Answering the call to be a Third Order Carmelite

“The object of our Third Order, following the example of the friars and nuns of the Order, is to give glory to God, to honor our Blessed Lady of Carmel and to aid our holy Mother the Church by their prayers.

When there is question of examining anyone who presents himself for the religious life in the Order of St. Benedict, the Saint requires that it be found out if truly he seeks God, “an vere quaerit Deum.” Our Holy Mother St. Teresa wishes that in addition to this we enquire if the person desiring to enter religion be possessed of sound judgment; and this appears to her of capital importance, not only because it is well to exclude from an Order those who lack balance and stability, but because by judgment she means the right understanding of supernatural realities. . . . The Christian possessed of right judgment understands that creatures are but creatures, and therefore he will not become attached to them. Following this knowledge of what a created being truly is and having the supernatural virtue of faith infused into right judgment, he will place God above all, in the first place. Understanding that God alone is necessary, and that created things are to be used only in so far as they lead unto God, or at least in so far as they do not impede our going to Him, the soul will more easily become detached from all things, it will no longer halt on the way.

. . . passage of an old French author of the 17th century, Father Stephen of St Francis Xavier, Carmelite of the Reform of Touraine. In his book “The Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, explained for the Brothers and Sisters who profess the same,” he says: "What is the spirit of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel?  It is contemplation. The Order originated in mountains, in deserts, in solitude. From its earliest traditions it receives the inclination and even the obligation to foster a life wholly interior, retired and hidden. Since St. Elias, the Patriarch of Carmel, lived always in God’s presence, and had for motto those beautiful words: "The Lord liveth, before whose face I stand” (III Kings); since, according to the opinion of several doctors, he saw the divine essence on earth, as the blessed see it in heaven, he has inspired his religious with the spirit of contemplation, and though, by the authority of the Church, they be occupied in assisting their neighbor, he does not fail to preserve contemplation as the principal and essential aim of their Order. . . . drawing us to God, leading us to God, uniting us to God.”