A website allows virtual access to the manuscripts of Saint Therese

Lisieux-France (23-01-2012).- It is now possible to quickly and comfortably access documents about Saint Therese from the archives of the Carmel of Lisieux.

Thanks to the website http://www.archives-carmel-lisieux.fr, any researcher, fan, or devotee of the Carmelite saint will be able to consult the Lisieux Carmel’s Theresian treasury without leaving home.

Digital technology provides easy and free access to high quality documents ranging from autobiographical manuscripts of “The Story of a Soul,” the foundation of the monastery of Lisieux, the posthumous history of the writings of the Patroness of the Missions, to letters to relatives, pictures, and all texts written by this young Doctor of the Church.

This site (http://www.archives-carmel-lisieux.fr) is the product of several years’ work by the Carmelites in collaboration with academicians and Theresian researchers from several countries, to present the texts, documents, images, and other objects relevant to the study of Saint Therese.

The website has four sections. All the writings of the saint along with pictures of their facsimiles and the originals of her poetry and pious recreational works can be found in the first section titled, “Works of Saint Therese.” Also included are reproductions, drawings, and artwork painted by her. The content is enhanced by a powerful search engine that enables quick query results.

An album including photographs of each family member, more than 1,200 letters written by them, as well as the places where they lived, constitutes the second section of the Web portal, which is dedicated to “Family Life.”

“In Carmel” and “After 1897” are the other two sections. They encompass the foundation of the monastery, the community’s way of life, and the development wrought after the death of Saint Therese in 1897.

Source:

Comuncationes - Information Service of the Discalced Carmelite Curia

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Fr Tomás Álvarez: "Saint Teresa is a loud and clear prophet for modern times”

Rome-Italy (15-01-2012).- "Never has Saint Teresa been read with such topicality as today. Saint Teresa is God’s witness, a loud and clear prophet for modern times”, pointed out the Discalced Carmelite, Tomás Álvarez, in referring to present day reception of the work and message of Saint Teresa.

In an interview granted to the magazine “Teresa de Jesús”, of which he has been an assiduous collaborator, the Teresian specialist acknowledged that the coming centenary of the birth of saint Teresa would have greater pastoral impact than the one in 1982, since the preparation has been more intense. “Within the Carmelite family, there has been a much closer drawing together around the Saint since the beginning of the continuous reading of Teresa’s works, one after the other”, expressed the prestigious Teresian expert.

The magazine “Teresa de Jesús”, which presents a new image in this year of its three decades of life, afforded Father Tomás Álvarez the opportunity to discuss his life’s work concerning the foundress of the Teresian Carmel. It is a work that goes back to 1938 when there came to hand the book of the Mansions, during the time of his noviciate.

In the interview, Fr Tomás referred to the declaration of Saint Teresa as a Doctor of the Church as “the greatest of the Teresian events”, and stated that the great wealth we possess is to have Teresa’s own hand-written books in which is discovered “the excitement the saint had in writing”.

Source:

Coomunicationes - Information Service of the Discaelced Carmelite Curia

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