As
faithful members of the Church and as secular members of the Order of
Discalced Carmelites our life will be characterized by the faithful
and religious observance of the 6 Ms – Meditation,
Morning and Evening Prayers, Mass, Mary, Meetings, and Mission.
1.
Meditation. We practice this daily devotion under the inspiration
of Our Lady of Mount Carmel by devoting at least 30 minutes daily for
the practice of mental prayer,1 and accept from the viewpoint of
faith, hope and love the works and suffering of each day and observe
the practices of mortification recommended by the Church especially
during the seasons of Advent and Lent.
2.
Morning and Evening Prayers. We participate in the Liturgy of the
Hours by praying daily the Morning and Evening Prayers, and where
possible, also the Night Prayer.
3. Mass. We endeavor to participate daily in the Eucharistic celebration.
4. Mary. We live in imitation of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, whose way of life is a model of being conformed to Christ and under her patronage as “the Mother of the Order.“
- We strive, like Mary, to be contemplatives meditating on the law of the Lord day and night.
- We imitate Mary, our mother, sister and model in her obedience to the Lord and as an example of apostolic service.
- We give importance to the Order’s Marian devotion imitating Mary’s virtues, participating with the Order in Marian liturgical celebrations, and wearing faithfully the brown Scapular.
5. Meetings. We express our commitment to the Church through our Promise, made before the members of the community and in the presence of the representative of the Superior of the Order,6 to strive for evangelical perfection in the spirit of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience and through the beatitudes.
Our commitment implies active participation in the regular activities of the OCDS community:
- monthly OCDS community meetings;
- required formation classes; and
- where the member’s state of life permits, the community apostolate as well as community celebrations during solemnities, feasts, anniversaries, and community recreations to develop deeper fraternal relations among members.
Three or more members of an OCDS community may meet more often for faith sharing and spiritual support provided family and job responsibilities are not neglected and the members regularly attend the monthly community meetings and required formation classes.
6. Mission. We endeavor to live and spread the spirituality of the Teresian Carmelites whenever and wherever possible.
The community may participate in the Apostolate of the Order concretely through:
- lecture-series, retreats and recollections, websites, pamphlets, brochures and other printed information on Carmelite spirituality and the Saints of the Order;
- propagation of the brown Scapular devotion;
- celebration of the feasts of our Saints at the parish or diocesan level;
- houses of prayer and hermitages where people experience God’s call and learn meditation;
- prayer groups for faith sharing and spiritual support such as Small Teresian Communities (STC) 10 that are fraternal and committed to proclaiming the Gospel;
- new foundations and/or formation of OCDS Communities; and
- promotion of interest in the Carmelite vocation.
- Excerpts from the OCDS Philippines Provincial Statutes
