The Litton Carmel Observes the original Constitutions of the Discalced Nuns of the Order of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel as written by St Teresa of Avila and renewed by the Holy See in 1990 with the most minor and necessary adaptations possible. The nuns wear the complete traditional religious habit as given by St. Teresa in her Constitutions.
“The ancient spiritual tradition of the Church, taken up by the Second Vatican Council, explicitly connects the contemplative life to the prayer of Jesus “on the mountain,” or solitary place. The Holy Spirit, Who led Jesus into the desert, invites the nun to share the solitude of Christ Jesus, Who, with the eternal Spirit, offered Himself to the Father. The solitary cell, the closed cloister, is the place where the nun, Bride of the Incarnate Word, lives wholly concentrated with Christ in God. The cloister becomes the fulfillment of His eternal desire to welcome the creature into the mystery of intimacy with the Word. To the gift of Christ the Bridegroom, Who on the cross offered His body unreservedly, the nun responds in like terms, offering herself with Jesus Christ to the Father and cooperating with Him in the work of Redemption.” (Verbi Sponsa)
O.C.D.S. Community of The Holy Spirit, Denver 