Carmelite Prayer

Prayers of the Carmelite Family

Prayer of the Carmelite Family

composed in 2003 to celebrate the 550th anniversary of the papal bull 'Cum Nulla'

Tender-hearted God,

renew the gift of the Holy Spirit within the Carmelite Family

as we seek to live following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

Teach us, like Mary, to contemplate your wisdom.

Fill us, like Elijah, with zeal for your glory.

Inspire us, like Simon Stock, to ponder your will in times of change.

Like Teresa, John, Thérèse and Titus,

may we live always in your presence,

and make us prophets of your Kingdom.

May our lives of prayer, community, and service

be a sign to the world that God lives, in whose presence we stand.

This grace we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Tender-hearted God,
through Saint Albert of Jerusalem
you assembled the holy hermits of Mount Carmel
as a family of pilgrim people,
seeking to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ.
Like them, inspire us to imitate the first Christians of Jerusalem,
that we may build your kingdom, the heavenly Jerusalem.
Like them, turn our hearts from conflict with others
to the spiritual fight against all that distracts us from you.
Like them, help us to draw water from the spring of Elijah,
and to live deeply our baptismal calling.
With Mary, we commit to standing alongside those who are suffering.
Help us to find you alone in the cell of our hearts,
and lead us through solitude into community.
Let our prayer inspire our service of others,
and our service show us our need for prayer.
May our silent contemplation bear fruit,
and proclaim that God lives in whose presence we stand.
Use our poverty, chastity, and obedience to be Good News for others.
We thank you for our diversity, united by a common vision.
We thank you for sustaining, reforming and transforming us over centuries,
for the benefit of the Church and the World.
We thank you for the saints, those living and those gone before,            who have shown us an ancient path to the Mountain that is Christ.
May all we do be done in your Word.
This we ask, in Jesus’ name. Amen.