Wednesday May 8th saw the rebirth of the Secular Order in Cospicua. Brother Emmanuel Aquilina took the initiative to recall the former members of the said Secular Order. He launched anew the Secular Oredr that has been dormant for some years.
The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, officially Ordo Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Saecularis (OCDS), and formerly the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and of the Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Jesus, is a religious association, composed primarily of lay persons and also accepted secular clergy.
Professing promises to strive to live evangelical perfection in the spirit of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, obedience, and of the beatitudes, they live what is described as a “fidelity to contemplative prayer with the spirit of detachment it entails”.
Commonly known as Secular Carmelites, they are an integral part of the Discalced Carmelite Order (OCD), juridically dependent upon the Discalced Carmelite Friars, and in “fraternal communion” with them and the cloistered Nuns of the Order. They share the same charism with the Friars and Nuns according to their particular state of life.
Pope John Paul II was a member of the Order and wearer of the Carmelite Scapular
For a more thorough explanation see http://www.ocd.pcn.net/ocds_den.htm
From now on they will be meeting every second Wednesday of the month.