Three Carmelite Monasteries shutting down

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To be a member of the order means to be be a member of a community and this requires being present in order to build a relationship with that community. They can easily reject you as well as you reject them and our community did reject aspirants who came, but had personal problems that would keep them from coming into our community and the order. I won’t get into the details, but every order has it’s rule of life and laws which make them function properly according to their spiritual charisms.

I’m not irritated that my wife and myself are not part of a community. I had thought of beginning one myself, but there was more to it than I had energy for.

The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites is the only third order I know of, where the members can make vows one year after making definitive promises. All other 3rd orders make promises, but do not take vows.

Being in a 3rd order is a vocation, not just joining a club or sodality. It’s more than following devotions or visiting shrines and making pilgrimages. It’s a way of life and it takes God’s grace and time for it to happen.

It takes about five years before a member of a community makes their definitive promises. It takes six months to a year for them to receive the scapular. Not the one like the Scapular Society gives, but a large brown cloth one that is part of the order.

None of this can be done via skype or zoom. 😃
 
As you are the one with the experience, I will take your word for it 🙂

However, I am willing to bet that within 100 years, we will have “virtual” orders of some sort. They may not be Carmelite, but they will exist.
 
There was an order my wife helped years back who’s charism was on-line adoration. They were called, “The Monks of the Adoration.” One of the monks wrote a book, “Catholicism On-Line,” which had a list of all the Catholic Websites and email addresses in the USA

24/7, they had the Blessed Sacrament exposed in their Monastery Chapel which could be viewed through our computers. Anyway, they didn’t survive and the order disbanded years back.

There may be an order to come about as you say, but it won’t be the Discalced Carmelites, I can assure you. 😃
 
JimR-OCDS said:
My Discalced Carmelite Secular Order OCDS group met in Manchester NH for over 50 years. When we dropped below 5 members, the friars would no longer come to our group for assistance, but advised that we merge into two other groups, one being in Concord NH.
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If you don’t mind me asking, how strong is Catholic culture in New Hampshire these days? I know there are two Newman Society colleges there so we are considering NH for our kids. If there is a strong presence of religious life that would be a plus.
 
Poor Clares in Bloomington MN moved to, I’m trying to think, Rochester I believe and a new religious order of Sisters moved in, they were founded in Peru of all places. They are called Sacred Heart of Jesus Convent - Pro Ecclesia Sancta. I do not know all that much about them but I do like them a lot. They do some teaching in a school so I don’t know what the whole deal is, if they are cloistered, contemplative and so on. They are on youtube, there is even a video of them cooking “Peruvian food”, “papas rellenas”.
 
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The only monastery of the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood which still uses the night Habit and PB cincture with pendant is in Manchester. They accept belated Vocations, too, last I heard.
 
JimR-OCDS said:
None of this can be done via skype or zoom. 😃
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Actually, Jim, many communities (at least,in my province) are having formation and community meetings via zoom these days. An unexpected benefit has been that infirm and inactive members have been able to attend. There’s some talk of live-streaming meetings, when we can start meeting in person again, for the infirm/inactive members.
 
Hilary White had a series of articles on this document. Unfortunately, she’s stopped writing…
 
IanM said:
You all may find this story from December 2019 interesting (particularly the reference to having statues of St Michael in the convent)

“Those Poor Clares pray too much.” Expelled from the monastery"
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Tragic and heartbreaking!!
 
Cloisters said:
The only monastery of the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood which still uses the night Habit and PB cincture with pendant is in Manchester.
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They’re still around? That’s awesome! Do they have a website? I have a whole bunch of books by the Confraternity of the Precious Blood.
 
I’m sorry to use such strong language but the persecution of those nuns is diabolical. That’s the only way I can describe it.
 
I really wouldn’t have the data to say, but my guess is that it’s not any different than other places.

I live in MA, but my daughter and her two teenage sons live in NH. It’s a great place to raise kids, in particular if you live in the smaller towns like Jaffrey.

There is St Anselm’s College just outside Manchester, which has a Benedictine college.

I’ve never been there, but members of my OCDS group use to attend Mass there during the week-days.
 
It can be for members already part of a community during the pandemic, but it will not be the norm.

Generally, our monthly meetings involved attending Mass, refreshments(supplied by the members) a conference presented by the community’s Spiritual Assistant, usually a Friar from Boston, and closing with the Liturgy of the Hours, Evening Prayer.
 
Yes, that’s what our meetings were, too, plus all the formation groups met. Now the formation groups are meeting separately from the monthly meeting, and of course no refreshments (if only Zoom could teleport!).
We were still able to clothe our Aspirants who started last September.
 
@Margaret_Ann Makes one realize there was a very good reason for St Michael to be in every room.

Satan, the father of lies, alive and well in the Church.

Satan is very jealous. He wants the attention all to himself and the power.

He attacks these women in particular because they remind him of Mary and his future.

Be a monastic living in the world…a prayerful, powerful weapon, secretly hiding in the open.

Fight back!

Tell satan his future and say salve regina to give Mary the glory!

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I don’t understand online Adoration. Isn’t the point to be in the presence of the Real Presence? How can that happen through a computer?
 
nunsuch said:
I don’t understand online Adoration
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I understand your objections, but for those of us locked down due to Covid, or those who are home due to illness, having the Real Presence available online for prayer and meditation is a comfort. At least it seems so for me.
 
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