A Carmelite day is built upon the framework of prayer. In an atmosphere of silence and solitude we weave our days with a balance of prayer, work and recreation.
The center of our life is the celebration of the daily Eucharist from which every other prayer and good work flows throughout the day.
Our day also includes two hours of private, personal prayer, what St. Teresa called “mental prayer”, which she felt was essential to deepening our loving relationship with our Spouse.
We recite the Liturgy of the Hours in common, leaving our work of the moment to praise the Lord together at various times throughout the day. As we pray this Prayer of the Church, we bring before the Lord all the needs and desires of God’s people.
Spiritual reading is an important part of our prayer life. Scripture and other good books nourish our spiritual hunger and help us to know God more deeply. Reading is a valuable resource for our spiritual and intellectual growth.
“Unceasing prayer is the most important aspect of the Rule” -St. Teresa
The center of our life is the celebration of the daily Eucharist from which every other prayer and good work flows throughout the day.
Our day also includes two hours of private, personal prayer, what St. Teresa called “mental prayer”, which she felt was essential to deepening our loving relationship with our Spouse.
We recite the Liturgy of the Hours in common, leaving our work of the moment to praise the Lord together at various times throughout the day. As we pray this Prayer of the Church, we bring before the Lord all the needs and desires of God’s people.
Spiritual reading is an important part of our prayer life. Scripture and other good books nourish our spiritual hunger and help us to know God more deeply. Reading is a valuable resource for our spiritual and intellectual growth.
“Unceasing prayer is the most important aspect of the Rule” -St. Teresa
Our community is self-supporting and we are provided for through our own efforts and the generosity of our friends. Work is an opportunity for us to serve one another and to contribute to our own support.
We maintain our monastery and grounds through the many talents of our sisters, including talents that often awaken as needs arise. Beyond cooking, cleaning and gardening, we also do maintenance work such as plumbing and carpentry. There is always a new challenge calling for our ingenuity.
From the beginning, we have supplied the parishes of the diocese with altar breads. This continues to be a service we find to be a special reflection of our life of prayer. We also do other remunerative work to supplement our income such as rosary making, icon plaques, and bee keeping.
Through our work, we open ourselves daily to enter fully into the Paschal Mystery and witness our love for the Lord, for one another, and for all people, that we may become, like our sister St. Therese of Lisieux, a flame of love in the heart of the Church.
We maintain our monastery and grounds through the many talents of our sisters, including talents that often awaken as needs arise. Beyond cooking, cleaning and gardening, we also do maintenance work such as plumbing and carpentry. There is always a new challenge calling for our ingenuity.
From the beginning, we have supplied the parishes of the diocese with altar breads. This continues to be a service we find to be a special reflection of our life of prayer. We also do other remunerative work to supplement our income such as rosary making, icon plaques, and bee keeping.
Through our work, we open ourselves daily to enter fully into the Paschal Mystery and witness our love for the Lord, for one another, and for all people, that we may become, like our sister St. Therese of Lisieux, a flame of love in the heart of the Church.
We have two periods of recreation each day, an innovation which St. Teresa felt was essential to good balance, to getting to know one another better, and to uplifting the spirits of the sisters. She wanted our Carmelite communities to be true families where “all must be friends, all must be loved, all must be held dear, all must be helped. ”
One of these periods is spent together at the end of the day. This is the time when the whole community meets together and we have the opportunity to share the events of the day and relax together. The other period is at midday after our meal. At that time we are free to spend time with individual sisters or to do something creative that we enjoy.
On special feast days we dispense with our work for the day and are free to have fun for greater lengths of time than these two hours we usually have. These days give us a nice change of pace and allow us to do as we see fit.
One of these periods is spent together at the end of the day. This is the time when the whole community meets together and we have the opportunity to share the events of the day and relax together. The other period is at midday after our meal. At that time we are free to spend time with individual sisters or to do something creative that we enjoy.
On special feast days we dispense with our work for the day and are free to have fun for greater lengths of time than these two hours we usually have. These days give us a nice change of pace and allow us to do as we see fit.