My church choir sang for the solemnisation of a Brother in the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel today morning. It is a rather big event. The equivalent of a marriage, only you're getting married to the Church.

A few things struck me, as I was attending the solemnisation. As a Friar in the Order of Discalced Carmelites, (or a Nun), you vow to give up 3 things:
1) Love for someone of the opposite sex.
2) Material goods.
3) Personal freedom

Or rather, you vow to 3 things:
1) Chastity
2) Poverty
3) Obedience

That is really A LOT to give up. And during the homily, the General Delegate (kinda like the Head I guess) talked about how you achieve these 3 vows by maintaining these 3 practices:
1) Prayer
2) Community living
3) Solitude

But I guess these 3 apply to everyone, not just Carmelite Friars, or those in the religious order. We all need to pray, we all need to have some company, and we all need to spend some time alone.


I am just incredibly awed, and have the deepest respect for people who give their lives to God and to the Church. It really is a vocation, just like how I have full admiration for nurses, paramedics, firemen, and everyone who takes up a vocation, doing what they're doing because they love it and they have a calling for it, despite the sucky pay and the devotion to their jobs.


Witnessing the solemnisation was as touching as witnessing a wedding. Simply amazing.


I Beg to Fall in Love with Thee,  My Lord

I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord
with every breath of life I take.
I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord,
its every beat, I to Thee forsake.

For even if my thoughts fall short of knowing You,
and even if my will runs terrified,
Your passion thins the darkness of my soul,
sheds it light, breaths it life,
stills the murmur of the night.

I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord
with every breath of life I take.
I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord,
its every beat, I to Thee forsake.

For even if my heart falls short of loving You,
and even if my spirit hides away,
Your love for me surpasses all my fears,
all I do, all I am, all that I can ever be.

I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord
with every breath of life I take.
I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord,
its every beat, I to Thee forsake.

One of the songs we sang during the solemnisation.