Metuchen Carmelites begin year of celebration with 75th anniversary Mass

In October, 1948, six spiritual daughters of St. Teresa of Avila journeyed from their monastery in Morristown to establish a new Carmelite foundation in what was then the Diocese of Trenton. Mother Mary Magdalen of Jesus Crucified was the foundress of the monastery, originally located in New Brunswick. In 1972 the Carmel of Mary Immaculate and St. Mary Magdalen found a home at 26 Harmony School Road, Flemington.

Seventy-five years after the initial founding, the Flemington Carmel, on Oct. 14, began a yearlong celebration to recognize this milestone with an anniversary Mass. Bishop Manuel Cruz, an Auxiliary Bishop of the Newark Archdiocese was the principal celebrant and homilist. At the Mass, Bishop Cruz said, “I know that faith brought them here.” Bishop Cruz pointed out that Sister Maryám, one of the founding sisters of the Carmel, at 94, was a reader at the Mass.

As a Discalced Carmelite Nun in a community of cloistered, contemplative religious under solemn vows, Sister Maryám read from the Choir, which is the part of the monastery at right angles to the sanctuary, on the other side of the grate built around the altar of sacrifice.

Bishop Gregory Studerus, also a Newark Auxiliary Bishop, along with nine priests, including present or former chaplains at the monastery and present or former pastors at St. Magdalen de Pazzi Parish, Flemington, were concelebrants. These men have always supported the sisters in the past and their presence demonstrated that they would continue to do so in the future.  Bishop Cruz said he and Bishop Studerus always look for ways to encourage vocations to the Carmel.

In his homily, shared with the approximately 100 people in attendance and those watching on livestream, Bishop Cruz said that he has been coming to the Carmel since he was a young priest in 1980 and he feels, “When I am here, I am home.”  The Bishop mentioned a sign he saw on one of his visits that quoted St. Theresa of Avila, “You have entered into paradise if your only desire is to do the will of God.” That thought has always stayed with him.

In St. Teresa’s guide to prayer, “The Way of Perfection,” Bishop Cruz noted she spoke of “determinada determinacion” a phrase he said is difficult to translate but is usually rendered in English as determined determination. The use of double positive is a literary style the Saint frequently used to emphasize a point.

The Bishop said that it was her “determinada determinacion” that propelled her to go forward so many times in her life, “to have an encounter with Christ … to walk when paralyzed … to recover… to accept rejection; and to go out and establish foundations even until her death.”

William McKenna, a former Philadelphia police officer, attended the anniversary Mass.  McKenna said that he was always a practicing Catholic but his religious beliefs are deepened every time he visits the Carmel. During a past illness his sister brought him there for the first time and he has returned many times since then.  “My visits always leave me filled with the spirit of the Carmel,” he said. Through these visits he met Sister Mary Magdalen, with whom he has shared many thoughts about prayer throughout the years.

Present in the chapel at the Mass were a number of members of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, identifiable by wearing a larger version of the familiar brown scapular worn by people around the world. These women are lay Catholics who promise to strive to live evangelical perfection in the spirit of chastity, poverty, obedience, and of the beatitudes.

Lorraine Bello, a member of the Parish of St. Magdalen de Pazzi, Flemington, has been a member of the secular order for 10 years, explaining, “Our Blessed Mother was continuously urging me to join.” She realized that the depth and simplicity of the Carmelite tradition is what she was seeking in her life. “The silence I find in my visits to the Carmel is a very important part of my life,” she said.

A recent article about the Carmel referred to it as, “Little known yet greatly loved.” That latter part of that quote was strongly evidenced in the affection expressed by all at the anniversary Mass. Hopefully, “little known” will become a thing of the past.