Hidden Apostolate

“I have come to Carmel to save souls, and especially to pray for priests.”

—St Therese

“Over the centuries, the experience of these sisters, centred on the Lord as their first and only love, has brought forth abundant fruits of holiness and mission. How much has the apostolate been enriched by the prayers and sacrifices radiating from monasteries! And how great is the joy and prophecy proclaimed to the world by the silence of the cloister!”

—Pope Francis

 The Carmelite apostolate is a purely contemplative one: a hidden life of prayer and sacrifice. In this regard, Carmelites follow in the footsteps of their spiritual father, the Prophet Elijah, who exemplifies both a profound contemplative spirit, encountering God in silence on the mountain in the Lord’s presence, and an intense apostolic zeal, which inspired him to defend the true and only God of Israel, against the false prophets of Baal.

One who enters Carmel is athirst for God; she longs for Him with every fibre of her being. But she also knows an increasing desire to help the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, her Beloved. Perhaps no one has expressed this more simply and beautifully in more recent times than St Therese of the Child Jesus, Universal Patroness of the Missions. 

This hidden apostolate of the Discalced Carmelite nuns is to offer prayers and sacrifices for the intentions of all humanity. People are very welcome to contact us for prayers for their special intentions, spiritual and temporal, in person or by phone, letter or email. All prayer requests are treated as confidential and are held before the Lord through the intercession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In accord with Holy Mother St Teresa’s desire, Carmelites have a particular desire to pray for the Church, the Holy Father and his intentions, for missionaries, for priests, and for the New Evangelisation. 

The Church herself also recognizes the need for the contemplative life to support all her active apostolic activities: 

“Whoever enters Carmel is not lost to her own but is theirs fully for the first time. It is our vocation to stand before God for all.”

—St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

“The Church is deeply aware and, without hesitation she forcefully proclaims, that there is an intimate connection between prayer and the spreading of the Kingdom of God, between prayer and the conversion of hearts, between prayer and the fruitful reception of the saving and uplifting Gospel message.”

—St John Paul II

“Dear contemplative sisters, without you what would the Church be like, or those living on the fringes of humanity and ministering in the outposts of evangelization? The Church greatly esteems your life of complete self-giving. The Church counts on your prayers and on your self-sacrifice to bring today’s men and women to the good news of the Gospel. The Church needs you!”

—Pope Francis