a praying community at the service of all God's people

OUR COMMUNITY MEETINGS
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
LEEDS CARMELITE SPIRITUALITY GROUP
Leeds Carmelite Spirituality Group provides a friendly
and informal community for those wishing to
experience the riches of Carmel. Our monthly
meetings normally bring together about 20 men and
women of all ages and walks of life. Many others are
linked to the group as ‘distance members’, and our
monthly newsletter reaches people across Yorkshire
and beyond.
We generally meet on Sundays once a month at St.
Theresa’s Catholic Church in the Leeds suburb of
Crossgates, which is easily reached by public
transport, though car parking is also available. Those
who wish are welcome to join the parish celebration
of Mass at 10am, before our meeting at 11.30am.
Each meeting addresses a particular theme relating to
the Order’s spirituality. Recent topics have included:
Carmelites and the Bible; Mary our Sister; Interfaith
dialogue; Saints of Carmel; the Serving Community.
These topics are introduced by a speaker from within
or outside the group, prompting discussion and
sharing by the community in a safe and engaging
environment. Discussion is followed by a bring-andshare
lunch for those able to stay. Lectio divina
meditation on the following Sunday’s Gospel rounds
off the day which concludes about 3pm.
In addition to monthly meetings, LCSG organises
pilgrimages, retreats, and social events. LCSG
collaborates closely with local Carmelite communities
and churches of different denominations. LCSG is
closely linked with Lay Carmelite communities in the
region, especially York CSG, and in the wider British
Province of Carmelites. We regularly raise funds and
awareness for good causes locally, nationally and
internationally.
“You must love yourself, but because of God.” Blessed Angelus
Inaugural meeting of Leeds Carmelite Spirituality Group in 2009
Why not come and see whether you feel at home
with us in Carmel To obtain a copy of the Leeds
Carmelite Spirituality Group newsletter and
programme of events, with no obligation, please
contact the Group’s convenor:
Mr. Johan Bergström-Allen, T.O.C.
Carmelite Projects & Publications Office
More House, Heslington, York, YO10 5DX
Tel: 01904 411521
E-mail: leeds@laycarmel.org
Our meeting venue:
St. Theresa’s R.C. Church, Station Road,
Crossgates, Leeds, LS15 7JY
Tel: 0113 2645260
Website: www.st-theresas.co.uk
You can also find out more about Carmel and its
way of life online at:
www.carmelite.org www.laycarmel.org
www.carmeliteforum.org www.cibi.ie
“Jesus is calling us all the time.” Saint Joachina de Vedruna de Mas
Shrine of St. Thérèse of Lisieux at St. Theresa’s Church
in Crossgates, Leeds, designed in 2009 by David John
a praying community
at the service of all God’s people

WHAT IS CARMEL CARMELITE SPIRITUALITY THE CARMELITE FAMILY IN LEEDS
Carmelite spirituality is one of the ancient traditions
of the Roman Catholic Church, but attracts people
from different Christian denominations and all those
seeking a deep encounter with God. The ‘Carmelite
Family’ developed from twelfth-century hermits
living on Mount Carmel in Palestine, inspired by the
prophet Elijah and the Virgin Mary, following a Rule
given to them by Saint Albert of Jerusalem. Carmelites
follow Saint Albert’s call to live ‘in allegiance to Jesus
Christ’ by forming praying communities at the service
of all God’s people.
The chapel of the Christian hermits on Mount Carmel.
Carmelites first settled in Britain in 1242, becoming
an international order of friars (brothers) five years
later. Enclosed nuns, active sisters and lay
(unordained) people have always played a major part
in the life of ‘Carmel’, some as professed members of
the Third/Secular Order (’Lay Carmel’). Other people
feel an attraction to the Carmelite way of life without
formally committing to any particular branch of the
Carmelite Family. The Leeds Carmelite Spirituality
Group (LCSG) brings together all these vocations,
offering people a friendly space in which to share
their varied experiences of walking in the footsteps of
Jesus Christ.
The Carmelite Family offers the Church and the
World a living spiritual tradition full of riches.
Carmel’s spirituality is focussed on Jesus Christ, the
Son of the Living God. Carmelites take inspiration
from Elijah, the Old Testament prophet of Mount
Carmel, and from Mary the mother of Jesus, our sister
in faith.
Lay Carmelites at the shrine of Our
Lady of the Crag, Knaresborough.
Like Mary and Elijah,
Carmelites seek to be
attentive to the will
and to the Word of
God, especially in
prayerful meditation,
in silence, and in
reading the Bible.
Contemplation (being
open to the presence,
friendship and action
of God) is at the heart
of the Carmelite
calling.
Through ‘pondering the law of the Lord day and
night’ as Saint Albert states, Carmelites build up a
mature relationship of friendship with God, and are
sent out into the world to love their neighbours as
themselves. This is done through acts of service and
solidarity, particularly through a commitment to
justice for the poor, peace in the world, and
upholding the integrity of creation. Over centuries of
development and reform, Carmelites have trodden a
sure path for today’s pilgrim, seeking meaning in life
in good times and in bad. Carmel has produced some
of the greatest Christian saints, poets, mystics and
philosophers, such as Teresa of Avila, John of the
Cross, and Thérèse of Lisieux (all three of them
‘Doctors of the Church’). In the twentieth century the
Carmelite Family bore witness to the Christian Gospel
in the martyrdoms of Titus Brandsma, Edith Stein,
and Isidore Bakanja.
Carmelite friars first came to York around the year
1250, and flourished until the Reformation. In 1901
they founded a community at St. Joseph’s Church in
Pudsey, near Leeds, which helped lay the foundations
for the restoration of the Carmelite Family in Britain.
In 1971 the friars established a retreat centre within
Leeds Diocese at Hazelwood Castle near Tadcaster
which they ran until 1995 when the brothers moved
to York. In 1969 the Discalced (literally ‘shoeless’)
Carmelite Order established a monastery of nuns at
Wood Hall near Wetherby, which today is a
flourishing community; the Discalced Secular Order
is also present in Leeds. The Carmelite Third Order
(Lay Carmelites) have been active in Leeds Diocese for
decades, and in 2009 were incorporated into the
Leeds Carmelite Spirituality Group (LCSG), founded
under the patronage of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
Carmelites celebrating together in York Minster.
LCSG is a pioneering community in Britain, drawing
together different expressions of the Carmelite Family
from both its ancient and reformed branches: the
‘religious’ (friars, nuns, sisters), professed lay
members of the Third/Secular Orders, and anyone
interested in Carmel’s rich spiritual heritage. Though
rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition, LCSG is very
ecumenical in its outlook, welcoming Christians of
other denominations, and indeed those who aren’t
Church-goers at all. LCSG embraces people of all
walks of life, and is open to all who genuinely seek
God through Carmel’s ancient pilgrim path.
“In Carmel prayer becomes life and life flourishes in prayer.” John Paul II “All things are passing. God never changes.” Saint Teresa of Avila “I am full of zeal for the Lord God of Hosts.” The prophet Elijah