A Carmelite Day
Carmelite life is a communion with God from morning to evening, and from evening to morning.
– St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
Although Carmel has always been regarded as one of the strictest Religious Orders of the Church, its spirit is one of “love and joy in self-sacrifice,” of silence and solitude, liturgical and silent prayer, penance, and manual labor.
From early rising until retirement late at night, the day is interspersed with a continuous interchange of spiritual exercises: recitation of the Divine Office, Holy Mass, mental prayer and spiritual reading, with manual labor and two one-hour periods of recreation during which they are employed in some kind of useful occupation. Manual labor is diversified and includes about every kind of duty, from baking Altar Breads, fine sacristy work, painting crucifixes and statues, religious art work–to the vigorous use of the hammer and saw, garden fork and hoe, the hum of sewing machines, typewriters, mops and other implements of toil.
A dull, monotonous day in Carmel is practically unknown, as the sustained regiment of prayer and work, far from becoming wearisome, strengthens, and gives stability to the soul. It is all “love and joy in self- sacrifice.”
My time is not my own. I gave away everything I had. Even my own will! – St. Teresa of the Andes
Our daily schedule at the Pleasant Mount Carmel:
5:00 AM – Clappers are sounded to awaken the sisters for prayer
5:30 AM – Lauds is recited in choir, followed by an hour of mental prayer
7:00 AM – The hour of Prime is recited followed by the Holy Rosary
7:30 AM – The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and thanksgiving
8:15 AM – The hour of Terce is recited, followed by a light breakfast.
9:00 AM – Manual Labor: the sisters work in solitude in the cells or offices of the monastery
11:15 AM – The hour of Sext is recited in the Choir, followed by an examen of conscience
11:30 AM – Dinner in the refectory
1:00 PM – Recreation
2:00 PM – The hour of None is recited followed by spiritual reading in the cell.
3:00 PM – The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is recited followed by manual labor
5:00 PM – Vespers is recited in the choir followed by an hour of mental prayer.
6:15 PM – Supper (or collation during the Fast from September 14 until Easter Sunday)
7:30 PM – Recreation
8:30 PM – Compline is recited, followed by the Litany of Loretto
8:45 PM – Free time in the cells. The Great Silence begins after Compline.
9:30 PM – Matins is recited, followed by the commemorations of the Order. The Gospel of the following day is read to prepare for the morning’s meditation.
10:30 PM – The sisters retire to their cells, receive the night blessing, and rest in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
*On Sundays and Solemnities, Lauds and Vespers are solemnly chanted and the entire Divine Office is recited daily in Latin in the traditional Roman Rite, as the Second Vatican Council & Summorum Pontificum recommends, that the rich heritage of the Latin language and the treasury of Gregorian Chant may be preserved. Every Sunday our conventual Mass is celebrated in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
A Carmelite is a sister to priests…she sacrifices herself for priests: and that is what moved me to become a Carmelite.
– St. Teresa of the Andes
From the rising of the sun to its setting, let the name of the Lord be praised!
Psalm 113:3