History

HISTORY OF THE DISCALCED 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.  They were Latin (i.e., Western European ) Christians, and in the year 1210 they were given the 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  eremetical 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 “Barefooted.”)  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 Obsevance, (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, believing they are called by God, undertake to live an evangelical life of fraternal communion imbued with the spirit of contemplative prayer.  The Secular Discalced Carmelite lives his/her life in imitation of the Virgin Mary and follows the spiritual journey as laid out by the example and the teaching of St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross and the other Carmelite saints.

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