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Weekly guidance on mental prayer, interior mortification, forgiveness, perseverance in dryness, and confidence in God’s mercy.
Weekly guidance on mental prayer, interior mortification, forgiveness, perseverance in dryness, and confidence in God’s mercy.
EREMITAE DISCALCEATI DOMINAE NOSTRAE DE MONTE CARMELO
In the darkness and quiet of the night the Hermits rise for prayer in the first hours of a new day.
According to the original observance of the Discalced Reform of the Carmelites and the discipline in the contemplative Holy Deserts, the Hermits have their first hour of silent Mental Prayer following the nightly liturgical offices either before the Tabernacle in the Chapel or in the Oratory of their Cells. Then they retire back to sleep by 3:00 AM.
The Hermits rise again for the day as the growing sunlight illuminates the monastery grounds.
In the morning, the Hermits have a second hour of Mental Prayer in the solitude of the Oratory in their Cells. Prayer in the solitude of the Cell and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in the Chapel are mutually enriching and bring the Hermits to a deeper union with Christ.
Offering themselves to the divine praises in the liturgical offices in union with Christ the Great High Priest, the Hermits pray Prime, Terce, & Sext and then prepare themselves for assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The heart of the religious life is in deep union with Christ and Our Lady in the worship of God. This union culminates in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which makes present the redemptive mystery of the Sacrifice of the Cross. Each day the Hermits strive to live and imitate that supreme mystery of sacrifice and charity by giving themselves entirely to divine worship and the love of God and neighbor.
Prolonging the recollection from Holy Mass and Communion, the Hermits apply themselves to spiritual reading, which is an essential nourishment for prayer and ongoing formation in the school of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the imitation of Christ. Illuminated and inspired by the teachings of the saints and Doctors of the Church, the Hermits advance in living obedience to the Word of God and perfect worship in spirit and truth.
Physical labor is ordered to the spiritual work that is the soul of the Carmelite vocation in the heart of the Church. By exercising their bodies in manual labor and humble service, the Hermits practice fraternal charity, grow in virtue, and better dispose themselves for prayer and study.
Having concluded the manual labor for the day, the Hermits return to the worship of their Lord and pray None, followed by an examination of conscience and the Angelus.
The Hermits take their principal meal. On Sundays and feast days, community recreation follows, which exercises fraternal charity and is the occasion of much joy and laughter.
Returning to a prayerful silence that is observed until Vespers, the Hermits have free time for rest, reading, hiking on the monastery grounds, or quiet work, such their laundry or gardening.
The Hermits pray Vespers of the Divine Office in the Chapel. On Sundays and feast days the Divine Office is more solemnly chanted.
Hidden with Christ in God, Mental Prayer is at the heart of the Hermit's vocation to live in union with the divine Savior and His Mother. In the evening the Hermits have a third hour of Mental Prayer in their Cells or with Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the Chapel.
It is at this time that the Hermits carry to their Cells the candles, firewood, or other supplies needed for them to live another day in the service of God and His Church.
The Hermits pray Compline before retiring.
Commending themselves into the hands of God, the Hermits retire to sleep.