Secular Order Discalced Carmelites
Raleigh, North Carolina 1986
The Raleigh Community of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites is a daughter of the Community of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Washington, DC. [1] The history of the Raleigh community begins in Washington during the Fall retreat of the Washington community held November 22-24, 1985.
It was during this retreat that Sandra Malkovsky, at the urging of her President Rita Connors, asked Fr. Bill Healy OCD permission to form a new community in Raleigh, North Carolina. Sandra had been a member of the Washington Community since 1978. In January of 1984 she had moved to North Carolina and although technically still a member of the Washington community, was in reality very much isolated.
After two years of getting to know people in the Raleigh area, and praying over what to do, she attended the retreat in DC and spoke to Fr. Healy of her desire to start a community in Raleigh. He gave advice and permission.[2] It was indeed providential that the retreat master of this particular retreat was in fact the Provincial Delegate for the Secular Order, the very person authorized to give this permission.
The first meeting of what would become the Discalced Carmelite Secular Community of the Diocese of Raleigh was held on Friday January 24, 1986 in the library of St. Michael Catholic Church in Cary, NC at 7:00 PM. [3]
The meeting was run by Sandra with the help of her husband David and son Erik Mansfield. Before the meeting and during the breaks they served refreshments and set up a table with a display of Carmelite books and objects of interest. These were not for sale; the purpose was to illustrate the breath of Carmelite resources available.
Sandra had advertised the meeting in the bulletins of local parishes. In the bulletin announcements she was clear that there would be no Carmelite priest present at the meeting. Regardless, several people showed up hoping to see a friar in brown robes. They left immediately. That was a good, because people who were going to set out to form this community had to be willing to work on their own with guidance only from afar. Eighteen people stayed for the entire meeting.
The substance of the first meeting was two presentations given by Sandra. The
first presentation was on the subject of Secular Orders, what they are and why
one might join one. Much of this material came from the Forward to the Rule
of Life of the Secular Order of the Discalced Carmelites.
After a break the second presentation was given which was on methods of prayer.
The substance of this talk came from the presentation entitled Teaching
Teresian Meditation given by Fr. Anthony Morello OCD at the 1978 OCDS
Congress in Boston.
From January to June 1986 meetings were held once a month and in July six people were ready to receive the scapular. The group traveled to Washington DC for the weekend of July 19/20 1986. The group was able to enter into the travel experiences of St. Teresa of Jesus from the start. They traveled in two cars and one got lost taking a wrong exit south of Washington in I-95. The rest had no choice but to travel on and pray for the others. Imagine the surprise when the "lost" car arrived at the lodgings first and waited calmly for the others. The two groups proceeded to the Carmelite Monastery a few blocks away for a meeting with Fr. Marc Foley OCD.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel community had agreed to have the aspirants receive the scapular at their meeting on July 20. The evening before, Saturday July 19 the aspirants were interviewed by Fr. Marc the Spiritual Assistant for the Washington community in the parlor of the Monastery. Everyone was delighted and inspired by their first glimpse of the beautiful chapel. The fact that it was air-conditioned was a blessing.
The group had chosen to stay at an new residence in Northeast DC advertised as a place for pilgrims. The idea was that it was simple and low cost, not meant for tourists but those visiting the great Catholic shrines in the area. Unfortunately the word got out among the "hippies" of DC that here was a cheap place to crash. The night was shared with young people for whom silence, solitude and prayer were a pretty distant goal. The first night spent as a community was truly a "night in a bad inn". It was July in DC and the heat and humidity were worthy of Spain.
After a long, hot, noisy, difficult, uncomfortable night two aspirants had decided they did not have a vocation and came to Sandra in a state of confusion. After some prayerful discussion they decided this was a temptation from the Evil One. They were reminded that on the day of her Profession St. Therese found herself full of doubts and decided that she had no vocation after all. They were in good company.
On Sunday July 20, in the Monastery Chapel, before the Community Mass, the aspirants received the scapular. The six members who received the scapular that day were: Margaret Ager, Gunda Bush, Jean and Edward Eberbach, Henriette Loehfelm and Marie Neilsen. [4] At this time the North Carolina community took its name, St. Teresa of Jesus.
July 20, 1986, the first class of aspirants received the
Scapular.
Back row: Gunda Bush, Jean Eberbach, Edward Eberbach, Fr. Mark Foley, OCD,
Sandra Malkovsky
Front row: Margaret Ager, Marie Neilson, Henriette Loehfelm
In August of 1986 the meetings were moved from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. With this additional time the meeting was expanded to include social time, class time, meditation and the Divine Office. The classes centered on the study of The Way of Perfection. Sometimes tapes were used, sometime individual members summarized and shared thoughts on assigned chapters. In November four members of the group traveled to DC to join the Washington community for their annual retreat.
In December of 1986 three guests visited among whom was Kathy Smith who would become the first elected President of the Community. The meetings now included an aspirant’s class along with the candidate’s class. At this point both classes were conducted by Sandra. The aspirants met at the end of the day while the candidates were at prayer.
At the end of 1986 there were seven members of the nascent community, the six
received in July, and Sandra. Technically, Sandra continued to be a member of
Our Lady of Mount Carmel community in DC.
[1] The Community of Our lady
of Mount Carmel met at the Discalced Carmelite Monastery on Lincoln Road.
[2] The actual date that permission was granted was November
23, 1985.
[3] In 1986 St. Michael was located at the corner of Walnut
and Maynard streets in Cary. In 1994 it moved to its new location in West Cary.
[4] Of the six who received the scapular that day, Gunda Bush
and Henriette Loehfelm persevered and made the Definitive Promise. These
are the very two who had decided on the morning of July 20, 1986 (after a
night in a bad inn) that they "had no vocation".