15 NOVEMBER

Today the Carmelite Order commemorates All Carmelite Souls. Just as the love of Christ and the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary have brought us together in a single family, fraternal charity unites those of us still striving to lead a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ in this world, and those already awaiting the vision of God in purgatory. Today the whole Order commends our departed brothers and sisters to God’s mercy through the intercession of Our Lady, sure sign of hope and consolation, and begs for their admission to the courts of heaven. – The Carmelite Breviary

Today’s collect: Lord, You are the glory of those who serve You. Look lovingly on our departed brothers and sisters, united in following Christ and His Mother by the waters of baptism and the bonds of Carmel. In Your mercy grant them everlasting sight of You, their Creator and Redeemer. We make our prayer through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Also on today’s calendar is St. Albert the Great, the Dominican polymath and teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas.

In the diocese of Clifton in England this was once the feast of the Blesseds Richard Whiting and companions. Blessed Richard Whiting, thirty-first and last abbot of Glastonbury, suffered under Henry VIII for his loyalty to the Church and strenuous defence of the Apostolic See. He was hanged on Tor Hill, Glastonbury, with two of his monks, and his head placed over the principal gate of his abbey, November 14, 1539. -from the St. Andrew Missal.