What we call “Carmel” is really a way of life in which we try to be aware of the Presence of God in the most ordinary, everyday things. We’re contemplative, but we live out our service in the world. We’re prayerful, but we’re also practical. We were founded 800 years ago on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land, but we have our feet firmly planted in today’s problems and concerns.
-The Carmelite Way*
Living in Community
Carmelites live together in community so that we can support one another in our desire to live up to what God wants of us. We share prayer times, meals, concerns, and, sometimes, work. We are brothers to one another and call each other to accountability for our way of life.
Living in Service to Others
Carmelite friars are pastors, teachers, and spiritual directors. But, we’re also lawyers, hospital chaplains, musicians and artists. There is no one ministry that defines a Carmelite. We pray for the freedom to respond to needs wherever we find them.
*The Carmelite Way, John Welch, O.Carm.
(Paulist Press: 1996)