Carmelites are... (51)
“I wanted Carmel as soon as I learned of it; I find that all the aspirations of my heart are fulfilled in this Order.”
(Saint Therese of Lisieux)
The Carmelites placed themselves at the service of the Church, according to the common ideal of the Mendicant Orders, also known as the Orders of Apostolic Brotherhood. However, they retained the distinctive features of their original charism...
(Carmelite Constitutions)
We the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel are engaged in a process of self-examination and seek to define the characteristics among the many existing charisms and vocations which give our religious family its particular identity within the Church.
(Carmelite Constitutions)
Carmelite vocation perfects in us, through our shared brotherhood, the power, which is also charismatic, a gift of the Spirit, received at baptism and at confirmation, binding us in a special way to the Church and making us ready to serve God and humanity, “to implant and strengthen the Kingdom of Christ in souls, and to spread it to the four corners of the earth.
(Carmelite Constitutions)
We look upon our consecrated life above all as an invitation and a great gift from God, by which he consecrates us to himself, that we may serve our brothers and sisters following Christ’s example.
(Carmelite Constitutions)
We are called by Christ to live and to spread his transforming and liberating power, and even evangelical life itself, in a manner that is specific to us, effective, and contemporary. This life is characterised by an intense search for God, in total adherence to Christ, finding expression in fraternal life and apostolic zeal.
(Carmelite Constitutions)
Living in allegiance to Jesus Christ, and embracing his Gospel as the supreme norm of our lives, by the power of his Spirit who distributes his gifts to each according to his will, we seek to live together in mutual service of one another and of all people. In this way, we co-operate in God’s plan to gather all men and women into one Holy People.
(Carmelite Constitutions)
Through Jesus Christ, Son of the Father and “firstborn of all creation”, we live in union with God and with our neighbours in a new way. And so, we share in the mission of the Incarnate Word in this world, and we form the Church, which is in Christ “as a sacrament - asign and instrument of communion with God, and of the unity of the whole human race.”
(Carmelite Constitutions)
Through Jesus Christ, Son of the Father and “firstborn of all creation”, we live in union with God and with our neighbours in a new way.
And so, we share in the mission of the Incarnate Word in this world, and we form the Church, which is in Christ “as a sacrament - a sign and instrument of communion with God, and of the unity of the whole human race.”
(Carmelite Constitutions)
