The Discalced Carmelite family traces its roots to the twelfth-century hermits of Mount Carmel who sought a life of prayer in imitation of the Prophet Elijah. Centuries later, St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross breathed new life into this contemplative tradition. This Teresian reform first flourished with the cloistered nuns in 1562, expanded to the friars in 1568, and soon grew to welcome the secular order of laypeople. Today, our three branches carry this same flame forward—balancing silence, study, and fraternal communion to serve the spiritual needs of the modern world.