Church of San Niccolò al Carmine

Rule of Life

Initially the hermits of Mount Caramel led an exclusively contemplative existence, devoting themselves to prayer and ascetic research of God, but once they reached Europe and had become mendicant friars (like the Dominicans and Franciscans), after a period of adaptation, they began to operate within the Christian community in city suburbs. Living among the people, the main activities of the Carmelites were confession, evangelization -that is the presentation of the truth in the Gospel - and preaching to the faithful. The people of God flocked in large crowds to listen to the fascinating Carmelite sermons, through which the friars were able to convey the beauty of the Gospel and of the word of Jesus with simplicity and spontaneity.
In the secluded areas of the convent instead, the Carmelites have always lived a life of contemplation, following the original requirements of the Carmelite Rule, written by Saint Albert in 1210. Still today it provides for moments in which the friar should seek solitude, meditation on the Word of God, prayer, dialogue and fraternal correction. The Carmelites observe both physical asceticism (moderation in food, prohibition of meat on certain days and chastity) and spiritual asceticism (spiritual struggle, work and silence). They do not own property, but practice the communion of goods and individual poverty. They live in priories, in separate, modest cells placed close together. They share some moments in common with their brothers, such as the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours, work activities and the care of elderly and sick people. The community is headed by a Prior, who is elected to be the friars’ spiritual guide. Everyone respects this figure as he is the representative of Christ in the priory’s community .
Currently the Carmelite friars are involved in worldwide evangelization, in the custody of spiritual centres, in the management of schools and parishes, in missionary activities and in defending human dignity, especially among the poor, the outcasts and the suffering.