We, the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, embrace the religious life in friendship and service of Jesus Christ, in imitation of and under the patronage of the Virgin Mary, whose life of faith, simplicity and intimate union with Jesus and his mission, constitute for us the interior model. Our vocation aspires to union with God by the way of contemplation and apostolic zeal indissolubly united, and to the formation of a fraternal community as a sign of communion in the world. Prayer, which is a life of prayer and a prayer of life, is nourished by listening to the Word of God and the liturgy and with “the joys and hopes, sorrows and anxieties” of the Church and of humanity. It is a way of life of faith, hope and love. Ours is a religious family in the church that prays and teaches others how to pray. This is what our Foundress St. Teresa of Jesus has done through her life and writings. She is the fountain of our Spiritual Charism.

However, Charism is a dynamic reality capable of growing and becoming enriched in the course of history. Numerous Carmelites have enriched it with their teachings and initiatives, like St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux, Blessed Francisco Palau, St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein), Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity and others. Inspired and compelled by the Gospel and the Teresian impulse they all have multiplied the interior mansions and have expanded the horizons of Carmel. It is in their footsteps that we wish to follow and to their protection that the Carmel in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh would like to fly.