Find Yourself Here

Prayer:  During prayer, Jesus instructed Saint Teresa of Avila to, “find yourself in Me, and find Me in yourself.”  This line describes Carmelite prayer — a journey into yourself, a journey to find your deepest, authentic self.

Ministry:  Then what happens?  Again Saint Teresa has the answer, “the purpose of prayer is good works, simply good works.”

Community:  And we do this together; we do this as a team; we do this in community.

Since the year 1200, the path up Mount Carmel in the Holy Land leads to this arch that still marks the entrance to the first foundation of Carmelites.  Since then, men and women have followed the pathway of Carmel to find themselves, and then to offer themselves in service to Jesus and his church.

Vocations

Bro. Ulises Garcia, O.Carm.

The root of ‘vocations’ is ‘vocare’ – to call out.  Any vocation is God calling out, “Hey! Let’s go this direction.”  That’s half the call.  The other half is what you respond: “Okay, let’s go!” or “Hold it, I’m afraid!” or “Are you sure about this?”  Maybe we can help you with that second half.

Discerning a Vocation

Father Quinn Conners, O.Carm., can give you some pointers on discernment (in general) and on discerning a religious life vocation (in particular).

Prerequisites to a Carmelite Vocation

  • male, between the ages of 18 and 40
  • Roman Catholic with an active faith life
  • active spiritual life
  • good physical health
  • good mental health
  • minimum of two years of college

Meet the Carmelite Vocations Team

Father Michael Joyce, O.Carm. (left) and Father David McEvoy, O.Carm., offer a quick word about vocations.

Derrick Turrentine

Carmelite Formation, Step-by-Step

Barry Dineen, O.Carm., explains the various stages of the Carmelite formation process from start to finish.