SECULAR ORDER OF DISCALCED CARMELITES
England, Wales and Scotland

Today’s Feast of the Immaculate Conception reminds me of my attitude as a born-again Christian before I came into the Church.  In those days such doctrines (the Assumption being another) seemed to me and my peers to be gratuitous additions to Bible teaching by an ecclesial body out of control.  The Catholic hierarchy had developed an obsession with Mary which distracted people from the centrality of Jesus, the Redeemer of humanity.  Entering then into Holy Mother Church mysel

I need do little more today than reproduce an extract from today’s Office of Readings, which seems to me to be perfect for a Carmelite.  Not to mention that it was written by a man who served in these islands for the last fifteen years of his life as Archbishop of Canterbury - St Anselm of Aosta (1033/4-1109 ):  ‘Flee your preoccupations for a little while. Hide yourself for a time from your turbulent thoughts. Cast aside, now, your heavy responsibilities and put off your bur

In our new Manchester OCDS group somebody mentioned the name of Pedro Ballester, previously unknown to me, as a potential Manchester saint.  I did some research and discovered that he was Pedro Ballester Arenas (1996-2018), engineering student and member of Opus Dei, who died in 2018 in Manchester from bone cancer.  According to one website ‘ He had an ordinary life, which left an extraordinary mark.  On one occasion Pedro felt nauseated by the treatment he was receiving at t

The latest issue of Communicationes, the bulletin sent out from Rome by the General Curia of the Teresian Carmel, contains an item that triggers memories for me.  It is a report of the visit of the relics of St Therese of Lisieux to the Carmelite Monastery of Our Lady of Grace and St Therese in Carmel, California, on the occasion of the centenary of the foundation of the monastery.  Two memories in particular.  First, some years ago I was privileged to visit the chapel of thi

My good friend Richard died early yesterday morning.  When we first met thirty years ago we discovered that we had been born on literally the same day - and that gave us a special bond.  I will hold in my memory the thought of Richard’s unfailing kindness and helpfulness.  For example, he happily stepped in and drove a friend of mine sixty miles there and back when I could not keep my own promise of a lift to that friend.  His passing will leave a hole, but I instinctively tu

I am fascinated by the extent of St Teresa’s continuing influence over souls.  A wonderful example is the Frenchman St Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), whose feast day is today.  Charles lost his faith as an adolescent.  In his twenties in Morocco he saw the way Muslims expressed their faith and he began repeating, “My God, if you exist, let me come to know you.”  He rediscovered God at the age of 28. He spent 7 years as a Trappist, first in France and then at Akbès in Syria.

I found this reflection for Advent on The Sisters of Carmel website, suggesting that the season of expectant waiting is paradoxically also a season of remembrance. ' As we approach the end of the liturgical year, and the calendar year, too, we are once more faced with the consideration of the end of time – and most people sense a personal realization of it, in a way, because we all must admit how swiftly this year has passed.  These days of a waning November always give a se

As Advent is almost upon us I reproduce extracts from an Advent sermon given by Fr Michael-Joseph of Saint Therese OCD - courtesy of the Washington OCD Province website: ‘Advent is the Carmelite season; it speaks so much to who we are. Way back early in seminary I picked up a little book called ‘ John of the Cross, Advent Saint’ . I can’t remember anything else from this book, but the title at least stuck with me! The Advent themes of silence, prayer, loving attentiveness in

I was looking up today’s saint, the Franciscan St Leonard of Porto Maurizio (1676-1751), known throughout Italy for his missions and retreats, and came across this on the Catholic Ireland website: ‘ Leonard realised that he needed time to pray alone, and so he regularly began to make use of the ritiri (houses of recollection) that he helped establish throughout Italy. The first he founded in 1710 on a peak in the mountains where he and his assistants could retire from time to

Off to Hereford today to visit the Benedictine Belmont Abbey.  The monks have recently opened a new retreat house and we are hoping to hold a Seculars Retreat there in 2026 to replace our planned Douai Abbey retreat - which has had unfortunately to be cancelled.  The Benedictines have a wonderful record of offering premises for retreats – we have used their Abbey at Ampleforth for many years.  For a couple of years we did enjoy the services of our fellow Carmelites at Aylesfo