The choir monks chant Vespers from the large chorales with Latin and Carmelite Gregorian Chants.

Next to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Divine Office is the primary way in which monks engage in the worship of God. The Divine Office, also known as the Liturgy of the Hours, extends the perfect worship of God offered in the Mass throughout the entire day, sanctifying the remaining hours of the day for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

The brothers are incensed by the thurifer during Christmas Midnight Mass.

In the cloisters of Carmel, we remain in the presence of God singing His praises at every moment, but primarily within the liturgy. Through the psalms that we chant in Latin, we enter into the sentiments of Christ and His Holy Mother, being transformed through love into their same “Praise of Glory” of the Most Holy Trinity, or Laudem Gloriae as St. Elizabeth of the Trinity named herself. This sacrifice of praise has clearly been the source of great glory to the Creator of all things, to the honor of our Lady of Mount Carmel, and of the highest service to the Church.

The monks recite the preparatory prayers for Divine Office on Sunday, the day the monks do not kneel.

The Divine Office is sung by the Carmelite monks according to the Gregorian melodies of the Carmelite Rite. Many of these Latin ancient chants are the same that were sung by St. John of the Cross himself when he celebrated the Carmelite Rite office with solemnity. They were also chanted by the first Carmelite hermits in their Gothic Church on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. The ancient Carmelite chants have been sanctified by the countless Carmelites that have sung them from their hearts as a hymn of love to our Creator.

The choir monks of this institute retain the praiseworthy custom of rising in the middle of the night at midnight to pray the Offices of Matins and Lauds. Although the Night Office interrupts the sleep of the fathers and can be difficult for the young and the old, nevertheless it is maintained as an opportunity to atone for the evils that occur in the darkness of night and to fulfill the words of the psalmist, “I rose at midnight to give praise to thee.” This custom obtains great graces for the Church and for the salvation of souls.

The Carmelite Chorale awaits Vespers in the Chapter House.