At the invitation of the Carmelites in Vietnam, Fr Wayne Stanhope has spent the last 10 days giving talks and workshops and leading liturgies for both Carmelite and other communities as part of a Carmelite Study Week.

‘Allowing a contemplative heart to be formed in us’ was the topic of a 2-day workshop for our 6 Carmelite novices. This was followed by a 4-day workshop on the Carmelite Rule for 40 professed Carmelites and their formators, together with 4 Donum Dei sisters and one Missionary sister of St Thérèse. Carmelite nuns in Vung Tao and Bing Trieu attended the workshop via Zoom. Later, they had the opportunity to meet Fr Wayne in person and to discuss his presentation.

Fr Wayne also celebrated the Eucharist for over 100 members of the Scapular Confraternity and a community of Dominican Sisters of the Sacred Heart, during which he spoke about Lent and our living as Carmelites the contemplative way of transformation.

The Week concluded with a pilgrim walk to the shrine of St Francis of Assisi – a place that speaks powerfully of Gospel simplicity, radical discipleship, and total surrender to God. ‘This pilgrimage is not merely a physical journey. It is a spiritual act that embodies the pilgrim nature of the Carmelite vocation itself. To be Carmelite is to be always on the way: listening, discerning and responding to the living God who calls us ever deeper into communion with Him and with one another.’

During the walk the Carmelites were invited to reflect on the Carmelite Rule, ‘not as a text of the past but as a living source of inspiration and light. The Rule shapes our way of following Christ, ordering our lives towards prayer, community and mission’. The walk concluded with Benediction led by Fr Wayne.

The Carmelite presence in Vietnam was established in 1996 with the founding of the first community by Carmelites from the St Elias province in USA. There are now 3 communities and some 50 Vietnamese Carmelites.

More photos below.