her much recognition, since in many ways they are not outstanding literary compositions.  The miracles worked at Therese’s intercession wee important in bringing her to the attention of the public.  And the most significant thing about that is that no one controls miracles.

Many have lived the essence of Thérèse’s Little Way before and after her lifetime, and they are in fact “saints,” though not canonized. But with Thérèse, it was as if God needed one little soul to teach the Church again that holiness does not lie in the extraordinary.  The Church had begun to forget that fundamental spiritual truth.

Thérèse proclaims that holiness consists in the faithful, ordinary willing response to God’s will unfolding at every given moment in our life.  This faithful response comes from our willing cooperation with grace, Thérèse teaches, as we realize at some level that we are united with God and that our life, in its trials and joys, is a call to rejoice and give thanks for that union.

The greatest miracle associated with Thérèse, God’s greatest gift to the Church through Thérèse, was God’s stooping down and to lift Thérèse up so all of us would know again that we too are united to God and that our willing, faith-filled acceptance of our littleness is our little way to sanctity.

--Brother Joseph Schmidt, FSC

  Nairobi, Kenya

Read the text of "The Prayers of Saint Therese of Lisieux" online at the Web site of the Archives of the Lisieux Carmel

For the first time, the English translation of The Prayers of Saint Therese of Lisieux published by  ICS Publications is available online at the English Web site of the Archives of the Lisieux Carmel.  We thank the Washington Province of Discalced Carmelite Friars for their generosity in collaborating with the Lisieux Carmel to make these historic texts available online: one of many gifts from the Carmelite Order to the lovers of Saint Thérèse.

This little gem, translated by Aletheia Kane, O.C.D. and edited by Steven Payne, O.CD., appeared in 1997 to celebrate the centenary of the death of St. Therese.  It is a translation of Prières: l’offrande à l’Amour Misericordeux (Paris: Editions du Cerf/Desclee de Brouwer, 1988), an edition which was prepared by Sister Cécile of the Carmel of Lisieux and Mgr. Guy Gaucher, O.C.D., auxiliary bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux, with the assistance of Pere Bernard Bro, O.C.D. and Jeanne and Jacques Lonchampt.It contains twenty-one independent prayers written by St. Therese for various occasions.  Steven Payne, from his preface:

Here we find prayers to the Infant Jesus and the Holy Face, prayers to Mary and the saints, prayers composed in joy and sorrow, prayers written for her novices and missionary brothers.  Though few in number, they contain the full message of Thérèse in miniature, and include some of the most important texts she ever composed, such as her “Profession Note,” the “Consecration to the Holy Face,’ and the “Oblation to Merciful Love.” 

In contrast to previous volumes of the Saint’s writings from ICS Publications, we have kept more of the critical apparatus from the French edition.  This means that the brief text of each prayer is followed by detailed information on the autographs and circumstances of composition as well as a line-by-line commentary on Thérèse’s sources, parallel passages, and the meaning of her words.  Here readers will find, for example, the first critical edition of the famed “Oblation to Merciful Love,” with an analysis of the different drafts of this precious text. . .  Our hope is that readers may use it not only to study Thérèse’s prayers, but to pray with Thérèse herself.

Indeed, it is easy to use this book as a simple prayer book, and you have the joy of knowing that you are praying with Thérèse’s text. 

The print copy of this book, one of the most accessible collections of St. Therese's writings, includes a general introduction by Guy Gaucher, O.C.D. and the detailed notes Fr. Steven describes.  These notes are full of information about St. Therese and about the Lisieux Carmel which does not appear elsewhere in English. On the fifteenth annniversary of its publication, this book has lost none of its appeal.  The brief texts of Therese's prayers are now online, but the supplementary information appears only in the print copy.  I recommend reading it.  To order it, please click here or on the image above.