SECULAR ORDER OF DISCALCED CARMELITES
England, Wales and Scotland

St John Paul II, whose feast day was just recently on 22 October, loved Carmel and wanted to become a Carmelite.  With the benefit of...

Today’s saint caught my attention as a near contemporary of Teresa of Avila whose life could not have been more different from hers. ...

As the leaves turn brown and yellow, and the trees create their beautiful autumnal displays, it is easy to feel a little melancholy.  I...

On today’s Feast of St Simon and St Jude I am reproducing an entry in a website for the Shrine of St Simon and St Jude at Faversham,...

My attention was caught this morning by learning that alongside our wonderful Welsh Martyrs, we celebrate today another saint but one who...

I am grateful to Louise Aldred for the following reflection on an experience of Carmel. 'A while ago the Nottingham and Lincoln groups...

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s blog about keeping in mind the wider picture beyond our local OCDS groups and communities comes the...

I suffered from the disease of extreme isolationism in my early years in Carmel.  What I mean is that I only considered myself and the...

Just back from a lightning visit to Compostela. We did not have the time to do the proper Camino, we did it by boat from Plymouth to...

I will be going to Compostella for a few days next week.  Not on foot but by the car ferry to Santander and then on four wheels.  I have...

In a book ( Women Mystics) by the French convert Lutheran minister and theologian Louis Bouyer (1913-2004), a priest of the Oratory, he...

‘Between 1833 and 1838, about fifty years before Thérèse’s entry into the Carmel, Newman, whilst still an Anglican, announced from the...

At a small Carmelite gathering recently someone commented on the inspiring atmosphere – ‘something in the air’ that made them feel at...

‘ The Rosary Prayer rises like incense to the feet of the Almighty’ .  This seems a very appropriate quote from St Therese of Lisieux on...

Thinking about our newly canonised St Anne of Jesus (see Mondy’s blog), I was reminded that the meteoric rise of the Discalced Carmelites...

I have just received the latest bulletin from our Carmelite HQ in Rome (known as ‘the General Definitory’).  It reminds us of the next...

I was in my local convenience store the other day and there on the counter were little cards advertising ‘Meditation Classes’.  I took...

On this feast day of St Therese of Lisieux, I will not attempt the impossible task of saying anything new about her.  Suffice it to say...