Peace be with you!
Does anyone know the substantial differences, if any, outside of what the names designate, between the Carmelites as in O.C.D. and the Carmelites as in O.Carm.?
What practical differences exist between the two?
And please, if you can, your prayers for me. This vocation discernment is the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do.
With thanks,
NTG
I have done a little research on the O.Carm’s and O.C.D.'s and I think I know the differences.
O.Carm. stands for Carmelites of Ancient Observance, which is the primitive order of Carmelites. O.Carm. is the original order of Carmelites. They date back to the time of the Prophet Elijah, before Jesus was born. They, unlike the OCD’s, are “calced” which means “shoes.”
O.C.D. stands for something other than Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. It stands for Order of Carmelites Discalced, or just Discalced Carmelites. “Discalced” of course means shoeless. This order was begun during the Carmelite reform in the 16th century by St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. Both were originally O.Carm. members, but were displeased with the lack of the hermetical lifestyle that were practiced by the old hermit monks on Mount Carmel. So, they decided, with the permission of the Father General of the order, that they would reform the order. St. Teresa founded over half a dozen new monasteries, including the Incarnation and St. Joseph monasteries in Avila, Spain. But she couldn’t do it all on her own. She desired to help reform the friars as well. She recruited, with permission, St. John of the Cross. But, some of the friars turned against him because they did not appreciate his efforts and felt threatened. They did not desire to return to the primitive rule, so they had a few of the friars kidnap him and imprison John. When he was placed in his small cell, there was a tiny window. This window became the window to God, and John’s spirituality grew. After 9 months in that tiny cell, John escaped by unscrewing the lock on the door, and climbing down the wall with a rope made of strips of his prison blanket. Legend says he followed a dog into civilization. He hid in a convent, where he read his poetry that he wrote in prison to the nuns. His spirituality spread like wildfire.
Teresa and John have since become saints and doctors of the Church, and are commonly referred to as the Carmel reformers. In the OCD order, they are known as the Mother and Father of the order, but in the O.Carm. order, they are known as the Sister and Brother. Both look to Elijah as their spiritual father because his spirituality started the primitive observance.
Both orders have produced saints. O.Carm. has Bl. Titus Brandsma, Carmelite martyr, and St. Andrew Corsini, Bishop of Fiesole, Italy. O.C.D. has St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Teresa of the Andes, and Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity, to name a few.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmelites
ourgardenofcarmel.org/
newadvent.org/cathen/03354a.htm
