Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites Nottingham Diocese
Our Promises
We are called to commit ourselves to this way of life:
- by taking promises to live in the spirit of the counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience and of the Beatitudes
- by forming small communities which meet monthly for prayer, formation and mutual support
- by sharing in the ministry of the Discalced Carmelite Order through our own contemplative prayer and through helping to lead others towards such prayer
Prayer is no more than frequent, friendly conversation with One whom we know loves us.
St Teresa of Avila
In the measure you desire him, you will find Him.
St Teresa of Avila
From the Constitutions of the Secular Order of the Teresian Carmel - Preface
All are called to share, in charity, the holiness which belongs to God alone: “You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
Following Christ is the way to attain perfection, open to all by baptism. Through Baptism, we take part in the triple mission of Jesus: kingly, priestly and prophetic. The first is a commitment to transforming the world according to God’s design. By the priestly mission, the baptized person offers self and the whole of creation to the Father with Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit. And as prophet, the baptized person announces God’s plan for human kind and denounces all that is contrary to it (Lumen Gentium 31-35).
The great Teresian Carmelite family is present in the world in many forms. The nucleus of this family is the Order of Discalced Carmelites: the friars, the enclosed nuns, the seculars. It is the one Order with the same charism. The Order is nourished by the long tradition of Carmel, expressed in the Rule of Saint Albert and the doctrine of the Carmelite Doctors of the Church and the Order’s other saints.