Who are the Carmelites?
By the year 1214 the Carmelites had received a Way of Life from Saint Albert, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. Carmelites first came to Britain in 1242. The hermits became an order of mendicant friars following a General Chapter held in Aylesford, Kent, in 1247. Nuns, and lay men and women have always played a major part in the life of the Order, and have had formal participation since 1452. Over centuries of development and reform, the Carmelites have continued their distinctive mission of living ‘in allegiance to Jesus Christ’, by forming praying communities at the service of all God’s people. The heart of the Carmelite vocation is contemplation, that is, pondering God and God’s will in our lives. Like the spirituality of all the major religious orders (Benedictines, Franciscans, etc.), Carmelite spirituality is a distinct preaching of the one Christian message. Carmelites blend prayerful contemplation with active service of those around them, and this takes many different forms dep
