The Nuns promise prayers for you and your needs, whoever you may be
There are 16 Carmelite Monasteries in England, 4 in Scotland and 1 in Wales. Almost 300 nuns live in these 21 Carmels. Their lives are dedicated to prayer in silence and solitude.
There are Carmelite monasteries in towns and in the country, but wherever they are found they speak to the world of God and spiritual realities. The sisters value the companionship of Jesus above everything else. They are aware of sin and suffering, sadness and death throughout the world, and know that only Jesus has the answer.
They are prepared to stake their lives on this. They want everyone to find the peace, love and happiness He has to give, so they choose on behalf of their fellow men and women to live out with Him the mystery of His life and death, through which all will come to His resurrection and His promise of fulness of life and joy. They unite themselves with Him "who lives ever to make intercession for the world" and their life's purpose is to love, and to bring all humanity closer to the Love of God.
The history of the Carmelite Nuns in Great Britain follows two distinct lines. The sisters in Darlington trace their roots back to Belgium and were established in England in the 18th century.
The second link is with France. The Carmels in London, Golders Green and Notting Hill, were founded from the Carmels of Lyons and Paris respectively in the 19th century.
Most of the other Carmels were founded from Notting Hill between 1907 and 1938. Four houses were founded from other Carmels in more recent years between 1953 and 1983.
Light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death Luke 1:76
Carmelite Monastery
Cader Road
Dolgellau
Gwynedd
LL40 1SH
THE CARMEL EMBLEM
The emblem used by the Carmelites is old, but no printed copy appears before about 1500.
It shows the mountain Carmel (in the Holy Land) with a cross on top of it, and three stars. The mountain is Mt Carmel, in what is now Israel, where the first hermits gathered in imitation of the lives of the prophets. The cross on it reminds us of the central importance of the victorious death of Christ. Below is one star, representing Mary, first among the redeemed, who stood at the foot of the Cross, and on either side two others, to represent the prophets most associated with the Carmelite origins and ideals, Elijah and John the Baptist.
Some think that the central star was originally thought of as an opening, not a star, which represented the cave in which Elijah sheltered when the Lord appeared to him as the still small wind. This suits the silent and separated life of Carmel, away from the busy-ness of ordinary life.
