I am very honoured to be able to write a few lines to serve as a preface for the Volume IV of Profiles in Holiness. For those who have followed the first three volumes, you will know that they come from the pen of our dearly departed brother, Father Redemptus Maria Valabek, O'Carm, a member of the St Elias Province in the United States, and long-time teacher, formator, mentor and champion of all things Carmelite from his place at Centro Internazionale Sant' Alberto in Rome. Although his death in 2003 was a sad moment for the Carmelite Family, we know his influence and reputation certainly did not end in the Carmelite cemetery in Middletown, New York.
Reading the book of his life, we could see another profile in holiness, a living example of so many Carmelite, Christian and human virtues - including patience in suffering. Redemptus' love for the Order and his probing insights into its spirituality were not limited to the classroom where he spent most of his ministerial life, nor to books and research. The Profiles in Holiness series began as a way for him to show others how the patrimony and spirit of Carmel was actually lived by real men and women of the Order - friars, nuns, sisters and Lay Carmelites. He broadened and deepened for all of us our knowledge of the many examples of sanctity of different times and places that could serve as examples and inspirations for us to continue on our own journey to the holy mountain, Christ our Lord.
I am grateful to the editors of Edizioni Carmelitane for putting together this posthumous volume of Father Redemptus' writings and for including a chapter on his stellar life. In the communion of saints, our brother is still with us, and we count upon his prayers from above. May he rest in peace. May God bless you and Mary keep you always.
