We received the following request from the prioress of the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of the Infant of Prague, located in Traverse City, Michigan, which we gladly pass on to our readers.
“Our cloistered community of Discalced Carmelite Nuns is searching for a chaplain. Our current chaplain is going on sabbatical in July, and our so-far-unsuccessful search is becoming urgent. The type of priest we are looking for can perhaps be understood best by viewing this page on our website:
https://carmeloftraversecity.org/liturgy-parent/foretaste-of-heaven-sacred-liturgy/
At present we must rely on visiting priests to occasionally celebrate the Extraordinary Form for us. We hope to increase the number of EF Masses...”
The sisters have also asked for prayers that they may be able to connect with the right priest to help them in this essential part of their daily prayer life. (Please feel free to share this post however you can to spread the word.) All the monastery’s contact information is available on this page:
https://carmeloftraversecity.org/more/contact-information-2/
From the sisters website linked above:
“Prayer is the heart of Carmelite life, and the chapel is the heart of a Carmelite monastery. The nuns adore Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist as the summit and source of our entire consecrated life during the two hours of mental prayer, the Divine Office, Rosary and other exercises of piety each day. In Carmel, the sacred liturgy is characterized by simplicity to allow more time for private prayer in accord with our hermit spirit. The Divine Office is usually recited on one tone, with Gregorian chant reserved for Sundays and feast days.
After our foundress Mother Teresa Margaret died, one of her cherished wishes began to be fulfilled: the restoration of Latin as our primary liturgical language. We discovered that after the vernacular languages had been approved for the liturgy, Blessed Pope Paul VI had written to all the monastic and mendicant communities begging them not to give up Latin in the Divine Office. We began praying that Our Lord would make His will clear to us and remove any obstacles, and very soon another monastery offered us their post-Vatican II Latin breviaries and chant texts, and a retired professor volunteered to teach us Latin at various proficiency levels! We began the gradual transition in Advent 2014, and as our knowledge of Latin increases, we find ‘our hearts burning within us’ as the depths of Scripture and liturgical texts open up to us.
By our fidelity to the mind of the Church during past years of liturgical upheaval, our monastery became known as an oasis of reverent liturgy, Gregorian chant, and other welcome devotions like Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and May processions, and has become a seedbed of priestly and religious vocations.
Our daily Mass is celebrated ad orientem, with our chaplain and the people together facing the Cross, and Holy Communion is received at the altar rail. On some Mondays, Mass is celebrated in the Extraordinary Form. We are steadily adding more Latin chant to the celebration of Mass, and we welcome new members who share our love for our Catholic liturgical heritage.”
“Our cloistered community of Discalced Carmelite Nuns is searching for a chaplain. Our current chaplain is going on sabbatical in July, and our so-far-unsuccessful search is becoming urgent. The type of priest we are looking for can perhaps be understood best by viewing this page on our website:
https://carmeloftraversecity.org/liturgy-parent/foretaste-of-heaven-sacred-liturgy/
At present we must rely on visiting priests to occasionally celebrate the Extraordinary Form for us. We hope to increase the number of EF Masses...”
The sisters have also asked for prayers that they may be able to connect with the right priest to help them in this essential part of their daily prayer life. (Please feel free to share this post however you can to spread the word.) All the monastery’s contact information is available on this page:
https://carmeloftraversecity.org/more/contact-information-2/
From the sisters website linked above:
“Prayer is the heart of Carmelite life, and the chapel is the heart of a Carmelite monastery. The nuns adore Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist as the summit and source of our entire consecrated life during the two hours of mental prayer, the Divine Office, Rosary and other exercises of piety each day. In Carmel, the sacred liturgy is characterized by simplicity to allow more time for private prayer in accord with our hermit spirit. The Divine Office is usually recited on one tone, with Gregorian chant reserved for Sundays and feast days.
After our foundress Mother Teresa Margaret died, one of her cherished wishes began to be fulfilled: the restoration of Latin as our primary liturgical language. We discovered that after the vernacular languages had been approved for the liturgy, Blessed Pope Paul VI had written to all the monastic and mendicant communities begging them not to give up Latin in the Divine Office. We began praying that Our Lord would make His will clear to us and remove any obstacles, and very soon another monastery offered us their post-Vatican II Latin breviaries and chant texts, and a retired professor volunteered to teach us Latin at various proficiency levels! We began the gradual transition in Advent 2014, and as our knowledge of Latin increases, we find ‘our hearts burning within us’ as the depths of Scripture and liturgical texts open up to us.
By our fidelity to the mind of the Church during past years of liturgical upheaval, our monastery became known as an oasis of reverent liturgy, Gregorian chant, and other welcome devotions like Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and May processions, and has become a seedbed of priestly and religious vocations.
Our daily Mass is celebrated ad orientem, with our chaplain and the people together facing the Cross, and Holy Communion is received at the altar rail. On some Mondays, Mass is celebrated in the Extraordinary Form. We are steadily adding more Latin chant to the celebration of Mass, and we welcome new members who share our love for our Catholic liturgical heritage.”
