Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites

What Carmelite Life Means to Me

1. Formation

Hello, I am Michael Green, a quite ordinary family man who feels very privileged to be received into formation in the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, and to be joining such a wonderful group of sincerely devout, spiritually enlightened and conscientious travellers on the pilgrimage of Faith. I have 3 major passions in my life: God, Family and Coffee, and my whole life revolves around those passions in that priority order.

My journey in Faith that is leading me in this direction covers a very ordinary and mundane existence interspersed with significant supernatural events that have convinced me of the existence of God, the Truth of our Catholic Faith, and the Hope of a future wrapped in God’s Love. I was baptised just after birth and then grew up without much faith input until my mother survived breast cancer when I was a teenager, the experience of which led her to have a profound conversion back to God and returning to her Catholic faith with an admirable enthusiasm and devotion. She shared this with my sister and myself and we both returned to the Church with our mother with great enthusiasm, discerned whether we were called to a religious life, and then realised this was not what God wanted for us, instead both settling down with families.

Part of my mother’s reconciliation to her Catholic Faith involved the cultivation of a deep devotion to Our Lady and to Divine Mercy, which she shared with us. However, after my mother’s early death, whilst my sister continued to deepen her faith, I was becoming lukewarm and almost dropped my faith entirely apart from that I retained a deep love of the Eucharist and Our Lady, which helped retain a basic faith for many years.

Then some years ago, during a time of deep personal crisis, I was gifted with a profound religious awakening that led me to experience the Love of God in such an intense and wholehearted way that I quite literally transformed overnight and have been faithfully practising my Faith ever since. I believe sincerely that this transformative process is continuing; in fact I am pretty sure that it has hardly begun! But, one major feature of my transformation is how much deeper has become my devotion to, and love for, the Eucharist and Our Lady, bound up in an increasing appreciation of the depth of God’s Love through Divine Mercy. One of the first things I did following this spiritual awakening was to entrust myself to Our Lady using the Saint Louis de Montfort formula as interpreted by Fr Michael Gaitley of the Divine Mercy Fathers, an Entrustment which I informally renew daily, and formally annually on the feast of the Assumption.

So how does this lead me to Mount Carmel? As part of my increasing devotion to Our Lady has been my great love of saying the Rosary and particularly pondering the mysteries through reflection on scriptural verses whilst saying the Rosary. This beautiful method of prayer allows me to ‘live’ the Rosary mysteries (essentially the Gospels) through using my vivid imagination, to follow the mysteries in my mind as if I were a bystander in the actual Gospel scenes. For the final mystery, The Coronation, I imagine myself walking behind our Lady as she slowly moves in Heaven towards the throne prepared for her, where the Godhead is waiting to Crown her; on one such meditation I was fully surprised when Our Lady turned to me in my reverie and spoke to me, ”Michael, I want you to join Carmel”, then next to her I saw Saints’ Teresa of Avila, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Teresa Benedicta, and Our Lady said to me “These will help you”.

I am not blessed with many spiritual experiences and so this was quite extraordinary to me and, since I am entrusted to Our Lady, I took this as a direct request from her that I immediately react to. Fortunately, I knew of a fellow Parishioner who had recently made her Final Promises as an OCDS, and having contacted her, was able to enter on this journey to Mount Carmel. This has led me to become involved with an amazing group of fellow Pilgrims discerning their Path to God through following the Carmelite way. I also feel very strongly the support that I am receiving from the great Carmelite saints in helping me discern God’s Will for me, and in helping me in my journey as a Pilgrim, both personally, and in Community.

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2. My Story so far

I have been in the secular order of Teresian Carmelites for about four years. I wanted to find a way to get closer to God. An opportunity arose for a guided spiritual retreat which I attended and what I learned there made me feel that this was the way to my goal. For me the Carmelite way has enabled me to practice living my life day to day in His Presence which gives me great peace and joy. It is an added bonus to be able to meet with like minded people once a month to discuss the writings of the Carmelite saints. It is the most loving environment, brothers and sisters dwelling in harmony (even when we have different ideas).

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3. Why am I a Secular Carmelite

My first answer could sound almost profane – God knows! But I mean this seriously, it’s God’s choice, ultimately, not mine. If he “knew me before I was born” (Isaiah 43:1) then becoming an OCDS is becoming what he wants me to be. That should be that but, of course, it isn’t. As human beings we’re rarely inclined to do what’s best for us or to hear what God is saying to us through the way our lives go – yet he has his ways of getting through to us, so I thought I’d try to identify some of his hints & nudges along my way to becoming a Secular Carmelite.

My parents were lapsed Catholics, very opposed to the Church but because I was a very anxious child & facing my third infant school when the family moved after my father’s serious illness, I ended-up in a Catholic school but unbaptised. I can’t recall a time from then on when it didn’t seem obvious that, if God existed, then nothing else could possibly be more important. Then I was blessed with a parish priest who asked me, and not my parents, if I wanted baptism. My first big lesson that faith involves choice.

Two powerful memories emerge from this time. First is of a class teacher telling us that if God forgot us even for a second we would cease to exist. The second is how much I loved the deep silence that was central to our celebration of the 40 Hours of perpetual exposition.

The family moved again when I was nine and my formal Catholic education ended. It was again up to me to keep going. As a teenager I was fortunate to join a choir run by nuns and from that time a third memory emerges – the impact made by Clifford Howells book on the Mass – The Work of Our Redemption. I remember the excitement & exhilaration I felt at this deeper understanding of the meaning of the Mass & what this meant for our lives.

As an older teenager the anxiety & unhappiness of my early childhood re-emerged with a vengeance so that the emotional & mental cracks became gaping wounds and for some time I lost all sense of who I was. But recovery was also a deeper level of conversion and these early positive convictions & impressions re-emerged. Looking back I see how all of this spoke of my basic “shape” as that of a Carmelite and of a calling to acknowledge God’s absolute claim on my life.

I want to take the second point first. My awareness as I recovered of my utter dependence for my existence on God and of the complete gratuity of his love and salvation was founded upon the early experiences I’ve been talking about. I increasingly saw my life as a gift that is meant to be returned in love & thanksgiving. Taking promises as a Secular Carmelite to live in the spirit of the Evangelical Counsels & the Beatitudes is for me an external expression of an inward reality, an avowal that my basic identity is as a gift. This roots me in the Mass, where I give myself in order to receive the gift – “May he make us an eternal offering to you” we say in the Eucharistic Prayer.

So, to look at the first point, why Carmel? This takes me back again to those early intuitions & experiences. Carmel is based on this conviction if God exists, then nothing else could possibly be more important. We look for our origins to the prophet Elijah in his proclamation, “The Lord lives, before whom I stand.” Our first purpose is to declare by our lives that God is, that he loves and that we are made to be in intimate relationship with him.

Elijah also speaks to us of that dependence upon God that brings us to acknowledge the cracks, the incapacity, the failures in our lives as ways in which he opens us up to himself. Remember Elijah sitting beneath his furze bush, ready to give up and feeling he may as well be dead. (1 Kings 19:1 - 8)

And Elijah speaks of the silence & stillness of contemplation, of that listening to the “still, small voice” that is at the heart of Carmelite prayer.

But Elijah does not meet Christ until the transfiguration on Tabor. The teachings of the Carmelite saints all develop these insights from Elijah in the light of Christ and the Incarnation, so that all is seen from the perspective of Easter and directs us back to the Eucharist as the source & summit of our lives.

All Christian spiritualities lead us to the Father, through Christ & in the Holy Spirit; each has its own “flavour” & its own particular emphases; when one “speaks” to us it’s because it is calling-out in us the shape God has made us to become. In following it we find our way to become like Christ.

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4. Why am I a Carmelite?

Contemplative life is of great importance in the Church; it cannot be confined to convents and monasteries. We also need to be able to live this way of life in the world – as a light to others however small. And invite others to join us…

The Carmelite Secular Order gives us this opportunity and a small local community who will help support us as we journey together; with whom we share common values and ideals; who share our commitment to prioritise prayer, both liturgical and personal; who will pick us up when we fail and encourage us when we are perplexed; who will provide a “family life”. Seeking to grow and mature in prayer and holiness can be frightening and confusing at times.

The Secular Order gives structure and discipline to my daily prayer – which is invaluable. Morning and Evening Prayer, silent prayer, the writings of the saints, the sacraments – feed and energizes me, furnish my mind, keep me going on the journey, free me from my own self will to become who God created me to be. I have to trust that God will work on me, fashion me to become the person he created me to be. And I have to listen to Him. I need prayer and silence every day. There is a great tension living in the world but not of it; it is so easy to be swamped by cultural messages. My vocation is to marriage as a wife and mother. Finding the time can be hard and often interrupted when my family needs me. God has given them to me to be my first priority.

We are all called to holiness, to become a saint – this is one way to that goal. Our fundamental vocation is to love today and for all eternity. Vocation = how to live your life as a gift. We are called to intimacy with God, with the Trinity.

Only God can welcome a person's total surrender in such a way that one does not lose one's soul in the process but wins it. St. Edith Stein
Young people of every continent, do not be afraid to be the saints of the new millennium! Be contemplative, love prayer; be coherent with your faith and generous in the service of your brothers and sisters, be active members of the Church and builders of peace. To succeed in this demanding project of life, continue to listen to His Word, draw strength from the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Penance. The Lord wants you to be intrepid apostles of his Gospel and builders of a new humanity. St Pope John Paul II World Youth Day 2000
Do something beautiful for God. Do it with your life. Do it every day. Do it in your own way. But do it! St. Teresa of Calcutta

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5. How beautiful to be making Carmelite promises on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross!

I joined the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites some time in 2012, with my Husband Stuart and we were received into the Order on 8^th February 2014. Sadly, Stuart died in May 2016 just before we were due to make our first promises. I was given the grace to be able to make them in June 2016 and on 14^th September 2019 I made my definitive promises, along with Jane, Louise and Martin, while Angela made her first promises.

Between September 2018 and July 2019, Martin and I attended The Prayer Guides Course run by the Carmelite Friars at Boars Hill, Oxford. This course was very rich in content with many excellent speakers engaged for the process. Alongside this we had workshops and small group spiritual conversations and times of silent prayer. As the course progressed I was aware of the value of the unity that the silent prayer and spiritual conversation were bringing about.

I have been thoroughly blessed by God who led me to the Secular Carmelites. The strong and loving relationships which have come as a result are wonderful and the Lord is ever teaching me new and wonderful aspects of His Majesty. Praise the Lord!

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6. Reflections from a long time member of Carmel who is married and works as a teacher.

What draws me to Secular Carmel?

• It’s a special place where I can meet God both by listening to Him in silent contemplative prayer, and by reading the Daily Office – for me this is food for the journey (like the manna given to the Israelites in the desert, when they were travelling to the Promised Land.)

• It’s where I can learn about Carmelite spirituality, the Carmelite Saints and deepen my faith.

• It’s a way to live my baptismal promises more fully and witness to others around me – words aren’t always necessary.

• It’s a community of friends in Christ who are there to pray together for the needs of individuals, our local area and the world. They are there when times are hard and celebrate together when the moments are joyful.

What do I see Secular Carmel giving to the Order? the Church? And the World?

• Secular Carmel is Carmel in society and is a complimentary to the Friars and the enclosed Nuns. It enriches the Carmelite family by including all vocations (single/married etc.)

• Secular Carmel can go places the Order cannot e.g. the workplaces and be a witness there.

• Secular Carmel is made of members that are ordinary people who choose to “dig deeper” into their faith and desire adult formation.

• Secular Carmel prays for the needs of the Church/local community/vocations etc.

• Secular Carmel tries to live humbly (although this isn’t necessarily anything to do with money and more to do with detachment from clinging onto things rather than discerning what God’s will is for your life.)

• Secular Carmel is to bring peace and joy of the Lord to others, which has been given them in their moments of still, quiet prayer.

• Secular Carmel is a community of people who meet together to pray (verbally and in silence); grow in faith and learn from each other during moments of sharing. They often meet in a parish and that means that others who are seeking for more of God/spirituality can contact the group via posters, leaflets and social media.

• Secular Carmel is a witness to the world that a different way of living the Gospel in today’s society is possible and hopefully this is a positive example rooted in God’s love.

• Secular Carmel is part of the Carmelite family and joins them in the prayer for the needs of the World.