RG 07: Constitutions and Ceremonials, 1616- (CC)

There were several books that governed the life of the Carmelite Sisters of Baltimore: the rule; the constitutions; the ceremonial book; the grace book; the manual for ceremonies; and the breviary. With the passage of time and also because aspects of each of these, with the exception of the rule, changed over the years in some detail, the Sisters collected new editions of each of these. This archives collection contains these various editions; some, even, in French or Spanish. The Constitutions of the Discalced Carmelite nuns were given to the sisters initially by Teresa of Avila sometime after 1562. Copies preserved in the archives begin with the first French edition published in Flanders by Anne of Jesus in 1616. Other editions of the constitutions follow in consecutive order. In conjunction with these, commentaries on the rule and constitutions, statutes involving extern sisters, and decrees of canon law were also kept. Ceremonial books and the manuals that guided liturgical celebration and daily ritual, the first of which was compiled in the mid-1650s by Ann of the Ascension Worsley who had lived with the "Spanish Mothers", as well as grace books, dating from 1720, have been retained as well. Consecutive editions of breviaries make up the last series of the official texts used by the nuns to guide their community and prayer life.