The foundation of the Carmelite Life

Welcome to the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Our community was founded on May 13, 1985.

We follow the Rule of Carmel and the teachings of the Carmelite saints. OCDS members are recognized as an integral part of the entire Carmelite family of friars and nuns. Secular Carmelites come from all walks of life; men and women; married and single; young and old. Each one hears the Word of God and responds to God's call to "meditate on the Lord's law, day and night."

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The principles of the Rule of St. Albert, written for the hermits on Mount Carmel in the 13th century, guide Carmelite life today (from "Constitutions of the Secular Order of the Teresian Carmel" 2003):

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• Living in allegiance to Jesus Christ

• Being diligent in meditating on the law of the Lord

• Giving time to spiritual reading

• Participating in the liturgy of the church, both the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours 

• Arming themselves with the practice of the virtues

• Seeking interior silence and solitude

• Using prudent discretion in all that they do

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