Below you can find the text of the Rule. The sword of the spirit, the word of God, must abound in your mouths and hearts. According to the OCDS Constitutions and Provincial Statutes, a Secular Carmelite endeavors : 1. The spirituality of the Carmelite Monks flows from the Carmelite Rule. ", Copyright © 2003 - 2020 THE ORDER OF CARMELITES - www.ocarm.org, Celebrating At Home Christmas - Nativity of the Lord, Celebrating At Home - Fourth Sunday of Advent, Celebrating At Home - Third Sunday of Advent, As Carmelites We live our life of allegiance to Jesus Christ and to serve Him faithfully with a pure heart and a clear conscience through a commitment to seek the face of the living God (the contemplative dimension of life), through prayer, through fraternity, and through service (, develop the contemplative dimension of their life, in an open dialogue with God, meditate day and night on the Word of the Lord, pray together or alone several times a day, live in poverty, placing in common what little they may have. Around the year 1209, they requested and received a Rule to live by. We charge people of this kind, and implore them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they earn their own bread by silent toil. The Carmelite Rule is a relatively short document composed largely of scripture and is a jewel of inspiration. Devotion to the Virgin Mary is a characteristic of Carmelites and is symbolis… [6] Next, each one of you is to have a separate cell, situated as the lie of the land you propose to occupy may dictate, and allotted by disposition of the Prior with the agreement of the other brothers, or the more mature among them. For this reason I lay down that you are to keep silence from after Compline until after Prime the next day. Carmel. Carm.) THE RULE OF SAINT ALBERT . They were agreed by the General Councils of both Carmelite Orders and published in 1999. The text known as the Rule of Saint Albert is the foundational document setting out the spirit in which all members of the Carmelite Family are invited to live 'in allegiance to Jesus Christ'. But as, when you are on a journey, you more often than not have to beg your way, outside your own houses you may eat foodstuffs that have been cooked with meat, so as to avoid giving trouble to your hosts. [11] Those who know how to say the canonical hours with those in orders should do so, in the way those holy forefathers of ours laid down, and according to the Church’s approved custom. A Rule of Life As you can see, the Secular Carmelite vocation is not the same as a devotion. All of these we live under the protection, inspiration and guidance of Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, whom we honor as "our Mother and sister. And our Lord says in the Gospel: Every rash word uttered will have to be accounted for on judgment day. [21] The Apostle would have us keep silence, for in silence he tells us to work. Aspirant: a person’s introduction to the life of the Secular Carmelite and the time for the Community to get to know an individual. Daily Life: The 6 Pillars in the Life of a Secular Discalced Carmelite. Member of the Discalced Carmelite Order and a Community that has a structure. The hermits living on the mountain asked the patriarch of Jerusalem, St. Albert, to give them a Rule of Life. The Carmelite order developed from a single community of hermits. conform their will to that of God, seeking the will of God in faith, in dialogue and through discernment. Teresa introduced a fresh orientation into Carmelite life combining silence and solitude with community living and giving the life of prayer a specific apostolic role in the Church and the world. It is an inspirational text and expression of a commitment to an ideal. … The Discalced Carmelites are friars and nuns, who dedicate themselves to a life of prayer. Example of a Carmelite Rule of Life for Laity Basic Rule of Life for Laity Based on the ‘Manual of the Third Secular Order of our Blessed Lady of Mount Carmel and St Teresa of Jesus’ (Rule of the Third Order Seculars (OCDS – Discalced Carmelites) from March 1921 until the … The Secular Carmelites live the prophetic dimension of Christian life and Carmelite spirituality by promoting God’s law of charity and truth in the world, above all by making themselves the voice for those who cannot, on their own, express this love and this truth. Those who do not know the hours must say twenty-five ‘Our Fathers’ for the night office, except on Sundays and solemnities when that number is to be doubled so that the ‘Our Father’ is said fifty times; the same prayer must be said seven times in the morning in place of Lauds, and seven times too for each of the other hours, except for Vespers when it must be said fifteen times. [8] None of the brothers is to occupy a cell other than that allotted to him, or to exchange cells with another, without leave of whoever is Prior at the time. St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, and St. Therese of the Child Jesus have each been declared a … As journeymen from various walks of life, these men gathered close to the spring of the great prophet Elijah. The nuns in Dijon fully embraced the deep spirit of prayer of their foundress, and it was that life of asceticism and self-giving that enchanted Elizabeth. [10] Each one of you is to stay in his own cell or nearby, pondering the Lord’s law day and night and keeping watch at his prayers unless attending to some other duty. The Discalced Carmelite life thrives throughout the world. 1. The Carmelite Rule states that it is fundamental for a Carmelite. Prayer was to be the great outreach to others, the one and only work of her nuns. 2. [19] Your loins are to be girt with chastity, your breast fortified by holy meditations, for as Scripture has it, holy meditation will save you. The Discalced Carmelites are a Roman Catholic religious community of priests, brothers, nuns, and laity serving the Church through lives of prayer and ministry, in a fraternal setting. The order was approved by Rome in 1226. [15] On Sundays too, or other days if necessary, you should discuss matters of discipline and your spiritual welfare; and on this occasion the indiscretions and failings of the brothers, if any be found at fault, should be lovingly corrected. It does not just mean adding a couple of daily prayers or adding meetings like prayer group or retreat team. To devote a minimum of a half-hour each day to mental prayer or dedication. The origins of the Carmelite Order come from that very place, Mount Carmel, where crusaders and others settled into a common hermit life. The Christian Life of the members is inspired and nourished by the spirituality and guidance of the Teresian Carmel. Elsewhere he says: Your strength will lie in silence and hope. Put on holiness as your breastplate, and it will enable you to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength, and your neighbour as yourself. Usually in April (if ceremonies are held in June), after personal discernment and meeting The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites is an association of the faithful who undertake the pursuit of evangelical perfection in the world. Thus it is that today there are two branches of the Carmelite family: the Ancient Observance (O.Carm.) To live a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ, the Carmelites bind themselves especially to: The Carmelite Rule is the shortest of all known Rules, almost exclusively made up of biblical precepts. The Rule of Carmel. [5] If the Prior and the brothers see fit, you may have foundations in solitary places, or where you are given a site suitable and convenient for the observance proper to your Order. Manual of the Third Secular Order of our Blessed Lady of Mount Carmel and St Teresa of Jesus Rule of the Third Order Seculars (OCDS – Discalced Carmelites) from March 1921 until the changes after Vatican II in October 1970. It’s truly a “rule of life” that requires an actual lifestyle change, just like the nuns and friars of our order must undergo. In the early years of the thirteenth century, they were given a rule of life by St. Albert, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. 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