SECULAR ORDER OF DISCALCED CARMELITES
England, Wales and Scotland

I found the following extract from a sermon preached about the Carmelites on the occasion of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel by St...

As a historian myself, I sometimes come across delightful and even wonderful stories.  That of the two ladies three hundred years apart...

I must admit I am rather fascinated by notable people who had spiritual lives - often ignored by their biographers. One of the most...

“I took for my patron and lord the glorious St. Joseph, and recommended myself earnestly to him. I saw clearly that both out of this my...

At a recent OCDS meeting we discussed the full name of Therese – Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, and questions were...

The devil doesn’t like communities that devote themselves to the service of God, and often he inspires disruption to their harmony...

We were discussing contemplative prayer in an OCDS meeting in which I was present recently, and a member of the community remarked on the...

I was discussing the idea of the dark night of the soul with a fellow Carmelite the other day.  This has become almost a cliché today –...

The question of ‘feelings’ has come up in some recent Secular meetings I have attended, and it is so important.  We live in a society so...

It seems that reform is for ever needed: there is a cycle in human history that runs from reform to gradual decline, leading to a...

I was privileged to attend the first physical meeting of a new South Wales OCDS group in Cardiff on Saturday.  We had had a virtual...

Chapter 10 of The Way of Perfection!  Teresa of Avila at her best! We were discussing it in an OCDS meeting I was present at last night. ...

Yet another of those many saints who died very young was Rose of Viterbo (c.1233-1251), whose feast is today.  She caught my eye for two...

I came across the story of the Belgian lady Marie-Paul Stevens on the internet yesterday.  She was the person whose cure was recognised...

In this special anniversary year of her canonisation I have been thinking a great deal about our Therese of Lisieux.  I recently came...

I love to read about the many Catholic rulers and members of the aristocracy who down the years have given a powerful example of living...

I am allowing myself a gentle smile right now because on one of the (very helpful) Catholic websites I occasionally consult to learn...

Fascinated by St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (Francesco Possenti 1838-1862), whose feast is today: he repeatedly fought off a call to...

I was looking at what St Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 about the diversity of gifts within the communities of the faithful and thinking...

Sometimes when looking at the saint of the day my thoughts are led on a bit of a dance from here to there.  Today we have an English...