The contemplative nuns of the Teresian Carmel were founded in Spain in the 16th century by St. Teresa of Avila. This branch of the Carmelite Reform Movement has spread throughout the world.

"Your monasteries are spread throughout the world like oases of prayer and of special consecration to God in the silence of the cloister...Give testimony to the beauty and missionary fruitfulness of your hidden life with Christ in God...show the value of the prayer of intercession and of silent immolation around the Eucharist.."
( John Paul 11 "To the Discalced Carmelite Nuns upon the approval of their Fundamental Legislation" )

In Religious Consecration the aspects of dedication and mission are intimately united. In Carmel, through the vow of consecrated Chastity we witness to God as Absolute and to that love which always gives first place to Christ our Divine Spouse who gave His life for us. For St. Teresa of Avila, Jesus is absolute Beauty. The purpose of consecrating oneself to God by the vow of Chastity is to grow in love with God and neighbor.

Fraternal communion in the Teresian community places its emphasis on "small colleges of Christ"...small families in which all are evangelically equal, relations are openly sincere, joys and sorrows are shared and the members are committed to one another as sisters for their entire lives. "All must be friends, all must love one another, all must be cherished and all must help one another to create a joyful atmosphere." ( St. Teresa of Avila ) Structures and rhythms for prayer, recreation, asceticism, work, silence, the life of prayer as a lived apostolate...all these elements making up the Carmelite charism are our specific style of presence and commitment in the Church and in the world.

One of the special features in the Charism of the Teresian Carmel contemplative nuns is our relationship...our connectedness with the world through prayer. " 'When you prayer, go into your room, shut the door and pray to your Father who is in that secret place and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.' ( Mt. 6:6 ) St. Teresa's reform rests on this conviction: that the person who enters within, to be with the King is lifting up the world. Carmel is for the world...the Church...and people and Carmelites are for them. Carmel – which looks hidden, apart, privatized, is in fact the point of great connectedness...with all who are far away, or suffering, or in need...with those whose lives are being destroyed and there seems to be no way of reaching them – with those in impossible situations and there are no words to help them. Carmel holds the promise of a hidden access to the other's heart. Carmel can meet others in the inner room of prayer where Christ dwells, hold them there and place them under the loving, healing and saving glance of Christ." ( Fr. Ian Matthew O.C.D. ) Therefore, faithful to Our Holy Mother St. Teresa who died saying "I am happy to die a daughter of the Church", our zeal embraces:

• the urgent needs of the Church
• the needs of a world bent on destroying itself through nuclear power
• the needs of people/society harassed by insecurity and fear.

For this to be the reality that it is, the nuns practice what is called Enclosure. This simply means that going out of the monastery is limited to what is strictly necessary like medical treatment etc. There is no participation in outside social events and only rarely are forms of media such as television or radio made use of. Hidden? Yes. Apart? Yes but our vocation holds us at the very heart of the world as already seen. It is a life of service for others. "In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be Love." ( St. Therese )