Here you can view the unfolding story of Sister Mary Xavier, who once belonged to the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus. The main Carmelite DCJ website is at www.carmelitedcj.org.

Has anyone considered these sisters or been in close contact with them?

Did this sister ever start that new community she was talking about at the end of the article?

I believe it is the Daughters of St. Joseph.

Oh wonderful! I just looked at their website. It's very well made. Do you know if more women have joined them? They said they are a "public association." When would they be able to wear the habit and call themself a religious order?

Correct: Daughters of St. Joseph

They are going to take the habit. It says so on their vocations page. There is a sketch of the proposed habit too.

I knew that they would take the habit eventually, but I didn't know how long it took or what stage of being considered a religious community they had to be to wear a habit. How many stages of forming a new community are there?

Has no one at all ever considered these Carmelites? I would really like to hear a knowledgeable person's perspective on them. I may be visiting their Motherhouse in Holland come summertime, but I'd like to know a few more things before then.

I could be wrong, but I do think there are those who have discerned with the Carmelites DCJ. I never discerned with them per se. But I do know the community near where I live, and I've been on retreat with them at their Carmel. What sort of "perspective" on them are you looking for?

Prayers as you discern visiting them!

I saw one milling about yesterday but didn't get to speak to her. Whilst I'm not discerning with them, I've heard only good things. I'm sorry I can't help you more.

With regards to visiting them though - if you go to Sittard, be prepared for one really weird Dutch accent

Love and prayers,

PP

Yes for a little while. I don't think I'm probably knowledgeable about them per se, but I was in contact w/their former VD. What do you want to know?

They used to host the seminary of my diocese, where I hung out a lot, and I've been a leader of several youth camps run by seminarians and one of their sisters.

If you go visit the Motherhouse (go Dutchies!) be prepared for conversations that start in Dutch, continue in German and end in English - these sisters know their languages!

When I first started to consider the religious life, their webpage caught my eye. I must have read the whole site at least five times.. lol. I absolutely loved them. But, I am still in the "begining" stages of discernment (It seems like I've been here forever...) so, I have never contacted them.

God Bless

Anna

I speak French, Arabic and English. Could they accommodate that?! The only Dutch I know consists of random words picked up whilst wandering round Amsterdam and having dinner with a Dutch lady. I don't think knowing how to say 'the furious swan' in Dutch would be very conducive to communication...

Regarding the Carmelites DCJ, I would like to know:

* What is the atmosphere like inside their convents? Every convent I've ever visited has quite a distinctive air about it. What distinguishes these Carmels from the rest?

* How austere are the Carmels? For a while I was considering the Corpus Christi Carmelites, but their house in York came as a disappointment. It was just that - a house. Unless you were invited into the makeshift chapel, nothing could have told you that nuns live there. While this is perhaps a very superficial thing to judge a community by, I don't think I would cope in a place where there were comfy sofas and television sets. I'm weak and I easily stumble. I'd need some austerity in my surroundings to keep me on track.

* To your knowledge, do these sisters do any work with mentally ill people? (As it was a mentally ill girl who inspired me to discern more actively, I feel that I am in her debt.)

* Do the sisters sew their own habits? (This may seem like a very trivial question, but I have a disability that means I can't manipulate my fingers very well. Sometimes I even need help with my shoelaces - sewing is not an option!)

Grr...I'm sure I had more questions. They'll come to me later!

Thank you, everyone.

Well, the convent I know best is on a beautiful terrain near a small village. They're kind of secluded, but the buildings (save one) are modern - 2nd half of the 20th century. They do have a sofa, but I don't know about the television set

The sisters assisted the seminary when it was still there - I don't know what they do now. Many of them were older, so I think they've gone towards a more contemplative life. The sisters at the Motherhouse do a lot of youth work. I believe they used to have a nursery school, decades ago...

Even if they do sew their own habits, if you can't, you can't, and someone will do it for you, I'm completely sure.

One of the things I love about them: they all have "Maria" (Mary) as their first name! Some use it in their full name, some abbreviate it to M., but they're all fully dedicated to our Lady.

Hope this helps a little...

~VA

I've only visited one of their convents in the US--and only for 36 hours at that! The convent I visited had a distinctive air in that they run a retirement home there. So the sisters are very attentive to the needs of those in their care. The residents (priests and laity) participate in the prayer life of the sisters as well, so I felt very connected and engergized visiting the chapel. (They also have a preschool on that same site, but I didn't have any experience of that.)


As I never really entered the cloister itself (just the sisters' chapel), I can't really say a lot. But it felt like a "home." It was clearly lived in, and clearly care for.


The Northern US Province has care for Alzheimer patients, and they also work with abused and abandoned children. But I have not read anything specifically stating "work with the mentally ill." That having been said, their apostolate does seem to change geographically.


I'm going to see some of them later this week, though. You can PM some questions if you want me to ask them.

My cousin (Sr. Mary Michael of Jesus Crucified) just made first vows with the DCJ Carmelites in St. Louis, MO (which is the one that runs the website you're looking at), so I'll do my best to answer the questions. I'll also send them to her if you'd like, or I could give you her address, I'm sure she'd write you back.
I myself have never really discerned there (because I don't feel called to the Carmel way of life), but I do love the Sisters.

Their convent in St. Louis is beautiful. The building is large, with the cloister on one side of the chapel and a nursing home on the other. Despite the fact that the nursing home side is large and busy, on the chapel side of everything is enveloped in a sense of peace and prayer. The chapel is rather large (the size of a small church), with a seperate back chapel behind the altar where the Sisters say the Divine Office. There is also a day-care on the property where some of the Sisters work.

The Sisters lead a relatively austere lifestyle. The individual Sisters (with a few exceptions) own no electronic devices beyond an alarm clock. They have a CD player and tv somewhere, but it's only used rarely and for very special recreations, and even then any movies are religious. The Sisters hold general silence during most meals and while working, unless speaking is necessary. I don't think they eat in between meals, and they do not eat meat on Wednesdays or Fridays (and maybe not Saturday, either... I'm not sure). Also, like most Carmels, their life is relatively structured.

I'm not sure if they work with the mentally ill, although I'm sure they have some Alzheimer's paitients...

I don't think my cousin sewed her own habit, but I could be wrong. I don't remember her telling me that she did, though...

All this being said, I am no expert. I encourage you to contact their St. Louis VD. She's a very holy woman and will put you on the right track to discernment, whether it is with them or not.
I'll pm you my cousin's address and the VD's contact info. I can also ask my cousin anything when I see her in 2 weeks, you'll just have to wait until then.

May God bless you as you continue to discern.

Peace in Christ,
Lauren

ive discerned with them they are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

Where have you been??? We haven't heard from you in forever!!!!

hiding out

hehehe i'm in school to be a teacher

but yes the carmelites dcj are very awesome indeed.

Thank you so much for all these replies!

Shortnun, when you see the sisters I would like you to ask the following, please:

1.) Would the sisters ever be likely to apply to a bishop for permission to form a community in England? My priest mentioned just the other day that the bishop of our diocese is desperate to have more religious here, and it would be like a sign from heaven if the Carmelites DCJ turned up on my doorstep! (Although it might possibly be too good to be true...)

2.) Do the sisters do any work with the mentally ill?

3.) Have they had many vocations from overseas? If you get the opportunity to talk to sisters who have left their home country to be a part of the community, please quiz them for me!

Zabbazooey, I'd also be really grateful for any experiences you can share.

I'm so sorry. I saw them last (Thursday) night. However.... I can give it a go based on what we talked about:

1) They are an international community, as I'm sure you know. So with a Motherhouse already in Europe it seems encouraging that a house could potentially be formed there.

2) Still haven't gotten a straight "yes" or "no" on that one.

3) Their VD here in St. Louis was born in Vietnam. But I don't know if she specifically immigrated to the States b/c she wanted to enter Carmel.

Guess maybe that wasn't a big help....

Hi Catholic Anonymous,
I could tell you a lot about this community, but I'll stick with letting you know that they absolutely do not deal with the mentally ill...and it happens to be a weak point in the community (they don't deal well with that issue in general). That's all I'll say about it. God bless your discernment.