Being Carmelite in today's world

1. “Being Discalced Carmelites Today”
General Curia of the Teresian Carmel

2. Guiding Questions:
1. What points do you agree with the
documents?
2. Are there points that may need rephrasing?
3. What can we learn from the document?
4. What are the ways in which we can apply
the main points of the Charismatic
Declaration to our situation?

3. PROPOSAL
THE CHAPTER MANDATES THE VICAR AND THE
VARIATE COUNCIL TO ENSURE THAT EACH
COMMUNITY DISCUSSES THE CHARISMATIC
DECLARATION AND TO SEND A RESPONSE
FROM THE VICARIATE TO THE GENERALATE BY
15TH OF DECEMBER, 2020

4. A document in
process of creation:

5. Ávila 2003:
Return to the essential
Fátima 2009:
“What do you think we
should be like?”
Ávila 2015:
It is time to walk
Goa 2019:
Walk in the Truth

6. BEING
DISCALCED
CARMELITES
TODAY

7. The present text is
a proposal of the
Definitory, which
takes into account
the contributions of
the Provinces in
the reading of the
Constitutions

8. It will be studied in the Chapters
and in the Extraordinary
Definitory before being
submitted to votation in the
General Chapter of 2021

9. We are each one and all together.
Heirs: of the Teresian style of living the Gospel
Living the present and the future:
renewing and inculturating.
It speaks to us of:
IDENTITY CHARISM RENEWAL

10. The document wants to
use a language:
SYNTHETIC AND
UNDERSTANDABLE
UNIVERSAL
FOUNDED ON STUDIES ON THE LIFE
AND THOUGHT OF TERESA AND THE
HISTORY OF THE ORDER
POSITIVE
NARRATIVE AND
DESCRIPTIVE

11. WRITTEN IN FIRST
PERSON PLURAL:
We are the ones who
are speaking and give
this text, which speaks
of our identity.

12. FIVE FUNDAMENTAL PARTS:
• GOD’S CALL
• FORMATION (THE RESPONSE)
• TERESIAN ANTHROPOLOGY
• THE CHARISM AND ITS
CONSTITUTIVE ELEMENTS
• THE HARMONY BETWEEN DIFFERENT
WAYS OF LIVING THE CHARISM TODAY

13. INTRODUCTION
Charismatic Declaration
“Being Discalced Carmelites Today”
General Curia of the Teresian Carmel

14. A charism is an
ongoing tradition,
and renewal is a
permanent
attitude
(Vatican Council II)

15. CALL AND RESPONSE
Charismatic Declaration
“Being Discalced Carmelites Today”
General Curia of the Teresian Carmel
1-2

16. THE POINT OF DEPARTURE:
GOD CALL EACH ONE
The call and the response
are the work of the Spirit:
INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIP
A call that is
renewed each day,
beyond the concrete
circumstances of the
world and the Order

17. FORMATION IS
RESPONSE to a call
Construct our Identity, that
is not a STATIC concept but
DYNAMIC, in PERMANENT
CONSTRUCTION

18. FORMATION = CONSTANT
ELABORATION OF IDENTITY
Formation must be
integral, communal,
ongoing and supported
also by human sciences

19. TERESIAN ANTHROPOLOGY
Charismatic Declaration
3
“Being Discalced Carmelites Today”
General Curia of the Teresian Carmel

20. BE A DISCALCED
CARMELITE IS A
CONCRETE WAY OF
BEING A PERSON AND
CHRISTIAN

21. The Teresian vision
of the person is very
CURRENT, especially
suitable for the
needs and desires of
today’s humanity

22. HOW IS
OUR
WORLD
TODAY?

23. The fundamental
elements of the
Teresian proposal: WE
ARE AN INHABITED
INTERIORITY

24. THE CHARISM
Charismatic Declaration
4
“Being Discalced Carmelites Today”
General Curia of the Teresian Carmel

25. We enter in the fundamental
section, for that reason it is
the most extensive

26. We speak of:
• RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
• FRATERNITY
• MISSION
adding an important
CONCLUSION

27. The central axis is
the fruit of the
experience of Saint
Teresa and a
fundamental
element of her
charism:
FRIENDSHIP

28. What is PERFECT
FRIENDSHIP for
Saint Teresa?
RELATIONSHIP in
its various
modalities is the
element that
DEFINES THE
TERESIAN CHARISM

29. THE CHARISM
A: RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Charismatic Declaration
“Being Discalced Carmelites Today”
General Curia of the Teresian Carmel
4A

30. God TAKES THE FIRST
STEP and makes
possible the
relationship with HIM
CHRIST IS THE DEFINITIVE
WORD OF THE FATHER IN
THE RELATIONSHIP

31. In Jesus, God reveals
himself fully.
Carmel is called to live in
“Allegiance to Jesus
Christ,” that is,
FRIENDSHIP WITH HIM,
using Teresian Language

32. This
FRIENDSHIP is
an experience
of LOVE

33. • LISTENING TO THE WORD
• THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER
• SOLITUDE AND SILENCE
• DETACHMENT
• THE PASSION THAT AVOIDS ACEDIA
• COMMUNITY LIFE
The spirituality of the
TERESIAN Carmel has a
clearly INTERPERSONAL
character; it is founded on a
RELATIONSHIP built on:

34. THE CHARISM
B: FRATERNITY
Charismatic Declaration
4B
“Being Discalced Carmelites Today”
General Curia of the Teresian Carmel

35. A fundamental
question for Saint
Teresa and significant
in today’s world
Faced with
INDIVIDUALISM, so
diffuse today, the
TERESIAN
COMMUNITY is a
strong response

36. Teresa builds a charismatic proposal that preserves the
BALANCE between EREMETICAL/SOLITUDE and COMMUNITY LIFE

37. FRIENDSHIP with GOD becomes
authentic and grows in FRIENDSHIP
with the FRIENDS OF GOD

38. The TERESIAN
COMMUNITY is FAMILY
gathered around JESUS
(Nazareth, Bethany...)
MARY, Mother and
Sister, inspires our
community life.
We are called to move
from simple devotion to
MARIAN IDENTITY which
touches concrete life.

39. Our life as a
TERESIAN FAMILY
must overcome the
temptation of
INDIVIDUALISM, but
also that of
CLERICALISM

40. PERSONAL GROWTH
depends on
BUILDING
COMMUNITY which is
not a limitation, but
an adequate scope
for the realization of
my IDENTITY.

41. The TERESIAN
COMMUNITY is in
tune with the
Ecclesiology of
Communion
proposed by the
Second Vatican
Council. It is a lived
fraternity that is
expressed through
different
instruments and
structures

42. As a TERESIAN COMMUNITY, we live an
enriching unity among the three groups of
the family: The FRIARS, the DISCALCED
CARMELITE NUNS and the SECULARS.

43. THE CHARISM
C: THE MISSION
Charismatic Declaration
4C
“Being Discalced Carmelites Today”
General Curia of the Teresian Carmel
CONCLUSION: UNITY BETWEEN THE
CONSTITUTIVE ELEMENTS OF THE CHARISM

44. THE MISSION is part of
the DIVINE CALL,
which always involves
being sent to serve
the CHURCH and
HUMANITY

45. What are the
characteristics of
the TERESIAN
CARMEL’S MISSION
in the CHURCH and
the WORLD TODAY?

46. The source of our
apostolic action is also
FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD.
It is also the first
element of the witness
that we as Carmelites
are called to give

47. We are inheritors of the
APOSTOLIC SENSITIVITY
of Teresa of Jesus

48. The FIRST
ELEMENT of the
MISSION of the
Carmelite is
PRAYER, which
has in itself
APOSTOLIC VALUE

49. There is a DIVERSITY
OF SERVICES in which
the mission becomes
concrete, without
forgetting to exercise
them from our
CHARISMATIC IDENTITY

50. AN INTERESTING
CONCLUSION:
The THREE CONSTITUTIVE
ELEMENTS OF CHARISM
(prayer, fraternity and
mission) ARE UNITED AND
MUTUALLY NOURISHED. In
Carmel, NIETHER ONE HAS
MEANING WITHOUT THE
OTHERS TWO

51. UNITY AND PLURALISM.
CONCLUSION
Charismatic Declaration
5
“Being Discalced Carmelites Today”
General Curia of the Teresian Carmel

52. We are aware that the
territorial EXPANSION of
the Order entails a new
development

53. In this environment it is fundamental
that the charism is transmitted from
the LIVING EXPERIENCE of those who
communicate it and not only in a
theoretical way
Today’s Teresian
Carmelites come from
different ORIGINS and
CULTURES. We have
different STYLES and
SENSITIVITIES

54. Pluralism is RICHNESS and
CHALLENGE, it demands our
attention and discernment:
we have to reflect
particularly on the
CONFIGURATION and
AUTONOMY of the
circumscriptions at present,
evaluating THEIR
CONSEQUENCES

55. Wherever the Order lives, it is
necessary that the sense of belonging
to ONE SAME RELIGIOUS FAMILY, spread
in DIFFERENT PLACES OF THE WORLD,
be fostered and lived

56. CONCLUSION
Charismatic Declaration
“Being Discalced Carmelites Today”
General Curia of the Teresian Carmel

57. THE DECLARATION CANNOT
BE A THEORETICAL TEXT,
WE MUST HELP TO CREATE
CONCRETE WAYS FOR ITS
APPLICATION, SO THAT IT
IS EFFECTIVE AND
PRODUCES FRUITS FOR THE
WHOLE ORDER

58. “Being Discalced Carmelites Today”
General Curia of the Teresian Carmel