The Order of Carmel Discalced Secular is a community comprised of Lay Roman Catholics who live in the world while centering themselves on God and serving Him through the spirit of Carmel. We live under the constitutions of the Order and are part of the Carmelite family of Friars and Nuns.

The Indianapolis Indiana Community of the Order of Secular Discalced Carmelites welcomes you. Please feel free to read the information below starting with "What is a Secular Order", to use the Contact Us feature to request more information about the Indianapolis Indiana OCDS community, or to consider if God is calling you to attend one of Our Meetings.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

What is a "Secular Order"?

"You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect," (Matthew 5:48). In giving this command, Jesus told us that everyone of God's children is called to personal holiness; and the one sure way to holiness is the following of Jesus Christ who said: "I am the way,..." (John 14:6).

The call to follow Jesus Christ can come in a variety of ways, recognized by the Church: in the ministerial priesthood and deaconate; in one of the religious orders or congregations. But the vast majority are called to follow Christ as lay men and women, married or single, striving to live out their Christian vocation in the midst of the world.

For many centuries there have been lay men and women who felt drawn to associate themselves with a religious order. The monastic orders admit such men and women as Oblates, while the mendicant orders, following the example of St. Francis of Assisi, have instituted what are known today as "Secular Orders." The members of these secular orders strive to develop their spiritual life by a closer association with the spirituality of the religious order to which they are called.

The Discalced Carmelite Secular Order

The Carmelite Order developed from a single community of hermits living on Mount Carmel. We first hear of them, living after the example of the Prophet Elijah, early in the thirteenth century. The were Latin (i.e. Western European) Christians, and in the year 1210 they were given a rule of life by St. Albert, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Carmelites, from the very beginning, have been called the brothers and sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They dedicated the first chapel on Mount Carmel to her.

About 1238 hermits from Mount Carmel began establishing communities in various parts of Europe.

In 1247 their rule of life, now solemnly confirmed by the Holy See, was modified to meet the needs of an Order spreading throughout Europe.

In the course of the second half of the thirteenth century, circumstances forced the Carmelites farther from their eremitical origins. They finally became a mendicant Order like the Franciscans, Augustinians and Dominicans. But the hermit tradition was not forgotten and remains an important element of their life.

In 1562 St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross founded a new branch of the Carmelite Order, the Discalced Carmelites. (“Discalced” comes from a Latin word meaning “unshod”, and they were so called because, as a symbol of their more austere way of life, they wore only the rope sandals of the poor.)

The Discalced Carmelites, both nuns and friars, desired a more retired and contemplative form of life, in keeping with the spirit of the original thirteenth century rule.

Today there are two branches of the Carmelite family: the Carmelites of Ancient Observance, (O. Carm.) and the Discalced Carmelites, (O.C.D.). Each branch has its own Secular Order.

The Secular Order of the Discalced Carmelites welcomes those of the faithful who, feeling called by God, undertake to live an evangelical life of fraternal communion imbued with the spirit of contemplative prayer.

The Secular Carmelite lives his/her life in imitation of the Virgin Mary, and follows the spiritual journey as laid out by the example and teaching of St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and the other Carmelite saints.

The Daily Life of a Secular Carmelite

Secular Carmelites strive to develop their spiritual life by fostering a life of prayer, through the practice of a half hour of solitary prayer each day.

They recite daily Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office). When possible they attend daily Mass.

They make frequent use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and observe days of penance prescribed by the Church or by the Secular Order Constitutions.

They wear the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel as a sign of their commitment to her Order.

Membership

Those members of the Church who are called by the Lord to Carmel, must be 18 years old, and if married, validly married in the Church, and apply for membership in the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order.

After an initial period of preparation a person is admitted to a two year period of formation in preparation for Temporary Promises of obedience, poverty and chastity.

After three years of additional formation one can make Definitive Promises, i.e., for life.

These period of formation are times of vocational discernment both on the part of the candidate and on the part of the community.

The Promises are one's commitment to tend toward evangelical perfection in the spirit of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, obedience, and the Beatitudes, according to the teachings of St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross.

The promise of obedience applies only to matter specified in the O.C.D.S. Constitutions and Statutes. The promise of chastity demands being chaste according to one's state in life, i.e., married or single. The promise of poverty is simply to live in a spirit of poverty, to trust in God and not in material possessions.

The beatitudes are a plan of action for life and a way to enter into relationship with the world, neighbors, and co-workers, families and friends.

The Member shares in the spiritual heritage of the Order, its holiness and its mission.