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The Dovecots of the Virgin
"We observe the rule of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
and keep it without mitigation..."
St. Teresa of Jesus
Life, ch. 36, 26
J.M. + J.T.
We belong to a group of Carmels formed since October 2000: “Los Palomarcitos de la Virgen.”
In the vast range of experiences which are in the process of diversifying the Carmels today, in order to sustain a strong and constructive theological life, following our Mother Saint Teresa and the saints of Carmel, we have the determined intention to follow a very clear direction: that indicated by the Magisterium which has just defined it for us in our respective Constitutions approved in 1990 and 1991, and the document Verbi Sponsa in 1999.
We are grateful to our Holy Father John Paul II and to the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life, for having given us these latest Documents. We welcome them in fulfilling their role of guidance: “It pertains to the competent authority of the Church to interpret the Evangelical Counsels, to regulate the practice of these by laws, and to constitute stable forms of life for these by canonical approbation; it also pertains to it to watch, for its part, so that the Institutes grow and flourish according to the spirit of the founders and the holy traditions” (Canon 576).
Without obedience to such authority, we know that we, Discalced Carmelite Nuns, cannot fulfill our vocation in the Church in the way that our Holy Mother Saint Teresa wanted.
After one year of experience, we would like to continue, and in a concerted effort together we have remodeled our Charter as we had projected. Its goal is twofold: to encourage and support one another along the way of perfection in fidelity to our vocation as Discalced Carmelite Nuns; and to have unity among Carmels of both Constitutions, according to the desire of the Holy Father John Paul II, as expressed in his Letterof Introduction to the 1991 Constitutions.
We mention here several essential points of our approach; we base ourselves on our specific charism as contained particularly in our Rule and Constitutions, and on Verbi Sponsa, which confer upon us our special mission in the Church.
I. Fidelity to our vocation
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believe only those who you see are walking in
conformity with Christ's life."
St. Teresa of Jesus
Way of Perfection, ch. 21, 10
- Following Jesus our Spouse and being in His company
Jesus calls us to remain with Him upon the mountain in order to continue upon earth His filial dialogue with the Father, in an eremitical life totally oriented towards prayer and contemplation.
“The Son is always united with the Father but during His life there are special moments of solitude and prayer, encounter and communion, when He exults in His divine Sonship” (VS 3). This is our vocation: to continue, in a visible manner, the offering of Jesus to the Father, as fragrant incense continually rises towards Heaven.
It is, according to the expression of Saint Teresa, in keeping “our eyes fixed upon Christ” obedient, chaste, and poor, that we are able to follow Him more closely, giving ourselves completely to Him, our All, keeping nothing for ourselves, living only for Him. This exclusive love for Christ, this absolute gift of ourselves, entails the same radicality in what concerns the means: solitude, silence, separation from the world. Our life of continual prayer requires these.
“The history of God’s relationship to humanity is a history of spousal love, prepared for in the Old Testament, and celebrated in the fullness of time” (VS 4).
Each one of us is, by vocation, invited to hidden union with God and called to grow in a spousal love always more intimate, in order to become in her daily life an authentic expression of the Church as Bride of Christ.
We ardently aspire to this union with Christ our Spouse, living in His company, taking as a sure guide the great experience of the Carmelite mystics, from Elijah to the radical teresian-sanjuanist spirituality, without forgetting the numerous other Saints and mystics of our Order. Contemplation transforms one in a life totally inspired by the gift of Christ Jesus to the Father, in the love of the Holy Spirit, aiming toward making each one of us an “icon of the Transfigured Christ.”
We are aware that our Carmelite life which, in accord with the desire of Saint Teresa, is lived in the enclosure – “you are not only religious, but hermits” – is a strong affirmation of our faith in this God who loves us so much. It is a veritable challenge for the world of today. “The Lord lives, before whom I stand!”
At the same time, in its attitude of adoration, of unceasing praise and intercession, our life reveals that day after day, the strength of prayer builds communion between God and His people.
It is in our vocation as Carmelite Nuns that the mystery of the exclusive union of the Church as Bride with the Lord is expressed in a most significant and radical manner. She reminds the Christian people of their fundamental vocation, the goal towards which the Church journeys, She who will live forever as the Bride of the Lamb (cf. VS 4).
Growing in the consciousness of being “love in the heart of the Church,” each one of us desires to unify her life in God ever more completely, surmounting and generously offering the inevitable renouncements demanded by our commitment in view of our configuration to Christ.
“The Son of God presents Himself as the Bridegroom-Messiah, come to seal the marriage of God with humanity, in a wondrous exchange of love, which begins in the Incarnation, comes to its summit of self-offering in the Passion and is forever given as a gift in the Eucharist” (VS 4).
This oblative gift, the sign of which is in the Eucharist, celebrated and adored, finds its visible continuity in our cloistered monasteries where we realize the exodus from the world in order to encounter God in the solitude of the desert: “We are descendants of that race of holy hermits of Mount Carmel who plunged into a solitude so profound only in order to go to search for this treasure,” the precious pearl of which Jesus speaks to us in the Gospel (cf. 5th Mansions). This solitude “includes inner solitude, the trials of the spirit and the daily toil of life in community, as the Bride’s sharing in the solitude of Jesus in Gethsemane and in His redemptive suffering on the cross” (VS 4). It is not an isolation but the seeking of an encounter, one to one with Christ, in order to listen to Him, to surrender ourselves to His love. It opens one to sisterly life in community, to the always greater gift of ourselves.
This eucharistic dimension of the offering of our life, bequeathed by our Holy Mother and realized by our vows, in the well-defined space of the monastery, we desire to live with generosity and love, as a sacrifice of praise, for the salvation of all men. Following Saint John of the Cross and supported by him, “freed from all attachments, from all disturbance, from all interior and exterior distractions, unifying our faculties so as to turn them towards God, in order to welcome His Presence in the joy of adoration and of praise” (VS 5) we want to make the gift of ourselves to God with fervor. This gift is concretized in fidelity to the Evangelical Counsels assumed by our vows. It is a response to the gift of God who puts the theological virtues in us so that they may bear fruit.
- With Mary our Mother, our Patroness and our Queen
Carmel is all Mary’s.
Since the time of the first hermits who were dedicated to contemplation and to the cult of Our Lady, the presence of Mary among us penetrates all of our Carmelite vocation. She is the perfect realization of our ideal, who illumines our steps, and the eminent example of our communal life in the Church. “Always moved by the holy Spirit,” she is the sure way to arrive at mystical union and marks with a particular stamp our sisterly communion and our whole life. In order to be conformed to Christ and brought to the summit of sanctity, we desire to relive and to continue her presence and her work in the Church.
Welcoming the Word in faith with her, in the silence of adoration, we place ourselves at the service of the mystery of the Incarnation, and united to Jesus Christ, in the oblation to the Father, we desire to become collaborators in the mystery of Redemption. Life Mary in the Upper Room who, by her prayerful presence, kept in her heart the origins of the Church, we want to carry in our loving hearts and in our praying hands the journey of the Church.
- For the Church
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for the love of God I beg that you will take great care
with the keeping of the Rule and Constitutions,
for if you keep them as faithfully as you ought to,
no other miracle will be needed for your canonization."
St. Teresa of Jesus
Words spoken to her Nuns on her deathbed
For Saint Teresa, the interior and theological life, in the quest for perfect union with Christ, is a service for the Church. Union with Christ gives efficacy to our prayer of intercession. Our Holy Mother issued a pressing appeal to us to keep in our hearts “the great needs of the Church,” that this may always be “our vocation, the object of our desires, and that of our tears and our entreaties.” “Try to be such [saints] that we will merit to obtain from God…” (Way 1). This apostolic concern took such a place in the ideal of Saint Teresa, that she made of it the principal reason for her Reform and directed everything to it.
In order to realize her ideal, our Holy Mother marked it by a style of life which is proper to it and responds perfectly to the end that she had established for it. This manner of organizing our life gives a particular and specific character to our communities.
II. Concrete points of commitment
The experience of sisterly friendship that we have had for a year, has confirmed us in our decisions:
- The choice for a group with worldwide dimensions.
This helps to broaden our horizons and gives us better perspective. We have the experience of unity in diversity. Being united by a “common thought” on the concrete realization of our Carmelite vocation, by profound affinities about our way of thinking and our way of life, our diversities in Constitutions or traditions are a contribution rather than a disadvantage. Our relationships are a cause of great joy and of profound peace.
- The choice for a group without juridical structures and without a President.
Our sisterly relations, which are very flexible, allow us to support each other in great freedom, with respect to our autonomy. It is a support that can vary greatly, depending upon the opportunities given by language, proximity or proficiencies, experiences, possibilities of one another. We find in this freedom and flexibility the Teresian spirit which fully responds to our aspirations in the matter of relations and aid among Carmels.
We reaffirm in this modest charter our desire to continue these relations, noting several concrete points in our commitment:
- In virtue of the call that places us in the heart of the Church, we commit ourselves to “sentire cum Ecclesia” by our sincere adhesion to the Magisterium and our unconditional obedience to the Pope.
- Prayer is the fundamental characteristic of our Carmelite life of which the central precept is in our Rule: “meditating day and night on the law of the Lord and watching in prayer.” We resolve: to remain faithful to the two hours of Prayer in common – (Constitutions 1990 nos. 38 and 43; Const. 1991 no.79);
To the choral recitation of the Divine Office in its entirety and sobriety –
(Const. 1990 no. 201, Const. 1991 no.69);
To give, in our life, primacy to prayer as being our principal service and our sole apostolate (Const. 1990 no.211, Const. 1991 nos.126 and 129), which excludes all forms of active apostolate; no spiritual accompaniment or instruction outside the monastery.
- We resolve: to give daily spiritual reading its due place (Const. 1990 nos.42, 59, and 200, Const.1991 no.91).
To direct our attention on formation as the Church asks of us in Verbi Sponsa and in our Constitutions, following our Ratio for this.
It is a matter of acquiring a knowledge and love for the doctrine: being and living rather than only thinking, encouraging the theological life which gives first place to a wisdom of heart, putting aside all intellectualism or excessive care based upon the human sciences. We will do this in such a way that the abundant means furnished by our era are not lacking, both for formation in the novitiate as well as for ongoing formation in order to avoid as much as possible meetings outside of the monastery – cf. Const. 1991 no.121 – and to encourage community formation which remains an important factor for unity.
- Teresian enclosure concretely accomplishes separation from the world; it allows us detachment from everything in order to acquire the interior freedom necessary for perfect union with God. It is a necessary means for realizing our contemplative eremitical ideal. It encourages solitude and silence. It is the ideal climate for our life of prayer and the most efficacious means for arriving at purification of heart (cf. Verbi Sponsa 5).
The enclosure, with its physical and material separation from the outside world, does not distance the Carmelite from the great problems of humanity and the preoccupations of Holy Church. This is why we resolve to live it in such a way as directed in our Constitutions and Verbi Sponsa, and that requires a gift to God that is irrevocable. For us, Daughters of Saint Teresa, true charity towards our neighbor consists in this gift of self, and it is the true way to be of service to others without ever taking away from our love for God. - We resolve: to keep the conventual chapter in a vibrant and regular manner (Const. 1990 no.96 and 97, Const. 1991 no.92). It is an act of great importance in order to “guard the spirit of the Order,” the ascetical formation of the community, and to help maintain its unity.
- Carmelite asceticism is characterized by its evangelical radicality, animated by the quest for absolute renunciation, above all interior, which is simply the reverse side of the absolute of Love, from whence comes the necessity of total detachment in order to be all for God.
In this sense, we resolve to remain faithful to the character of austerity that Saint Teresa wanted for her daughters, including in this the penance, fast and abstinence, and penitential community act as indicated in our Constitutions (Const. 1990 nos.50 and 68, Const. 1991 nos.50-51).
- By preference, we choose manual work which allows our spirit to be free to attend to contemplation and permits us to accomplish it in solitude and silence without it encroaching upon the life of prayer (Const. 1990 nos.57 and 60, Const. 1991 no.84).
- The sisterly Teresian life is characterized by its joyful simplicity, its spontaneity and freedom.
We resolve: to maintain the daily times of recreation (Const. 1990 nos.33-35, Const. 1991 no.94).
They strengthen sisterly ties, maintain unity and guard the spirit of the Teresian family. The common table with its appropriate reading will also unite us each day (Const. 1990 no.30, Const. 1991 no.93).
We resolve: to wear the habit of the Discalced Carmelite nuns as described in the Constitutions (Const. 1990 nos.52 and 209, Const. 1991 no.95).
For the Palomarcitos, we would like that “where local circumstances” require a modification, there be uniformity in the same community. This is important for its witness.
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drills holes through which very large things enter.
May it not happen that those who are to come say:
'These things are not important; don't go to extremes.'
Oh, my daughters, everything that helps us advance is important!"
St. Teresa of Jesus
Foundations, ch.29, 32
- Unity
Ten years after the promulgation of the Letter of John Paul II, Introduction to theConstitutions of 1991, we have asked ourselves how we are living the desire strongly expressed there by our Holy Father, the Pope: “I desire that the approbation of the two texts of the Constitutions, by which I have tried to respond to the express desires of the different monasteries, keeps alive the spiritual unity of all the Teresian Carmels…an intense mutual love must unite you in your vocation. The words of St. Teresa to the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Seville, must be applied to all the members of the Order: ‘So my daughters, all of you are daughters of the Virgin, and sisters. Try to love one another wholeheartedly…’ (Letter, 13 January 1580, par.5).” Each one of us carried this desire in her heart already as the will of God for us through the words of our Holy Father. This is a profound intention dear to his heart which he asks us to accept in the realism of our relations toward each other. This Letter, an official document, is our reference, our point of fundamental support, our true charter of sisterly union.
Our group belongs to the same Order and shares the same charism. It is united by the same objective affinities and a profound friendship. We are all daughters of the Church, daughters of the Virgin, daughters of Teresa; all of us want to fully live our vocation as Carmelite Nuns in following integrally our respective Constitutions.
We are also happy to form with the Carmelite Friars “in the Church” the one and same Order of Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (Letter, no.3). We are grateful to our friars who, as our Holy Mother wanted, provide us with counsel and support on the spiritual and Carmelite level.
- Our relations
In the spirit of the relations that la Madre maintained among her foundations, our goal is to enliven ourselves in our life as Carmelites, being generous and given over to the Church and for the Church. Simply out, we are united by affection, love for our charism, and the desire to live the same ideal of fidelity and of unity.
Thus our group does not organize meetings. Most of our monasteries have made use of the modern means of communication at their disposal, for supporting one another and exchanging ideas and advice. These means, which we use, now offer opportunities and possibilities which enhance formation within the monastery.
Each monastery can make its own Ratio Formationis or join with others and submit it for the approbation of the competent authority (VS 23) or keep that of its Federation / Association, if it is suitable. In conformity with Verbi Sponsa, we insist on respecting the autonomy of the monasteries.
Mutual assistance may also be of the economic order, depending on the needs and possibilities of each community.
We pray for one another, sharing the joys and sorrows of each of our communities and concern for vocations. We do all this while respecting autonomy, which is not only reaffirmed and defended by Verbi Sponsa, but is also a strong point in the desire of St. Teresa and is within the spirit and tradition of the Teresian Carmels.
- Functioning of the Group
This sisterly group does not have a President, nor any juridical structure. There is no interfering of one monastery with another. We agree among ourselves upon having a monastery which assures coordination among the others in its linguistic area. The monasteries which render this service may change because it is done according to the present possibilities within the Communities.
In order to belong, it suffices for a Carmel to share the same ideal and the commitments explained above. The essential point is that all of us follow integrally the Rule, the Constitutions, and the Documents of the Holy See. If a monastery belongs to an Association or Federation, in the spirit of the Constitutions 1991 no.121, and VS nos.24 and 29, it will avoid participating in meetings, outside of the triennial assemblies.
At the beginning of the Third Millennium, may the Lord illumine us all with the light of His Spirit, and may He guide us along the ways of love and truth, well grounded in humility, the generous gift of self, and confident of His Mercy.
This group began October 15, 2000, the year of the Great Jubilee.
“Los Palomarcitos de la Virgen”
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