St. Teresa of Jesus placed prayer as the foundation and basic exercises of her religious family. To fulfill then our calling as members of the Teresian Carmel, we need to strive to make our prayers penetrate our whole existence, in order to walk in the presence of the living God. This we do through our constant exercise of the cardinal virtues, faith, hope and love.
We are called upon to make our life a prayer in itself. Integrating our life's experiences with our experiences of God, that allows us to become contemplatives in prayer as we fulfill our mission in life.
In our prayers, we are nourished by His Word, making our dialogue in such manner that "we speak to Him as we pray" and "hear His voice when we read His Divine Word."
Besides our personal contemplation, listening to the Word should also encourage us a form of contemplation that leads us to share our own personal experience with God in our own Community. And together we seek to discern God's way, maintaining a permanent energy of conversion and renewed hope. Allowing us to see through events and Discover God's presence in everything.
Our daily practice of mental prayer is our way of being with God and strengthening our relationship with Him.
With our promise of living a life of evangelical self denial, we accept from the viewpoint of of the Cardinal Virtues, the work and suffering of each day, our family worries, the limitations and uncertainty of our human life, our sicknesses, our lack of understanding and all that makes up the fabric of our earthly existence.
With this acceptance, we strive hard to make these material as we dialogue with God, allowing us to grow in an attitude of praise and gratitude, which strengthens our conviction of living truly, simply, freely, humbly and in complete confidence to the Lord.
Resource:
- OCDS Constitution
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