Our Carmelite life is designed to be wholly directed towards prayer. The central daily celebration of the Eucharist - the banquet of Christ’s body and blood, is prolonged and renewed all day long by the Liturgy of the Hours, a celebration of praise using the great prayers and words of Scripture. Two hours are set aside each day for personal prayer,an hour for spiritual reading, and beyond this the whole day is structured to help us to continue that prayerful converse with God through all our activities.
Prayer is the real work of our life, the reason for our being here. In this silent, loving listening to God we hold all the needs of the world. Through our availability to God in continual prayer we seek to bring the saving love of Christ to the whole of creation. Priests and leaders of the Church have a special place in our prayer, and our Carmel has strong links with the Diocesan seminary, Allen Hall.
As Carmelites we are called ‘to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ’ and to ‘meditate day and night on the law of the Lord’. (Rule of St Albert)
Jesus invites us, like his disciples, to ‘come away to a lonely place’, to enter deeply into the mystery of love on behalf of all humanity.
Jesus invites us, like his disciples, to ‘come away to a lonely place’, to enter deeply into the mystery of love on behalf of all humanity.
Prayer, in my opinion, is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him whom we know loves us.
( St Teresa’s Autobiography 8:5)
( St Teresa’s Autobiography 8:5)
