Discernment isn’t easy. In my own experience discerning my call to the Carmelites, there were many emotions and unconscious attachments that came up for me over the years and threatened to derail my vocation—including my feelings of obligation to my family, my feelings of self-worth, and my fear of being judged and mis-understood. During the process of letting go of the old plan for my life and considering the new life of ...

Discernment isn’t easy. In my own experience discerning my call to the Carmelites, there were many emotions and unconscious attachments that came up for me over the years and threatened to derail my vocation—including my feelings of obligation to my family, my feelings of self-worth, and my fear of being judged and mis-understood. During the process of letting go of the old plan for my life and considering the new life of ...

From the account of a French pilgrim, written about 1231, we know that the oratory in the midst of the cells, prescribed by the Rule, was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin: “On the slope of this same mountain is a very fair place and delicious, where is a little church of our Lady.” In time, the hermits of Mount Carmel became known as the “Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.” As early as 1252 ...

From the account of a French pilgrim, written about 1231, we know that the oratory in the midst of the cells, prescribed by the Rule, was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin: “On the slope of this same mountain is a very fair place and delicious, where is a little church of our Lady.” In time, the hermits of Mount Carmel became known as the “Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.” As early as 1252 ...

8:30PM on my farm in May means the sun has just dipped behind the mountain. The last of the sleepy golden light has lifted off the tops of the douglas fir and cedars. Soon the spring bullfrogs will begin to cough across the creek and the coyotes will start their game of tag, yelping and howling as they pass unseen from ridge to valley in the shadowy dusk. I sit at my desk writing ...

8:30PM on my farm in May means the sun has just dipped behind the mountain. The last of the sleepy golden light has lifted off the tops of the douglas fir and cedars. Soon the spring bullfrogs will begin to cough across the creek and the coyotes will start their game of tag, yelping and howling as they pass unseen from ridge to valley in the shadowy dusk. I sit at my desk writing ...

The Rule of St. Albert (and the way of the hermits of Carmel) He composed a Rule for the Humiliati. In the Holy Land, where he arrived in 1206, he dedicated himself as legate to the much needed work of promoting harmony among the feuding Christian princes. On September 14, 1214, during a procession in the Church of the Holy Cross in Acre, Albert was assassinated. The formula vitae outlined by the patriarch echoes the style of ...

The Rule of St. Albert (and the way of the hermits of Carmel) He composed a Rule for the Humiliati. In the Holy Land, where he arrived in 1206, he dedicated himself as legate to the much needed work of promoting harmony among the feuding Christian princes. On September 14, 1214, during a procession in the Church of the Holy Cross in Acre, Albert was assassinated. The formula vitae outlined by the patriarch echoes the style of ...

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to suffer. I chose my community because it takes a joyful approach to God and the world.” The Vocation Director and I were walking back from our lunch meeting. It was an uncommonly clear January day in Portland, and, although he belonged to another order, I had just told him I was seriously considering the Carmelites and would be visiting them in February. ...

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to suffer. I chose my community because it takes a joyful approach to God and the world.” The Vocation Director and I were walking back from our lunch meeting. It was an uncommonly clear January day in Portland, and, although he belonged to another order, I had just told him I was seriously considering the Carmelites and would be visiting them in February. ...