Local members the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites gathered on Sunday, March 8, for their regular monthly meeting at the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Infant Jesus MMJ Hospitality Center in Cherry Hill. Two members – Eileen Lombardo, O.C.D.S. and Marilyn Mortelliti, O.C.D.S. – having completed their formation, made definitive promises.
Both women had prayed and studied with this community over seven years. Coincidently, they are both married to permanent deacons of the Camden Diocese.
The community has 22 active members and seven extended members. Although it does not formally solicit membership, at present there are three individuals attending meetings to prayerfully discern a vocation to Carmel.
The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites Community was formed in August 1993 and granted canonical establishment from Rome in August 2006. Carmelite Seculars, together with the First Order Friars and Nuns, are sons and daughters of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and of Saint Teresa of Jesus. Thus, Seculars share the same charism with the religious, each according to their own specific state of life.
At present, secular Carmelites number around 25, 000 members throughout the world, and there are 1,736 communities in 75 countries, according to the provincial website (www.ocdswashprov.org/).
The local community meets on the second Sunday of each month at the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Infant Jesus MMJ Hospitality Center on Kresson Road in Cherry Hill. Anyone interested in attending a meeting must first contact the community.
For added information, email Mary Ann (ServingHim.mar@gmail.com) or visit the provincial website https://www.ocdswashprov.org/
Mary Ann Richards, O.C.D.S., is a member of the local community of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites.
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