This is a work of “research”. With the exception of a couple of metaphors, a few alliterations, and an organizing device here and there, every idea in this primer is taken from someone else, someone who knows far more about the history and charism of the Carmelites than I do, even after 30-plus years of Carmelite life. Direct passages are cited, but not every sentence, for two reasons: 1) This primer is intended to be readable without jumping all over the place, or having the flow of every sentence interrupted; and 2) I claim almost nothing as my own invention. This is merely a convenient fly-over written in order to put into one small booklet some information that might be of interest to its readers. Instead, the bibliography in the back pages contains the names of the works which are referenced in the text.

Too many years of teaching and preaching have left me unable to give any account without including a personal story here, an attempt at humor there. I have not removed those from this little work, though I have tried to keep them from breaking the flow of the narrative.

This primer was written, specifically, to offer a very quick overview of Carmelite history and charism to the many people who work in various Carmelite schools, parishes, retreat centers, and other ministries. It began from a desire to give the faculty and staff at Carmel High School in Mundelein, Illinois, something in which the old-hands could recognize the Carmelites they have known… and the new-hands something in which they could glimpse the Carmelites they have not.

I have had the privilege of working in five different Carmelite high schools, one parish, and one retreat center, and in every place there have been colleagues who ask about the Carmelites, our spirituality, our history, and our life. This is written to satiate the appetite of some, and to whet the appetite of others. Fiat.

Fr. Glenn Snow, O.Carm. | May, 2015