The Aim of the Institute

One of the principles for the renewal of religious Orders was to look at their Founders, in order to mould faithfully their spirit and proposals into the life, legislation and norms expressed by them. In our case, it was necessary to delve into the spirit, proposals and divine inspiration which prompted the Carmelite Teresa of Jesus into beginning, in 1562,  a new form of personal and community Carmelite life in the service of the Church. In 1567, she herself, through divine inspiration and encouraged by the Superior General of the Order, began to found communities of women  and men with the collaboration of great persons, among whom was John of the Cross, an exceptionally holy person. These collaborators committed themselves joyfully and enthusiastically to live and propagate in the Church this new ideal and style of contemplative and apostolic life.

            The Teresian charism, like the charism of every Founder of a religious family, is a living experience in the Spirit. The members of the Teresian family are called not only to make the charism their own and live it through the ages, but also to enrich it by encountering the challenges, presented by the new historical situations  in which they live. This means that the history of the Teresian Carmel is a living history, with moments of light and darkness, in which  the action of God and the action of men and women interweave. To know the history of the Teresian Carmel is important for its present as well as for its future.