Centered on prayer and contemplation, Carmelite spirituality seeks to awaken in its practitioners an intense thirst for an immediate and direct experience of God, from which can grow a deep and loving friendship with Him. Most fully developed by St. John of the Cross (d. 1591) and St. Teresa of Avila (d. 1582) and then further enriched by St. Thérèse of Lisieux (d. 1897), Carmelite spirituality flourishes in solitude and silence, nurtured by quieting external noise and turning away from interior distractions. Not at all limited to persons in monastic or convent life, Carmelite spirituality is meant for all who yearn for a deeper and sustained union with God. That is, it is meant for you. In this illuminating book, the Swedish Carmelite Cardinal Anders Arborelius shows you how, by praying, sacrificing, and meditating in your own particular circumstances, as the great Carmelite saints did in theirs, you, too, can awaken to the sweet presence of God within you and grow ever more eager to hurry toward Him in your daily pilgrimage toward eternity. With the help of good Cardinal Arborelius and these enlightening pages, you'll learn: Why true silence is necessary if you are ever to be transformed by the Word of God How to access — or create for yourself — such a transforming silence Why temptations are an essential part of every living spiritual life How, even amid tasks and temptations, you can recognize the enduring presence of Christ in your life How, if you ask with sincerity, the Holy Spirit will rush to your aid as you advance step by step toward an abiding intimacy with Jesus and with God the Father

There has recently been much discussion, indeed argument, regarding the suitability of the Rule of St. Albert for the Carmelite Laity. In the book, the author, former praeses of the Institutum Carmelitanum in Rome and lecturer in Carmelite history and spirituality, presents a powerful defense of the suitability of Albert's Pattern for Life for all Carmelites-- laity and religious alike. In both settting a historical context for the Rule and providing a practical commentary for the laity, the author demonstrates that it is adherence to the Rule that defines a Carmelite and gives each a Carmelite identity.

Cloister and Community is both a history of the Carmelite monastery of Indianapolis and an introduction to the Carmelites, a contemplative order of Roman Catholicism, founded in the 13th century and rededicated as a reform movement for women religious in the 16th century by Teresa of Avila. A key element of the order is that its nuns live an ascetic, cloistered life, but as Mary Jo Weaver demonstrates, the view that one must "leave the world" to find sacred space apart from it has evolved to embrace the notion that the world itself is a sacred space.Weaver focuses on a modern Indianapolis community and describes how the sisters incorporate Carmelite belief and practice into their daily lives. Cloister and Community is a beautifully written and handsomely produced book that offers readers a privileged view of the world of present-day contemplative spirituality.ALSO OF INTEREST Being RightConservative Catholics in AmericaEdited by Mary Jo Weaver and R. Scott Appleby0-253-32922-1 HB £34.500-253-20999-4 PB £15.50What's LeftLiberal American CatholicsEdited by Mary Jo Weaver0-253-21332-0 HB £30.500-253-21332-0 PB £14.50

Thoroughly contemporary and pragmatic, this collection of essays provides a clear picture of Carmelite teaching while encouraging a journey of discovery and faith.

I Want to See God and its companion I am a Daughter of the Church are written works of Father Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, O.C.D. A synthesis of rich doctrinal teachings with the sureness born of a deep contemplative experience, thus offering a vital doctrine to men and women. Bringing to light the dynamics of baptismal grace, Father Marie-Eugene opens up the paths of contemplation and holiness to all, in the midst of ordinary life. Both books illustrate the untiring search for God through time and the need for reliable spiritual Masters.

Eight hundred years ago, Albert of Jerusalem gave the hermit-penitents of Mount Carmel a way of life to follow. Since then, this rule has inspired and formed mystics and scholars, men and women, lay and ordained to seek the living God. In The Carmelite Tradition Steven Payne, OCD, brings together representative voices to demonstrate the richness and depth of Carmelite spirituality. As he writes, Carmelite spirituality seeks nothing more nor less than to 'stand before the face of the living God' and prophesy with Elijah, to 'hear the word of God and keep it' with Mary, to grow in friendship with God through unceasing prayer with Teresa, to 'become by participation what Christ is by nature' as John of the Cross puts it, and thereby to be made, like Thérèse of Lisieux, into instruments of God's transforming merciful love in the church and society." The lives and writings in The Carmelite Tradition invite readers to stand with these holy men and women and seek God in the hermitage of the heart. Steven Payne, OCD, of the Washington Province of Discalced Carmelite Friars, is a member of the Carmelite Friars' formation team at the Monastery of St. John of the Cross near Nairobi, Kenya, and director of the Institute of Spirituality and Religious Formation (ISRF) at Tangaza College, a constituent college of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Nairobi. He is the past editor of ICS Publications and of Spiritual Life magazine and the author of several works in philosophy of religion, theology, and Carmelite spirituality. He is a member of the Carmelite Forum and of the Carmelite Institute in Washington DC, of which he is a past president. "