Christ Our Perfection: The Christological Spirituality of Fr. Avertan Fenech, O. Carm.
This work is the first academic study of Carmelite Avertan Fenech and his spirituality. However, written in a very approachable style. Ebejer examines Fr. Avertan’s Christological spirituality in his works and life within the Carmelite tradition. Particular attention is given to Avertan’s life of prayer, as the defining character of Carmel. His particular style of prayer reflects that of the Reform of Touraine. Fr. Avertan’s notebooks contain meditations, conferences, prayers, and transcriptions. His life of prayer overflowed into his ministry as novice master and spiritual director. All this brings out his genuine interest in helping other transform in Christ. He was also intent on providing his students with the best education on spiritual matters and Carmelite spirituality.
The Goad, the Flames, and the Mirror of Divine Love was dictated by John of Saint-Samson in 1629, upon the request of his fried Msgr. Antoine Révol, bishop of Dol, for personal guidance in the spiritual life. Saint-Samson wrote “So, if you sometimes feel yourself to have been drawn out of yourself by exterior concerns, then you may have recourse to this treatise, and by reading a chapter or two you may dispel unwelcome images, and recollect your heart and your spirit in peace and freedom, to later return to your external occupations totally renewed.”
The purpose of the treatise was to goad the reader on to loving God more, to enflame the reader’s heart with love of God, so that it may be transformed in love to become a mirror of the love of God in himself.
Exercise of Loving Solitary Spirits in their Solitudes is Sister Veronica’s first work of translation for Edizioni Carmelitane. In this set of 30 meditations, John of St. Samson invites us to listen in on his prayers of aspiration as we make our way through the liturgical year and through the various Mysteries of Christ and His Church.