My Life Changed as a Carmelite, Part 1

A friend asks on Twitter —

What are some ways your life has been changed by becoming a Carmelite?

My husband and I long sought a Catholic group we could belong to. Since moving to Austin 25+ years ago, we have been parishioners of several churches as we’ve moved around town, but also as a way of knowing the Diocese like many Catholics do. We know what Masses are offered when, and how long the Confession lines are in most of the Churches around us. I say this to demonstrate that despite volunteering for ministries in most of the parishes we attended, and still had feelers out for a closer Church community because we never found an answer to God’s deeper calling.. until we found Carmel.

God granted me the grace of visiting our local Discalced Carmelite Community on their Day of Reflection when they had a Carmelite Priest offering a series of talks. I wept as I hugged everyone when I left. My first words to my husband when he picked me up were — I found our home. I found our people.

Practical effects of belonging to the Order of Discalced Carmelites as a Secular (therefore OCDS), of this are —

• Community. Someone speaks your holy language, has read the holy literature, holy thought you have tended toward, and practices the spirituality or flavor of prayer you’re trying to offer God. Jesus told us to be salt of the earth and not lose our flavor, it’s our duty to preserve it. Belonging to a 3rd Order is one way of doing this. Community, over time, produces an intimate familiarity. Third Orders all walk into this arena to be formed as brothers and sisters of One Mind in the Order. We get to know personality, strengths, silent struggles that are sometimes revealed, with many other virtues over time. Experiences of other souls shape you a little, and you, them, as you settle into your Community — you see this as God’s way of molding your soul, too.

• Accountability in the Spiritual Life. Your Order has Statues and Constitutions, Canon Law to bind random souls who feel called to the same purpose. This is in place in lieu of the blood bond of family, but its purpose is very similar — to serve, love, and adore God with One Voice. Essentially, my Carmelite vocation is layered over who I am as a soul destined to be a saint to gain entry to heaven. As a Carmelite, I am tasked to grow to into a Carmelite saint. So, I can be as slow with this or as speedy with, according to my desire and use of the tools, writings, methods given to me by my Carmelite brothers and sisters and by my Church. The Accountability piece fits in with support, guidance, and love, perhaps like parents. If were to go into a convent, I’d have Superiors who are charged with the care of my soul. Because I’m 3rd Order, I’ve a Council tasked with knowing who I am, spiritually ,and helping me become the saint God intends for me to be.

• Active Participation in the Communion of Saints. We’ve heard the plea for “active participation” in Mass,¹ and I think it can be appropriately used here. As a Discalced Carmelite, I know Thérèse. I know John of the Cross and Teresa. They are great saints and doctors of the Church to be sure, but as my discalced Carmelite brothers and sisters, I get to know them — really know them — on a first name basis. I have spent time reading their personal writings and primary works, and the reliable, credible, orthodox commentary of Catholic thinkers, so that I am knowledgeable of their breadth of thought, but I have spent time with Thérèse, John and Teresa in prayer — I touch on their depth of spirit. They are a part of my daily life and are responsible for shaping my life and the lives of my family because the sense of who they are impacts my love and practice as a wife, mother, friend, and ultimately, Daughter of the Church and Daughter of the Eternal Father. It is also understood that by taking vows into the Order of Discalced Carmelites as a secular (lay or 3rd Order), I participate in the merits, graces, sacrifices, prayers and blessings of the entire Order — including those gained and offered by the Carmelite Saints in heaven, for all time — going back to Elijah and St. John the Baptist. The same can be said of every Order since their Founding: Augustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans, Benedictines, etc.

This is all cerebral and knowledge-based. When I come back, I will give you examples of how my life changed as a Carmelite, beginning with living a life beneath my Mother’s mantle as a member of her Order, continuing with a general progression of my spiritual life and its impact on my vocations as wife, mom, teacher, ending with this phase of my life, past tragedy and crisis.

God bless you, always.. Lord, thank you for helping me find words to speak of Your Mother’s Holy Order, Amen.

❤️
in Christ,
veronica

1. We know “active participation” is debated and defined differently among factions of the Church, but for simplicity sake, I’ll offer my understanding here: active participation is deep contemplation or deep prayer, especially during the Canon of the Mass when it is most appropriate. Active Participation is the care taken to practice, perfect, approach the same spirit, mode, sentiment, the same will and affections Jesus had during His Passion and Death as He Sacrificed Himself on our behalf to the Eternal Father — which is effectively The Mass! More succinctly and ever more simply: Active Participation is recollecting the faculties of the soul to be in union with Christ during the Mass.