Initial Formation

This module is a brief introduction to The Rule of St Albert, which is the foundational document of the Carmelite Order and has been a guide to all those seeking to live the Carmelite Way since it was first written in the early 13th Century. It is the Rule followed by all branches of the Carmelite Family today. The module considers the Rule so that students gain some understanding of the historical context within which the Rule of St Albert was written and will have a sense of the core values expressed in the Rule and how we might live out this Rule in today’s world.

This module focusses on a number of aspects of Elijah’s call, witness and importance for Carmelites. It considers Elijah’s vocation, his opposition to idols and his prayer.

This module is a brief introduction to the theme of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Carmelite Order. Carmel from earliest times has been known as Marian; the various people and themes that in the Carmelite tradition all feature devotion to the Mother of God. This module will help you explore what you already know about Mary, and perhaps find a new perspective. It describes how the Marian tradition of the Carmelite Order evolved and explains the Carmelites’ vision of Mary and their experience of her care.

This module is a brief introduction to the Carmelite school or rather tradition of spirituality from the OCarm perspective. It looks at how Carmelites have lived the Gospel at different times and places, how they have lived in allegiance to Jesus Christ, prompted by the Holy Spirit and doing this within the Christian family. The module will help us journey from the Order’s beginnings in Carmel to its life today in the 21st century. It describes how men and women have lived the Rule, and how that Rule and symbolic figures of Mary and Elijah have shaped the Carmelite Imagination. It also recounts the importance of the Order’s origins on Mt Carmel and the geography of the heart. The desert is an important image as are light, darkness and flame so we are meant to value our imaginations and be open to poetry.

This module introduces the Second World War martyr, St Titus Brandsma OCarm, and explores the way in which his opposition to Nazism led to his martyrdom. The module covers his early life and Carmelite vocation, his work as a philosopher, his opposition to the Nazi regime in Holland, and his arrest, imprisonment and death in Dachau.

This module introduces the Italian Canon Regular, Bishop and Patriarch of Jerusalem, Albert degli Avogadri, who drew up the Formula of Life for the First Carmelites. It outlines Albert’s early years, his vocation to the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Mortara and his role as Prior of the mother-house of the Canons at Mortara. It continues with the year he spent as Bishop-Elect of Bobbio and the period of his time as Bishop of Vercelli, as well as his activities in the Holy Land as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (1205-14). It concludes by outlining his likely contribution to the Formula of Life that he drew up for the first Carmelites.

This module is an outline by two Secular Discalced Carmelites of what they see as distinctive in the Discalced/Teresian approach to Carmelite spirituality. Inevitably, therefore, it is focused on the two foundation stones of the Order, Teresa of Jesus and John of the Cross. A detailed introduction to these great Carmelites is the task of other modules and this module will draw out themes and perspectives in their lives and teaching which they see as giving the Teresian Carmel its particular flavour.

This module looks at prayer in the Carmelite tradition and at what the saints of Carmel can teach us about the experience of prayer. It explores the development of the special relationship with God in prayer. Whether or not you regularly practice prayer, you will already be, in some way, relating to God, and the module will connect with your own experience. The module will explain the rich variety of expressions that relationship with God can have and consider the connection between committed Christian living and personal relationship with God. It also explores the normal stages of growth in prayer as outlined in Carmelite literature and help to make sense of some of the more confusing aspects of prayer.

This module is an introduction to the life and spirituality of St Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), one of the most privileged, loyal and inspirational daughters the Church has ever known. A prolific writer, the module covers her life story and introduces her written works, which are spiritual classics.

This module is an introduction to the life and spirituality of Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity a young French Carmelite. She was only seven years younger than St Thérèse of Lisieux, whom she loved and admired, but whereas Thérèse became famous almost immediately, Elizabeth is a relatively unknown Carmelite. The module covers her early life, her life in Carmel and the influences on, and characteristics of, her spirituality.

This module provides an overview of the history of Carmelite women and provides a background for more detailed studies of particular women, in separate modules. The module covers the origins of Carmelite life for women and the ways in which this life has developed over time. It also provides an understanding of some of the key figures in Carmelite life for women.

St Thérèse of Lisieux is probably one of the best-known saints. She was described by Pope Pius X as the “greatest saint of modern times” – and this long before she was canonised at all! Many saints did great work in the areas of healing, teaching, preaching -Thérèse did none of these things. Her motto was: To do ordinary things with extraordinary love. The module covers the historical and family background to the life and times of Thérèse and provides an outline of her spirituality and message.

This module explores the very beginnings of the Carmelite order providing students with an understanding of the nature of the call to the desert and the life of the desert, as well as the historical situation in which Carmel developed and the life and spirituality of the first Carmelites.

This module looks at the influence of the Scriptures on the Carmelite Rule, and on the writings of some of our Carmelite Saints. It also glances at the Book of Psalms which (along with other Religious), Carmelites use every day in their prayers. The module will increase your awareness of the potential pitfalls in reading the Bible, and help you cope with them. It identifies the pervading influence of the Bible in Carmelite Life and describes how Carmelite Saints used the Bible.

This module looks at the charism of the Order of Carmelites as it was understood by the members of the Order in the years following the Second Vatican Council. It provides an understanding of some of the important events and writings which gave rise to the Order’s understanding of its charism, and then focuses on the three aspects of the charism, namely contemplation, fraternity and service in the midst of the people.

This module explores the development of the Teresian-Carmelite Charism in the 20th century, providing an understanding of Teresian-Carmelite spirituality as the unifying element of all aspects of Teresian-Carmelite life. Students will also develop an understanding of its different expressions in the lives of friars, nuns and lay people and read some thoughts about the relationship of Teresian-Carmelite tradition to its task in the modern world.

Currently Carmelites use the term 'Carmelite family' to give expression to the idea that while the Carmelite calling may be lived out in a variety of ways, by people in all walks of life, we all belong to one family. The module covers what it means to describe Carmel as a “family” and explores the development of the life of the friars in the 14th century. It looks at keywords in describing different ways of being associated with Carmel and includes a case study on the ways in which people were associated with the friars’ house, the Carmine, in Florence.

This module is an introduction to what is known about the early Carmelite history of Britain and Ireland, from the first foundations up until the time of what can be considered the modern history of the orders in these countries. It traces the story of the foundation, development, decline and dissolution, and the missionary endeavour of the Carmelite Order in these areas.

This module focuses on the branches of the Carmelite Family known as the Third and Secular Orders – numerically the largest group of professed members of the Order – and their development within the last century. The scope of the module is primarily the Third/Secular Orders in a global context, with a particular (though not exclusive) focus on Britain and Ireland. It provides an overview of the historical development and spirituality of the Third/Secular Orders within Carmel and explains how Vatican II influenced the development of the Third/Secular Orders in the twentieth century.

This module gives a picture of Zimbabwe at the time of the arrival of the Carmelite friars in 1946. The module considers the political and social situation in Zimbabwe before independence , especially with regard to the way it was governed, its provision of education, its provision of healthcare, and the development of missionary work in Zimbabwe up to 1946.

This module introduces the origins, different forms, and development of female contemplative life in the Western Church. It considers early forms of religious life for women and the different forms of female contemplative religious life in the Church (monasticism; Canons Regular; mendicants). Students will also gain some knowledge and understanding of developments since the Council of Trent and an appreciation of the understanding of cloistered religious life for women that has emerged after Vatican II.

This module introduces students to the historical controversy about whether or not the Old Testament prophet, Elijah, founded the Carmelites. The controversy began in the 1280s and continued right down to the 1970s, when it became more generally accepted that the Formula of Life by St Albert of Jerusalem was the original founding document of the Carmelite Order.

This module introduces a remarkable Carmelite woman who is little known outside the French-speaking world but deserves wider recognition. She enables us to appreciate further the diversity of expressions of the Carmelite charism while reflecting on her life encourages us to look at our own.

This module is an introduction to the life and times of one of the great reformers of the Carmelite Order, who was also significant for the development of Carmelite nuns and lay Carmelites. The module covers the world of Blessed John Soreth, the decline and decay within the Carmelite Order through to movements of reform and the Carmelite nuns. It concludes by considering the legacy of Blessed John Soreth.

This module is an introduction to the saintly John of Saint-Samson (or Jean du Saint-Samson as he is known in French) who is the object of increasing attention in the twenty-first century. John was born into the well-established Du Moulin family in 1571 at Sens in the French duchy of Burgundy. John’s life and writings are best appreciated in the light of the time in which he lived, and in the context of the nation whose son he was.

This module studies the life and spirituality of a nineteenth-century Polish Carmelite, Saint Raphael (Joseph) Kalinowski (1835-1907). It considers how Raphael Kalinowski, who spent 10 years in Siberian exile, lived his life of discipleship, which was finally recognised by the Church as a life of holiness. In his native country, he is regarded as one of the most influential spiritual writers, though his spirituality has been known mostly from his private letters in which he shows that the path of Christian discipleship and holiness is all about meeting God in love for others.

This module studies the life and spiritual witness of Lucien Bunel, Père Jacques OCD, a French Carmelite who was imprisoned in a concentration camp during World War II for hiding three Jewish boys in the school of which he was headmaster, in Avon, on the outskirts of Paris. This part of his story is told in the film directed by Louis Malle, Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987).

This module introduces Br. Lawrence and his thoughts and writings to enable you to use this knowledge as a springboard and inspiration in your relationship with the Lord, or for your own spiritual growth. Br. Lawrence’s writings and message are very simple. The whole purpose of everything he said and wrote is to bring his audience in closer contact with God - nothing else really.

This module studies the life of St Teresa of the Andes. Born Juanita Fernandez Solar in Santiago, Chile in 1900, she was only eleven months in the convent when she died in 1920. Hers was a short and simple life, one that was full of love. Christ, who loved without reason, has driven me madly in love, she wrote. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in her native Santiago on April 3,1987, and canonized in Rome on March 21, 1993.

This module presents some aspects of Carmelite spirituality in Edith Stein’s life and thought. It looks at the holocaust from the perspective of the Christian and Carmelite spirituality. By the end of the module students should have an understanding of the cultural, historical, political and religious situation in Europe and Germany during the Nazi period and an understanding of Edith Stein’s intellectual and spiritual growth that led her from Judaism and agnosticism to faith in Jesus Christ and finally to the Carmelite Order. It also covers Edith Stein’s approach to the cross of Christ and considers the spiritual, moral and intellectual struggles in Jewish and Christian life expressed in “after Auschwitz” theology and spirituality.

This module looks at Teresa as a writer including an introduction to Teresa’s teaching on prayer. It also considers her thoughts on asceticism, the importance of the humanity of Jesus for Teresa and her concern for the church in her day. The module will give a view on the challenges and difficulties Teresa dealt with in her writings, as well as an appreciation of Teresa’s understanding of contemplative prayer.

This module introduces St John of the Cross, covering his whole life, including some aspects of his writings, until his death at Ubeda in 1591. It includes the progress of his cause for Beatification and Canonisation and the developments which led to him being declared a Doctor of the Church. It also considers the influence of John on some well-known people from the late nineteenth century to the present day.

This module introduces Blessed Isidore Bakanja, sometimes called the martyr of the Brown Scapular, one of the prominent figures of the Carmelite Order and of the Congolese church. It introduces you to a very colourful and interesting kind of spirituality. The first focus in on the place and time in which Bl. Isidore lived. Then follows an account of the life and heroism of this African Lay Carmelite and, finally, his beatification in Rome during the first African synod in 1994.

This module considers the way four Carmelite women (Teresa, Thérèse, Elizabeth and Edith) lived out their vocation in particular ways. They have all left us insights into ways to grow in prayer not only through their writings but also by the way they embodied this in their lives.

In considering what spirituality is this module covers five areas. The first surveys the spiritual landscape today, looking at the context within which we live our lives. It then considers, in a general way, the basic teaching of the Bible as God’s passionate care for his people – ‘God refuses to be God without us.’ It deals with some of the central themes of Christian spirituality – Creation, Incarnation, Trinity, Spirit, Vocation/Call, Body of Christ/Church, Eucharist and also provides an overview (necessarily brief) of the history of spirituality. It concludes with an attempt to describe what Christian spirituality precisely is.

One of the enduring themes of the Carmelite tradition over the centuries has been the notion of living in the presence of God, that is, in awareness, in faith, of the reality that God is all around us and within us, and that as Christians we can help others to experience God’s presence. This module presents this popular theme of Carmelite spirituality with reference to some of the main texts, personalities and ideas of our Family’s tradition. It’s an obvious point, but one we feel we should be explicit about from the start, that the fundamental notion underpinning this module is the belief that God exists, that God is truly present in the world.

This module is an introduction to Formation within the Carmelite Family. Generally, the word formation implies something more than acquiring certain skills or certain knowledge – formation is a more holistic concept and refers not only to knowledge and skills but a person’s attitudes and character. This module explains what formation means and provides some sense of the importance of formation within the Carmelite Family. It also outlines the different formation processes within the Carmelite Family.

This module is an introduction to the topic of interfaith dialogue and will deepen your knowledge and understanding of what dialogue is and the Church’s teaching about the importance of interfaith dialogue for today’s world. It explores how the Carmelite tradition helps us in the building of relationships between people of different faith traditions and considers the essential beliefs and practices of the majority faith traditions found in Britain and Ireland today and how Carmelites might promote dialogue with people of these faiths focussing especially on the other Abrahamic faiths of Judaism and Islam but also considering Hinduism and Buddhism and, briefly, some of the other world faiths.

This module considers how the Carmelite tradition can be made relevant to contemporary psychological understandings of the self. It aims to deepen your appreciation of the Carmelite writings of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross from a contemporary psychological perspective whilst retaining the spiritual integrity of these works.

This module aims to give an understanding of the Church’s commitment to justice and peace, and of the Carmelite commitment as part of that, and as an expression of the values of its own tradition. It covers the meaning of justice itself, the nature of the Carmelite charism, and the activities in which Carmelites are engaged in the pursuit of justice, peace and the integrity of Creation. It explores this new dimension of Carmelite life, how it came about, what are its reasons for continuing and developing, what is its link with the Carmelite tradition, and what concrete actions does it involve? The relevance of this material may be understood in the context of the new call that Pope Francis has made, especially in his two encyclicals, Evangelii gaudium and Laudato si, to care for our common home, to always think about the poor and to put an end to the many injustices afflicting the world.

This module offers an introduction to Liturgy. And covers the liturgy itself, spirituality and participation in liturgy, the Eucharist as the high point of the liturgy, the art of celebrating liturgy and the Divine Office.

This module is about the way Religious Life and other kinds of Consecrated Life have come to be understood in the Church since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). It outlines the re-discovery of charisms in the Roman Catholic Church in the period leading up to Vatican II and then the teaching of Vatican II’s Lumen gentium on charisms. It continues with the understanding of Religious Life in the period leading up to the Council and describes the development of the teaching of the Church on the relationship between charisms and the Consecrated Life in the period 1965 to 2014.