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Prot. n. C. 228 - 1/2003
DECREE
The General Superior of the
Discalced Carmelites, with the prior approval of the
General Definitory, given in the 11th
session of June 9, 2003, presented the text of the
Constitutions of the Secular order to the Apostolic
Center, requesting its approval.
The Congregation for the
Institutes of consecrate life and the Societies of
apostolic life, having considered attentively every
thing in its respect, by the present Decree approves
and confirms the aforesaid text, according to the
example presented in Spanish language, preserved in
its file.
May the new text of the
Constitutions of the Secular Order of the Discalced
Carmelites be a really effective means, so that its
members can reinvigorate more and more their
baptismal consecration in the concrete situations of
family, social, civilian and ecclesial life.
Not withstanding anything to
the contrary.
Vatican,
June 16, 2003
Eduardo Card. Martínez Somalo,
Prefect / Silvano Nesti, CP,
Secretary
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To the
Provincials, Provincial Delegates for
the Secular Order and the members of the
Secular Order.
Dear Carmelites,
The General
Delegate for the Secular Order presented
the Constitutions for the Discalced
Carmelite Secular Order to the General
Chapter and to the new Father General
and Definitory. The new Definitory also
studied the Constitutions and made a few
recommendations and reworded some items
in the Spanish text, which is the
official text.
The Definitory then
approved the revised text on June 9,
2003 and sent them to the Holy See on
June 10 with the request that they be
approved for five years “ad
experimentum”. The Holy See surprised
us on June 16, 2003 with the decree of
approval, not for five years “ad
experimentum” but with the definitive
approval. We, the Order, will still
make us of the five year period for
making concrete observations on this
text, eventually asking the Holy See to
approve certain changes as practical
application indicates.
In order to proceed
in an orderly way with these new
Constitutions, that now replace the Rule
of Life, it will be necessary that the
Provincial Council of the OCDS in each
Province review the Provincial Statutes
and submit them to the General
Definitory for approval. There are only
a few Provinces that do not have a
Provincial Council of the OCDS formed,
but most of them are in the process of
forming a Council now.
The Provincial
Statues take on an added responsibility
in these new Constitutions. They are
the place where many things of
importance to the life and functioning
of the OCDS in each Province may be
stipulated. After each Province has
elaborated its own Provincial Statutes,
those places that have a national
organism may compose National Statutes
according to Article 60 of the
Constitutions.
This is an exciting
time in the history of the Secular
Order, a time for strengthening the
bonds that exist within the Order. May
all of our efforts be for the glory of
God and the good of the Church.
Fr. Luis Aróstegui,
OCD,
General Superior
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The Rule of Saint Albert |
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[1] Albert, called by
God's favour to be patriarch of the church of
Jerusalem, bids health in the Lord and the blessing
of the Holy Spirit to his beloved sons in Christ, B.
and the other hermits under obedience to him, who
live near the spring on Mount Carmel.
[2] Many and varied are the
ways in which our saintly forefathers laid down how
everyone, whatever his station or the kind of
religious observance he has chosen, should live a
life of allegiance to Jesus Christ -- how, pure in
heart and stout in conscience, he must be unswerving
in the service of his Master.
[3] It is to me, however,
that you have come for a rule of life in keeping
with your avowed purpose, a rule you may hold fast
to henceforward; and therefore:
[4] The first thing I
require is for you to have a prior, one of
yourselves, who is to be chosen for the office by
common consent, or that of the greater and maturer
part of you; each of the others must promise him
obedience -- of which, once promised, he must try to
make his deeds the true reflection -- and also
chastity and the renunciation of ownership.
[5] If the prior and
brothers see fit, you may have foundations in
solitary places, or where you are given a site that
is suitable and convenient for the observance proper
to your Order.
[6] Next, each one of you is
to have a separate cell, situated as the lie of the
land you propose to occupy may dictate, and allotted
by disposition of the prior with the agreement of
the other brothers, or the more mature among them.
[7] However, you are to eat
whatever may have been given you in a common
refectory, listening together meanwhile to a reading
from Holy Scripture where that can be done without
difficulty.
[8] None of the brothers is
to occupy a cell other than that allotted to him or
to exchange cells with another, without leave or
whoever is prior at the time.
[9] The prior's cell should
stand near the entrance to your property, so that he
may be the first to meet those who approach, and
whatever has to be done in consequence may all be
carried out as he may decide and order.
[10] Each one of you is to
stay in his own cell or nearby, pondering the Lord's
law day and night and keeping watch at his prayers
unless attending to some other duty.
[11] Those who know how to
say the canonical hours with those in orders should
do so, in the way those holy forefathers of ours
laid down, and according to the Church's approved
custom. Those who do not know the hours must say
twenty-five Our Fathers for the night office, except
on Sundays and solemnities when that number is to be
doubled so that the Our Father is said fifty times;
the same prayer must be said seven times in the
morning in place of Lauds, and seven times too for
each of the other hours, except for Vespers when it
must be said fifteen times.
[12] None of the brothers
must lay claim to anything as his own, but you are
to possess everything in common; and each is to
receive from the prior -- that is from the brother
he appoints for the purpose -- whatever befits his
age and needs.
[13] You may have as many
asses and mules as you need, however, and may keep a
certain amount of livestock or poultry.
[14] An oratory should be
built as conveniently as possible among the cells,
where, if it can be done without difficulty, you are
to gather each morning to hear Mass.
[15] On Sundays too, or
other days if necessary, you should discuss matters
of discipline and your spiritual welfare; and on
this occasion the indiscretions and failings of the
brothers, if any be found at fault, should be
lovingly corrected.
[16] You are to fast every
day, except Sundays, from the feast of the
Exaltation of the Holy Cross until Easter Day,
unless bodily sickness or feebleness, or some other
good reason, demand a dispensation from the fast;
for necessity overrides every law.
[17] You are to abstain from
meat, except as a remedy for sickness or feebleness.
But as, when you are on a journey, you more often
than not have to beg your way; outside your own
houses you may eat foodstuffs that have been cooked
with meat, so as to avoid giving trouble to your
hosts.
At sea, however, meat may be eaten.
[18] Since man's life on
earth is a time of trial, and all who would live
devotedly in Christ must undergo persecution, and
the devil your foe is on the prowl like a roaring
lion looking for prey to devour, you must use every
care to clothe yourselves in God's armour so that
you may be ready to withstand the enemy's ambush.
[19] Your loins are to be
girt with chastity, your breast fortified by holy
meditations, for, as Scripture has it, holy
meditation will save you. Put on holiness as your
breastplate, and it will enable you to love the Lord
your God with all your heart and soul and strength,
and your neighbour as yourself. Faith must be your
shield on all occasions, and with it you will be
able to quench all the flaming missiles of the
wicked one: there can be no pleasing God without
faith; [and the victory lies in this -- your faith].
On your head set the helmet of salvation, and so be
sure of deliverance by our only Saviour, who sets
his own free from their sins. The sword of the
spirit, the word of God, must abound in your mouths
and hearts. Let all you do have the Lord's word for
accompaniment.
[20] You must give
yourselves to work of some kind, so that the devil
may always find you busy; no idleness on your part
must give him a chance to pierce the defences of
your souls. In this respect you have both the
teaching and the example of Saint Paul the Apostle,
into whose mouth Christ put his own words. God made
him preacher and teacher of faith and truth to the
nations: with him as your leader you cannot go
astray. We lived among you, he said, labouring and
wary, toiling night and day so as not to be a burden
to any of you; not because we had no power to do
otherwise but so as to give you, in your own selves,
an example you might imitate. For the charge we gave
you when we were with you was this: that whoever is
not willing to work should not be allowed to eat
either. For we have heard that there are certain
restless idlers among you. We charge people of this
kind, and implore them in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that they earn their own bread by silent
toil. This is the way of holiness and goodness: see
that you follow it.
[21] The Apostle would have
us keep silence, for in silence he tells us to work.
As the Prophet also makes known to us: Silence is
the way to foster holiness. Elsewhere he says: Your
strength will lie in silence and hope. For this
reason I lay down that you are to keep silence from
after Compline until after Prime the next day.
At other times, although you
need not keep silence so strictly, be careful not to
indulge in a great deal of talk, for, as Scripture
has it -- and experience teaches us no less -- sin
will not be wanting where there is much talk, and he
who is careless in speech will come to harm; and
elsewhere: The use of many words brings harm to the
speaker's soul. And our Lord says in the Gospel:
Every rash word uttered will have to be accounted
for on judgment day. Make a balance then, each of
you, to weigh his words in; keep a tight rein on
your mouths, lest you should stumble and fall in
speech, and your fall be irreparable and prove
mortal. Like the Prophet, watch your step lest your
tongue give offence, and employ every care in
keeping silent, which is the way to foster
holiness.
[22] You, brother B., and
whoever may succeed you as prior, must always keep
in mind and put into practice what our Lord said in
the Gospel: Whoever has a mind to become a leader
among you must make himself servant to the rest, and
whichever of you would be first must become your
bondsman.
[23] You, other brothers
too, hold your prior in humble reverence, your minds
not on him but on Christ who has placed him over
you, and who, to those who rule the Churches,
addressed the words: Whoever pays you heed pays heed
to me, and whoever treats you with dishonour
dishonours me; if you remain so minded you will not
be found guilty of contempt, but will merit life
eternal as fit reward for your obedience.
[24] Here then are the few
points I have written down to provide you with a
standard of conduct to live up to; but our Lord, at
his second coming will reward anyone who does more
than he is obliged to do. See that the bounds of
common sense are not exceeded, however, for common
sense is the guide of the virtues.
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OCDS CONSTITUTIONS |
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PREFACE
All are called to share, in
charity, the holiness which belongs to God alone:
“You must therefore be perfect, just as your
heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
Following Christ is the way to
attain perfection, open to all by baptism. Through
Baptism we take part in the triple mission of Jesus:
kingly, priestly and prophetic. The first is a
commitment to transforming the world according to
God’s design. By the priestly mission, the baptized
person offers self and the whole of creation to the
Father with Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit. And
as prophet, the baptized person announces God’s plan
for human kind and denounces all that is contrary to
it.
The great Teresian Carmelite
family is present in the world in many forms. The
nucleus of this family is the Order of Discalced
Carmelites
B the friars, the enclosed
nuns, the seculars. It is the one Order with the
same charism. The Order is nourished by the long
tradition of Carmel, expressed in the Rule of Saint
Albert and the doctrine of the Carmelite Doctors of
the Church and the Order’s other saints.
The present OCDS Constitutions
are the fundamental law for its members, present in
different regions of the world. For this reason they
are characterized by simplicity of structures and
moderation in rules concerning the way of life. In
this way, within a fundamental unity established by
this legislation, there is preserved openness to
pluralism in expression demanded by the various
social, cultural and ecclesial contexts. To achieve
this, particular Statutes may be drawn up to
complete and adapt the general laws where permitted
in these Constitutions.
I
OUR IDENTITY, VALUES AND
COMMITMENT
1. Carmelite Seculars,
together with the Friars and Nuns, are sons and
daughters of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
and St Teresa of Jesus. As a result, they share the
same charism with the religious, each according to
their particular state of life. It is one family
with the same spiritual possessions, the same call
to holiness (cf. Ep 1:4; 1 P 1:15) and the same
apostolic mission. Secular members contribute to the
Order the benefits proper to their secular state of
life.
2. Our membership of the
Order goes back to the relationship established
between laity and members of religious Orders born
in the Middle Ages. Gradually these relationships
took on an official character, forming part of the
religious Institute and taking part in its charism
and spirituality. In light of the Church’s new
theology of the laity, Seculars live this membership
with a clear secular identity.
3. The members of the
Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites are faithful
members of the Church,
called to live “in allegiance to Jesus Christ”
through “friendship with the One we know loves us”
and in service to the Church. Under the protection
of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in the biblical
tradition of the prophet Elijah and inspired by the
teachings of St Teresa of Jesus and St John of the
Cross, they seek to deepen their Christian
commitment received in baptism.
4. The Virgin Mary is
present in a special way, most of all as a model of
faithfulness in listening to the Lord and in service
to Him and to others. Mary is the one who preserved
in her heart the life and actions of her Son and
meditated on them,
providing for us an example of contemplation. At
Cana she counselled to do what the Lord commanded.
Mary is an example of apostolic service. On another
occasion, she waited, persevering in prayer with the
apostles,
for the coming of the Holy Spirit, thus giving
witness to intercessory prayer. She is Mother of the
Order. Secular Carmel enjoys her special protection
and cultivates a sincere Marian devotion.
5. Elijah represents the
prophetical tradition of Carmel and is an
inspiration to live in the presence of God, seeking
Him in solitude and silence with zeal for God’s
glory. The Secular Carmelites live the prophetic
dimension of Christian life and Carmelite
spirituality by promoting God’s law of charity and
truth in the world, above all by making themselves
the voice for those who cannot, on their own,
express this love and this truth.
6. The Rule of Saint
Albert is the original expression of the
spirituality of Carmel. It was written for the
laypeople who gathered on Mount Carmel to live a
life dedicated to meditation on the Word of God,
under the protection of Our Lady. The following
principles of that Rule guide Carmelite life:
a) Living in allegiance to Jesus Christ;
b) Being diligent in meditating on the law
of the Lord;
c) Giving time to spiritual reading;
d) Participating in the Church’s Liturgy,
both the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours;
e)
Being concerned for the needs and the good of
others in the community;
f)
Arming ourselves with the practice of the
virtues, as we live an intense life of faith, hope
and charity;
g)
Seeking interior silence and solitude in our
life of prayer;
h)
Using prudent discretion in all that we do.
7. The origin of the Discalced Carmel is to
be found in St Teresa of Jesus. She lived with
profound faith in God’s mercy
which strengthened her to persevere
in prayer, humility, love for her brothers and
sisters, and love for the Church, leading her to the
grace of spiritual matrimony. Her evangelical
self-denial, disposition to service and perseverance
in the practice of the virtues are a daily guide to
living the spiritual life.
Her teachings on prayer and the spiritual life are
essential to the formation and life of the Secular
Order.
8. Saint John of the Cross was the companion
of Saint Teresa in the formation of the Discalced
Carmelite Order. He inspires the Secular Carmelite
to be vigilant in the practice of faith, hope and
charity. He guides the Secular Carmelite through the
dark night to union with God. In this union with
God, the Secular Carmelite finds the true freedom of
the children of God.
9. Taking into account the origins of Carmel
and the Teresian charism, the fundamental elements
of the vocation of Teresian Secular Carmelites can
be summarized as follows:
a)
to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ,
supported by the imitation and patronage of the most
Blessed Virgin Mary, whose way of life is, for
Carmel, a model of being conformed to Christ.
b)
to seek “mysterious union with God” by way of
contemplation and apostolic activity, indissolubly
joined together, for service to the Church;
c)
to give particular importance to prayer
which, nourished by listening to the Word of God and
by the liturgy, is conducive to relating with God as
a friend, not just in prayer but in daily living. To
be committed to this life of prayer demands being
nourished by faith, hope and, above all, charity in
order to live in the presence and the mystery of the
living God;
d)
to infuse prayer and life with apostolic zeal
in a climate of human and Christian community;
e)
to live evangelical self-denial from a
theological perspective;
f)
to give importance to the commitment to
evangelization: in the ministry of spirituality as
the particular collaboration of the Secular Order,
faithful to its Teresian Carmelite identity.
II
FOLLOWING JESUS IN THE TERESIAN SECULAR CARMEL
10. Christ is the centre of our lives and of
Christian experience. Members of the Secular Order
are called to live the demands of following Christ
in union with Him, by accepting His teachings and
devoting themselves to Him. To follow Jesus is to
take part in His saving mission of proclaiming the
Good News and the establishment of God’s Kingdom (Mt
4:18-19). There are various ways of following Jesus:
all Christians must follow Him, must make Him the
law for their lives and be disposed to fulfil three
fundamental demands: to place family ties beneath
the interests of the Kingdom and Jesus himself (Mt
10:37-39; Lk 14: 25-26); to live in detachment from
wealth in order to show that the arrival of the
Kingdom does not depend on human means but rather on
God’s strength and the willingness of the human
person before Him (Lk 14:33; to carry the cross of
accepting God’s will revealed in the mission that He
has confided to each person (Lk 14:33; 9:23).
11. Following Jesus as members of the Secular
Order is expressed by the promise to strive for
evangelical perfection in the spirit of the
evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and
obedience and through the beatitudes. By means of
this promise the member’s baptismal commitment is
strengthened for the service of God’s plan in the
world. This promise is a pledge to pursue personal
holiness, which necessarily carries with it a
commitment to serving the Church in faithfulness to
the Teresian Carmelite charism. The promise is taken
before the members of the community, representing
the whole Church and in the presence of the Delegate
of the Superior of the Order.
12. By the promise made to the community in
the presence of the Superior of the Order or his
Delegate, the person becomes a full member of the
Secular Order. By this commitment members strive to
acquire the necessary training to know the reasons,
the content and purpose of the evangelical lifestyle
they are undertaking. The promise heightens and
enriches the baptismal commitment in Secular
Carmelites. This includes those called to married
life, both as spouses and as parents. This promise
in renewed once a year at Easter time.
The commitment to the promise to live the spirit
of the evangelical counsel of chastity
13. The promise of chastity reinforces the
commitment to love God above all else, and to love
others with the love God has for them.
In this promise the Secular Carmelite seeks the
freedom to love God and neighbour unselfishly
giving witness to the divine intimacy promised by
the beatitude “blessed are the pure of heart for
they shall see God” (Mt 5:8). The promise of
chastity is a commitment to Christian love in its
personal and social dimensions in order to create
authentic community in the world. By this promise
the Secular Carmelite also expresses the conscious
desire to respect each person as required by God’s
law and one’s state of life, as a single person or
married or widowed. This promise does not prevent a
change in state of life.
The commitment to the promise of living the
spirit of the evangelical counsel of poverty
14. By the promise of poverty the Secular
Carmelite expresses the desire to live in accordance
with the Gospel and its values. In evangelical
poverty there is a wealth of generosity,
self-denial, and interior liberty and a dependence
on Him who “Though rich, yet for our sake, became
poor” (2 Co 8:9), and who “emptied Himself” (Ph
2:7), to be at the service of His brothers and
sisters. The promise of poverty seeks an evangelical
use of the goods of this world and of personal
talents, as well as the exercise of personal
responsibilities in society, in family, and work,
confidently placing all in the hands of God. It also
implies a commitment to the cause of justice so that
the world itself responds to God’s plan. In
combination with these, evangelical poverty
recognizes personal limitations and surrenders them
to God with confidence in His goodness and fidelity.
The commitment to the promise to live the spirit
of the evangelical counsel of obedience
15. The promise of obedience is a pledge to
live open to the will of God, “in whom we live and
move and have our being” (Ac 17:28) imitating Christ
who accepted the Father’s will and was “obedient
unto death, death on a cross” (Ph 2:8). The promise
of obedience is an exercise of faith leading to the
search for God’s will in the events and challenges
in society and our own personal life. For this
reason the Secular Carmelite freely cooperates with
those who have responsibility for guiding the
community and the Order in discerning and accepting
God’s ways: the Community’s Council, the Provincial
and the General.
The commitment to the promise to live the spirit
of the beatitudes
16. The beatitudes are a plan of action for
life and a way to enter into relationship with the
world, neighbours and co-workers, families and
friends. By promising to live the beatitudes in
daily life, Secular Carmelites seek to give
evangelical witness as members of the Church and the
Order, and by this witness invite the world to
follow Christ: “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn
14:6).
III
WITNESSES TO THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD
17. The vocation to the Teresian Carmel is a
commitment to “live a life of allegiance to Jesus
Christ”, “pondering the Lord’s law day and night and
keeping watch in prayer”.
Faithful to this principle of the Rule, St Teresa
placed prayer as the foundation and basic exercise
of her religious family. For this reason, Secular
Carmelites are called to strive to make prayer
penetrate their whole existence, in order to walk in
the presence of the living God (cf. 1 K 18:14),
through the constant exercise of faith, hope and
love, in such a way that the whole of their life is
a prayer, a search for union with God. The goal will
be to achieve the integration of experience of God
with the experience of life: to be contemplatives in
prayer and the fulfilment of their own mission.
18. Prayer, a dialogue of friendship with God,
ought to be nourished by His Word so that this
dialogue becomes that, “we speak to him when we
pray; we hear him when we read the divine word”.
God’s Word will nourish the contemplative experience
of Carmelite Seculars and their mission in the
world. Besides personal contemplation, listening to
the Word ought to encourage a contemplation that
leads to sharing the experience of God in the
Secular Order community. By this means, the
Community together seeks to discern God’s ways,
maintain a permanent energy of conversion, and live
with a renewed hope. The Carmelite Secular will be
able to see through events and discover God in
everything.
19. Occupying a privileged place in nourishing
the prayer life of Carmelite Seculars will be the
study and spiritual reading of Scripture and the
writings of our Saints, particularly those who are
Doctors of the Church: St Teresa, St John of the
Cross and St Therese of the Child Jesus. The
Church’s documents are also food and inspiration for
a commitment to follow Jesus.
20. The Carmelite Secular will make sure to
have special times set apart for prayer, as times of
greater awareness of the Lord’s presence and an
interior space for a personal and intimate meeting
with Him. This will lead to prayer as an attitude of
life, that will “always and everywhere recognize God
...... seek his will in every event, see Christ in
all people whether they be a relative or a stranger,
and make correct judgments about the true meaning
and value of temporal things both in themselves and
in their relation to humankind's final goal”.
Thus they will achieve a union of contemplation and
action in history, integrating faith and life,
prayer and action, contemplation and Christian
commitment.
21. Carmelite Seculars will commit themselves
daily to spending a time in the practice of mental
prayer. This is the time to be with God and to
strengthen their relationship with Him so that they
can be true witnesses to His presence in the world.
22. The way of Christian prayer demands a life
of evangelical self-denial (Lk 9:23) in fulfilling
one’s own vocation and mission, since “prayer and
comfortable living are incompatible”.
Carmelite Seculars accept from the viewpoint of
faith, hope and love, the work and suffering of each
day, family worries, the uncertainty and limitations
of human life, sickness, lack of understanding and
all that makes up the fabric of our earthly
existence. They will strive to make all this,
material for their dialogue with God, in order to
grow in an attitude of praise and gratitude to the
Lord. In order to live truly, simply, freely, humbly
and completely confident in the Lord, the Secular
Carmelite observes the practices of evangelical
self-denial recommended by the Church. Of particular
importance are those days and periods in the
liturgical calendar that have a penitential
character.
23. The personal prayer life of the Carmelite
Secular, understood as friendship with God, is also
nourished and expressed in the liturgy, an
inexhaustible font for the spiritual life.
Liturgical prayer enriches personal prayer and this,
in its turn, gives a lively expression to liturgical
participation. In the Secular Order a special place
is given to the liturgy, understood as God’s Word
celebrated in active hope, after having received it
by faith and the commitment to live it in effective
love. The Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and
Reconciliation, need to be lived as signs and
instruments of the freeing action of God and as an
encounter with the Paschal Christ, present in the
ecclesial community. They are grace-giving
structures in opposition to the structures for sin
in society. Carmelite Seculars strives to discover
in liturgical prayer the presence of Christ and the
Holy Spirit, living and demanding something of us in
everyday life. In the liturgical year, they will
experience the mysteries of redemption which inspire
collaboration in bringing about God’s plan. The
Liturgy of the Hours, for its part, brings the
Secular Carmelite into communion with the prayer of
Jesus and the Church.
24. The value of the sacramental and
liturgical life in the Secular Order leads its
members to take part in the celebration of the
Eucharist, in as far as possible. They will try to
recite Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer of the
Hours in union with the Church spread throughout the
world. When it is possible they will also recite
Night Prayer. Their participation in the sacrament
of Reconciliation and the other sacraments of the
Church will assist the process of their conversion.
IV
SERVING GOD’S PLAN
25. “The lay faithful, precisely because they
are members of the Church, have the vocation and
mission of proclaiming the Gospel: they are prepared
for this work by the sacraments of Christian
Initiation and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit”.
The spirituality of Carmel will awaken in Secular
Carmelites a desire for greater apostolic
commitment, in becoming aware of all that their call
to Carmel implies. Aware of the need the world has
of witnesses to God’s presence,
they will respond to the invitation the Church
directs to all Associations of the faithful
followers of Christ, committing them to human
society by means of active participation in the
apostolic goal of the Church’s mission, within the
framework of their own charism. As a fruit of this
participation in evangelization, Carmelite Seculars
will share a renewed taste for prayer, contemplation
and the liturgical and sacramental life.
26. The vocation to the Secular Order is truly
ecclesial. Prayer and apostolate, when they are
true, are inseparable. The observation of St Teresa
that the purpose of prayer is “the birth of good
works”
reminds the Secular Order that graces received ought
to have an effect on those who receive them.
Individually or as a community and, above all as
members of the Church, apostolic activity is the
fruit of prayer. Where possible, in collaboration
with religious superiors and with the necessary
permissions of those in charge, the communities of
the Secular Order participate in the apostolate of
the Order
27.
The Carmelite Secular is called to live and witness
the charism of the Teresian Carmel in the local
Church, that portion of the People of God in which
the Church of Christ is truly present and acts.
All will try to be living witnesses of God’s
presence and accept responsibility for the need the
Church has of concrete help within the pastoral
concerns in its evangelising mission under the
direction of the bishop. For this reason, each one
will have an apostolate either collaborating with
others in the community or individually.
28. To their apostolic commitment they will
bring the wealth of their spirituality in the
various forms it takes in evangelization: missions,
parishes, houses of prayer, Spirituality Institutes,
prayer groups, the ministry of spirituality. With
their particular contribution as Secular Carmelites
they can offer the Teresian Carmel fresh inspiration
for “a renewed spiritual and apostolic dynamism”,
with creative fidelity to their mission in the
Church. The different apostolic activities of the
Secular Order will be specified and evaluated in the
Particular Statutes for the various geographical
areas.
V
WITH MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS
29. In the interior dynamism of following
Jesus, Carmel contemplates Mary as Mother and
Sister, as “the perfect model of the disciple of the
Lord”
and, as such, a model for the life of the members of
the Order. The Virgin of the Magnificat proclaims
the break with the old order and announces the
beginning of a new order in which God casts the
mighty down from their thrones and exalts the poor.
Mary places herself on the side of the poor and
proclaims how God acts in history. For Secular
Carmelites, Mary is a model of total commitment to
God’s Kingdom. She teaches us to listen to God’s
Word in Scripture and in life, to believe in it in
every circumstance in order to live its demands. All
this she did, without understanding many things;
pondering all in her heart (Lk 2:19, 50-51) until
light dawned through contemplative prayer.
30. Mary is also an ideal and inspiration for
the Secular Carmelite. She lived close to people and
their needs, being concerned about them (Lk 1:39-45;
Jn 2:1-12; Ac 1:14). She, the “most perfect image of
freedom and of the liberation of humanity and of the
universe”,
helps us understand the meaning of mission. She,
Mother and Sister, who goes before us in a
pilgrimage of faith and in following the Lord Jesus,
keeps us company so that we may imitate her life
hidden in Christ and committed to the service of
others.
31. While giving life to Teresian Carmelite
spirituality, Mary’s presence also shapes its
apostolate. As a result, the Secular Carmelite is
committed to knowing Mary better, daily, through the
Gospel to communicate to others an authentic Marian
devotion leading to imitating her virtues. Guided by
the outlook of faith, members of the Secular Order
will celebrate and promote the liturgical devotion
to the Mother of God in light of the mystery of
Christ and the Church. They will practice, in faith
and love, the devotional exercises in her honour.
VI
FORMATION IN THE SCHOOL OF CARMEL
32. The central object of the process of
formation in the Secular Order is to prepare the
person to live the charism and spirituality of
Carmel in its following of Christ, and in service to
its mission.
33. With sincere interest in the teachings of
the Church and the spirituality of our Carmelite
Saints, Carmelite Seculars seek to be men and women
who are mature in the practice of faith, hope and
love, and in their devotion to the Virgin Mary. They
commit themselves to deepening their Christian,
ecclesial and Carmelite life. Christian formation is
the solid basis of Carmelite and spiritual
formation. Through the Catechism of the Catholic
Church and Church documents, Secular Carmelites
receive the necessary theological foundation.
34. Both initial and ongoing formation in the
teachings of Teresa and John of the Cross, help to
develop in the Carmelite Secular a human, Christian
and spiritual maturity for service to the Church.
Human formation develops the ability for
interpersonal dialogue, mutual respect and
tolerance, the possibility of being corrected and
correcting with serenity, and the capacity to
persevere commitments.
35. Carmelite identity is confirmed by
formation in the Scriptures and lectio divina,
in the importance of the liturgy of Church,
especially the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the
Hours, and in the spirituality of Carmel, its
history, the works of the Order’s saints, and
formation in prayer and meditation.
Formation for the apostolate is based on the
theology of the Church concerning the responsibility
of the laity
and on understanding the role of Seculars in the
apostolate of the Order. These help to know the
place of the Secular Order in the Church and in
Carmel and give a practical way to share the graces
received through the vocation to Carmel.
36. The gradual introduction to the life of
the Secular Order is structured in the following
manner:
a)
A sufficient period of contact with the
community for no less that 6 months. The purpose of
this stage is that the applicant might become more
familiar with the community, the style of life and
service to the Church proper to the Secular Order of
the Teresian Carmel. This period also give the
community the opportunity to make an adequate
discernment. The Provincial Statutes will specify
this period.
b)
After the initial period of contact, the council of
the community may admit the applicant to a more
serious period of formation that usually lasts for
two years leading up to the first promises. At the
beginning of this period of formation, the scapular
is given to the applicant. This is an outward symbol
of membership in the Order, and the sign that Mary
is both Mother and Model on this journey.
c)
At the end of this stage, with the approval
of the Council of the Community, the applicant may
be invited to make the first promises to follow the
evangelical counsels and to live in the spirit of
the beatitudes for a period of three years.
d)
In the last three years of initial formation
there is a deeper study of prayer, the Scriptures,
the Documents of the Church, the Saints of the Order
and formation in the apostolate of the Order. At the
end of these three years the applicant may be
invited by the Council to make the Definitive
Promises to live the evangelical counsels and the
spirit of the Beatitudes for life.
VII
ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT
37. The Secular Order of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel and Saint Teresa of Jesus is an association
of the faithful and an integral part of the
Discalced Carmelite Order. It is essentially lay in
character, with the welcome participation of
diocesan clergy.
38. The friars and nuns of the Teresian Carmel
consider the lay community of Secular Carmel an
enrichment to their consecrated life. Through mutual
interaction the friars and nuns wish to learn from
the Secular Carmelites to recognize the signs of the
times together with them. For this reason, it will
be arranged that representatives of the Secular
Order are present when the apostolic service of the
Order is planned in a geographical area, at a local
or provincial level, or when serious study is made
on the situation in the Church or in society.
39. All of Christ’s faithful have the right to
make vows.
With the consent of the Council of the community and
the permission of the Provincial, a member of the
Secular Order may make vows of obedience and
chastity in the presence of the community. These
vows are strictly personal and do not create a
separate category of membership. They suppose a
greater commitment of fidelity to the evangelical
life but do not transform those who make them into
juridically recognized consecrated people as in
Institutes of consecrated life. Those who make vows
in the Secular Order continue to be lay persons in
all juridical effects.
40. The Secular Order is basically structured
on the local community as a visible sign of the
Church. At the Provincial level and in the local
communities, the Secular Order enjoys juridical
personality.
41. The Secular Order is juridically dependent
on the Discalced Carmelite Friars.
The Superior General establishes the local
communities and makes pastoral visitations. He may
dispense, in particular cases from the Constitutions
and local statutes and can grant juridical
exceptions. He has the authority to resolve cases
which are not foreseen by this legislation and which
cannot be resolved by local authorities. A general
Delegate assists the Superior General. His
responsibility is to further relations between the
Religious and the Seculars and to maintain contact
with the Provincial Delegates and Assistants to each
community to insure the purpose and well-being of
the Secular Order.
42. The General Definitory of the Order
approves the regional
and provincial statutes of the Secular Order.
43. The Provincial Superior, usually aided by
the Provincial Delegate, is the Superior of the
Secular Order within his territory.
He is responsible for the well-being of the Secular
Order within the territory of his jurisdiction. He
is to make visitations of the communities in his
jurisdiction and, after consultation with the
Council, appoint a Spiritual Assistant for
communities.
In case of disputes, appeal will be made in the
first instance to the Provincial.
44. The Spiritual Assistant to each community
is usually a friar of the Order. His duty is to give
spiritual aid to the community so that its members
may be guided in their vocation and may correspond
with it as perfectly as possible. He will also
endeavour to promote solidarity between the secular
community and the friars and nuns of the Order. At
the invitation of the Council he may attend meetings
of the Council, without a right to vote. At the
different stages of formation of the candidates, he
will be available to interview them. The Council may
consult him about the suitability of the candidate
to assume the responsibility of the vocation to the
Secular Order. He will support the formation of the
community by his availability to the director of
formation. However, he may not be the director of
formation. The Spiritual Assistant must be
well-versed in Carmelite spirituality and
well-informed in the Church’s teaching concerning
the role of lay people in the Church.
45. Only the General of the Order for those
territories where there are no friars, or the
Provincial within his territory, may appoint as
Assistant one who is not a friar of the Order,
always with the consent of the candidate’s own
superior. The General Delegate or the Provincial
Delegate will assist in this appointment by
interviewing the candidate. They will look for the
same qualities as mentioned in number 44 of these
norms.
46. The Council, composed of the President and
three Councilors and the Director of Formation,
constitutes the immediate authority of the
community. The primary responsibility of the Council
is the formation and Christian and Carmelite
maturing of the members of the community.
47. The Council has the authority:
a)
to admit candidates to formation, the
Promises, and the Vows;
b)
to reduce, for adequate reasons, the period
of formation before temporary Promises, with the
permission of the Provincial;
c)
to convene the community for the triennial
elections;
d)
to replace, for a serious reason, a member of
the Council itself;
e)
to dismiss a member of the community, should
this be necessary, after consulting the Provincial;
f)
to receive a member transferring from another
community;
g)
if a matter should arise that is outside the
competence of the Council, it is the obligation of
the President to bring it to the attention of the
Provincial.
The Council meets frequently and always when
necessary in reference to taking care of formation
programs and the growth of their own community.
48. The General Superior, the Provincial
Superior and the Council of the community are the
legitimate superiors of the Secular Order.
49. For the establishment of a new community
it is necessary to present to the General Secretary
of the Secular Order the following documents:
a.
a list of the current members, at least 10
members are required to form a community, two of
whom must have made definitive promises;
b.
a letter from the Provincial Delegate
requesting the establishment of the community;
c.
the permission of the Ordinary of the Diocese
in writing;
d.
the title of the community;
e.
the place of the community meeting.
50. Every three years, each local community of
the Secular Order elects its President and three
Councilors.
These four officers, after consulting the Assistant,
elect the Director of Formation from among those who
have made definitive promises. The Council then
names a Secretary and a Treasurer. The procedure for
the elections is to be determined by the Provincial
Statutes, respecting the complete liberty of the
electors, the preferences of the majority of the
members. For the President to be re-elected to a
third term as President, the permission of the
Provincial Superior is required.
51. The President, elected from among those
who have made final promises, has the duty to
convoke and preside over the meetings of the
community. He should show fraternal service to all
the members of the community; foster a spirit of
Christian and Carmelite affability, being careful to
avoid any demonstration of preference for some
members over others; coordinate contacts with those
members of the community who because of age,
illness, distance or other reasons, are not able to
attend meetings; aid the Director of Formation and
Spiritual Assistant in carrying out their
responsibilities; in their absence, but only
temporarily, he may take their place or designate
another to do so from among those who have made
definitive promises.
52. The responsibility of the three Councilors
is to form, with the President, the government of
the community and to support the director of
formation. Generally they are community members with
definitive promises. In particular circumstances,
members with first promises can serve as councilors.
53. The Director of Formation, elected by the
Council from among those who have made definitive
promises, has the responsibility of preparing the
candidates for first and definitive promises. The
Director works in collaboration with the Assistant
and with the support of the President. In the
absence of the President, the Director of Formation
is his substitute for any function.
54. The Secretary of the Council has the
responsibility of keeping up-to-date the register of
the community, recording the elections, admissions,
Promises and dismissals. The Secretary is to present
the register to the Council when it meets and to the
community at the time of the elections. The
Secretary attends the Council meetings and records
the minutes of the meeting, without the right to
vote.
55. The duty of the Treasurer is to take
charge of the administration of the funds of the
community. The Treasurer is to present a report of
the funds to the Council every six months, to the
community and the Provincial, or Superior of the
Circumscription, once a year.
The local statutes are to determine how the
community attends to the needs of the poor.
56. Members of the Secular Order, who for
reasons of distance, age, or illness cannot
participate in the regular meetings of a community,
remain members of the Secular Order and, under the
authority of the Provincial Delegate, are to be
associated to a particular community. It is the
responsibility of the President of the community to
establish contact with those members and the
responsibility of these members to maintain contact
with the community.
57. Where there is an organized
circumscription of the friars of the Order, the
Secular Order is to form a Provincial Council to
assist one another better in formation and the
apostolate, but not for intervening in the
government of the local communities. The President
of the Provincial Council ought to be a member of
the Secular Order with definitive promises. The
Provincial Council must submit its statutes to the
General Definitory for approval.
58. The Provincial statutes are to determine
the following:
the development of an adequate
program of formation;
the acceptance and formation of those new members
who do not live near an established community; in
every case these new candidates must be identified
with and formed by an established community. They
are considered members of that community;
the procedure for elections and the responsibilities
of the three councilors;
the remembrances for the deceased members of the
community;
the circumstances and the conditions for taking
vows;
the minimum and maximum age to accept new members;
the maximum number of members of a community before
dividing the community to form another;
the coordination of apostolic endeavours within the
community or Province;
the form and use of the external signs of membership
in the Secular Order;
the practices of mortification and expressions of
devotion to our Blessed Mother and our Carmelite
Saints.
59. If a Secular Order community does not
belong to any particular Province, the community is
to establish its own statutes to determine the above
matters. This community submits its statutes to the
General Definitory for approval.
60. Other structures may be introduced at
national levels where there is more than one
Province, or at an international level, should they
be thought useful or necessary for formation,
coordination of apostolates of the Order, and for
organizing Congresses. They do not, however, have
any jurisdictional authority. These regional
councils are to submit their statutes to the General
Definitory for approval.
EPILOGUE
The Constitutions of the Secular Order were drawn up
to strengthen the life purpose of its members, who
form part of the Order of the Teresian Carmel. They
are called to "to testify how the Christian faith
constitutes the only fully valid response......to
the problems and hopes that life poses to every
person and society”.
This they fulfil as Carmelite Seculars if, beginning
with a commitment to contemplation, they succeed in
giving daily witness in their family and social life
to “an integrated approach to life that is fully
brought about by the inspiration and strength of the
Gospel”.
As Carmelite Seculars, sons and daughters of Teresa
of Jesus and John of the Cross, they are called to
“stand before the world as a witness to the
resurrection and life of the Lord Jesus and a symbol
of the living God”,
by means of a life of prayer, of service to
evangelization and by means of the witness of a
Christian and Carmelite community. “All the laity as
a community and each one according to his ability
must nourish the world with spiritual fruits (cf.
Gal 5:22). They must diffuse in the world that
spirit which animates the poor, the meek, the peace
makers - whom the Lord in the Gospel proclaimed as
blessed (cf. Mt 5:3-9). In a word, Christians (and
Carmelites) must be to the world what the soul is to
the body”.
_____________
[1].
LG 31-35.
[2].
LG 31; CL 9.
[3].
CIC 204-205.
[4].
Rule 1.
[5].
L 8:5.
[6].
Cf Lk 2:51.
[7].
Cf Jn 2:5.
[8].
Cf Ac 1:14
[9].
Cf 1 K chapters 17-19.
[10].
L 7:18, 38:16.
[11].
WP 21:2.
[12].
IC V:3:11, VII:4:6.
[13].
Cf. Sayings 46; LF 3:78; II A chapter 6, 29:6;
Collect of the votive Mass of St John of the Cross.
[14].
Sayings: 123; Letter 12/X/1589: 19.
[15].
Cf. III A 23:1.
[16].
Prec 1 and 6
[17].
Rule 2 and 10
[18].
DV 25; WP 21:4; M 1: 6, 11.
[19].
AA 4.
[20].
WP 4:2.
[21].
CL 33.
[22].
See AA 4 and 10; CL 16-17, 25, 28-29.
[23].
IC V:3:11; cf. VII:3.
[24].
Cf. AA 2-3.
[25]
(cf
Christus Dominus, 11; Apostolicam Actuositatem, 86;
Chirstifideles Laici, 25)
[26].
VC 55.
[27].
OCDS Rule of Life (1979) art. 8
[28].
MC 37.
[29].
RM 37.
[30].
AA 28-29.
[31].
CIC 298, 301.
[32].
Ritual, Instruction: 9; 30-49.
[33].
CIC 301, 303-306, 313.
[34].
CIC 305, 311-315.
[35].
“regional” refers to nations or a geographical
territory of more than one province of the friars.
[36].
CIC 307
'1;
314.
[37].
CIC 328-329. Constitutions of the Discalced
Carmelite Friars 103, Norms 56.
[38].
CIC 317.
[39].
CIC 318.
[40].
CIC 308 and 316.
[41].
CIC 312
'2.
[42].
CIC 309.
[43].
CIC 319.
[44] CL 34
[45].
CL 34.
[46] LG 38
[47].
LG 38.
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