Autumn 2001 The Institute of Carmelite Studies, parent organization of ICS Publications, had its semi-annual meeting at ICS home base in Washington, D.C., from 19-20 October. We include photos of some members who have prepared volumes for us. Among the usual items on the agenda the members present do a review of plans for upcoming volumes by ICS Publications. On the way at that time was the volume of The Collected Letters of Saint Teresa of Avila, vol. 1 (now available for purchase). Also at an advanced stage of preparation were two biographical books, both from authors living outside the United States. Jennifer Moorcroft of England has done an informative biography of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity that she has titled He is My Heaven. Many contextual details of the national and local scenes of Bl. Elizabeth's life come through in the clear prose of Ms. Moorcroft. She applies her experience of life for a time in a Carmelite monastery to plumb the depths of Blessed Elizabeth's spiritual vision and message. Barbara Dent offers a new volume of reflections and poetry on the dark night of the soul with the evocative title of Marriage of All and Nothing. The volume makes available articles she already published but which are now hard to find, placed within a series of heretofore unpublished poems. The compilation, done by her long- standing U. S. agent, Mary Freiburger, will deepen the appreciation of readers pleased with her previous book, My Only Friend is Darkness, once issued as a reprint by ICS Publications in 1992. A smaller booklet of collected ICS texts is on the way. Sr. Joseph Marie Carmelite hermit in Campbellsport Wisconsin, is putting together a "Way of the Cross" from the words of Carmelite authors. Selections are taken from the writings of Sts. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Thérèse of Lisieux, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), and Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity. With permission of the editors of America Magazine we pass on to our readers the closing segment of that news weekly's editorial comments about the World Trade Center attack from the perspective of All Soul's Day 2001 (title given to the November 5th issue). The editorial very perceptively used the experience and example of Saint Edith Stein as a modern figure who suffered mindless aggression herself: Christians are usually inclined to reflect upon Jesus' passion, death and resurrection, because they believe he brought peace to the world through the blood of the cross (Col. 1:20). . . . All the same, even though all Christians at some time or other must recommend consideration of the cross to themselves, no one dares speak easily of the cross to those who are suffering greatly. Few have understood the truth of the cross as well as Edith Stein, a Carmelite nun and a gifted philosopher, who was canonized by Pope John-Paul II in 1998. She was born into a Jewish family in 1891, became a Catholic in 1922 and a Carmelite in 1933. She was put to death in the Auschwitz gas chamber in 1942. Edith Stein had, as she herself reported, a decisive experience on her road to conversion. One of her friends at the University of Göttingen was Adolph Reinach, who was killed in action in the First World War. His wife was able to endure this sorrow because she was a devout Protestant Christian. Edith Stein was deeply impressed by that faith. "This was," she said, "my first encounter with the cross and the divine strength which it imparts to those who carry it. . . . It was the moment when my unbelief collapsed and Christ shone forth--Christ in the mystery of the Cross." What shines from the cross is the revelation that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that all who believe in him might have eternal life (John 3:16). That is the truth that can steady sad hearts and dry all tears this November, and at any other time. In spite of the horror of what happened on September 11, this set of ICS Publications News notes sends to all our friends and customers warm wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving (especially since we are posting them during Thanksgiving week). We continue to offer our prayers for peace in the world, and the safety of citizens whose lives have been so shaken by the organized wave of terrorism now known as "9-11".