SECULAR ORDER OF DISCALCED CARMELITES
England, Wales and Scotland

When I was in my late teens, I took a turn inwards, I became introspective and self-critical.  I lost that confidence and spontaneity...

I have been reading more about the legendary French singer Edith Piaf (said to be one of the most celebrated performers of the 20th...

I have been looking recently at the story of Dorothy Day (1897-1980), the well-known American convert journalist and social activist who...

At a Carmelite meeting last night we focussed on the theme of detachment.  We were looking at Chapter 8 in The Way of Perfection.  This...

My attention was drawn to this seemingly innocuous saying of St Therese many years ago before I became a Carmelite.  Now it is part of...

My first discovery of today’s Saint, John Damascene (675/676-749) came when I was pondering the claims of the Catholic Church in my...

At our OCDS National Council meeting yesterday, the possibility of organising day retreats was raised.  We currently organise week-long...

Today we have the OCDS National Council Meeting online.  The National Council is composed of the National President, Annette Goulden, and...

Everything about her is a miracle.  This slip of a girl only ever once travelled any distance outside her home territory of Normandy to...

Tonight our Virtual Carmel meets.  These monthly internet Seculars sessions are so much part of my routine now that it is easy to forget...

I am lifting today’s blog from one published by Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim the other day.  He is a Cistercian monk who used to be...

Yesterday I blogged about pilgrimages and the wholly unexpected graces I had received from them.  It’s actually a feature of life that...

I have just heard about a pilgrimage to Lisieux to be held next May and I am pondering joining it.  After all, it will be the centenary...

I was in the Post Office a few months ago and I picked up a leaflet about Meditation Classes.  I wasn’t surprised to see that it was a...

I came across this quote from the renowned Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988).  ‘ W hat you are is God’s gift to you.  W...

I have always delighted in the closeness to others that comes with spiritual sharing – conversation about our experiences of God, about...

Today’s Carmelite saint, Raphael of St Joseph Kalinowski (1835-1907) deserves to be much better known that he is in the UK.  A glance at...

OCDS Headquarters in Rome have sent out an inquiry about Seculars’ commitment to devotion to Our Lady - and there is a questionnaire to...

I hear warnings about Facebook as a channel for cybercrime, but I notice that there are many good Catholic groups using it, and in...

Many years ago I was privileged to meet Mother Mary Garson (1921-2007), foundress of the wonderful Benedictine Grace and Compassion...