June: Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
![Sacred Heart of Jesus comforting a young person](https://carmel.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/JesusSacredHeart.jpg)
Our Holy Foundress, St Teresa of Jesus, encouraged us her children to seek Jesus in His humanity, what is more human than the heart.
May: Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary
![Our Lady holiding Baby Jesus](https://carmel.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/OurLadyholdingBabyJesus.jpg)
Dear sisters and brothers in Carmel, we have a number of changes to our normal May Meeting, hence the early newsletter.
April: Dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament
![Mary kissing Jesus' feet after washing.](https://carmel.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/MarykissingJesusfeet.jpg)
“On that evening of love and of grief, that evening of sweetness because you are present, of sorrow because you are so close to death & suffering…”
March: Dedicated to St Joseph, Husband of Mary, Patron of Carmel (Feast Day 19 March)
![St Joseph playing with Baby Jesus](https://carmel.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/StJosephandBaby.jpg)
Lent is upon us, a time of seeking Our Lord in prayer, in consoling Him. A time of growing ever closer to Our Lord and Saviour.
February: Dedicated to the Holy Family
![Holy Family of Nazareth](https://carmel.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HolyFamily.jpg)
Here we are again, starting a new year, wondering what 2023 will bring. One thing we can be sure of… it’s going to be a full year here, in Peace
of Christ Secular Community.
December: Dedicated to the Immaculate Conception
![Holy Trinity as a mosaic](https://carmel.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/JesusMaryJoseph.jpg)
We are now in a journey of preparation for Christmas, the Solemnity of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Advent is a time of waiting and longing for our Messiah. The Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply in our lives.
OCDS Peace of Christ Community Retreat 2022
![Participants of the OCDS Peace of Christ Community Retreat 2022](https://carmel.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/CarmelRetreat22-1024x768.jpg)
Welcome We had a wonderful retreat together. Our treat was themed “Set me as a seal upon your heart” – a captivating scriptural verse from the Songs of Solomon/Song of Songs 8:6. We’d like to share with you some highlights of our retreat as led by Fr Carl Telford SM, which you can also find […]
November: Dedicated to the Holy Souls
![Our Lady handing out Scapulae](https://carmel.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/OurLadyScapulae-551x1024.jpg)
We especially remember Fr Brian and Fr Bill, recently deceased. We are due to have around 44 upcoming retreatants – people want to spend a silent time with the Lord and experience something of our Carmelite spirituality.
October: Dedicated to the Holy Rosary
![Our Lady holding Jesus surrounded by a rosary](https://carmel.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/StLuciaRosary.jpg)
“The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known…The power of the rosary is beyond description”.
An Introduction to the Secular Order of Disclaced Carmelites by Fr Aloysius Deeney
![Fr Troy Deeney OCD](https://carmel.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Fr-Troy-Deeney.png)
Fr Aloysius Deeney OCD played a key role in establishing OCDS in Oceania. Learn more about the OCDS from his perspective!