SECULAR ORDER OF DISCALCED CARMELITES
England, Wales and Scotland

Today we celebrate the Compiegne Martyrs, the sixteen Carmelite Sisters guillotined on this day in 1794 in Paris. I found this hymn written in their honour by Jesuit Father James Quinn. Let Carmel echo joyfully The dying hymns that soared above When Compiègne so gladly gave Its greatest witness to God’s love. These virgin-martyrs gave their lives. For sin’s atonement, like their Lord; They died to bring a troubled Church The peace of Christ as love’s reward. May we like

I found this beautiful quotation from the noted Carmelite friar and author Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen OCD (1893-1953), it is especially appropriate for today’s Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: ‘If we gaze into Mary's soul, we shall see that grace in her has flowered into a spiritual life of incalculable wealth: a life of recollection, prayer, uninterrupted oblation to God, continual contact, and intimate union with him. Mary's soul is a sanctuary reserved for God alone, w

The first four members of the new Manchester OCDS group have just been taken into formation, and we will be holding our first formation zoom this evening. Although some Secular Carmelite communities have fallen on hard times and are closing or have closed, new ones spring up here and there (we are currently working on the establishment of a new OCDS group in Cambridge). The appearance of the zoom technology has transformed the scene, opening up possibilities for remote grou

What do we do when the behaviour of an individual in an OCDS group or community is disruptive, even to the point of driving others away? An argumentative person, a person with particular agendas, someone with an undiagnosed personality disorder, can damage the life of the community - and then leadership has to be shown. The principle must be that the welfare of the community always takes priority. A difficult person can be indulged up to a point but only up to a point. On

On the first day of the two-day CACS Spirituality Summit at Boars Hill Friary on Friday, Dr Stephen Costello from Ireland spoke eloquently about Salvador Dali (1904-1989), the eccentric painter whose portrayal of the crucifixion inspired by a drawing by St John of the Cross adorns the front of our OCDS leaflet. Dali’s father was an aggressive atheist, and the painter initially followed his example. It was the behaviour of the anti-Franco troops during the Spanish Civil War

One person was taken into formation last night in our St Elijah Community in Oxford. I witnessed another being taken into formation during the retreat at Belmont Abbey last week. The week before that, four were taken into formation in the new Manchester group. Each time I witness this I am taken back to my own admission to formation more than twenty years ago. When performing the admission rite in Belmont Abbey Fr Matt Blake made a point of saying that our formation conti

On this Feast Day of the Chinese Martyrs I was looking for traces of Carmel in China, and came across some information about the church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at Xizhimen - the last among the four historic Catholic churches in Beijing. Known as ‘The West Church’, it was first built in 1723 during the Qing dynasty by the Italian Lazarist missionary Teodorico Pedrini: it was the first non-Jesuit church in Beijing. After Pedrini's death the church was run by Carmelites a

I was looking at the latest issue of OCD Comunicationes (no. 422) – reports of OCDS activities from around the world - and my attention was caught by an unusual report from India. In Kerala the Discalced Carmelites have set up a Carmelite Heritage Museum, intended to ‘preserve and communicate the rich spiritual heritage of Carmel through history, art, and prayer’. This sounds impressively innovative; among other things, it ‘features an outdoor prayer garden based on St Tere

What can I say about our Secular Carmelite retreat at Belmont Abbey near Hereford last week? The sun shone, the abbey church is magnificent, sharing in the daily liturgy of the monks was very moving, the food was delectable, and we received injections of spiritual wisdom in the form of talks by the wonderful Fr Matt Blake. He expounded John of the Cross’s Spiritual Canticle with his customary perceptiveness and delicacy. The Abbey has already been booked for the equivalent

Today is the Feast of that most tragic yet beautiful saint, Maria Goretti (1890-1902). I came across on the internet an article by a member of the Order of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart in Los Angeles whose name is Sister Maria Goretti. I find it particularly eloquent: ‘… our habit is our ‘bridal garment’; for Carmelites, it is brown. The brown habit is a colour of earth and symbolizes penance. Only in penance and self-denial, fuelled by love, will I truly

As I wrote yesterday, next week I will be going to Belmont Abbey near Hereford for a secular Carmelite retreat. Belmont Abbey is a Benedictine foundation, the Benedictines have always been welcoming to us Carmelites – we have enjoyed their hospitality in the past in Douai Abbey near Reading and we have retreats currently at Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire. May God bless their Order and encourage them with new vocations. In the meantime I am suspending this blog until Monday

Preparing to go on retreat next Monday to Friday at Belmont Abbey near Hereford. The blog will be suspended during the week for obvious reasons. As a Carmelite, I know I should love retreats and I have many friends who do, but something in me rebels against the idea of withdrawing from active life even if only for a week. The annual retreat is part of our rule so I know I must go. I think that part of the problem is that I lead a fairly quiet and even eremitic life anyway

A friend was talking to me recently about the Litany of Humility, composed by Cardinal Merry del Val, who was the Secretary of State to Pope Pius X and well known back in the day. St Teresa of course placed a very high value on humility, and indeed there’s nothing more destructive than pride and inflated egos in communities. I am reminded of a visit to Italy’s beautiful Lake Maggiore many years ago. We took a boat excursion and the boat let us out onto a little island with

The other day in a Carmelite group we were discussing wisdom. Today I found this quote from St John of the Cross: ‘Wisdom enters through love, silence, and mortification. It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of others.’ Wisdom cannot be learned through courses like other subjects. Perhaps we can be helped to learn it in part through books. But John reminds us of the essentials. I like his emphasis on

Today we have the funeral of Mervyn Leach, two of whose daughters are Seculars. I was reflecting this morning that it is not that common to see siblings in Secular Carmel. I can recall just one or two cases. Siblings can be so very different, as I know from my own experience, being one of five boys. It must be a great grace when two are called to Carmel together. Continuing on the theme of the family, I heard recently about a convert whose mother was drawn to the Church

Some time ago the late Sister Margaret, a Presentation Sister who used to be based in our parish, was talking about her work visiting the local prison. At one point she remarked ‘I’m a prisoner!’ - and that has stuck in my mind ever since. I didn’t have the opportunity to ask her to elaborate but I have turned it over in my mind many times. All Catholics are prisoners of love – we can’t just do what we want, we are obedient to the Lord, to the Church, to the needs of those

I found this about St Juliana Falconieri (1270-1341, feast day today), a tertiary like us, though not in Carmel. ‘At 15 Juliana refused her family’s plans for her to marry and soon after became a Servite tertiary. She continued to live with her mother and followed the rule given her by the prior general of the Servites, St. Philip Benizi, practising charity, chastity, mortification, penance, and prayer. Her mother was so impressed with her conduct that she eventually also p

On this day 17 June in 1941 the Servant of God Sister Françoise-Thérèse (Leonie) Martin – one of the sisters of St Therese - died at around 1:30 in the morning. ‘She suffered from eczema throughout her lifetime with painful flare ups. She experienced the untimely deaths of three of her younger siblings, resulting in lasting anxiety. She drove her mother and her father to their wits’ ends by her behaviour, which might be classified as ADHD today along with violent emotional o

We are hoping to establish a new OCDS group in Cambridge. The elements of it seem to be coming together, and we can plan maybe to start in the Autumn. But our groups are God’s groups and we stay attentive to the intimations of the Holy Spirit. We hope to make our home in the parish of St Philip Howard, where a new church as recently been built with new facilities. How the wheel turns: by coincidence (!) I was a parishioner there myself for four years some time ago, when m

Out of the blue, I have been invited to Finland to speak about St John of the Cross. I am wondering what to make the theme of my talk. I often ponder the graces of Providence when I think of this great saint. I did a first degree in Modern Languages and I determined to keep up my hard-earned linguistic skills by reading French books. My only real hobby was second-hand bookshops, and one day I came across a French translation of The Ascent of Carmel. I was an Anglican cle