Carmelite Question....Do Carmelites have Holy Hours of Eucharistic Adoration

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JamalChristophr

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I was just wondering about how much devotion St. Therese of Lisieux had for , I mean, if she did Holy Hours? I can’t remember specifically from her writings and thought someone might have specific knowledge of this.

What about the Order of Carmelites and Discalced Carmelites? Do they have specific Holy Hours as part of their rule?

Just as an aside, do you know of Orders, both male and female, that have had holy hours through history?

I know, for example, that the Holy Hours is central to the Missionaries of Charity and the Poor Clares.
 
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Some links to give you an idea of how prayerful their life, prayer times in the chapel.
Note periods of mental prayer in the chapel

http://carmelofwichita.com/life-in-the-cloister/

5:00 AM Assemble in chapel, begin with Angelus, silent prayer, Divine Office (Lauds), one hour of mental prayer, Divine Office (Terce), pray the Rosary
5:00 PM Divine Office (Vespers) and one hour of mental prayer

http://heartsawake.org/community/daily-schedul/

https://carmeloftheholyface.com/life

http://carmelitesofrochester.org/Page 4 Daily Life.html

(I did spend time living in a Benedictine Order which had perpetual Adoration.
There were almost always one or two in the chapel in adoration.)
 
Here is this: the Carmel of St. Louis, MO, has Eucharistic Adoration:
http://www.stlouiscarmel.com/about-us/eucharist/

This typically is not part of Carmelite life.

My organization’s foundational branch has a letter-of-kinship secular institute called the Teresian Adorers of the Holy Eucharist. They have the foundational chapter in Florida, and one chapter in Costa Rica, where the member engages in mission work. They don’t have a website at this time, as they have been focusing on building the spirituality with the members they have now. The foundress is a former OCDS. The TAHE will hopefully get their recognition letter from the bishop next month.

The foundress contacted me when she discovered our proposed charism of Teresian Hermits (and/or nuns) of Perpetual Adoration, and asked if she could adapt it to a secular institute.

Blessings,
Mrs. Cloisters, OP
Lay Dominican
http://cloisters.tripod.com/
http://cloisters.tripod.com/charity/
 
So, I think it’s correct to say that they don’t do “offical” hours or Eucharistic adoration. But they spend many hours in chapel before the Blessed Sacrament. Their mental prayer, in particular, which is simply silent and often without the aid of a book in front of the Blessed Sacrament is adoration / “quiet time” spent with the Lord so that is essentially a form of Eucharistic Adoration. Is that correct to say?
 
I go to this monestery often. In fact, I went to Mass there this morning! The website is correct, they have adoration all day every day during the week. However, I believe that this is one of the only Carmelite monesteries in the U.S. that does so.
 
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Thankyou, Cloisters!

(I borrowed this photo from their website as I always love beautiful images.)
 
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Nice picture, Jamalchristophr! What’s interesting about it is that Christ is actually exposed to the nuns through a hole in the wall. On the other side of the wall, the monstrance is placed on an altar in a public chapel.
 
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I hope the Carmelites of Terre Haute do not mind, but I first read about Duke in their community section . I had never heard of a sister with the religious name of Duke before and my curiosity got the better of me .

http://heartsawake.org/community/meet-us/
 
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I love it, too. While perpetual adoration isn’t part of the original Carmelite charism, their motto has always spoken of something else to me – “With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts.” For me, the emphasis has always been on the “Hosts” part. Our Lord told St. Teresa that St. Joseph would be at the front door; Our Lady at the back; and Himself in the middle. St. Joseph is the patron of the interior life because he would adore Jesus while in the house, then go out to his carpenter’s shop to work, and reflect on that which had been entrusted to him. So, why not perpetual adoration for Carmelites? I know their souls should be always praying – contemplation – which is what they refer to as the “ceaseless prayer of Carmel.” (BTW – all contemplatives should be doing that – ceaseless prayer).

Just my 2 cents.

Blessings,
Mrs. Cloisters, OP
Lay Dominican
http://cloisters.tripod.com/
http://cloisters.tripod.com/charity/
 
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Actually, there has been a little misinformation given here. As both the OCarms and the OCDs are set up as autonomous monasteries, the schedule for such things as Holy Hours or Eucharistic Adoration can differ greatly from monastery to monastery, so there is no one ‘Carmelite way’ with regards to this matter.

While it is true that some monasteries do not do a regular Holy Hour, there are communities that do offer this on a regular basis (often on a Friday evening along with Vespers for the public).

And almost all communities have at least one day per month for Exposition of the Eucharist, with nuns being scheduled for one hour each, and those not scheduled being allowed to spend extra time when they are free from other duties. Some communities offer this to the nuns only, while other communities allow the public to participate from the chapel; it depends on how their chapel is set up.

If you are considering a particular community and this is important to you, the best way to get information is to contact the community directly.
 
Cloisters, I was really trying to clarify that as each monastery is autonomous, the traditions would be different for each one. The Prioress you spoke with gave you the information for her community, but there as many different ways as their are communities with Carmelites. That is why it is always good to speak with individual communities about their practices.
 
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Feast day of Teresa of Jesus is today!
 
She gave the impression that she was speaking for all OCDs. But that’s neither here nor there. You’ve patched the hole, so to say.
 
Perhaps she was speaking for her own community and didn’t realise that not all of them do things the same way. Some Carmelite nuns entered at a fairly young age and have been in that one convent for most of their lives, so it is understandable that they wouldn’t necessarily know the practices of another community unless they had visited there or asked questions at an association meeting. I have lived in two OCD communities in the UK (one 1990 and one 1991 Constitutions), one OCD community in Canada, one OCD community in Australia, and one OCarm community in the United States. So I do have a little bit of experience with the differences between communities. I certainly expected in the beginning that they would all be the same but they aren’t. There are many similarities between them, but many differences as well.
 
Thank you for sharing. I’m sure most readers would be curious as to the differences between the 1990, 1991, and OCarms.
 
Once again, individual communities live out these Constitutions differently, even though they use the same ones. No two 1990s and no two 1991s do things exactly the same way - better to contact a community individually to find out more.
 
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