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Welcome to the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites
This book is a collection of Fr. Aloysius Deeney's conferences presented to the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelite (OCDS) members worldwide. His most practical and insightful talks are primarily directed to the members of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites and others who are interested in the tradition of Discalced Carmelites.
The author is notable for his enormous understanding and knowledge about the Secular branch of the Order. As such, OCDS members are the true beneficiaries of this book. This is a "must read" book for all of those who are interested in the lay branch of the Order of Discalced Carmelites.
"The spirituality of the Discalced Carmelites invites continual study. Any person who wants to be a Discalced Carmelite must be a person with an interest in learning and assimilating the spirit of the teachers of Carmel. This is the beginning of an attitude that is open to learning and practice. A Carmelite who does not have the interest in studying or deepening the root of his/her identity through prayer and study soon loses his/her identity."
The author is notable for his enormous understanding and knowledge about the Secular branch of the Order. As such, OCDS members are the true beneficiaries of this book. This is a "must read" book for all of those who are interested in the lay branch of the Order of Discalced Carmelites.
"The spirituality of the Discalced Carmelites invites continual study. Any person who wants to be a Discalced Carmelite must be a person with an interest in learning and assimilating the spirit of the teachers of Carmel. This is the beginning of an attitude that is open to learning and practice. A Carmelite who does not have the interest in studying or deepening the root of his/her identity through prayer and study soon loses his/her identity."
116 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 26, 2020
This is the third time I have read Fr. Deeney’s book, gleaning so much more on each successive read. The first time (2015) was during the first of my 6-year formation as a Secular Carmelite, my Aspirancy, when almost everything I was reading was strange and new, though I’m a cradle Catholic and have actually practiced my faith for most of my adult life. The second time was last year as I was preparing for my Final/Definitive Promise, when asked to reflect on specific areas in this book.
This time I reread Fr. Deeney’s book in preparation for becoming formator for the Aspirants of our Community in 2022.
For such a slim volume, this little book is packed with Wisdom. The following are just some of the important things to take away:
1. There are six distinct elements that altogether move a person to seek identification with the Order in a more formal way: 1) they must be a practicing member of the Catholic Church; 2) with a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary as model of prayer and meditation; 3) inspired by the Carmelite saints, especially St. Teresa of Jesus; 4) committed to the Secular Order; 5) to seek the face of God, 6) for the sake of the Church and the world.
2. There are six obligations which are part of the rhythm of the Secular Carmelite's life: 1) 30 minutes of daily meditation; 2) morning & evening prayer, night prayer if possible; 3) daily Mass if possible; 4) devotion to Mary lived out in meditation; 5) formation of community through monthly meetings, and 6) living our mission which is—we know God so that God may be known.
3. St. Teresa wrote, “This is the reason for prayer, my daughters, the purpose of this spiritual matrimony, the birth always of good works.” A great scholar of Carmelite writings said, “the most urgent pastoral problem of our times: to teach our people to pray.” Our charism is not limited to Carmel but meant for the whole world. As Seculars, we are real Carmelites.
4. The Promise is what makes one a member of the Secular Order. Many, many other people live and love Carmelite spirituality but have not made any sort of commitment to the Order. There are also a lot of people who know a lot of things about Carmelite spirituality and really are experts but are not members of the Order. Being part of the Community is to be formed—transformed—by Carmelite spirituality. Information is what; formation is how. The Secular Order is an extension of the Church. It is a realization of the Church, which is, by nature, incarnate. It has a body and soul. The soul is the spirituality, but it gives life to a body which is the incorporation of people with each other.
5. Carmel is not a club. As Seculars we follow the Constitution and ‘strive for evangelical perfection in the spirit of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience and through the Beatitudes. These evangelical counsels are traditional and are, of course, what the friars, the sisters, the nuns, and religious make in their vows as they incorporate themselves into the Community in which they are members.’ The evangelical counsels are time honored, and long standing. They define a way of living Christ's life.
6. The book also includes much interesting information and practical helps for the individual Carmelite and the community such as: 1) the history/origin and basic identity of the Secular; 2) the role of study in the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites; 3) an explanation of how the governing body, the Council, ought to function; 4) notes of clarification and 5) quotable quotes.
This is just a broad brush of the information contained in this book. For a more detailed treatment of the book, read the book itself or check out this series of lectures given by Fr. Deeney on his book:
INTRODUCTION - Welcome to the Secular Order of the Discalced Carmelites (OCDS)
OCDS #2 - Principles of Discernment
OCDS #3 - The vocation to the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order (It's definition)
OCDS #4 - Continuation of the Discussion on Discernment of the Vocation to the OCDS
OCDS #5 - Discernment and the Influence of Saint Teresa of Jesus and Saint John of the Cross
OCDS #6 - Continues to speak about the influence of Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross
OCDS #7 - Continued Discussion of The Basic Identity of the OCDS
OCDS #8 - Discernment and Commitment to the Order Community
OCDS #9 - A Continuation of the Discussion on Community
A series of lectures to Carmelites about testing and discerning a vocation, the new legislation, our charism, origin and identity, the role of study, how the council ought to function, quotes, etc. This is an extremely helpful book! I got so much out of it this time, but I doubt it made any sense to me five years ago when I read it. Now I want to return to it every year or so. Needs to be read at least twice by every Secular Carmelite before they make their definitive Promise.
This time I reread Fr. Deeney’s book in preparation for becoming formator for the Aspirants of our Community in 2022.
For such a slim volume, this little book is packed with Wisdom. The following are just some of the important things to take away:
1. There are six distinct elements that altogether move a person to seek identification with the Order in a more formal way: 1) they must be a practicing member of the Catholic Church; 2) with a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary as model of prayer and meditation; 3) inspired by the Carmelite saints, especially St. Teresa of Jesus; 4) committed to the Secular Order; 5) to seek the face of God, 6) for the sake of the Church and the world.
2. There are six obligations which are part of the rhythm of the Secular Carmelite's life: 1) 30 minutes of daily meditation; 2) morning & evening prayer, night prayer if possible; 3) daily Mass if possible; 4) devotion to Mary lived out in meditation; 5) formation of community through monthly meetings, and 6) living our mission which is—we know God so that God may be known.
3. St. Teresa wrote, “This is the reason for prayer, my daughters, the purpose of this spiritual matrimony, the birth always of good works.” A great scholar of Carmelite writings said, “the most urgent pastoral problem of our times: to teach our people to pray.” Our charism is not limited to Carmel but meant for the whole world. As Seculars, we are real Carmelites.
4. The Promise is what makes one a member of the Secular Order. Many, many other people live and love Carmelite spirituality but have not made any sort of commitment to the Order. There are also a lot of people who know a lot of things about Carmelite spirituality and really are experts but are not members of the Order. Being part of the Community is to be formed—transformed—by Carmelite spirituality. Information is what; formation is how. The Secular Order is an extension of the Church. It is a realization of the Church, which is, by nature, incarnate. It has a body and soul. The soul is the spirituality, but it gives life to a body which is the incorporation of people with each other.
5. Carmel is not a club. As Seculars we follow the Constitution and ‘strive for evangelical perfection in the spirit of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience and through the Beatitudes. These evangelical counsels are traditional and are, of course, what the friars, the sisters, the nuns, and religious make in their vows as they incorporate themselves into the Community in which they are members.’ The evangelical counsels are time honored, and long standing. They define a way of living Christ's life.
6. The book also includes much interesting information and practical helps for the individual Carmelite and the community such as: 1) the history/origin and basic identity of the Secular; 2) the role of study in the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites; 3) an explanation of how the governing body, the Council, ought to function; 4) notes of clarification and 5) quotable quotes.
This is just a broad brush of the information contained in this book. For a more detailed treatment of the book, read the book itself or check out this series of lectures given by Fr. Deeney on his book:
INTRODUCTION - Welcome to the Secular Order of the Discalced Carmelites (OCDS)
OCDS #2 - Principles of Discernment
OCDS #3 - The vocation to the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order (It's definition)
OCDS #4 - Continuation of the Discussion on Discernment of the Vocation to the OCDS
OCDS #5 - Discernment and the Influence of Saint Teresa of Jesus and Saint John of the Cross
OCDS #6 - Continues to speak about the influence of Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross
OCDS #7 - Continued Discussion of The Basic Identity of the OCDS
OCDS #8 - Discernment and Commitment to the Order Community
OCDS #9 - A Continuation of the Discussion on Community
A series of lectures to Carmelites about testing and discerning a vocation, the new legislation, our charism, origin and identity, the role of study, how the council ought to function, quotes, etc. This is an extremely helpful book! I got so much out of it this time, but I doubt it made any sense to me five years ago when I read it. Now I want to return to it every year or so. Needs to be read at least twice by every Secular Carmelite before they make their definitive Promise.
May 20, 2023
This book contains much useful information about the Secular Carmelite order's governance, its charism, and how chapters are supposed to operate. However, as someone who was assigned to read it as an aspirant in the 2020s, it was not all that helpful to me.
First of all, it's mistitled - it's not really targeted at new members being welcomed, rather at those who have been around a while (and who would have been attending the conference where the talks were given). Much of the material involves criticisms of how certain groups choose members or handle governance or interpersonal situations. These areas are beyond the control of aspirants and give the impression that OCDS chapters are all rife with mismanagement problems.
Second, it's not a very "welcoming" book, as it seems that every other page of several chapters is about who should NOT be admitted as a member and the tone is rather cranky. Most of the rejection criteria seem obvious (why would a chapter admit someone who has no interest in practicing Carmelite spirituality?) and it again made me wonder if OCDS chapters are regularly besieged with rude or disinterested aspirants that they need to be pushed to reject. Also it would have been nice to hear more about the positive qualities they look for in an aspirant.
Third, this book is now a few decades old and when the author discusses changes to the OCDS rule that happened three or more decades ago, or the changing role of laypeople after Vatican II, many of us don't even remember "how it was before" because unlike the author and his contemporaries, we were very young children or not born. I can't remember a time when laypeople weren't teaching, leading, or otherwise running many if not most of the programs at the average US parish, and I'm not a young person.
Finally, the book is a transcript of talks given verbally and sometimes the colloquial sentences that were clear to a listening audience are harder to follow/ understand when written down to be read. Better editing would have clarified in quite a few places.
None of this is the fault of the author, as these writings were designed as talks for a particular experienced audience during a particular (past) time. And like I said, there is still useful stuff in the book, I just don't think this is a good one to hand first out of the box to a visitor or aspirant, much less dwell on it (to the exclusion of almost all other resources) for a full year. It's a short book and could easily be covered in four to six meetings, leaving time to explore other materials that might be more oriented towards discernment.
First of all, it's mistitled - it's not really targeted at new members being welcomed, rather at those who have been around a while (and who would have been attending the conference where the talks were given). Much of the material involves criticisms of how certain groups choose members or handle governance or interpersonal situations. These areas are beyond the control of aspirants and give the impression that OCDS chapters are all rife with mismanagement problems.
Second, it's not a very "welcoming" book, as it seems that every other page of several chapters is about who should NOT be admitted as a member and the tone is rather cranky. Most of the rejection criteria seem obvious (why would a chapter admit someone who has no interest in practicing Carmelite spirituality?) and it again made me wonder if OCDS chapters are regularly besieged with rude or disinterested aspirants that they need to be pushed to reject. Also it would have been nice to hear more about the positive qualities they look for in an aspirant.
Third, this book is now a few decades old and when the author discusses changes to the OCDS rule that happened three or more decades ago, or the changing role of laypeople after Vatican II, many of us don't even remember "how it was before" because unlike the author and his contemporaries, we were very young children or not born. I can't remember a time when laypeople weren't teaching, leading, or otherwise running many if not most of the programs at the average US parish, and I'm not a young person.
Finally, the book is a transcript of talks given verbally and sometimes the colloquial sentences that were clear to a listening audience are harder to follow/ understand when written down to be read. Better editing would have clarified in quite a few places.
None of this is the fault of the author, as these writings were designed as talks for a particular experienced audience during a particular (past) time. And like I said, there is still useful stuff in the book, I just don't think this is a good one to hand first out of the box to a visitor or aspirant, much less dwell on it (to the exclusion of almost all other resources) for a full year. It's a short book and could easily be covered in four to six meetings, leaving time to explore other materials that might be more oriented towards discernment.
February 27, 2022
A really good overview of what to expect and structures gave me a sound understanding of process to discernment .The book reached me Personally, helped me to discern god's will in my life and aspects of carmelite spirituality. Did clarify some of my existing knowledge and certainly was very helpful and useful in knowing where I was on my journey to Carmel. I'd recommend to anyone discerning a carmelite vocation
April 25, 2022
A really good overview of what ti expect and structures gave me a sound understanding of process to discernment .the book reached me personally helped me to discern gods will in my life and aspects of Carmelite spirituality. Did clarify some if my existing knowledge and certainly was very helpful and useful in knowing where I was on my journey to Carmel. I'd recommend to anyone discerning a Carmel vocation
August 27, 2022
A very helpful guide in discerning whether a secular Teresian Carmelite may be right for you.
October 11, 2015
This should be read by all formation directors, and those seeking to enter the secular order. Very good. Not written for seekers, but gives detailed insights into being a secular. This book will help you know whether or not OCDS is your vocation.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews