Contemplation

“In contemplation God teaches the soul very quietly and secretly, without its knowing how, without the sound of words” (Chapter 39, The Spiritual Canticle)

The main elements of Prophet Elijah's life – totally dedicated to God in solitude, penance, prayer and contemplation – became the way of life for the first Carmelites. The earliest Carmelites were devoted to solitary contemplation in the wilderness of Mount Carmel

Contemplation is the action of looking thoughtfully at Jesus for a long time. For the Carmelites, contemplation is “the better part” – to just sit at the feet of Jesus like Mary (Martha’s sister) doing nothing. The charism (or spiritual focus) of the Carmelite Order is contemplation. The contemplative dimension is not merely one of the elements of our charism (prayer, fraternity and service) – it is the dynamic element which unifies them all.

St. Teresa of Avila uses water as an image of various stages of prayer. Meditation corresponds to the First Water. It is an invitation to contemplative prayer as a Carmelite without a contemplative life is nothing. It is an inner journey arising out of the free initiative of God who touches and transforms us – leading us towards unity in love!

We believe that the realm of contemplation, and particularly infused contemplation, is solely the work of God in the soul and cannot be attained on its own

Carmel is nothing but contemplation. It is a contemplative religious order wherein the Blessed Virgin Mary teaches us contemplative prayer, receiving the Word Incarnate within her, pondering Him day and night. A Carmelite is the one who is drawn to the praying Christ, to Jesus who “went up on the mountain by Himself to pray” (Matt. 14:23).