Into the Land of Carmel

Come away with me for a few moments as I share a very brief introduction into Carmelite Spirituality. The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Roman Catholic religious order.

"Into the land of Carmel I have brought you to enjoy its fruits and its blessings" Jeremiah 2:7

Carmelites seek to be contemplatives in action:

God-seekers, friends of God who are open to God's transforming action in our lives.

Our particular charism - that is, the gift God has graced us with for the benefit of the Church and the World -

is to form praying communities at the service of all God's people.

Our mission in life is to know and love God, and to make God known and loved.

This sends us out to evangelize and share the Good News of Christ, that God loves humanity with a deep passion.

Carmel stands for the intimate encounter which God brings about between the person and God in the midst of all that is most ordinary in life

This is the mystery of the 'Word made flesh' who 'emptied himself to take the form of a slave ... and then was humbler still...'

Carmelites seek to live, as our Rule of Saint Albert states, 'in allegiance to Jesus Christ'.

Our spirituality is focused on Christ, and inspired in a particular way by the prophet Elijah, the Blessed Virgin Mary,

and by the saints of the Carmelite Family over the centuries.

"Prayer is the center of our lives.... It recalls the example of Mary, Mother of Jesus, who “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart,”

I conclude with a prayer by St. Teresa of Avila

"There is no need to go to heaven

in order to speak with one's Eternal Father

or find delight in him.

Nor is there any need to shout.

However softly we speak,

He is near enough to hear us."