SECULAR ORDER OF DISCALCED CARMELITES
England, Wales and Scotland

I was discussing the ritual of making the Carmelite Promises in a formation session yesterday and we were talking about the sentence we have to say when we make our Promises that reads ‘The experience of the period of formation has confirmed us in the certitude that the Lord is calling us to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the world in union with Mary, Mother of God, and under her protection, as Secular members of Carmel.’ That word ‘certitude’ struck me because so much

‘Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you, Amen.’ Sometimes I find a prayer that is a marvel of conciseness, expressing so much in so few words, and the above prayer seems like that to me. It was actually written by St Thomas Aquinas, and that does not surprise me, because the writings he has left us – notably his Summa Theologi

The Vatican announced on Friday, May 22, that the Holy Father authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Jean-Thierry of the Child Jesus and of the Passion, a professed OCD member. The recognition officially grants the young Carmelite the title “Venerable,” one of the final stages on the path toward sainthood in the Catholic Church. Born in February 1982, Jean-Thierry travelled Cameroon fro

‘If you wish to bear only ‘reasonable’ crosses, then perfection is not for you.’ I came across this quotation from St Teresa and it struck a chord with me. Before I became a Catholic, I had begun my working life as an Anglican priest. It was not a way of life that held much attraction to me but I thought the Good Lord was calling me that way. Then when the invitation to join the Catholic Church grew more insistent, my confusion grew. I had made the sacrifice of offering

St Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi O.Carm (1566-1607 – feast day today) was a much younger Italian contemporary of St Teresa; her incorrupt body remains in the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence. ‘Born into the famous and wealthy family of dei Pazzi in Florence, she was christened Catherine. … She grew up to be a beautiful young woman and at sixteen, against the wishes of her family, she decided to become a Carmelite nun and took the name Mary Magdalen. Professed in 158

Yesterday I wrote about St Eugene de Mazenod and referred to the destruction of Carmel in the French Revolution and its later restoration in the 19th Century. A leading role in the restoration of the Sisters was played by an absolutely extraordinary woman whose story is profoundly moving and inspiring. Here it is: “On July 24, 1784 Mademoiselle Camille de Soyecourt, a daughter of the highest French nobility, received the Carmelite habit. She was a frail young lady suffering

We Carmelites in England and Wales have particular reason to be grateful to the Frenchman St Eugene de Mazenod (1782-1861 – feast day today). We have been enjoying the facilities at Wistaston Retreat Centre near Crewe for a few years now, and this very fine Centre is run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, founded by St Eugene. (Incidentally, the OMI also run the Catholic parish in Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey.) St Eugene initially started his work as a missionary enter

The question of the Latin mass is much to the fore these days, with persons of all ages being attracted to that. It is no part of my role as a blogger here to enter into discussions on the topic, but I was interested to come across a community of Carmelite Sisters in the US which in their website proclaims ‘an unswerving loyalty to the Latin mass and liturgy’, it is the Carmelite Monastery of the Sacred Hearts in Colorado. I believe there are a couple of communities of Carm

I had a crazy idea recently. Sadly, the Former Maryvale Institute in Birmingham closed a while ago and the buildings (strongly associated with St John Henry Newman) are lying empty. They include two chapels – one of which is the first in England to be dedicated to the Sacred Heart. There is an empty convent building which could accommodate the friars (I am told it is quite modern), conference rooms, a broadcasting studio, a dining room, accommodation, and a car park. Why

‘A Brazilian nun has died after trying to save a fellow sister from strong waves off the coast of Sicily. Sr. Nadir Santos da Silva, 45, a member of the Carmelite Sisters Messengers of the Holy Spirit, was swept into deeper water May 11 near Catania while helping another nun who could not swim. According to Sr. Erica Souza, another member of the congregation, Sr. Nadir lost her strength during the rescue attempt and was later pulled unconscious from the sea. "She went afte

Our Teresa was canonised in 1622 along with three other Spaniards, Ignatius, Francis Xavier, and Isidore the Farmer (1080-1130 – feast day today). These individuals are a wonderful example of the huge expanse of sainthood in the Church. On the one hand Ignatius, the ex-soldier and founder of a movement that was to have a massive influence in the Church and the world, Francis Xavier, a giant in the global mission of the Church, Teresa the great teacher of prayer and foundres

Today on this feast of St Matthias the Apostle I am reminded that St John of the Cross actually took the name John of St Matthias when he was first received into the Carmelite Order, before he met St Teresa. I am wondering why he chose that name? I am not sure whether the answer is known, but I asked Google, and AI tells me that his choice probably reflected ‘a desire for a life of quiet service and devotion to the apostle chosen to replace Judas Iscariot.’ Great as is my

The Coventry OCDS group has an unusually strong connection with Our Lady of Fatima, whose feast day is today. The group has taken the name of ‘Our Lady of Carmel and of Fatima’. When the meetings began just over two years ago, we grafted them on to the existing First Saturday devotions at Christ the King church in the city. This means that we join with the parish for Holy Mass first and then participate in the Holy Hour that follows in the church, which includes the First

Sometimes I like to google ‘saint of the day’ followed by ‘Carmelites’ or ‘St Teresa’ and it can yield surprising results. Today for example we have the feast of St Pancras, said to have been a 14-year old boy martyred in 304 together with his uncle for refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods. (A word of warning – there is another St Pancras/San Pancrazio, greatly honoured in Sicily, said to have been sent by St Peter himself to the island). I find that ‘the basilica of San

At the Cardiff OCDS meeting on Saturday we were discussing the problem we often have in relinquishing control over our lives – abandoning the tiller to God, letting Him gently prise it out of our hands. Today I came across a quote from a book by Gerald G May (The Dark Night of the Soul) which is helpful because the author makes explicit how our experience of the dark night can help us to let God lead us. “One of the biggest lessons-and another gift of the dark night-is the

Last night we had an OCDS meeting in Northampton, around forty minutes away from me. We use a parish room in the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. The church is locked when we arrive and the keys are kept in a coded box. When we leave, we lock up and put the keys in the box. Through a combination of circumstances I forgot to put the keys back in the box and discovered them in my pocket when I reached home. Nothing for it but to make the journey all the way back to

In the News Section on the first page of our website three events are currently announced for this Summer in connection with the big anniversaries of St John of the Cross – 100 years since he was made a Doctor of the Church and 300 years since he was canonised . Two of these events are in the conventional conference style but the third is a concert with a John of the Cross theme: Within God Concert (11 July, 7:30 pm, online and in person) · Five original pieces inspired by

A message from our Provincial, Fr Jim Noonan, brings a reminder of the OCDS World Meeting in Avila, 23-26 July. The message contains a prayer for God’s blessing on the event: Oh God, in your infinite mercy, you have called us to follow you in the family of the Teresian Carmel in allegiance to Jesus Christ, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Joseph and all the Carmelite saints, we ask that the 2026 OCDS World Meeting in Avila may reaffirm our vocation and

So many saints have drawn inspiration from our St Teresa. Today I learn that the Irishman Blessed Ignatius Edmund Rice (1762-1844) was one of them. Born in County Kilkenny, h.e was a successful businessman until his wife was killed and his daughter disabled in an accident. He then devoted his life to the education of the poor and founded two Insititutes: the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers. Carmel is a quiet influence in so many works of g

The Friars of our Province are at the Provincial Chapter where important decisions are made. Individuals are assigned at the gathering to different posts like the Kensington parish or Beaconsfield or Oxford (Boars Hill) or Dublin at this Chapter meeting. It is one of the areas where their obedience is regularly tested. I do not mean that they may be tempted to refuse an assignment, simply that once you become a Friar you are liable to be sent where the Order decides rather