Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites

The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS), officially Ordo Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Saecularis, and formerly known as the Third Secular Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and of the Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Jesus, is an association in the Roman Catholic Church, with lay persons as its primary members but can also accept members of the secular clergy, with promises to strive to live evangelical perfection in the spirit of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience and through the beatitudes ^[1]. They have a "fidelity to contemplative prayer with the spirit of detachment it entails…."

Commonly known as Carmelite Seculars, it is an integral part of the Discalced Carmelite Order^[2], juridically dependent upon the Discalced Carmelite Friars (OCD)^[3], and in "fraternal communion" with them and the cloistered nuns of the Order. "As a result, they share the same charism with the religious, each according to their particular state of life. It is one family with the same spiritual possession, calling to holiness and Apostolic mission."^[4]

There are two Carmelite orders in the Church: the Ancient Observance (O. Carm.) and the Discalced (OCD). The Discalced became a separate order under its foundress, Saint Teresa of Jesus (of Ávila), in order to return to the more austere and contemplative life lived by the first Carmelites. "Discalced", meaning "shoeless", signifies this greater austerity. Most Secular Carmelites do not consider foregoing shoes an actual necessity for living this internal austerity and poverty.

Vocation and Promise

Their vocation is to live the Carmelite spirituality as Seculars and not as mere imitators of Carmelite monastic life ^[5]. With the friars and nuns, they assist the Order in drawing the Church into an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and His Mother, Mary, Mother and Queen of Carmel.

They are apostles of contemplative prayer, but also live intense lives of charity in their common occupations.

Carmelite Seculars make a promise to the Order patterned on the monastic vows, which guides their life. The promise is to live according to its New Constitution and to live the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience, adapted according to their lay state.

Spiritually mature members, with the recommendation of the local council and approval of the provincial superior, are permitted to make vows of chastity and obedience to the community, which are strictly personal and do not create a separate category of membership.^[6]

Way of Life

The old Rule of Life (Regula vitæ) of 1979 requires Secular Carmelites to pray for at least a half an hour each day "in an atmosphere of interior silence and solitude," to recite Morning and Evening Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours (the Divine Office), and to attend daily Mass whenever possible. Although the Rule of Life was replaced by the New OCDS Constitution of 2003, their way of life remains the same.^[7]

The Seculars will "gladly mortify themselves in union with the Sacrifice of Christ," and their "interior life must be permeated by an intense devotion to Our Lady." They must wear the small Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (the habit of the Carmelite Secular Order^[8]), and attend monthly meetings of their communities.

Membership

Depending on the existing OCDS Provincial Statutes of each province and with the approval of the Local Community Council, the OCDS accepts Catholics in good standing in the Church, who are at least 18 years old, for entry into formation.^[9][10] Admission into formation is dependent on a clear indication of a Carmelite vocation and maturity in faith, and permission to profess the promise of the Secular Carmelites requires a number of years spent in spiritual formation and the study of contemplative prayer. Catholics called to this vocation by God begin by discovering a community of Seculars whom they visit for a monthly meeting and may eventually join. Communities can be found by one of the on-line provincial directories.

Carmelite Seculars are not members of the Scapular Confraternity^[11], a much newer development that is merely a pious association of Catholics who wear the Scapular and may or may not actually follow certain principles of Carmelite spirituality. Any Catholic can be invested with the Scapular by a Catholic priest, and indeed it is the most popular and well known of Catholic scapulars because of the promises made to its wearers by the Blessed Virgin Mary. But the garment is properly the habit of the Carmelite Order, including the Secular Carmelites. Candidates for admission to the Order are clothed in the Scapular at the beginning of formal formation, usually during a Mass.

Carmelite Seculars, after the tradition of the Friars and Nuns, take a religious name or title of devotion. The custom is increasing of retaining the person's surname and/or given name depending on suitability. The name taken is generally only used in Carmelite contexts, and members use the acronym "OCDS" after their legal names if appropriate.

The OCDS Around the World

Carmelite Seculars are spread throughout the world in various communities, with each community canonically erected^[12] and under the direction of the provincial superiors of each province and the leadership of the general superior of the Order in Rome ^[13].

There has been tremendous growth in the United States in recent years, but membership may be decreasing in numbers in Europe.

A large number are found in the Philippines.^[14]

Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Famous Saints

Principal among the saints of the Discalced Carmelite Order are Teresa of Jesus (of Ávila), John of the Cross, Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face (of Lisieux), and Teresia Benedicta of the Cross (commonly known as Edith Stein). Among the beatified is Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity.

Blessed Pope John Paul II was also an honorary member of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites.

Bibliography

• The Rule of St. Albert and the Constitution of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS), 2003
• "The Rule of Life," The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, 1979.
• Welcome to the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, by the Reverend Father P. Aloysius Deeney, OCD, ICS Publications, 2009. ISBN 978-0-935216-75-2

References

1. ^ OCDS Constitution #11
2. ^ OCDS Constitution #1
3. ^ OCDS Constitution #41
4. ^ OCDS Constitution #1
5. ^ Carmelite Seculars and the Apostolate of the Order by P. Aloysius Deeney, OCD
6. ^ OCDS Constitution #39
7. ^ OCDS Constitution Section 2
8. ^ OCDS Constitution #36b
9. ^ OCDS Provincial Statutes-Washington Province
10. ^ OCDS Philippines Provincial Statutes
11. ^ A Catechesis on the Brown Scapular
12. ^ OCDS Constitution #49
13. ^ OCDS Constitution #48
14. ^ OCDS Philippines

External links

• The Rule of St. Albert and the Constitution of the OCDS
• Discalced Carmelite Order (including the OCDS)
• USA National Council of the OCDS
• Washington Province of the OCDS (Eastern USA)
• California-Arizona Province of the OCDS (Western USA)
• Meditations from Carmel
• Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites in San Diego, California
• [1] A commentary on the traditional rule of the Discalced Carmelite Third Order.