On 21st November the Carmelite Secular Institute known as The Leaven (The Institute of Our Lady of Mount Carmel) has celebrated its Diamond Jubilee at Aylesford Priory in Kent, Great Britain. Aylesford is the spiritual home of The Leaven, which was originally established there as a Lay community when the friars returned to their ancient priory in November 1949.
Today the Institute is made up of single women who wish to live a consecrated life in their own homes and workplaces. Dozens of members are found across Britain, sharing their experience of Carmel's rich spirituality with people of all walks of life. The celebration in Aylesford is an opportunity to look back over the past 60 years and thank God for all that the Holy Spirit has done in the Church and in the World through the presence of these consecrated Lay Carmelites.
The leader of The Leaven, Rosemary Kinman, said: "The Leaven's story is one of courage, difficulties, the daring to change amidst opposition, of prayer and discernment, and above all a great love of Carmel. Doubtless the future will hold many challenges for us. Consecrated life in any form is not easy, and those of us called to such a life in The Leaven need to go forth valiantly as the founder members did, reading the signs of the times, and building up God's kingdom by adapting ourselves when it is necessary and prudent."
For more information about The Leaven 

please visit www.theleaven.org.uk 

and the Lay Carmel section of www.carmelite.org.

Acknowledging the moral imperative to protect the environment, members of the Carmelite NGO will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark to participate in the global event “The United Nations Climate Change Conference” December 7 – 18, 2009. There amidst the gathering of world leaders, scientists and other non-governmental organizations, members of the Carmelite NGO will invite those present to reflect and pray on our shared responsibility as care takers of creation. 
“Climate change is a serious concern and an inescapable responsibility for each member of society without exception,” said Sister Jane Remson, O.Carm., main representative of the Carmelite NGO to the United Nations. Caring for the earth requires that all governments act collectively to protect the environment, safeguard precious resources and respect the dignity and worth of all creation. No nation alone can solve the enormous problems associated with climate change; however, by acting together and overcoming self-interest attitudes towards consumption and exploitation of natural resources, we can reverse the adverse consequences of climate change. Sister Remson reiterated the words of Pope Benedict XVI when he said, “The natural environment is given by God to everyone, and so our use of it entails a personal responsibility towards humanity as a whole, particularly towards the poor and towards future generations.” 
The Carmelite NGO will sponsor “A Time of Prayer ~ The Natural World, Manifestation and Experience of the Sacred: A Further Reflection to Climate Change” each day during the Conference in Copenhagen. Everyone is invited to download a copy of “A Time of Prayer” from www.carmelitengo.org

This Commissariat was only recently erected under this title. But it has inherited a tradition which goes back to 1524 when the Naples convent of Carmine Maggiore, even though remaining a community of the Neapolitan Province, nevertheless was withdrawn from that Province's jurisdiction and placed immediately under the Prior General. With the passage of time, this same convent acquired several granges (by 1617 it owned fifteen). In 1631 the reform of Santa Maria de Vita was born from this convent and was eventually augmented by brothers coming from the other convents thus the reform was erected into a Province in 1660. In the year 1725 the "Province of Naples" was erected and it was composed of the eleven convents of Carmine Maggiore, five convents from the Neapolitan Province and the convent of Santa Maria di Monte Santo. When, because of civil strife, this Province disappeared, the convents of Carmine Maggiore were again placed under the immediate jurisdiction of the Prior General, except for the years 1910 to 1920 when they formed part of the Neapolitan Province.

In 1947 the Commissariat "La Vergine Bruna" was erected from the convent of Carmine Maggiore and two other convents. At present the Commissariat is forming Tanzanian candidates in Naples for a future Carmelite foundation in their country. The General Commissariat is made up of about 20 religious.

For further information: General Commissariat of "La Vergine Bruna"

In 1251 some religious from Mount Carmel, with the help of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, founded a convent in the city of Moura. In 1397 Blessed Nuño Alves Pereira, the Sargent of Artillery, gave the Carmelites, whom he got to know and admire during his campaigns, a magnificent convent and church which he had built in Lisbon in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He asked to be received as a lay brother in that same convent. In 1493 the Province of Lusitania (Portugal) was established. In the XVI century the Province was radically reorganised by the Provincial, Fr. Baltasar Limpo, who founded some convents, among them the College in Coimbra (1536), and left a deep spiritual impression on the Province. The first Carmelite friars who founded the Brazilian Carmel left Portugal in 1580. The Province developed materially and spiritually in the XVII-XVIII centuries, until the time of the earthquake of 1755 which caused great damage. The Province was suppressed in 1834, when all the religious Orders in Portugal disappeared.

The work of restoring Carmel in Portugal in 1930 was undertaken with the help of the Province of Betica, which found a convent in Lisbon (S. Quiteria). In 1949 the Province of Rio de Janeiro also collaborated in this restoration, and in 1954 took over from the Province of Betica, and, a little later, created the Commissariat of Portugal. In 1949 the house in Miranda del Duero was founded (closed in 1951 because the seminary was transferred to Sameiro). Other foundations were Falperra (1954, closed twenty years later), Fatima (1957), Felgueiras (1959), Moura (1963, closed in 1978), Beja (1968), Loures and Lisbon (1982). The Commissariat has also a residence in Ervidel.

On 8 December 1992, the Provincial Commissariat of Portugal became a General Commissariat by decree of the General Council of the Order. At present it has about 30 religious working in Portugal.

For further information: General Commissariat of Portugal

The Carmelite Province of Blessed Titus Brandsma of the Philippines was canonically erected on July 16, 2013 thru  a Decree of Canonical Erection passed and approved by the Most Rev. Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., the Prior General of the Order with his Council,  dated and signed on March 25, 2013 at the Order’s General Curia in Rome.

The newly erected Province was founded by the Dutch Carmelites as they established its first mission community in Escalante, Negros Occidental in response to the invitation of Bishop Epifanio Surban of Dumaguete in 1957.  March 16, 1958 marks the founding day of Philippine Carmel with its founders: Fr. Richard Vissers, O.Carm. (Prior), Fr. Wirenfried Viesters, O.Carm., Fr. Theodulf Vrakking, O.Carm. from the Dutch Carmel Province; and Fr. Fidelis Limcaco, O.Carm., a Filipino and member of the PCM Province joined the pioneering community.  From then on, the Order continues to grow and expanded in the different dioceses of the country and got involved in various ministries and programs of the Church. 

Presently, the Province has five canonically erected houses:  Mount Carmel Monastery of Escalante, in Negros Occidental (1958), Carmelite Monastery of Sts. Elijah and Elisha in Agusan del Sur (1963), Manila Carmel of St. Teresa of Avila (1967), Spring of Carmel Community in Quezon City (1987), Cebu Carmel of San Alberto in Cebu City (1994).  The  Manila Carmel of St. John of the Cross (2008) with ad experimentum status  and Carmel of St. Elijah Formation community are both  in Quezon City; and St. Albert Friary, a mission community (2008) in Papua New Guinea are not canonically erected.

The Order is involved in different pastoral ministries of the Church in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea as the Carmelites administer seven parishes and one mission station in four dioceses; two colleges and two high schools in two dioceses; three centers of spirituality and hermitages, an academic institute of spirituality and media ministry based in Manila.  The Carmelites are also involved in teaching and retreat ministry, youth ministry, JPIC and social action ministry, chaplaincy and assistance to the Carmelite Family in the different parts of the country. The Filipino Carmelites administer two parishes with its mission stations in the Diocese of Bereina and Archdiocese of Port of Moresby in Papa New Guinea aside from other diocesan appointments and tasks in formation, pastoral, communication and youth ministries.

The canonical erection of the Philippine Province is a gift to share and celebrate as the seed of Carmel which was planted in 1958 has grown fully into a fruit- bearing tree.  Carmel in the Philippines has grown in age and grace through the years in the heart of Philippine Church and society.  A holy mass was celebrated on the occasion of the canonical erection and the celebration of the solemnity of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16, 2013, held at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral of the Diocese of Cubao in New Manila, Quezon City.

We thank the Prior General and Council, our mother province—the Dutch Carmel Province, the Carmelite Family all over the world—the different provinces, commissaries and communities who have been supporting Carmel in the Philippines  in the past until the present.  We thank all our lay and religious partners in the missions who in the last 55 years of Philippine Carmel’s presence and mission in the country had always been there with us and for us. The Philippine Province is the 20th province of the Order of Carmelites, and has entrusted herself under the tutelage of Blessed Titus Brandsma and the patronage of Inahan sa Carmen sa Escalante.

The Lord has been so good to us as “his mercy is without end for his love endures forever.”  The Carmelite Province of Blessed Titus Brandsma of the Philippines forever “sings the greatness of the Lord for he has done great things for us, thus holy is His name.”  Now, as a newly erected province of the Order, with resolve we affirm what the Prophet Elijah declared, truly “we are zealous to the Lord, the God of hosts.”

Website: The Carmelite Provice of Blessed Titus Brandsma of the Philippines