There are more than 100 Discalced Secular Carmelites in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati—lay people who commit themselves to live as apostolic contemplatives, seeking interior silence and solitude amid their busy lives, professional careers, families, and parishes. Discalced Secular Carmelite Communities are in Cincinnati, Beavercreek (outside Dayton) and Celina, so most people in the Archdiocese are within a 30-minute drive of one of them.
“The call to Carmel is a vocation,” says Debbie Koch, president of the Community of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Teresa of Jesus in Cincinnati. “That call is discerned through a six-year formation program and the prayer of the Community. The call to Carmel isn’t just a love of Carmelite spirituality, it is a call to live out that love within a Secular Community.”
Secular Carmelite Communities meet at least monthly and are not a prayer group but an actual part of the Carmelite Order, reporting through their Provincial Delegate to the Superior General of the Order in Rome. Seculars make promises to strive for perfection in the spirit of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience, and through the beatitudes, within their state in life.
“As Seculars, we share the same charism with the friars and nuns,” says Rich Moores, president of the Community of St. Joseph, Protector of the Holy Family in Celina. “We contribute to the Order in different ways because of our state in life, and that contribution is significant. As lay people, our lives are intertwined with many others, and we have the opportunity to minister in prayer to those we meet.”
Every religious order has a charism that guides its call from God. For example, Dominicans are known as preachers and Franciscans serve the poor. The focus of the Carmelite order is lifting the church in prayer. Secular Carmelites structure their day around Morning and Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, including at least 30-minutes of silent prayer, and daily Mass, when possible. Each Secular Community also has an apostolate, to serve the Church in addition to lifting it in prayer. Apostolates often include teaching others about prayer. The Community of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Beavercreek produces the Carmelite Conversations Podcast that teaches about prayer and Carmelite spirituality, with more than 250 episodes and 100,000 program downloads (See www.CarmeliteConversationsPodcast.com). All three Communities regularly pray for parishes within the Archdiocese and for fruitful implementation of the Beacons of Light process.
"The Carmelite Order traces its origins to the hermits who lived on Mount Carmel in Palestine and were given a Rule (a way of living) by St. Albert, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, in 1210," says Tim Bete, president of the Community of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Beavercreek, Ohio. The origin of Secular, or Third, orders is often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, who created a Rule for his secular followers in 1221. Even before the reform of the Carmelite Order by St. Teresa of Avila, there was a Rule for the Third Order of Carmel, based on the Rule of St. Albert. The Rule for the Third Order was created in 1455. After St. Teresa of Avila reformed the Order to focus more on its original roots of contemplation, silence, and prayer, there were two branches of Carmelites, the Ancient Observance (O.Carm.) and the Discalced (OCD) which has the three Secular Communities in the Archdiocese.
Discalced means shoeless. St. Teresa's followers wore sandals rather than shoes, a practice that distinguished them from Carmelites of the Ancient Observance. (The O.Carms also have a Third Order.) Discalced Seculars are known by the letters OCDS (Order Carmelite Discalced Seculars). There are more than 45,000 OCDS worldwide and more than 6,000 in the United States. Members gather in canonically erected communities or recognized study groups under the guidance and leadership of the Order.
Of the three Secular Carmelite Communities in the Archdiocese, Cincinnati is the oldest, getting its start in 1985. Members of that Community formed the Dayton (Beavercreek) Community in 2007 to better serve the increasing number of people in that area who were called to Carmel. The Celina Community began in 2015, when a few members from a Columbus, Ohio, OCDS Community felt called to begin a Community where they lived in Mercer County. Each of the Communities welcomes new members each year.
“It’s always a joy to meet people God has called to Carmel,” says Moores. “Many people feel a call to silent prayer and are unsure how to best follow it. Becoming a Secular Carmelite may be what God has in mind.”
Koch agrees: “Our world needs to immerse itself in prayer and God is calling more lay people to Carmel to make that happen. As Carmelites, we know God that He may be known. It’s a beautiful life!”
To learn more about Secular Carmelites and contact any of the Communities in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, please visit this webpage. The webpage includes several podcast episodes about discerning a call to Carmel.
