SECULAR ORDER OF DISCALCED CARMELITES
England, Wales and Scotland

​The World Meeting of Secular Carmelites will soon be taking place in Avila (23-26 July) and we are asked to pray a given prayer for God’s blessing on this meeting. ‘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 help us

​We were looking at Chapter 18 of Teresa’s Way of Perfection in an OCDS group last night. I find this a very rich and indeed extraordinary chapter. Our saint issues a solemn warning: ‘God gives contemplatives much greater trials’. Indeed she baldly states that ‘the trials God gives to contemplatives are intolerable’. But then she connects the severity of the trials with the gift of contemplation, telling us that we are given the food of contemplation ‘with its delights’ t

​I was interested to discover that the motto of the Italian St Francis Caracciolo (1563-1608) whose feast day is today was ‘zeal for your house has consumed me’. This saying comes from Psalm 69 and it was remembered by the Disciples in connection with the expulsion of the money-changers by Jesus (John 2, 17). St Francis was co-founder of the Clerics Regular Minor (or Adorno Fathers) whose charism – like ours - combines the contemplative and the active. The motto (which is

​The latest issue of OCDS Communicationes has arrived. This is the Regular Bulletin containing news of what is going on in the Teresian Carmel globally. All OCDS members should receive it online. I noticed an interesting item about Germany. They have an annual Provincial Week when Friars and OCDS members meet, and it took place in April this year. The report says that ‘the days were filled with liturgical celebrations, moments of silence, spiritual sharing, formation ses

On this day in 1945 Father Jacques de Jesus OCD died in a German hospital after terrible sufferings in Mauthausen Concentration Camp where he had been sent for hiding Jewish pupils in the school where he was head master. 'Born in France in 1900, he was ordained a priest in July 1925. As a diocesan priest Lucien gained the reputation of being a fine preacher and teacher. He was a very kind, generous, hard working, and self-giving man, which resulted in his students referring

This day in 2008 saw the beatification of Sr Maria Giuseppina of Jesus Crucified OCD, (1894-1948) in Naples, Italy. 'Born into a noble family, as a young child she showed great affection for the poor and most needy, giving money to them. She helped to care for two lonely old women. She was especially devoted to Our Lord in the Eucharist and to Mary, praying the Rosary often. From an early age she was convinced that Jesus was calling her to Carmel. Overcoming the opposition