About Us

The Blessed Virgin Mary & St Joseph Community,

 Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (O.C.D.S.),

 is a community of Roman Catholics who, while living in the world, strive to center their lives on God, serving Him in the spirit of Carmel.  As Carmelites, through prayer and contemplation, we seek to hear God in the quiet of our hearts.  While living out the ordinary events of our lives, we seek an interior union with God.  We take the Blessed Virgin, she who "pondered these things in her heart",  as our model for the interior life.

Our Community meets at 10 am on the second Saturday of each month at 

Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish
180 Loudon Road

Concord, NH 03301

Our community lives in obedience to the Constitutions of the Order and the Rule of St Albert, in full membership with the Carmelite Family of Friars and Nuns.

We are under the direction of and in obedience to the O.C.D.S. Washington Province.

Our Community was canonically approved on
 December 24th, 1984.

Blessed Virgin Mary & St Joseph Community, Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS), Concord, NH

ConcordOCDS.org

Pray for Priests

Through our "Under Our Lady's Mantle Prayer Apostolate," our Community members not only pray for those in need who make requests for prayer, we also pray for priests. Each month, we pray for one particular Discalced Carmelite priest and one particular Diocesan priest from the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire.

We do this in imitation of St Therese of Lisieux (pictured above performing her sacristant duties) and in the tradition established by Our Holy Mother St. Teresa of Avila who exhorted her nuns to pray always for holy priests that they may draw all to God.  

In our prayers we pray for the intentions of these priests as well as for the intentions listed in the beautiful prayer below.  We encourage all to pray for priests.  We need our priests. We love our priests.  Pray for priests!

St Therese’s Prayer for Priests

O Jesus, eternal Priest,
keep your priests within the shelter 

of Your Sacred Heart,

where none may touch them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands,
which daily touch Your Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips,
daily purpled with your Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unearthly their hearts,
sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.

Let Your holy love surround them

and shield them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit

and may the souls to whom they minister 

be their joy and consolation here 

and in heaven their beautiful and everlasting crown.      

Amen.　

Blessed Virgin Mary & St Joseph  Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Concord, NH

Land of Carmel

"Those who wear the Scapular are thus brought into the land of Carmel, so that they may "eat of its fruits and its good things" (cf.Jer 2:7), and experience the loving and motherly presence of Mary in their daily commitment to be clothed in Jesus Christ and to manifest him in their life for the good of the Church and the whole of humanity (cf. "Formula of Enrollment in the Scapular",cit.)."

Excerpt from the book The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Catechesis and Ritual, Prepared under the direction of the North American Provincials of the Carmelite Orders. Printed by Community of Teresian Carmelites, Worcester, MA

Blessed Virgin Mary & St Joseph  Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Concord, NH

Mirror of Humility and Purity

"The Scapular is a mirror of the humility and purity of Mary:  through her simplicity she invites us to live modestly and in purity.  By wearing the Scapular day and night, it becomes a sign of our constant prayer and of our special dedication to the love and service of the Virgin Mary."

- Excerpt from the book The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Catechesis and Ritual, Prepared under the direction of the North American Provincials of the Carmelite Orders. Printed by Community of Teresian Carmelites, Worcester, MA.

Blessed Virgin Mary & St Joseph  Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Concord, NH

The Seven Penitential Psalms

Incorporating Lectio Divina and
Intentions Relating to the Seven Capital Sins

For centuries, the Seven Penitential Psalms have been a source of prayer and reflection for Christians.  They invite us to recognize our sin, express our sorrow to God, and seek forgiveness and mercy.  The Seven Psalms that were designated together as a group in the 6th century include Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143.

To learn how they were traditionally prayed and for ideas on how you could include them in your prayers this lent, click on the link below.  There you will find a great free download on incorporating lectio divina and how to relate the Penitential Psalms to the seven capital sins.

Free download from Come into the Word with Sarah Christmyer

to see Sarah Christmyer's wonderful blog:

  Come into the Word with Sarah Christmyer

Blessed Virgin Mary & St Joseph  Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Concord, NH