Carmelite News

“In the end you leave with empty hands, that I know; and it is well. At that moment you look at the crucified one and go. What comes is the everlasting mystery of God.” – Karl Rahner –

Do you ever find yourself distracted in prayer? Are you ever tempted to give up on prayer altogether because you don’t seem to be getting anywhere? This reflection may be just what you need to read.

“God is today. He is not yesterday. He is not tomorrow.” – Jessica Powers –

Check out the latest Carmelite news from across the globe. “OCD Communicationes” is a refreshing and interesting read for all (whether you’re a Carmelite or not!).

“I was able to offer my feelings of failure to our Lord, vaguely understanding that this would please him more than if everything had gone swimmingly and I had emerged with flying colours.” – Ruth Burrows –

The Carmelite Newsletter is an exciting development in the Discalced Carmelite world of the Australia-Oceania region.

“It should be known that if anyone is seeking God, the Beloved is seeking that person much more.” – St John of the Cross –

“Oh, to become a pure pool like the Virgin, water that lost the semblances of water and was a sky like God.” – Jessica Powers –

“Unless we are anchored in something beyond the here and now, chances are we will drown in the present moment. . . . In my experience, the extraordinary people I have known and admired all have had the same secret: they prayed.” – Ron Rolheiser –

“Prayer is essentially God’s work. Our part is to give time, do our best to keep attention, surrender ourselves as best we can. Then we can be sure that God works. Faith does not ask for signs, for tokens. When we really grasp that prayer is essentially God’s business, not ours, we will never talk […]

“When God is communicating himself to the soul, the mind’s natural field of vision has too narrow a range, and we have to engage by believing, not by focusing. Were faith to open us merely to a world of sharper ideas or more vivid impressions, then its light would indeed look bright. As it opens […]

“Believe that He loves you, that He wants to help you in the struggles you have to undergo. Believe in His love, His exceeding love.” – St Elizabeth of the Trinity –

Facing yet another Zoom meeting? Perhaps St Teresa of Avila has some wisdom that will make the experience a little less fatiguing!

“The deepest reason why so few of us are saints is because we will not let God love us.”   – Ruth Burrows –

“O souls, created for these grandeurs and called to them! What are you doing? How are you spending your time?” – St John of the Cross –

“Whatever the past, or my fears of the future, here and now, O Holy Spirit, utter within me the total ‘Yes’ of Jesus to the Father.” – Sister Wendy Beckett –

“Let nothing disturb you,” St Teresa of Avila counsels us in her famous prayer. But how can we possibly “let nothing disturb us” if we are consumed with worry, for instance, about the ill-health of a loved one, or about a relationship breakdown, or about our financial situation? In this article, Michelle Jones explores the possibility that Rembrandt’s painting “The Jewish Bride” can help us understand and live Teresa’s prayer more deeply.

“When you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been and how much you planned that has gone undone and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed: just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God’s hands and leave it with Him.” – St Edith Stein […]

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of St Teresa of Avila being declared a Doctor of the Church – the first woman to be given this title – we allow her to share with us the secrets of prayer. It turns out that prayer is more within our grasp than we perhaps anticipated!

“Prayer belongs to all: To people of all religions, And probably also to those that don’t profess any. Prayer is born in the secret of ourselves, in that interior place that spiritual authors often call ‘the heart.’ Therefore to pray is not something peripheral to us, It is not something secondary or marginal in us, […]

The Prayer Project is a set of resources and guidelines created by the Community of Carmelite friars at the Mount Carmel Retreat Centre designed to help you to pray simply at home – during the pandemic and beyond!

This article explores critical questions perhaps asked by people drawn to the Carmelite tradition: Given the imperative for all Christians to be alert to the demands of social justice, how can we responsibly follow a call to a relatively simple life which gives priority to prayer? Do we not run the risk of camouflaging an essentially egocentric existence with the label “contemplative”? Could this not be, rather, merely a “cop-out,” avoiding the “real” concerns of Christian living?