Information for third orders/oblates/secular

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It came to me , it started as a third order and blossomed from there.
 
Thank you! How did you know if you were active or contemplative?
 
Prayer…I suppose that’s obvious. Then i was using a booklet on discerning a vocation. It literally pointed itself out to me, lol. I’m in a Secular Institute (Carmelite). As for knowing if you are active or contemplative, prayer again and then life has a way of telling you. You don’t pick as such, it tends to pick you. Its possible to be a bit of both, though one does tend to dominate I find, but don’t worry about that.
 
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I did not really contemplate that question, I did spend a lot of time in discernment about that particular Order. I also spoke to a wide variety of clergy and religious on different options and Orders. My Order is Italian based, all in lockdown atm. 🦠
 
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I’m not sure of the term Secular servites…but if you mean members of Secular Institutes then it very much depends on the Institute. Some like mine, take cows of celibacy and so no we never marry and are all women. Others do allow married couples. You should contact the National institute of Secular Institutes for the country you live in. You can probably google it and find information online, we aren’t all affiliated to Relgious Orders but we do all self govern, though are usually under the local archbishop if we need any changes …somewhere in the distant past the one you chose will have received Papal approval. We have our own constitutions which may or may not be in line with an Orders rule (if we are affiliated). Sorry sounds complex. It’s not really, just difficult cos they are all rather different. I am just trying to explain the difference between us and 3rd orders…which I think is mostly the self governing and being under the clergy rather than the Order. Sorry for my poor explanation. I hope you find better ones in your investigation.
 
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For my wife and myself, we had been doing contemplative prayer for a while and were looking for a 3rd Order Franciscan community. The closest one to us, disbanded a few years before.

So, we gave up the idea until my wife found a parish bulletin which was four years old. In it, a parishioner whom we knew, placed an article about the Secular Discalced Carmelites. My wife called her and sure enough, we were at the next meeting and never looked back.
 
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