My name is Br. Joseph-Teresa of the Eucharist, O.C.D., and I entered the Discalced Carmelites in 2020.

I was a cradle Catholic. I come from a big homeschool family of eight kids; I have five brothers and two sisters. For me, the priesthood was the final idea I had as a kid in a long line of what-I-want-to-be-when-I-grow-ups, after dismissing the thoughts of being an astronaut, veterinarian, artist, and professional archer. The childhood dream was fostered by serving at the altar regularly, at daily and Sunday Masses, and as time went on, it grew into a real, heartfelt desire to become a priest.

At youth group one night early on in high school, my youth minister introduced the topic of prayer, explaining to us three different types of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplation. I could easily grasp the first two, praying to God with rote prayers or entering into discussion with Him and reflection on His mysteries; but the third type — contemplation — left me baffled. So, as I was talking to my mom about it that night, she provided some resources to help me. Little did I know, my mom was a secular Discalced Carmelite, so she gave me a few Carmelite books on prayer and the mystical life: Interior Castle by our Holy Mother St. Teresa, Ascent of Mount Carmel by our Holy Father St. John of the Cross, Story of a Soul by St. Therese, and Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer by Fr. Thomas Dubay. Even though I didn’t finish any of these books except the one by the non-Carmelite (Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer by Fr. Dubay), it was St. Teresa in particular who had a lasting impact that stuck with me for years into the future. So, these books — along with some close, older friends (especially priests) who had much more experience and could help me put these things into practice — were helpful to me as guides in my prayer life. Soon I started committing myself to mental prayer each day, beginning with 10 minutes, then increasing that to 15, and eventually coming to pray alone with God for 30 minutes per day. I tried my best to stick to that even until I entered the Carmelites (even though the busy-ness of everyday life and YouTube often got in the way of that). But since I was drawn to academics, and especially philosophy, when I began discerning religious life, it was with the Dominicans in Washington, D.C. So, by the end of high school, despite my nascent affinity for Carmel, I was set on becoming a Dominican priest, which, at the moment seemed to be the right fit for me.

At this point in my life, I graduated from high school and left for the Franciscan University of Steubenville, where my spiritual life really flourished. There were so many opportunities for so many different ministries; it was almost dizzying going to the ministry fair at the beginning of the semester. Because I had been altar serving since 4th Grade already, I decided to continue doing that, as well as commit myself to going on a mission trip every year with Franciscan. Altar serving has always been dear to me, and the mission trips proved to be many opportunities for growth and maturation, interiorly and exteriorly. They especially cultivated a desire to evangelize by the witness of living a truly Catholic life. The most impactful thing I had throughout college, however, was the daily half hour with God that I had committed to in high school; just sitting alone with Him, talking to Him, and letting Him speak in my heart, especially through the Scriptures and the Mass. Prayer was and is and always will be essential for me, my daily bread.

In my last year at Franciscan, I started more seriously discerning my possible call to religious life. Naturally, I began with the Dominicans, whom, as I mentioned before, I had planned on joining since high school. I signed up for a “Come and See” weekend with them, along with a few other men from around the Eastern U.S. My love for them hadn’t changed; but while I was there, it seemed like the Holy Spirit wasn’t whispering in my ear anymore to pursue the Order, like He had when I visited their House of Studies back in high school. So, then I had to figure out where I would discern next. I remembered those spiritual books I had read in high school, and my mind turned to the Discalced Carmelites. During my last semester in Steubenville, I contacted Fr. Elijah of the Eucharist, our Vocations Director. We arranged for me to visit the monastery at Holy Hill at the end of June, 2019, and the rest is history. I remember during my visit at Holy Hill hearing the small but certain voice of the Holy Spirit again in my heart, His gentle tug to stay at the monastery, and I answered as promptly as I could. Part of the promptness was so I could make the deadline for the class for that year; but it paid off, because I was able to enter postulancy on November 1st, 2019, with a warm welcome from our community in Brighton, Massachusetts. So began a new, Carmelite chapter in this lifelong adventure of striving towards a union of love with God…