About the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS)

The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS) are faithful members of the Roman Catholic Church, called to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ through a friendship with the One we know loves us. Under the protection of Our Lady of Mount Carmel; in the biblical tradition of the prophet Elijah; and inspired by the teachings of St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross; we make a commitment to the Carmelite Order to deepen our Christian commitment received in baptism; seeking  the face of God in prayer and service for the good of the Church and the needs of the world.

One is called to become a secular member of the Carmelite Order only if one has been blessed by God with a vocation.  If one has a true vocation, it must be tested for several years before one may make a life-long commitment by the Promise to strive for perfection in the spirit of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience and through the beatitudes.  This promise is a pledge to pursue holiness, with a commitment to serving the Church in faithfulness to the Teresian Carmelite charism. 

Carmelite Seculars, together with the friars and nuns, are sons and daughters of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Teresa of Jesus.  As a result, Seculars share the same charism with the religious, each according to their particular state of life.  Secular members contribute to the Order the benefits proper to their secular state of life (married or single).