Carmelite Customs

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Carmelites at recreation:

 

 

 

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New Choir Stalls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A very beautiful profession photos in the hands of the Rev. Mother Prioress

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Another batch of profession photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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PAPER OF EXACTIONS

OF THE

Discalced Carmelite Nuns

OF THE ORDER OF

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

taken from

the traditions of our Spanish Mothers and Foundresses

 

THE NOVICIATE AND DUTIES OF NOVICES.

 

Every day the novices should ask the Blessed Virgin to receive them as her daughters, since they have the grace of being in her order, and beseech her to teach them how to praise, love and serve her Divine Son.

 

Our first Superiors wished St. John the Baptist to be their protector, in order that he might obtain for them the spirit of prayer, silence, separation from all things and mortification of the senses.

 

They should have continual recourse to our Holy Mother Saint Teresa, and ask her for her spirit that they may faithfully follow all that she has taught us by her example, by her writings and by our rule and constitutions, fearing, through want of fervor in fulfilling her precepts to be a cause of decline in the spirit of her reform. They must therefore be faithful in avoiding what she wished to correct in the novices, that is to say. the desire of being esteemed, attention to the defects of others without ever acknowledging our own; the point of honor, thinking oneself less well treated than the others; love of the world, care of one's body, seeking for exemptions and comforts. Our Holy Mother desires that novices should amend in all these things before their Profession, and ordains that, if they do not do so, their Profession shall be delayed or they shall be sent away; she says that they will be all their lives what they are in their noviciate. They must therefore have a great zeal to make progress in perfection and in all virtue following in the footsteps of the saints who have gone before them, advancing some by the martyr­dom of blood, others by that of love—all by sufferings, humiliations, penance, a solitary life separated from creatures, caring only for rest in labor, joy in suffering, consolation in the Cross, undisturbed by that which troubles nature, knowing that "the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent bear it away."

 

The novices should therefore also repress all inequalities of temper and be ever ready to yield to what is wished of them without any choice either of place or cell, or employment, cleaving only to God alone. They should be entirely sub­missive to the will of others, make their own spirit die to all things, see only that which is good in their sisters and shut their eyes to all things else.

 

At half-past two on days when we do not sing Vespers, the novices go to the noviciate; it begins by the ordinary Antiphon: Veni Sancte Spiritus.

 

The mistress of novices will not fail to go every day to the noviciate, whilst the novices are assembled there, to teach them true piety and virtue, the observance of the rules and everything which they ought to know; attaching very great importance to this as our constitutions recommend.

 

The novices say their faults once a week in the noviciate, on a different day from that on which the Chapter is held; observing all that is marked for the Chapter of faults, excepting that they do not kiss the Scapular of their mistress, but they make an inclination to her. If on any occasion the mistress is not in the noviciate, nor the Mother Prioress, the novices would make their spiritual reading each one by herself or all together accord­ing as might be thought best.

 

At one o'clock the novices go to mark their office; but in Lent, on fasts of the Church and all Fridays in summer they mark it at ten o'clock and then return to their work.

 

They make every day half an hour's spiritual reading. In Lent when there is the whole hour for reading they add only the fifteen minutes before the evening hour for prayer, they cannot dispense themselves from this without leave.

 

When an extra Communion is granted to the Community the Novices do not take it for them­selves, nor the permissions given to the Nuns in general to ask certain little things of the officers,unless they are specially told to do so, never taking for themselves what tends to consolation or personal satisfaction, but only such things as regard labor, penance, and humiliation in which their zeal and their fervor should shine forth.

 

They should take care to retain nothing in their way of speaking which still savors of the spirit of the world. When they have to name their Father and Mother, whether with the Mother Prioress, or in speaking to externs, to enquire for them or send them messages, they should say: My Father and my Mother; never using worldly terms and titles and avoiding also all undue familiarity of ex­pression.

 

They should also carefully avoid the use of exaggerated expressions; and in speaking of themselves they must not say: I have, I give—but: we have, we give, speaking generally in the plural unless it be of their own imperfections.

 

The Novices should not, without permission, bind themselves as by obligation to say regularly any prayer, however short; were it only an Ave Maria by day, since all their actions should be regulated by obedience.

 

Simplicity, docility, dependence, and subjection, these are the principal virtues to the acquisition of which the Novices should apply themselves without ceasing; they should neither see, nor hear, nor judge of anything save in that religious spirit which they are taught to acquire. They ought not to wish to know what is going on in the world, nor even what is done within the Monastery, in order to be occupied only with the one thing necessary, with God and with their progress in perfection, applying themselves thus to laying a good foundation during their Noviciate; for it is difficult to acquire later on, what has not been seriously aimed at during this time.

 

When their Mother Prioress instructs them they should speak to her and answer her questions with great simplicity, candor, and perfect confidence, telling her, at all times, their needs and in­dispositions whether spiritual or corporal; in a word they should see in her Jesus Christ whom she represents to them, and apply themselves faithfully to accomplish all that she tells them to do, following sincerely the advice which she gives to them, for woe to those who reject correction and murmur against it. Let them aim at that spirit of Christian infancy to which Salvation is attached and, since we must become as little children in order to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, lowli­ness and subjection should be theirs in a very special degree.

 

They should have great respect for their Mistress, who is charged to form them to the Religious life, that is to say, to that state of life which is to unite them closely to God. They will always speak to her on their knees, when they are not in Community, they will prostrate themselves when she reproves them for any fault; and in speaking of her they will always say: "our Mistress," even in Community. They will speak to her with candor and with simplicity, being fully convinced that they will always find in the confidence they have in her a powerful help in working at their perfection and for advancing in the practice of all the virtues appertaining to their state.

They may not ask her any permission at recreation or anywhere in Community, not even in a low tone of voice, reserving this for when they are alone with her. It would be a want of respect towards the Mother Prioress to ask any permissions of their Mistress in her presence.

 

They will show all the letters which they write and which they receive to their Mistress, and will write none without permission.

In the Choir the Novices have to observe two things: First, such perfect silence and mortifica­tion as to appear dead to all things else, save praising God and being attentive to His Presence. Secondly, they should take great care not to go to and fro in the Choir without necessity, and when they are obliged to do so, it must be softly and silently, both out of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament and in order that they may not interrupt the prayer of the sisters.

 

When the Mother Prioress commands anything without addressing herself to anyone in particular, the Novices should try to do it with that prompti­tude which makes evident their love of obedience; they must never make any difficulties at recreation with regard to anything which is commanded them, and if they have something to say con­cerning what they are ordered to do, they must wait till the end of the recreation before doing so; this must be most faithfully observed, the contrary being very unedifying in a Religious Community.

 

The Professed Novices ask permission, once for all, to read the books of the Community which are placed in the Hermitages. Each week the Novices ask the ordinary permissions. They should ask their Mistress what they have to do with regard to the Offices of the Week which fall to their share; commending themselves to God that they may accomplish them well. Each one-who is named Hebdomadary should ask Him to enable her to fulfill   this  function with  fitting recollection  and edification.

 

The Mistress of Novices can give them permission to go into each other's cells when necessary

 

 

[TheresaThoma]

Lovely pictures! Thank you so much for finding and sharing them!

[graciandelamadrededios]

Lovely pictures! Thank you so much for finding and sharing them!

 

You're welcome, TheresaThoma! :saint2:

[Chiquitunga]

Photo of German Discalced Carmelite Nuns with the future Novice wearing a wedding dress:

 

 

Without the Scapular - interesting toque:

 

 

The Prioress and Novice Mistress putting on the leather cincture on her waist:

 

 

Pinning her scapular so it wont move around - her smile is priceless:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope Chiqui would love these photos, this is for you my dear friend....

 

 

To my dear friend, Chiqui:

 

 

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for posting these Gracian!!! I'm just seeing this now! Somehow I missed it when you first posted it. Thank you so very much! I love it when Carmels use the wedding dress at the clothing!  :heart:

 

p.s. what beautiful paintings they have in their choir!!!  :saint:

[graciandelamadrededios]

 

 

 

 

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for posting these Gracian!!! I'm just seeing this now! Somehow I missed it when you first posted it. Thank you so very much! I love it when Carmels use the wedding dress at the clothing!  :heart:

 

p.s. what beautiful paintings they have in their choir!!!  :saint:

 

 

You're welcome, Chiqui!

 

I am most sure you will love it hence, I posted it here.

 

The painting must be old.  They are lovely...

 

Gracian

[Chiquitunga]

They are copies of images I have seen before, I believe from Spain, but yes, they do look old. The first is Our Lord giving St. Teresa a nail when He said she was His true bride.

 

 

 

The Prioress and Novice Mistress putting on the leather cincture on her waist:

 

 

Pinning her scapular so it wont move around - her smile is priceless:

 

 

 

 

[graciandelamadrededios]

Hi Chiqui!

 

I just love these photos and I cant help but post them here!

 

The painting is nice and very Teresian.

 

 

Gracian

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Double Grille of the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of Nuns in Dys, Poland:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Indwelling Trinity]

"How Beautiful it is, how pleasant, where brethren dwell at one!" 

 

We are in agreement, Gracian!     That is exactly my understanding as well, and it is OFTEN a huge surprise to people when they find out the substance of what we both discussed.  BECAUSE it explains in a most charitable way to me why there were varying observances, and how each one could truly think THEY had it right!   But the reality, of course, is that what needs to be right is your focus on Christ at the center of all things.... and if the lifestyle being lived isn't conducive to that, it just plain WILL create problems.

 

Now, I MUST get some sleep (running on short rations of sleep last few days, and it has caught up with me!

 

I, too, will be curious to know what Chiqui (and the rest of you!) has/have to say!

 

;)     Good night, and we will pray for each other!

 

 

Laughing, how i would love to throw a monkey wrench into all of this just for fun!

 

In truth though whether one wears a cross outside the scapular or underneath it ,or still  practices penances that may make some gasp in shock or maybe not; a custom is only as good as the interiority it helps one's soul to achieve towards loving union with God.

 

True Carmelite customs then become then nothing more than a silent living expression of love between God and Man. They help to express and  take us places that words alone cannot go. They aid in bringing  the body into unity with the mind and heart so as to create a single continous act of praise renewed each and every day. Each act invites us to enter a little more deeply into that unspoken union of love.. Once having served their purpose, they ideally should fall into the background allowing the higher faculties then to respond to God's work in the soul. Every act in religious life leads to union with God.

 

What took me forever to learn was how to distinguish the true order of importance of each act. But Most Important is wanting God's will no matter what it is, simply because it is His will.

 

Therein lies the proof of love. Do I seek God because it pleases me and gives me comfort. Or do I love Him and his will so much that I am willing to step off the cliff blindfolded trusting He will catch me and bring me and many others to holiness no matter where that place may be. How frightening it is to fall into the hands of a living God! But an all loving one too.

 

My life as a Carmelite Hermit does not even remotely resemble my life as a Discalced Carmelite nun. I did not ask for it nor did i plan it.  But this is where God has Brought me.

 

And yes... God will strip you of everything save his love even if at times you cannot perceive it. Faith tells you God is at work and so you try to hold still under his hand so he may fashion you into an image of his son offering himseldf to the Father for the ransom of many. Yes at times the pain is intense beyond words but your heart longs so deeply to jump into the purifying flames of God's Love. It is unbearable on one hand and on the other the soul thirsts so deeply to be identified with the beloved that it seems it can do no other than to offer itself to God in such a manner. When the trials do come, The body and soul begs relief but no sooner the soul has had some respite God gives it grace to begin the battle again. I dont know what other word to give it. I am off topic.

 

How Blessed we are!  May God be ever Praised by each of us in spirit and in truth! How I thank God for my beautiful vocation!

 

 

Poor typing ..but  I think you all understand.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Indwelling Trinity

[AnneLine]

Thank you, IT, and your pheedback is powerful and helpful.  I know how ill you are, and how much your 'vision' of how you would live out your life for God may differ from the externals of Carmel ... yet they are the way your Beloved Lord wishes you to live out your Carmelite vocation.

 

I have known SEVERAL other Carmelite nuns who have had the same experience.  And in some ways, letting go of some of these beautiful externals may be a more radical gift of self.  It's not the call of everyone.... many need and want these, but ultimately, the question has to be, but what does GOD want for me.

 

Praying for you!  Tried to send you an email and a PM but I don't think either went through..... You are in my prayers and my heart.

[Pia Jesu]

Profoundly beautiful posts (and photos!) here!  May I ask your thoughts on whether one can draw upon--or choose--specific elements

or externals of the Carmelite heritage which (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit) can lead us closer to union with God?  As a new Secular Carmelite aspirant, my inclination is to embrace them all!  Your comment, AnneLine, that "ultimately, the question has to be, but what does God want for me" reminds me of how Gabriel Marceau describes St. Edith Stein's creative fidelity...how she tried to keep herself "interiorly open and transparent" and not attached to externals--being ready to give her experiences a type of mysterious

reciprocity between what the writer deems "free action and ready allowing."  Again, it fits with your understanding, AL, that "letting

go of some of these beautiful externals may be a more radical gift of self."