Carmel Closing

[jkaands]

PerpetualLove,

I am sorry but not surprised that the trad IHM's are closing. After Cardinal McIntyre tore the community apart, the trads appeared to have been on a steady decline. What will happen to that gorgeous building in that beautiful setting? It must be worth millions in LA. But who is the 'moderate' group you mentioned? The IHM Community is ecumenical and lay and is not a community as such. There is also the group in Monroe, MI.

And thank you for your thoughtful and informed post.

[praying4carmel]

PerpetualLove,
Thank you for your thoughtful post, I too consider the Prioress of Indpls to be a very holy woman and I love her very much.

God Bless,
Nancy

[brendan1104]

I apologize for any confusion or lack of charity I may have caused. Look at my thread in Open Mic to understand why I'm saying this. God love you!

[Gemma]

[quote name='jkaands' post='1500890' date='Apr 16 2008, 02:43 PM']I think that a number of Carmels are potentially in trouble in all of the associations, and probably including the non-affiliated.

If one takes the presence of 10 nuns or fewer as a sign of potential instability, and going by stats in th 2007 Guide to Religious Ministries (2008 is in the mail), for the St. Joseph's Association, the Carmels of Philadelphia, Morristown and Santa Fe all have 10 or fewer. Santa Fe has no website and I know is very conservative. Springfield MO in this assn is down to 4 nuns.

In the St. Teresa's association, 10 or fewer includes Salt Lake and Carmel, CA, the latter, like Santa Fe, has no website and is very conservative.

In Mary Queen of Carmel Assn, Sioux City in full habit has 10 or fewer.

Mobile, AL, in full habit, has 4 nuns.

Among the conservative Carmels which are growing, a number are in completely new monasteries built for them: Alexander SD, Denmark WI, Valparaiso NE. This may indicate that they are attracting applicants to their new monasteries in new suburban or rural locations. Hard to know.

And Carmels with modified habits which are growing include San Diego (14 professed), Piedmont OK and Baltimore, which has 15 professed.

There are a number of Carmels who do not appear to be affiliated, and have no website that I can find easily, such as Erie PA and Kensington CA. Hard to know their status.

I believe that the Indy Carmel decided to move and close some time ago. I noticed that their rather abstract, beautiful and difficult to navigate website had few personal touches about their lives--no "News" or "What's New", no newsletters or updates. And certainly no blog or videos of their beautiful, rather archaic-looking monastery.[/quote]

One of the Carmels' problems was their insistence on isolation for so long. I tried helping some of them even before Cloister Outreach was founded, and one said "we want to remain unknown and hidden." I appealed to the Lord to spur the pope on to do something, and JPII said, "Make yourselves known as a means of attracting vocations!" THEN they started working with me!

There used to be a lot more Carmelite monasteries, but they've been steadily closing since VatII. The Discalced Carmelites are the most numerous charism in the U.S., and that's actually working against them now. They're spread too thin, and the vocations haven't been coming, so it's inevitable that there will be consolidations and/or closures.

Due to birth control and abortion, the number of Catholics has steadily declined. Hedonism started taking root, and with the "downgrade" of marriage these days, families are disintegrating. The active sisters had the schools, and now they're gone. Catholic colleges aren't Catholic anymore.

Our church as taken a huge hit, has it not? How many of us are in damage control and rebuild mode?

For all the talk of the habit, this is what I have to say about it: the habit is a sacramental. A sacramental is a religious article used for the purposes of obtaining graces for the user. It makes no sense that a religious whose purpose is the salvation of the world would not want to use any sacramental made available to them by the Church.

The use of the habit sacramental brings with it graces to the wearer--and the seer. When properly worn, the habit transforms the religious into another Jesus or Mary. The observer of the habit receives the graces of edification, and of having their thoughts lifted to God. All prayers go through Mary, and all graces come from her. St. Therese said everything is a grace. St. Thomas Aquinas says that our desire for the sacraments arises from the preliminary graces given which will bring us to that sacrament. "No man comes to the father except through Me," said Jesus. We go to Jesus through Mary.

The people driven away by the sight of a habit may have spiritual issues involving the Evil One, or the Evil One may be tempting them to despair, and filling their heads with nonsense.

The Carmelites have a scapular that was given them by Our Lady herself. I don't understand why they would not want the external witness of the abundantly blessed Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Blessings,
Gemma

[jkaands]

When JPII wrote his encyclical or whatever he wrote recommending a simple, becoming, identifiable dress compatible with poverty---ie a habit-- did he mention that it was a sacramental? I don't recall that he used this terminology.

The vast majority of Carmels in the US, regardless of their association or lack thereof, are in some sort of habit that would fit JPII's description. The mode of dress may vary within the particular monastery. JPII did not mention or recommend going back to the original habit of any order. The decline in numbers in Carmel cuts right across the board, the smallest being fully habited, I believe (Mobile-4, Springfield-4, Kensington-unknown, Traverse City-7)

Most orders that don't wear a habit at all wear a pin or insignia of some sort which is probably blessed on profession. jwould this not make it a sacramental?

One thing that I have observed is the positive associations of vocations and habited orders which occupy fine new monasteries in the country, such as Tyringham MA (Visitation), Valparaiso NE (OCD), Denmark WI(OCD) and the PCCs in Barhamsville VA, a beautiful Italianate monastery built on a mountain leveled for the purpose. The PCPA's in Phoenix planned new monastery is also in this mold.