God gives various gifts to various people, certainly not for themselves alone but also for the benefit of others. Similarly, the heavenly gifts God gave Mother Veronica of the Passion the heavenly gift of experiencing His all Sufficing love and that gift shared with the world by founding the Apostolic Carmel and bequeathed this great gift to it. Now the Apostolic Carmel in turn cannot and should not confine this gift to the AC Sisters only. Therefore, in order to share this exhilarating experience, the Apostolic Carmel looks for people who have an aptitude, a taste for prayer, a longing for experiencing Divine love and who are trying to give God the first place in their lives. And when she comes across such people, she invites them to join the A.C family and to share in this rich spiritual heritage.
The first six months is the contact period during which the contacted person gets to know the Apostolic Carmel family more intimately. And if by then she /he express the desire to commit oneself as an A.C.A such a person is initiated into the A.C family. Then onwards the contacted person is called an Apostolic Carmel Associate (ACA).
The A.C.As starts experiencing the warmth and the loveliness of God’s all satisfying love, through their closer contacts with the A.C Sisters, through the guidance from their animator, throughout the input sessions and by giving themselves to prayer not only during the formal hours of prayer, but even in the daily events , circumstances and vicissitudes of life.
- They are gradually introduced to the study of the Holy Scriptures specially the Gospels
- They are taught different methods of prayer
- They study the life of Mother Veronica , the Foundress of the Order
- They study the lives of the Carmelites Saints and imbibe their spirit.
Aim:
By choosing to be a member of the Apostolic Carmel family ,we experience through prayer the unconditional love of God which quenchers every thirst and satisfies every hunger; we share the same with others by being partners in the life and the mission of the sisters, inspired by the foundress Mother Veronica and guided by Mary the Mother of Carmel.
Objectives of ACA
An ACA lives the spirit of Carmel by fulfilling these objectives:
- Giving God the first place at all times and in all things
- Listening to God in prayer and in the Scripture
- Spreading the values of God’s Kingdom
- Fostering Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Following the ideas of Mother Veronica
- Sharing in the Apostolate of the Apostolic Carmel.
Details of the ACA members in Sri Lanka
No
|
Name of the community |
Animator |
Total
No. |
No.of
Permanent
members |
No.of
Temporary
affiliated |
New
members |
1 |
Colombo - 13 |
Sr. Clara Clive |
18 |
12 |
05 |
01 |
2 |
Gampaha |
Sr. Priyadharshini |
20 |
10 |
07 |
03 |
3 |
Kelaniya |
Sr.Leonilda |
13 |
13 |
- |
- |
4 |
Maggona |
Sr. Subasiri |
29 |
26 |
- |
03 |
5 |
Moratuwa |
Sr.Pierre |
06 |
05 |
01 |
- |
6 |
Ampitiya |
Sr.Carmella |
20 |
20 |
- |
- |
7 |
Chilaw |
Sr.Vilmarina |
09 |
02 |
- |
07 |
8 |
Polgahawela |
Sr.M.Jesmine |
29 |
12 |
08 |
09 |
9 |
Bandarawela |
Sr. Rosalind |
17 |
10 |
- |
07 |
10 |
Badulla |
Sr. Gladys Mary |
17 |
13 |
03 |
01 |
11 |
Mutur |
Sr. Sujanthini |
18 |
06 |
09 |
03 |
12 |
Trincomalee |
Sr. Christella |
18 |
15 |
- |
03 |
13 |
Akkaraipattu |
Sr. Therese Noyalin |
15 |
06 |
09 |
- |
14 |
Batticaloa |
Sr. Vijitha |
18 |
18 |
- |
- |
15 |
Kalmunai |
Sr.Selvarani |
17 |
12 |
01 |
04 |
16 |
SoriKalmunai |
Sr. Nishani |
09 |
- |
07 |
02 |
17 |
Atchuvely |
Sr.Vinodha |
17 |
13 |
- |
04 |
18 |
CC Jaffna |
Sr.Roshanthi |
18 |
18 |
- |
- |
19 |
Karaveddy |
Sr.Amali |
24 |
19 |
05 |
- |
20 |
Kulamangal |
Sr.Hendrial |
24 |
16 |
08 |
- |
21 |
Adampan |
Sr.Gertrude |
15 |
15 |
- |
- |
22 |
Murunkan |
Sr. Doreen |
21 |
- |
- |
21 |
24 |
Pampaimadhu |
Sr. Theracilda |
12 |
10 |
- |
02 |
|
Total |
|
404 |
271 |
63 |
70 |
ACA Units
Total No.of ACAs
Permanent Members (2018/01/31)
Temporary affiliated
Newly Initiated
: 23
: 404
: 271
: 63
: 70
|
