More Carmelite Monasteries closing

[PaxCordisJesu]

4 hours ago, valleri said:

a lot of these carmelites refuse to keep up with the updates in the church. we need orders following modern rules and practices, not super old ones

What do you mean by "updates"? While new orders and rules are certainly a blessing to the Church (and it seems that there are more than a few coming into being in recent years) it's important to remember that even the oldest orders contribute greatly to the Church, and also to the new orders starting up. Where would we be without the prayers of contemplative Benedictines and Carmelites, to name two well-known orders? And if you mean they're not "up-to-date" because of their lifestyle, well, of course contemplative Carmelite nuns, even today, are going to be living an entirely different way of life than an active, teaching community.

[Nunsuch]

There is a variety of expressions of Carmelite contemplative life. Some are more updated (see, for example, the original Baltimore Carmel). Some are more traditional. The same is true for Poor Clares, Visitandines, etc.  So it's not simply a question of "updating" or not. I think it is good that there are various expressions of these spiritualities.

[Anastasia]

7 hours ago, valleri said:

this is sad, but a lot of these carmelites refuse to keep up with the updates in the church. we need orders following modern rules and practices, not super old ones

Carmel is about a soul in the desert before God. There is nothing else there. The charism is an infused contemplation and the ultimate goal is union with God. It is the most "naked" spirituality that literally leaves nothing but a soul and God. What are the "modern rules and practices" that would help that goal? And who are "we"?

[Nunsuch]

I am posting a link to the short biographies of the Baltimore Carmelites NOT because I think this is the only or "best" form of Carmelite life, but because it is A form that has "modernized" and yet is still deeply contemplative and self-emptying. I appreciate that some are called to a more traditional form of living out the Carmelite charism, but for those who are not, these women are deeply prayerful and devoted. And, yes, the community still receives vocations. I'm blessed to know a few of these women personally, and to have prayed with them when I am in Baltimore. No, they don't wear habits (though they wear white albs as a prayer garment). But that does not define who they are. 

https://www.baltimorecarmel.org/meet-our-community/