We are Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, of The Commissariat of St. Joseph-Kenya. Our roots began in Palestine, 13th Century. We were reformed (founded) by St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross in the 16th century. Today we are headquartered in Rome and answer to our immediate superior, the Commissar Fr. Peter Canisius.
OUR LIFE
We live our Carmelite vocation through prayer, contemplation, community, and service, seeking God in the ordinary moments of life.
Inspired by St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross, we walk together in faith, simplicity, and love.
The Spiritual Heritage of the Discalced Carmelites
The Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carm
By God’s grace, we bear the name “Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel” and belong to a religious family dedicated to her love and service. This special bond with our Lady influences our whole approach to the pursuit of perfect charity. It pervades our communities and stamps our life of prayer and contemplation, our apostolic zeal and activity, and even the kind of self-denial we practice, with a distinctly Marian character.
Recommended Reading: The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, by ICS Publications
The Prophet Elijah
The prophet Elijah appears in Scripture as a man of God who lived always in His presence and fought zealously for the worship of the one, true God. He defended God’s law in a solemn contest on Mount Carmel, and afterwards was given on Mount Horeb an intimate experience of the living God. The inspiration that was found in him from the very beginnings of the Order so pervades its whole history that the prophet may deservedly be called the founder of the Carmelite ideal.
Recommended Reading: Elijah Prophet of Carmel by ICS Publications
Our Saints and Doctors of the Church
St. Teresa of Jesus
1515–1582
Teresa de Ahumada was born in 1515 in Ávila, Spain. She entered the Carmelites and made great progress in the way of perfection and was granted mystical revelations. Wishing to share in the spiritual renewal of the Church of her time, she began to live her religious life more ardently and soon attracted many companions, to whom she was a mother.
She also helped in the reform of the friars, and in this had to endure great trials. She wrote several spiritual classics including The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle, which are renowned for their depth of doctrine and which showed her own spiritual depth and experience. She died at Alba de Tormes in 1582. St. Teresa was made the first woman doctor of the Church in 1970.
St. John of the Cross
1542–1591
Born in Fontiveros, Spain, Juan de Yepes entered the Carmelites and, with the permission of his superiors, began to live a stricter observance. Afterward, he was persuaded by St. Teresa to begin, together with some others, the Discalced reform of the Order; this cost him much hard work and many trials.
He is the author of the spiritual classics The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, and The Living Flame of Love. He died in Ubeda in 1591, known to be outstanding in holiness and wisdom. St. John is a poet, mystic, and Doctor of the Church.
Recommended Reading: The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross by ICS Publications
St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face
1873–1897
Thérèse Martin was born in Alençon, France. While still young, she entered the Carmel of Lisieux, where she lived with the greatest humility, evangelical simplicity, and confidence in God. By her words and example, she taught the novices these same virtues, offering her life for the salvation of souls and the spread of the Church.
Her autobiography, Story of a Soul, is well known for its relating of her “Little Way”—a path of spiritual childhood and trust in God. St. Thérèse was made a Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II.
Recommended Reading: Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux by ICS Publications
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
1891–1942
Edith Stein was born to a Jewish family in Breslau, Germany. Through her passionate study of philosophy, she searched for truth and found it in reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Jesus. In 1922 she was baptized a Catholic, and in 1933 she entered the Carmel of Cologne where she took the name Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
She was gassed and cremated at Auschwitz on August 9, 1942, during the Nazi persecution, dying as a martyr for the Christian faith after having offered her life as a holocaust for the people of Israel. A woman of singular intelligence and learning, she left behind a body of writings notable for its doctrinal richness and profound spirituality. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 11, 1998, and subsequently named co-patroness of Europe together with St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Catherine of Siena.
St. Raphael Kalinowski of St. Joseph
1835–1907
Raphael Kalinowski was born to Polish parents in the city of Vilnius in 1835. Following military service, he was condemned in 1864 to ten years of forced labor in Siberia. In 1877 he became a Carmelite and was ordained a priest in 1882.
He contributed greatly to the restoration of the Discalced Carmelites in Poland. His life was distinguished by zeal for Church unity and by his unflagging devotion to his ministry as confessor and spiritual director. He died in Wadowice in 1907.
Recommended Reading: Saint Raphael Kalinowski: An Introduction to his Life and Spirituality by ICS Publications
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
1880–1906
Elizabeth Catez was born in 1880 in the diocese of Bourges in France. In 1901 she entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery of Dijon, where she made her profession of vows in 1903. There she was called to “light, love, and life” by the Divine Spouse in 1906.
A faithful adorer in spirit and in truth, her life was a “praise of glory” of the Most Blessed Trinity present in her soul whom she loved amidst interior darkness and an excruciating illness. In the mystery of divine inhabitation, she found her “heaven on earth,” which was her special charism and her mission for the Church.
Recommended Reading: Light – Love – Life by ICS Publications
St. Miriam of Jesus Crucified
1846–1878
Miriam Baouardy (also spelled Mariam Bawardy) was known in religion as Sr. Miriam of Jesus Crucified. She was born in Ibillin, located in the hill country of upper Galilee, Palestine. Her family originated in Damascus, Syria, and were Catholics of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Rite—a rite that originated in the Archeparchy of Antioch, the place where the followers of Jesus were first called Christians.
The Spirituality of the Discalced Carmelites is rooted in the contemplative tradition, the example of our great saints and doctors, and our dedication to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the pursuit of holiness through prayer, service, and self-giving love.
The history of the Discalced Carmelites in Kenya is rooted in the Order’s long missionary tradition and its charism of prayer, contemplation and service to the Church. From its beginnings, the Carmelite vocation has understood intimate union with God and missionary zeal as inseparable. Inspired by the missionary vision of St. Teresa of Jesus, St. John of the Cross and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Order has sought to bring the spirit of Carmel to different parts of the world.
The Carmelite presence in East Africa began in 1938, with the establishment of the first Discalced Carmelite monastery of nuns in Nairobi. This presence later expanded to other parts of Kenya, including Tindinyo and Kisii.
The friars established a more permanent presence in Kenya in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Nairobi was chosen as the location for an international house of studies to provide formation for English-speaking African Carmelite seminarians. The foundation, dedicated under the patronage of St. John of the Cross, was officially inaugurated on 2 February 1992 by Archbishop Maurice Cardinal Otunga. It brought together an international team of friars and welcomed students from several African countries.
As the Kenyan mission developed, attention increasingly turned toward fostering local Carmelite vocations. In 1995, responsibility for the Nairobi foundation was formally transferred to the Washington Province of the Discalced Carmelites. Kenyan vocations soon began to flourish. Fr. Thomas Ochieng’ Otang’a, the first Kenyan vocation, entered the community in 1993, made his first profession in 1996 and was ordained a priest in 2003. He was followed by other Kenyan and East African vocations, contributing to the growth of a truly African Carmelite presence.
Formation remains an important part of our mission. From Kenya, young men from different parts of Africa have received formation in the Carmelite tradition of prayer, study, fraternity and apostolic service. The Nairobi community has also contributed to the formation of spiritual directors and religious formators through its involvement with the Institute of Spirituality and Religious Formation at Tangaza College.
Our history is also a history of service. Through our retreat ministry, spiritual direction, preaching, pastoral work and formation apostolate, the Carmelites have accompanied clergy, religious and lay faithful seeking a deeper relationship with God. The friars have also served the Church through pastoral ministry in Kisii, Ngong (Kiserian) Tindinyo and Nairobi, including parish and chaplaincy ministry, youth formation and outreach to communities in need.
Today, the Carmelite presence in Kenya continues to grow as a community dedicated to prayer, formation, fraternity and mission. We remain grateful for the missionaries and benefactors who helped establish Carmel in Kenya, while looking with hope toward the future and seeking to make the richness of Carmelite spirituality available to the Church and people of East Africa.
Our history is therefore not simply a record of institutions and dates. It is the story of a vocation taking root in Kenya: a journey from contemplation to mission, from formation to service, and from the first Carmelite foundations to a growing African Carmel.
Commisariat Friars
- Br. Thomas Ochieng Otang’a
- Br. Santulino Ekada Agwate
- Br. Joseph Okanda Abwanda
- Br. Joseph Uri Baru
- Br. Nicholas Olonde Adongo
- Br. Jacob Mugo
- Br. Abednego Wambua
- Br. Daniel Mutuku Ngwili
- Br. Felix Mukeya
- Br. Titus Waita Kimeu
- Br. Stephen Nyakundi Mose
- Br. Samson Ongaki Gwaro
- Br. David Kiboori
- Br. Kennedy Wekesa Wekulo
- Br. Isaac Namanda
- Br. Harrison Waiganjo Irungu
- Br. Peter Canisius Otieno
- Br. Bovince Ochieng Oluoch
- Br. Richard Samoita Onchera
- Br. Victor Okoth
- Br. John Otieno
- Br. Michael Maluni
- Br. Tiberius Omondi
- Br. Francis Mokua
- Br. Elkana Obutu Okeyo
- Br. Samuel Omondi Nabule
- Br. Patrick Thuranira Turatia
- Br. Daniel Osewe Opul
- Br. Angelus Mwongela Mutua
- Br. Benedict Malinda
- Br. Eugene Wandera
- Br. Moses Ndoya Oduori
- Br. Hillary Odhiambo Aloo
- Br. Erick Gregory Omondi
- Br. Moses Njuguna Mwangi
- Br. Vincent Obonyo Mokera
- Br. Daniel Chege
- Br. Francis Mwai Munyao
- Br. Fabian Oyiengo Onyango
- Br. Benjamin Taabu David
- Br. Jonathan Muuo Kamanthe
- Br. Ridginald Nyarwati Maranga
- Br. Maurice Barare Abuta
- Br. Gideon Cheruiyot Rotich
- Br. Emmanuel Munyao Muthenya
- Br. Cyrus Nyambariga Atandi
- Br. Brian Keari Nyaega
- Br. Joseph Juma Mulongo
- Br. Daniel Oloiputa Masharen
- Br. Collins Makori Nyamwembe
- Michael Katiku
- Stephen Mose
- Vincent Gechure