Discalced Carmelite Friars of
Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia
Discalced Carmelite Brothers
of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel
The origins of the Carmelite Order date back to the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, when a group of Latin hermits settled on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. Desiring to live a life of prayer in imitation of the Prophet Elijah, they received the Rule of St. Albert of Jerusalem around 1206–1214, a rule centred on contemplation, fraternity, and "allegiance to Jesus Christ."
More than three centuries later, St. Teresa of Jesus rekindled the original spirit of Carmel through her reform. After founding the Monastery of St. Joseph in Ávila in 1562, she soon realised that her reform would not flourish without friars who shared the same contemplative spirit and evangelical simplicity. Writing in her Book of Foundations, she explained:
"I was thinking about how necessary it would be if monasteries of nuns were to be founded that there be friars observing the same rule... I begged [the Father General] for this permission... because it would be a great service to God."
With the permission of the Carmelite Prior General Fr. Juan Bautista Rossi (also known by his Spanish name, Rubeo), Teresa's long-held desire became a reality. In 28 November 1568, which coincided with the First Sunday of Advent, the first community of Discalced Carmelite Friars was established at Duruelo, where the first candidates embraced a life of poverty, fraternity, silence, and contemplative prayer according to the primitive Rule of St. Albert.
Among these first friars was St. John of the Cross, who became Teresa's closest collaborator and is rightly honoured as the co-founder of the Teresian Reform. Together, they laid the foundations of a renewed Carmel, envisioning friars who were both deeply contemplative and intellectually well formed, combining a profound life of prayer with sound theological learning in service of the Church.
From this small beginning, the Teresian Reform spread throughout the world. Today, the Discalced Carmelite Friars continue to live the charism entrusted by St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross: a life rooted in contemplative prayer, fraternal communion, and apostolic service for the glory of God and the good of the Church.