BY CHRISTINA LEE KNAUSS | THE CATHOLIC MISCELLANY

Eight years ago, Carolyn Amond of Greenville attended Mass regularly, but she also sought a way to enhance her prayer life.

She saw a brochure about a group called the Lay Carmelites, attended a meeting of their Greenville chapter, and decided to join.

Now she is leader of the Lay Carmelites of Green­ville. She hopes to spread the word about how joining them or another lay religious organization can help Catholics develop a stronger commitment and understanding of their faith, its mysteries and how they correspond to life in the day-to-day world.

“Being a Carmelite has deepened my faith, and put me in community with other people who have a similar zeal for their faith,” she said in an interview with The Miscellany.

Lay religious organizations associated with religious orders, such as the Carmelites, are called third orders. In third orders, the laity don’t live in community or wear habits, but generally are required to follow the rule of the order and participate in the disciplines of prayer and good works as required by that rule.

The Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church defines a secular order or third order secular in Canon 303:  “Associations whose members share in the spirit of some religious institute while in secular life, lead an apostolic life, and strive for Christian perfection under the higher direction of the same institute are called third orders or some other appropriate name.”

The tradition of third orders dates back to the early days of the church, when lay people who helped start religious orders or donated to them were often allowed to worship with the order.

The earliest documented third order groups, also called tertiaries, date from the 13th century, when some lay people in Europe began preaching and praying together on their own as a response to some local clergy who lived in ways that violated church teaching.

Many of these groups later became affiliated with various religious orders and committed to live by their rules while maintaining a presence in the secular world.

The Lutheran church and the Anglican Communion also have communities, which consider themselves third orders.

More than 20 Catholic third order groups with active membership exist in the United States.

Other lay organizations, such as the Legion of Mary, have specific charisms and devotions, and require members to live by guidelines of daily prayer and service. What makes the third orders different is that members go through a period of formation and then take a vow to live by the rules of their chosen order.

The Lay Carmelites were founded in 1476 by Pope Sixtus IV.  Members commit themselves to live by the charism of the Carmelite Order, which includes ardent devotion to Mary and a life grounded and centered in prayer, both personally and through the Eucharist.

There are two types of Lay Carmel­ite groups: Old Order Carmel­ites, formerly called Carmel­ites of the Ancient Observance, and the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites. The names stem from a split in the order in the 16th century. St. Theresa of Avila is considered the founder of the Discalced Carmelites.

Both types have a presence in South Carolina. Old Order Carmelite groups include those in Greenville and one at St. Joseph in Columbia. The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites has a group which meets at Good Shepherd Church in Columbia.

In order to join the Lay Carmelites, a candidate must be a Catholic in good standing and belong to a parish, be between 18 and 69 years old, and feel called by God to live life according to the Carmelite charism, said Patty Whitlock. She is a Simpsonville resident who has been a Lay Carmelites of Greenville since the mid 1990s.

Whitlock said contemplative prayer is at the center of life as a Lay Carm­elite. Members commit themselves to pray the Liturgy of the Hours in the morning and evening, and also regularly pray using the method of lectio divina, which involves reading and meditating over Scripture.

“The biggest thing you get from joining is a deeper prayer life and a deeper sense of community,” she said. “Prayer life is something individual, but a sense of community is something a lot of us really can’t get outside of our church. We all have such busy lives these days, it’s hard to find the sense of community like you do when you belong to a third order.”

She said the community aspect of the Carmel­ites forces members to examine themselves spiritually and to learn communication skills.

“We’ll be discussing different books, different writings by the saints, and you’ll find you’re really sharing, really baring your soul spiritually,” she said. “It takes a lot of trust to really open to a community of people, to know they’re not going to laugh at you or put down your ideas.”

People interested in joining the Carmelites start by attending meetings of a community as a guest, and then begin formation classes with a member. Formation takes six years to complete.

Whitlock said the most important thing for people to remember is that becoming a professed member of a third order is not the same as joining a Catholic club or secular organization.

“One of the hardest things for people to grasp is that this is a vocation,” she said. “The people who join a third order have to have a calling to live this sort of life, and make a real commitment to it.”

The Lay Carmelites of Greenville meet monthly at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Mauldin.