Is Anyone Familiar with the Carmelite Daughters of St. Elias?

[JHFamily]

My apologies to Alison for contributing to the hijacking of this thread. She asked a very worthy question, one I would like to know the answer to, as well. 

[Sapientia]

I attend Old St Mary's in Cincinnati (where the Daughters of St Elias are) and I know Mother Marie-Cécile and the Sisters personally. Feel free to PM me!

[Alison]

On 1/4/2023 at 11:02 PM, JHFamily said:

My apologies to Alison for contributing to the hijacking of this thread. She asked a very worthy question, one I would like to know the answer to, as well. 

I sincerely appreciate and accept your apology 😊

[HollyDolly]

 The Catholic Church goes in cycles in regards to religious orders of men and women. Some disappear and new ones formed. The Clunic, Arrosian Canons, Tiron Congregation and others have either been disbanded , absorbed or supressed. These are mens groups, and the same goes for womens orders as well.  For whatever reason communities don't get  get members. The Cathecist Sisters of St.John in Austin  is I think down to one member or has now disappeared. The Servants  of Reparation of the Congregation of Mary in New York has died out.  Same for the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception and St.Joseph for the Dying has died out.  Sisters Auxiliers of the Apostolate in West Virginia gone since the  last member died. Then you have new ones like the Sisters of the Cure de Ars (st.John Vinnay) in I think New Hampshire or somewhere in the New England area,  another new one, Missionaries of Our Mother of the Eucharist, forgot where they are, and others, too.

 I think that maybe young women who enter go for  religious orders who wear a  traditional habit of some sort, and who live in community, and some sort of religious practices, whether they use the Novus Order mass or not, are attracted to them  because they feel as though the sisters are giving themselves totally to God. No lay clothes, no jewelery etc. Jesus said to the rich young man in the New Testament to give up his worldly goods and follow him, which  as far as we know the man did not.

 To sacrifice and be willing to serve Jesus  as the apostles did, and as Our Lady, St.Phoebe , St.Mary Magdalene and other early women of the Church did. If you are going to run around in lay clothes, makeup and jewelery,  what is the point to enter religious life ,you might as well stay in the world. Either that ,or join a secular institute maybe if you can find one where you live.

[Lea]

On 1/23/2023 at 8:20 PM, HollyDolly said:

I think that maybe young women who enter go for  religious orders who wear a  traditional habit of some sort, and who live in community, and some sort of religious practices, whether they use the Novus Order mass or not, are attracted to them  because they feel as though the sisters are giving themselves totally to God. No lay clothes, no jewelery etc. Jesus said to the rich young man in the New Testament to give up his worldly goods and follow him, which  as far as we know the man did not.

 To sacrifice and be willing to serve Jesus  as the apostles did, and as Our Lady, St.Phoebe , St.Mary Magdalene and other early women of the Church did. If you are going to run around in lay clothes, makeup and jewelery,  what is the point to enter religious life ,you might as well stay in the world. Either that ,or join a secular institute maybe if you can find one where you live.

I am very sorry @Alison for leading this even further away from your original question... 
but I can't leave this quote from Holly uncommented. It's easy to mistake "few/no visible signs" showing that people belong to one religious congregation for "no inner communal bonds". Believe me, as someone seriously discerning with an ignatian community (one of the "1 - 3 entrants per year" category), I know what I'm talking about. Many founders/ foundresses had their good reasons when they decided wether or not the members of their community should wear habits, wear "normal" clothes or choose for themselves regarding the specific circumstances (like in the ignatian constitutions). 

While I myself find habits attractive, it looks like I'm called to a community for which "looking normal" is part of their charism and goes very well with living as religious sisters under vows and centered around our Lord. Living a single life, family life or in a secular institute are all beautiful, yet quite different vocations. So please, show some respect for religious, even if they don't wear habits. 

[HollyDolly]

 By the way everyone, I am not putting down religious orders that don't wear habits. There are various reasons why they don't . For example, the Daughters of the Heart of Mary a french order, was founded during the time of the French Revolution. They have never worn a habit because during the Reign of Terror it would have been their life and that of the poor citizens they served by wearing religious dress. Same goes for communities under the Communists, etc. In Mexico , Central and South America there were various revolutions, which often had anti-Catholic elements to it. Again, in order to help those in need, they had to pose as laywomen to carry out God's work.  There was here in the US, the Daughters of the Eucharist in Baltimore. They didnot wear a habit and were founded in the late 1890s, early 1900s.I was just making an observation, or giving my take  on  what the  original poster said.