SECULAR ORDER OF DISCALCED CARMELITES
England, Wales and Scotland

Today we celebrate the Compiegne Martyrs, the sixteen Carmelite Sisters guillotined on this day in 1794 in Paris. I found this hymn written in their honour by Jesuit Father James Quinn. Let Carmel echo joyfully The dying hymns that soared above When Compiègne so gladly gave Its greatest witness to God’s love. These virgin-martyrs gave their lives. For sin’s atonement, like their Lord; They died to bring a troubled Church The peace of Christ as love’s reward. May we like them serve Holy...

I found this beautiful quotation from the noted Carmelite friar and author Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen OCD (1893-1953), it is especially appropriate for today’s Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: ‘If we gaze into Mary's soul, we shall see that grace in her has flowered into a spiritual life of incalculable wealth: a life of recollection, prayer, uninterrupted oblation to God, continual contact, and intimate union with him. Mary's soul is a sanctuary reserved for God alone, where no human...

The first four members of the new Manchester OCDS group have just been taken into formation, and we will be holding our first formation zoom this evening. Although some Secular Carmelite communities have fallen on hard times and are closing or have closed, new ones spring up here and there (we are currently working on the establishment of a new OCDS group in Cambridge). The appearance of the zoom technology has transformed the scene, opening up possibilities for remote group formation which...