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Prayer
“For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.”
~ St Teresa of Avila
The vocation to Carmel is a vocation to prayer and contemplation. Two specific hours of the day, morning and evening, are devoted exclusively to silent prayer, also called ‘solitary’ or ‘mental’ prayer.
These hours of prayer are the hallmark of the Carmelite charism, for in them we deliberately and as consciously as possible try to remain wholly receptive to God, surrendered at the deepest level of our being.
The search for God is at the heart of our monastic life. We seek Him by following Christ in a life rooted in prayer, living as a community while preserving the importance of solitude and simplicity in our quest.
St Teresa of Avila gave us a beautiful definition of what silent prayer is – or as she called it, mental prayer - when she wrote: “ Prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking the time to be alone with Him we know loves us.”
Our personal prayer is also nourished by our rich liturgical life, and our liturgical participation is in its turn deepened by our commitment to regular silent prayer.
You can read more about Silent Prayer here.
A Rich Liturgical Life
As Carmelites, a major part of our vocation is to celebrate the Mass daily as well as the whole of the Divine Office, and everything is arranged with this in view. We are constantly being called back to prayer in one form or another and the celebration of the Divine Office has always been considered the sacred obligation of nuns and monks – it is our work in and on behalf of the whole church and of the world.
“Our own participation may seem poverty-stricken to us, but provided we are doing our best, our little curl of incense is caught up in the great column of prayer rising continually from Jesus and His Church.” – Ruth Burrows
To this end, we constantly endeavour to direct our minds and hearts to this sacred duty. Bells are rung before the actual summons to choir and are a great help because they let us know it is time to lay aside the work we are doing and all occupations to turn our minds to prayer.
Learn about The Liturgy in Carmel.
