Denver Catholic

8 OCTOBER 14-27, 2017 | DENVER CATHOLIC Around the Archdiocese Independent & Assisted Living Nursing • Medicare Rehabilitation In-Home Care • Out-Patient Therapy There is a place that's just waiting for you to experience senior living as it should be — St. Andrew's Village. Acting your age is not a requirement. Acting how you feel is always encouraged! Whether splashing in the pool, enjoying our Happiest Hour with friends and neighbors, or an evening of fine dining where our staff knows your favorite drink, you'll feel years younger and enjoy every minute of it. Ask about a Priority Reservation. Call 303.695.8100 for lunch and a visit! Click StAndrewsVillage.net Feeling Young at Heart? We know just the place. . . EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY The forgotten vocation of secular orders BY THERESE BUSSEN T here are plenty of religious orders: Dominicans, Franciscans, Salesians, Jesuits, Carmelites — but did you know about secular orders? Secular orders, or third orders, are branches of religious orders for lay men and women who are either single or married who adopt the charisms of the order into their daily lives and have a community. And in Denver, the secular Carmelite order is alive and well. The community here began over 25 years ago, and when current director of formation, Marian Gilmore, met them, there were only six people who met in the house of one of the members. "I was completely in love with the whole idea of meditation, contempla- tion and poverty of spirit," Gilmore said. "It was everything I had been looking for." Gilmore joined the community as an aspirant, the fi rst step of the pro- cess, and the community continued to grow over the years until it spread into di• erent branches, in addition to the near 70-member Denver base, which is known as the "Community of the Holy Spirit": Fort Collins, Colorado Springs and Cheyenne, WY. The Denver com- munity is also canonically approved. It was this thriving Denver community that now-president, Ida Rubin, discovered when she moved to Denver in 2004. "I have been a secular Carmelite since 1964. I wanted a home that was a clear path to the Catholic Church," Rubin said. "[The Carmelites] are an extended family with each other. I've been in fi ve communities: Washing- ton, California, and Denver. We speak a language to each other which is fra- ternal, and we have provincial guide- lines, constitutions and formation, so it's the same no matter where you go. I've always been welcomed into the community as a member of the family." WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? If you're not living in a religious order, what does living the secular order look like for lay members? Members of the community meet once monthly for formation and Mass together. Those just joining do so as aspirants. According to Gilmore, aspi- rants begin studying the Way of Perfec- tion after acceptance. If free of impedi- ments (i.e., not baptized, not married in the Church, etc.) and after completing the fi rst year, they have an interview with the council and are accepted to the second year, where they study the Living Flame of Love. After completing that year, they make temporary vows. Following the temporary vows, their formation continues by studying various saints and works and is split into various stages. In formation two, year one, they start studying Carmelite saints, begin- ning with St. Therese of Lisieux; forma- tion two, year two studies St. Teresa of Avila; formation two, year three studies St. John of the Cross. After completing these introductory years for six years, then the defi nitive vows are made. Daily life also looks more intentional for a secular Carmelite, and they ascribe to it as much as their state in life allows: They pray the Liturgy of the Hours every morning and evening, attend daily Mass as much as they're able, pray a daily rosary, and try to make space for one hour of meditation a day. "When I came to Carmel, I had three kids under fi ve… I needed a clear path and I signed up," Rubin said. "I need structure in my life, and it's given me that. There have been many blessings. All through my life, Carmel has been there for me." WHAT DOES A VOCATION LOOK LIKE? It looks di• erent for everyone, Rubin said, but there are always similar traits. "The people that come to us express that they were looking for something in their spiritual life, and they were missing something but they didn't know what it was," Rubin explained. "And sometimes someone in the parish invited them, or someone in their life is a Carmelite priest or nun. It's through an action of the Holy Spirit, or an encounter with another Carmelite." For council member David Strat- man, he knew God was calling him to something, but he wasn't sure what it was. On his own, he had felt called to pray more and attend daily Mass; even- tually, he started praying the Liturgy of the Hours. But he was still struggling with making progress in prayer. How the Secular Carmelites in Denver are a path to heaven for one another

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