SECULAR ORDER OF DISCALCED CARMELITES
England, Wales and Scotland

‘Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. While devotion to the heart of Christ can be traced back to the 11th century, it was not until 1670 that the first formal Feast of the Sacred Heart was celebrated by a French priest, Father Jean Eudes. Saint Jean Eudes (1601–1680) was a French priest, ordained in 1625 as a member of the Congregation of the Oratory of France. He became a renowned preacher and confessor, travelling extensively across Normandy

The Holy Father referred to our great Carmelite saints at the start of his visit to Spain, which ends tomorrow. Addressing authorities and the diplomatic corps at the Royal Palace in Madrid, ‘The Pope recalled St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Ávila, whose passion for the divine Mystery brought them together as friends. He recalled that the two prominent figures from Spain enriched the life of the Church and the spiritual journey of many for five centuries, even beyond

I met up with another Secular yesterday and we got to discussing how groups can fail to thrive. If the numbers in a group dwindle and it has to close, there may be mutterings about insufficient prayer. The thought is that if we pray enough or believe enough in prayer, a group must thrive. Is this really true? After all, we don’t know the will of God. Sadly, we know that many convents and monasteries have closed in recent years, including Carmelite ones – can we conclude

I love doing research on the net. I was looking at who might be the saint of today for the purposes of this blog and I came across another blog by a fellow lay Carmelite, an American lady called Amanda Evinger. In the course of writing about the Italian wife, mother, and mystic Blessed Anna Maria Taigi (1769-1837), Amanda tells us in striking terms about herself. ‘I spent nearly four years living in a convent, but I had to leave the religious life due to a serious health c

​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

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