Some of our Carmelite Saints
"How many saints we have in heaven who have worn this holy habit! Let us adopt the holy presumption that with the Lord's help we will be like them. "
~St. Teresa of Avila, The Foundations
St. Elijah
Feast Day: July 20th
The Spiritual Father of the Carmelites, we take for our motto his exclamation
“With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts” (1 Kings 19:14). He is our model of the double spirit of action and contemplation, the latter as seen by his encounter with God on Mount Horeb in the still small voice, the tiny whispering breeze”
– 1 Kings 19:12
St. Teresa of Avila
Doctor of the Church – Feast Day: October 15th
Also known as St. Teresa of Jesus (or, to us Discalced Carmelites, simply Holy Mother), St. Teresa of Avila is a Spanish Mystic and Doctor of the Church. She is the Reformer of the Ancient Order of Carmel and the Founder of the Discalced Carmelites. To this day she teaches her daughters and sons to be friends of God through prayer by humility, detachment, and love in the Way of Perfection and entering the Interior Castle of their souls.
St. John of the Cross
Doctor of the Church – Feast Day: December 14th
Spanish Mystic and Doctor of the Church, St. John of the Cross was hand-picked by St. Teresa to help her in the work of reform. He learned the charism from her and founded the first house for Discalced Friars. He was persecuted and imprisoned for “rebellion,” at which time he wrote some of his most beautiful poetry and important works. He was a Spiritual Director for the nuns and teaches us about the dark nights of purification on our path of union with God through Love.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Doctor of the Church – Feast Day: October 1st
In Carmel she took the title of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. She was Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church and the Co-Patron of the Missions. She teaches us about the Little Way of confidence and love. She embodies Holy Mother’s ideal of apostolic zeal for the salvation of souls, and predicted her own mission of heavenly intercession for the Church Militant.
St. Teresa of the Andes
Feast Day: July 13th
The holiness of her life shone out in the everyday occurrences, wherever she found herself: at home, in college, with friends, the people she stayed with on holidays. To all, with apostolic zeal, she spoke of God and gave assistance. She was young like her friends, but they knew she was different. They took her as a model, seeking her support and advice. All the pains that are part of living, Juanita felt keenly, and the happiness she enjoyed deeply, all in God.
Her life as a nun lasted only eleven months. Her community was quick to discover the hand of God in her past life. The young novice found in the Carmelite way of life the full and efficient channel for spreading the torrent of life that she wanted to give to the Church of Christ. The Order of the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel fulfilled the desires of Juanita. It was proof to her that God’s mother, whom she had loved from infancy, had drawn her to be part of it.
St. Teresa of Jesus de los Andes is the first Chilean to be declared a Saint and the first Discalced Carmelite Nun to become a Saint outside the boundaries of Europe.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
Feast Day: August 9th
Born into a Jewish family and converted from atheism, the German philosopher Edith Stein received the name Teresia Benedicta of the Cross in Carmel. She was martyred with her sister in the gas chamber at Auschwitz. The last words she spoke upon her arrest by the Gestapo were “Come Rosa, we go for our people.”
The Martyrs of Compiègne
Feast Day: July 17th
The 16 Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne were guillotined during the French Revolution and serve as heros for Religious Liberty.