Summary: This study explores the profound difference between the apostolate of the Dominican and that of the Carmelite, showing how each expresses a distinct grace within the Church. The Dominican is called to contemplate and share the fruits of contemplation, focusing primarily on the object of faith—truth, doctrine, theology—and on communicating it through preaching and teaching. The Carmelite, by contrast, is called to contemplate and teach others to contemplate, focusing on the subject of faith—the person who believes, prays, and grows in union with God. This requires not only philosophical and theological formation but also spiritual theology, discernment, and the interior grace of transmitting lived experience.
Beyond these two apostolates, this article unveils a deeper, specifically Carmelite mystery: the vocation to beget unto life, exemplified in the hidden fruitfulness of the Carmelite nun and rooted in the Marian and Elijah traditions of Carmel. This interior apostolate—prayer, union with Christ, spiritual motherhood—participates in Christ’s redemptive work and contributes to the salvation of souls from within the silence of enclosure.
Through scriptural foundations, Thomistic insight, Carmelite doctrine, and the witness of the saints, the article shows how these charisms complement one another within the Body of Christ. It invites every Christian—religious or lay, active or suffering—to discern how he or she is called to share contemplation, lead others into contemplation, or beget unto life.
Introduction
The Church, in her richness, manifests a diversity of vocations that reflect the manifold operations of the Holy Spirit. Understanding these distinct charisms is not merely an academic exercise; it is a path toward self‑knowledge and fidelity to one’s own call. Knowing the vocation of others enables us to avoid imitating them and directs us back to what is specific to our own vocation.
This article presents the specific apostolate of the Dominican and that of the Carmelite, showing how each serves the Church according to a particular grace. It also opens up a deeper horizon within the Carmelite vocation: not only contemplation and the teaching of contemplation, but the mystery of spiritual fecundity—begetting unto life in Christ.
The Apostolate of the Dominican and that of the Carmelite
The specificity of functions within the Church
During the Carmelite noviciate, the Novice Master explains the difference between the Dominican and the Carmelite vocations. This is a great light which the novice often tries to put into practice in order to become more truly Carmelite. When one understands the different ways of life, the different religious orders, one comes to know oneself better. Knowing the vocation of others enables us to avoid imitating them and directs us back to what is specific to our own vocation. This is why we should sometimes advise a young person who comes knocking at the door of a religious order to gain some knowledge of the other religious orders. This will enable him to perceive the differences more clearly and better understand what he is committing himself to. This also applies to the laity, for they too are associated in an eminent way with Christ’s mission.
What is admirable in the work of creation—we see this in the Book of Genesis—is that every tree bears fruit according to its own kind. God said: “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit on the earth according to their kind, with the seed in it,” and it was so. “The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit with the seed in it according to their kind” (Gen. 1:11–12). This may seem an insignificant remark, but an apple tree bears apples and nothing else. A cow gives milk, a hen lays eggs, and so forth. This seems perfectly normal, but it is also a lesson on the specificity of a vocation. The specificity of a vocation does not deny the others but enriches them. To this observation we may add the remarks of St. Paul in one of his letters, where he says that there are different functions within the Church. The following text deserves long meditation.
“There are, indeed, varieties of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of operations, but it is the same God who works all things in all. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit an utterance of wisdom; to another an utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healings by the one Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another the discernment of spirits; to another various kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who distributes his gifts to each one individually as he wills.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptised into one body […]. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot were to say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear were to say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God has arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body which we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater modesty, whereas our more respectable members have no need of this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the member that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the Church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers… Then come miracles, then gifts of healings, forms of assistance, administration, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?” (1 Cor. 12:4–30)
Two mottos
The Carmelite Novice Master therefore quoted the famous Dominican motto in Latin, which essentially states that he is called “to contemplate and to share the fruits of his contemplation” (aliis contemplata tradere). For the Dominicans, as for every Christian, there is a balance between the contemplative life and the active life: one receives from God and then goes out to communicate it to others. Prayer and apostolate.
By contrast, the surprise—or rather the great discovery—which the young Carmelite novice makes is the encounter with his own formula: “To contemplate and to teach others to contemplate” (contemplationem aliis tradere). This is nevertheless something different, not to say something altogether different. It opens up a vast, entirely new horizon. One had to explore this universe and avoid “playing” at being a Dominican; rather, one had to strive to realise the Carmelite vocation. I say “playing” because it seems to me that, in some way, it is more difficult, more demanding, to realise the Carmelite vocation, and that, in the Carmelite’s case, acting as a Dominican was something of an escape. It is a great mortification to remain silent and not to share what one has contemplated. It is sometimes easier and more consoling to choose a certain loquacity, to pour oneself out. That said, it is entirely beyond dispute that the Dominican apostolate retains its full legitimacy and also contains its own share of difficulty and labour.
See. Jacques Maritain, “The Degrees of Knowledge”, Chapter VIII, “Saint John of the Cross practitioner of contemplation”.¹
The object and the subject of faith
Thus one may say that the Dominican is concerned primarily with the object of faith, with theology (and with philosophy, which purifies the intellect so as to enable it to undertake theology), and with the methods of communicating it: holiness‑contemplation, study, preaching and teaching, publication. The Dominican has as his models St. Dominic, St. Thomas, Yves Congar, and others.
Whereas the Carmelite, as the Novice Master presented it, must concern himself with the subject of faith, with the person who makes the act of faith, who must contemplate, in order to teach him how to do so. One will speak about “God” and the other about “union with God”. The difference is considerable. But this presupposes, in my view, an additional burden of work. It presupposes that the Carmelite must undertake both philosophy and theology, just as the Dominican does, but that, in addition, he must pursue something else which today is commonly called spiritual theology. Yet this discipline has not yet reached full maturity. He must study how the life of faith is embodied in the human person and how it grows, what laws govern all of this, and so forth.
In addition to this study, just as the Dominican must learn the art of oratory, the Carmelite must also learn also further things like spiritual direction, which do not belong to the order of “cold” knowledge but rather to the order of an exigency of holiness. His whole being is involved, and in a more complete manner. He will have to labour to receive two further graces:
The awareness of experience, together with the grace of transmitting it; but also Discernment (in the order of the virtue of prudence and of the gift of counsel which perfects it).
All this will make him a Master, not in theology (which is the case of the Dominican), but a spiritual Master, an initiator, a spiritual Father (director or guide).
The Carmelite has St. John of the Cross as his model. After having passed through St. Thomas, he will find it difficult to move beyond him in order to conform himself more closely to St. John of the Cross. The wonder and joy which the mind finds in St. Thomas must be moderated in order to give way to the asceticism of imposing upon oneself St. John of the Cross and the other Doctors of Carmel (and all the authors connected with them: the Northern mystics and comparative mysticism, and so forth). To be dazzled first by philosophy and its light, then by theology and its vastness—this will require a genuine wrenching away for the one who is called to ascend yet another storey higher and remain there. The vocation of the philosopher is indeed an attractive one; that of the theologian perhaps even more so. But he will have to understand that one cannot do everything, and that an apple tree bears only apples!
One may try to represent the differences as follows:
| Dominican | Carmelite | |
| Call to | Holiness | Holiness |
| Call to | Contemplate | Contemplate |
| Charismatic grace received | Awareness and development of faith | ibid. + |
| Ibid. | Awareness within himself, within the subject, of grace at work | |
| Intellectual effort required | Study of the object of faith | Study of the object of faith |
| Ibid. | Study of the subject of faith, specialising in it | |
| Charismatic graces received | Grace to communicate it | |
| Ibid. | Grace to communicate it | |
| Ibid. | Discernment (prudence, counsel) | |
| Typical apostolate * | Preaching, teaching theology | Spiritual direction, initiation into the life of prayer |
* To deepen properly our understanding of the relationship between the Dominican and the Carmelite, and between their respective teachings, one must read Chapter VIII of Jacques Maritain’s The Degrees of Knowledge, “Saint John of the Cross, Practitioner of Contemplation”, where he treats the matter in a scientific manner.
Remark on the specific doctrinal mission
St. Thomas Aquinas wrote his Summa for beginners, for those who are starting out. Why should one not write for the subsequent stages? Why should one not make the same effort? Why not write a kind of “synthesis of theology” that is equal to what is required for the centuries to come? A theology that is concerned even more with the human person. But this is an enormous task, almost beyond human strength! I remain convinced that the work of St. Thomas Aquinas must be continued, and that one must speak to those who are “advancing”, to the “perfect”, and to the “co‑operators”**. It is an immense task! It is also an architecture that must be proposed. After the pattern of what would it be? Of the Book of Revelation? How should this teaching be presented?
** Those who cooperate in the salvation of the world, those who beget unto life (cf. below).
The task is truly to constitute a more stable body of doctrine (more stable than what has already been proposed in the manuals), clearer, organic, and so forth.
St. Thomas himself was first a monk, formed by the Benedictine, and afterwards became a Dominican.
We need to continually return to this question. St. Thomas intended to write for beginners: “The teacher of Catholic truth ought not only to teach the more advanced (provectos), but also to instruct beginners (incipientes), according to the words of the Apostle (1 Cor. 3:1–2): ‘I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.’ Our intention, therefore, in this work is to set forth those things that belong to the Christian religion in the manner best suited to the instruction of beginners. For we have observed that beginners in this doctrine are greatly hindered by the writings of different authors, partly because of the multiplication of useless questions, articles, and arguments; partly because what they need to learn is not presented according to the order of the discipline itself, but according to the requirements of the exposition of books or the occasion of disputations; and finally because the frequent repetition of the same things produces weariness and confusion in the minds of the hearers. Desiring to avoid these and similar inconveniences, we shall endeavour, trusting in the divine assistance, to set forth the sacred doctrine briefly and clearly, so far as the matter permits.” (Summa Theologiae, Prima Pars, Prologue)
Very well, but where and when did St. Thomas teach “the more advanced”? (or those who are progressing) (“aprovechados”: “they are those whom God is beginning to place in this supernatural awareness of contemplation,” Saint John of the Cross will say).
Then there are also los perfectos (the perfect). About them nothing is said. Perhaps St. Thomas would have replied that they no longer need to be taught because Christ or the Holy Spirit teaches them inwardly. And yet one must work on the Seventh Mansion.
Can one say that St. John of the Cross felt called to write for the advanced and for the perfect? It is possible. And he did so magnificently in the Spiritual Canticle and the Living Flame of Love. He teaches an entirely specific subject.
A Third Way: Begetting Unto Life
But that is not all. After having “preached”, Jesus considered it necessary to do what He would accomplish in Gethsemane and on the Cross: Redemption, begetting His disciples and His hearers unto Life. It is desirable for the Carmelite to impose upon himself yet another “asceticism” during his formation: that of placing himself before a great mystery, that of the Carmelite nun as Saint Teresa of Jesus intended her to be. It is like an algebraic equation in which the unknowns have to be discovered:
Carmelite nun + Four walls =>> Salvation of the world
This is the mystery of the fruitfulness of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus.
“[…] Jesus has for us such an incomprehensible love that He wants us to have a share with Him in the salvation of souls. He does not want to do anything without us. The Creator of the universe awaits the prayer of a poor little soul in order to save other souls, redeemed like herself at the price of all His blood. Our vocation is not to go and harvest in the fields of ripe wheat. Jesus does not say to us: ‘Lower your eyes, look at the countryside, and go and harvest it.’ Our mission is even more sublime. These are the words of our Jesus: ‘Lift up your eyes and see.’ See how, in my Heaven, there are empty places; it is for you to fill them. You are my Moses praying on the mountain; ask Me for workers and I will send them. I await only a prayer, a sigh from your heart!…
Is not the apostolate of prayer, so to speak, higher than that of the word? Our mission as Carmelites is to form evangelical workers who will save thousands of souls of whom we shall be the mothers… Céline, if these were not the very words of Jesus, who would dare believe them?… I find that our share is very beautiful; what have we to envy in priests?… How I would like to be able to tell you all that I think, but time is lacking; understand all that I cannot write to you!…” (LT 135, 15 August 1892, to Céline)
In this letter, the terms used are general: “apostolate of prayer”, “to form workers”, “mothers”. In fact, “Flames of the soul” (these kinds of actions of the Holy Spirit in the heart united to Christ) and “participation in the table of sinners” are the more precise terms which specify this action. Studies have been made on these questions; it is sufficient to consult them.²
If she is a Doctor of the Church, it is because she has things to teach us. And this point is one of the principal contributions that she makes to the Church. One must impose upon oneself, both doctrinally and, above all, in practical life, this apparently absurd equation. It must be solved. How can a person enclosed within four walls help his or her human brothers and sisters? How can such a person “save” them?
This questioning leads to the discovery of another motto, one that is certainly glimpsed from the beginning but is not yet clear either at the level of experience or at the level of doctrinal formulation: “To allow oneself to be saved and to beget others unto salvation.” To allow oneself to be saved by Christ; or again: “to become Mary”, an extension of her, and, in Mary, to beget one’s brothers and sisters unto salvation. Or again: “To be born unto Life and to beget unto Life.” It seems to me that this is where the very heart of the mystery of Carmel lies.
Note: To know more about this third way, which is the specific apostolate of the Carmelite nun, one can read the fourth part of See How Much Love God Has Given Us (Amazon USA – Amazon UK) by Father Louis Guillet OCD, which is entirely new, as well as his other book, Gethsémani, together with my dissertation on the sparkles of the Living Flame (to be published) as well as everything connected with it in the Carmelite saints.³
Mary
It is far more precious to beget unto life from within, to carry humanity within oneself, just as a mother carries her child. Certainly, this is a more feminine mystery, but it also applies to men: St. Paul himself speaks of his own inward parts, presenting himself as a mother giving birth! “My little children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” (Galatians 4:19, RSV) Carmel is wholly Marian, or rather, “Carmel and Mary are one and the same.” “Carmel is, according to the powerful expression of Fr. Efrén de la Madre de Dios OCD, the mystical body of Mary.”⁴ It should be noted that the maternal function is more demanding than the paternal function. A man entrusts the seed to the woman, and he can, unfortunately, go away. She, often alone, must allow the life within her to grow, protect it, and so forth. The man, meanwhile, stands upright, walks, moves about, goes elsewhere…
Note: In this regard, one can reread: 1- The remarks found in J. Maritain’s Approaches Without Shackles, “Let Us Make Him a Help Like Himself”, where he speaks of the help that was given to Adam.⁵ 2- In Gertrud von Le Fort (on woman), who shows to what extent being a woman and being a mother nourish one another in order to reach fulfilment.⁶ 3- The profound remarks of the Holy Father in his Letter to Women (“man is entrusted to woman”, etc.).⁷ 4- Certain perceptive remarks in the recently published book on the enclosure of nuns, in “the psychological aspects of enclosure”, and the differences from men in general—but this needs to be placed in context.⁸ Etc.
Elijah
Yet we can find in the Prophet Elijah—the Father of Carmel—an embodiment of the Carmelite. We often retain the spectacular aspects of his exploits: the drought, the priests of Baal, the contemplative experience of God, but we forget an important aspect of his apostolate; we are not sufficiently attentive to the summit of his apostolate: his zeal! Elijah comes to a kind of apostolic failure. It is through this apostolic failure that true zeal emerges in all its stripped simplicity. This is what Elijah says: “It is enough now, YHWH! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” After God’s illumination at Horeb, YHWH asks him a second time: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” A question that puts every apostolate to death by showing it its radical deficiency whenever it does not have its source in God, who is always at work. It is a question that brings him back to the depths of his being, to participation in the primordial apostolate, to rejoin the eternal pulsation. He then replies by revealing the profound nature of zeal according to the divine mode:
“I am filled with jealous zeal [not the zeal he had when he killed the priests of Baal] for YHWH Sabaoth, because the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.” (1 Kings 19:10 and 1 Kings 19:14.)
In response, the Lord entrusts him with the true apostolate: the transmission of life: go and anoint! Transmit your spirit. Give the Spirit to others, to the king and to the prophet. Elijah then goes and throws his cloak over him. This is the fundamental action: to overshadow, to bring down the Holy Spirit. And he must do nothing else! Blaze forth.
Thus his true apostolate is not what he is commonly known for, but rather when he comes to die to every apostolate, to acknowledge that he is no better than his fathers. He desires death. It is only then that the true apostolate according to the divine mode is born, interior and Marian. He burns with zeal; he breathes forth the Holy Spirit. And the Lord confirms him: go and anoint, go and communicate the Holy Spirit, but do not act yourself!!! It is in this way that the true altar, which is the human heart, can be rebuilt; it is a supernatural work that God accomplishes through Elijah, in the womb of Elijah, beneath the shadow of his cloak.
The slaughter of the priests of Baal, the rain, and so forth—these are not the essence of the apostolate, of the true Carmelite apostolate, which is according to the divine mode, that of Mary.
Thus one may speak of at least * three mottos or vocations:
* “At least” because one must not forget that the latter still have to be formed. Therefore, one must envisage something like the second motto combined with the last one. And one goes deeper.
One can add a fourth one: to communicate life (through the flames).
| Order | Vocation |
| Dominican | To share contemplation |
| Carmelite or Carmelite Sister (apostolic) | To lead others into contemplation |
| Carmelite or Carmelite Sister[1] (burning with zeal) (Mary) | To beget unto life |
Practical consequences
- Discernment through contrast: Knowing the Dominican and Carmelite vocations helps each person avoid imitation and discover the specificity of his or her own call.
- Object and subject of faith: The Dominican focuses mainly on the object of faith—truth, doctrine, theology—while the Carmelite focuses mainly on the subject of faith—the person who believes, contemplates, and is led into union with God.
- Formation and asceticism: Carmelite formation requires not only philosophical and theological study, but also spiritual theology, interiority, silence, and the asceticism of remaining hidden and fecund.
- Hidden apostolate of begetting unto life: The Carmelite nun (or any other person), enclosed within four walls, participates in the salvation of the world by prayer, union with Christ, and spiritual motherhood—begetting souls unto life.
- Universal participation: These charisms are not reserved to religious alone. Mothers, the sick, the elderly, and lay faithful can share contemplation, lead others into contemplation, or spiritually beget unto life.
- Ecclesial harmony of charisms: The Church needs all these vocations together. Each is like a distinct member of the one body, contributing to the common mission of Christ.
Conclusion
We can now see more clearly the differences that exist from one charism to another. All are necessary to the Church. She is like a body that needs all its members in order to fulfil its mission. Beyond the distinctions between the religious orders (Dominican, Carmelite,…), and the distinctions within the same order (Carmelite, Carmelite nun), it is important to understand that these are only examples. These “spirits” or these “charisms” are not the property of certain individuals. On the contrary, as we have just pointed out in the note, a mother of a family, a sick person in hospital, an elderly person—all can, and are called to, participate in these ways, from the first to the last. Nevertheless, it is important to know how to discern God’s call wherever one happens to be, to know what is accessible at every moment and what is accessible only at a given moment. This observation is of the utmost importance. For to reserve all these graces to so‑called “privileged” persons would be a great impoverishment for everyone who follows Christ. He has given Himself totally to each person, and He is not miserly.
Jean Khoury, London, December 2002
Footnotes
- Jacques Maritain, The Degrees of Knowledge, Chapter VIII, “Saint John of the Cross practitioner of contemplation”.
- On “Flames of the soul” and “participation in the table of sinners”: see studies on Carmelite mysticism and Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus.
- Louis Guillet, See How Much Love God Has Given Us, Part IV; Gethsémani; and the dissertation on the sparkles of the Living Flame.
- Fr Efrén de la Madre de Dios, expression on Carmel as “the mystical body of Mary”.
- Jacques Maritain, Approaches Without Shackles, “Let Us Make Him a Help Like Himself”.
- Gertrud von Le Fort, writings on woman and motherhood.
- John Paul II, Letter to Women.
- Recent book on the enclosure of nuns, “the psychological aspects of enclosure”.
[1] Or any lay person. A mother of a family, a sick person in hospital, an elderly person, etc.