Vocations
Our Vocation
The vocation of a Discalced Carmelite nun is prayer. Therefore, she who is aspiring to live our life must be a woman of prayer. To be able to live a life of prayer—to dedicate one’s whole being to prayer, and to persevere your whole life praying—is one of the greatest graces that God can bestow.
A Discalced Carmelite nun cannot exist without prayer because prayer unites her with her Spouse, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and with His work of redemption. In a silent, hidden, and mysterious way, His life becomes her own. Only in this way that she is able to love as He loves and can offer her life completely for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls.
There is a special place in the heart and prayer of a Discalced Carmelite nun for priests. St. Thérèse of Lisieux expresses her understanding of our vocation:
If holy priests, whom Jesus in His Gospel calls the “salt of the earth,” show in their conduct their extreme need for prayers, what is to be said of those who are tepid. Didn’t Jesus say too: “If the salt loses its savor, wherewith will it be salted?”
How beautiful then is the vocation, O Mother, which has as its aim the preservation of the salt destined for souls! This is Carmel’s vocation since the sole purpose of our prayers and sacrifices is to be the apostle of the apostles. We are to pray for them while they are preaching to souls through their words and especially their example.
"Since we would all be occupied in prayer for those who are the defenders of the church and for preachers and for learned men who protect her from attack, we would help as much as possible this Lord of mine."
ST. TERESA OF AVILA
Initial Formation
Discernment of one’s vocation does not end with being certain that one is called to be a Discalced Carmelite nun. A woman must enter into a formal discernment process with the community she believes she is being called to live with. This process is meant to assess not only the presence of God's call, but also the suitability and actual ability of the person to cooperate with God’s grace and human mediation in order to fulfill her vocation. It also prepares the person for a lifetime commitment to live our particular way of following Christ. This nine-year process is called “initial formation.” Initial formation has the following stages:
Aspirancy (one year): The aspirant and the community discern her Carmelite vocation together. The aspirant continues her life in the world, but she is invited to experience life in the cloister, sometimes for extended periods of time.
Postulancy (one year): The candidate gets both practical experience of and instruction in the religious life and moves gradually from the life of the world to that of the novitiate.
Novitiate (two years): Membership in the Order begins with the novitiate. Its chief purpose is to enable the novice to have firsthand knowledge and personal experience of the essential requirements of the following of Christ in the way of life proper to our Carmelite and Teresian calling.
Simple Profession (five years): By her public profession, the novice pledges to live according to the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and is consecrated to God for a period of three years. She renews her vows for two more years, for a total of five years before making solemn vows. The simply professed sister will continue her instruction in Teresian spirituality and live it on a practical level.
Solemn Profession: The religious pronounces her vows forever and becomes a permanent member of the community and the Discalced Carmelite Order. Throughout her life she will continue to keep her eyes fixed on Christ by means of ongoing formation which will help her deepen her knowledge of God and the Church.
"I resolved to do the little that was in my power; that is, to follow the evangelical counsels as perfectly as I could and strive that these few persons who live here do the same."
ST. TERESA OF AVILA
Requirements
These are the preliminary requirements for those who would like to discern their vocation with our community:
you believe God is calling you to Carmel
you are physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healthy
you have at least two years of college or work experience
Please contact us:
EMAIL: seattlecarm@comcast.net
PHONE: (206) 363-7150
Please leave your name, phone number, and the best time to call. Thank you.
"Candidates to the Order should be persons of prayer who aspire to the perfection of charity and to detachment from the world, so that they may be able to embrace the Discalced Carmelite way of life, in which a deeply solitary communion with God is closely united to sisterly life together in community."
1991 CONSTITUTIONS OF THE DISCALCED CARMELITE NUNS, no. 132