What is the OCDS?

“OCDS” stands for Ordo Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Saecularis, or the Order of Carmelites, Discalced Secular. We are the secular or lay branch of the order, which also includes friars and nuns. We follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ within the Catholic Church, according to the tradition and inspiration of the original hermits of Mount Carmel. With the friars and nuns we are called to a shared journey of encounter with God, through fidelity to the Gospel, the profession of promises, and dedication to prayer and the sacramental life of the Church. Inspired by St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross, we make a commitment to our Order to seek the face of God for the sake of the Church and the world.

”Discalced” means “shoeless,” and is a reference to the fact that our Order represents a reform of the original Carmelites. Also called “Teresian” Carmelites, our earliest members wore sandals as part of their practice of austerity.

Our shield symbolically expresses much about our history and charism. At the center of the shield is depicted a mountain, which represents both Mount Carmel, where our Order was born, and the soul’s union with God through prayer. The process toward this union was seen by St. John of the Cross as “climbing the mountain of the Lord,” as he wrote in Ascent to Mount Carmel. This theme is also brought to mind in Psalms 2:6, 3:4, and especially 24:3: “Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place?”

The cross on the mountain’s top represents the person of Jesus and His saving death for us; its position in the center of the shield symbolizes our need to center all that we are and that we do on the Person of Christ Himself.

There are three stars on the shield. The lower star, directly below the cross, represents Mary, the Mother of God and the Queen of Carmel. She is the heart of Carmel, and in her role as Mother of God is the one from whom Jesus came forth; the cross “rises” from her star. The two stars adjacent to the cross represent our two earliest patriarchs, St. Elijah and St. Elisha.

The crown with its twelve stars also represents Mary, our patroness, calling to mind St. John’s glorious vision of her in the book of Revelation (12:1). The arm holding the fiery sword represents Elijah’s great zeal for the Lord as he called down fire from heaven. The inscription contains Elijah’s words in 1 Kings 19:10: “With zeal I am zealous for the Lord God of hosts.”

So the Carmelite lives centered on Christ, under the Queenship of Mary, inspired with the zeal of Elijah and Elisha.

For more information about the OCDS:                                      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_Order_of_Discalced_Carmelites