Inspired by the Rule of Carmel

Saturday last was not a day for visiting anywhere in Kent - it rained, and, at least according to a road sign on our way to Faversham, the Kent County Show was closed.

Faversham houses the national shrine in England dedicated to St Jude. The parish attached to the shrine is in the care of the Carmelites, (O.Carm variety). Of interest on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel are four icons in the shrine dedicated to people inspired by the rule of the Carmelite order. They are featured at the bottom of this page. Best known among these are perhaps Blessed Titus Brandsma and St Edith Stein.

I also found it striking to look at the three windows described on the page under the heading "The stained glass in the outer shrine area". It is unusual to see a representation of God the Father such as that shown in one of the windows. Working from right to left, one sees this image in a relation to that of the Virgin Mary overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and bearing the Son and then in relation to the image of the Resurrection of Christ. Together, they offer the mystery of salvation history in a Trinitarian and Marian perspective. On the web page, only parts of the windows are shown, so I post below full images of the windows. The full images contain details not visible on the web page.