Why did you choose the Discalced Carmelites over the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance (or vice versa)?
I first came into contact with Carmelite spirituality through the O.Carm community at Aylesford priory in Kent, England, which is the oldest working Carmel in the world (it was built in 1242) and predates the Teresian reform by 300 years. Since it was there that I began my journey towards religious life, it was to that province that I applied.
The two orders are good friends these days, and are seen as branches from the same tree, nourished by the same roots. We can claim being first, and they can claim three doctors of the church (technically, we could claim two of them back, inasmuch as Teresa and John were still O.Carms when they died
). There isn’t an unhealthy rivalry between the two groups of the family, and there are quite a few other expressions of the charism - most notably the Syro-Malabar rite Carmelites of Mary Immaculate in India, who are bigger than either the O.Carm or OCD orders.
I wouldn’t want to generalise from my own experience too much, but I think that discernment is often about the heart rather than the head (they should be complementary rather than in conflict, in any event). In simple terms I fell in love with Carmel at a particular time and place, and so I pursued my vocation from that place.
This is why I think it’s preferable to discern by meeting communities rather than by listening to secondhand opinions about which group is flavour of the month, or by making lists of demands that a religious institute must fulfil before you’re willing to apply. When you meet religious people you like, you become willing and even eager to spend the rest of your life with them.
Best wishes.
