# Aspirancy Handbook — a Journey in Carmel > [!NOTE] > OCDS Aspirancy Handbook > *A Journey in Carmel* > Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites > Approved for use in the United States (2024) ## Table of Contents [[foreword-asp|Foreword]] [[introduction-asp|Introduction]] [[syllabus-asp|Syllabus for Aspirancy]] [[essential-themes-asp|The Essential Themes for Aspirancy]] [[session-01-asp|Who Is Called to Be a Secular Carmelite?]] [[session-02-asp|Understanding the Vocation to Carmel as a Lay Person]] [[session-03-asp|Introduction to the Main Legislative Documents]] [[session-04-asp|The Importance of Community]] [[session-05-asp|Basic Understanding and Practice of Prayer in the Teresian Tradition]] [[session-06-asp|Other Forms of Prayer in the Teresian Tradition]] [[session-07-asp|Understanding the Carmelite Charism of Prayer]] [[session-08-asp|Brief History of the Discalced Carmelite Charism of Prayer]] [[session-09-asp|Apostolate — Charism of Prayer]] [[session-10-asp|Discalced Carmelite Understanding of Devotion to Mary and of the Scapular]] [[session-11-asp|Ecclesial Charism of Our Vocation]] [[session-12-asp|OCDS Rites and Preparation for Admission to Formation]] [[special-session-asp|Special Session: Review and Practice of the Liturgy of the Hours]] [[bibliography-asp|Bibliography]] [[appendix-a-asp|Lumen Gentium, Chapter 4]] [[appendix-b-asp|Lumen Gentium, Chapter 5]] [[appendix-c-asp|Gaudete et Exsultate, Chapter 4 — In Community]] [[appendix-d-asp|Organizational Chart]] [[appendix-e-asp|Liturgy of the Hours Commentary]] [[appendix-f-asp|Divine Intimacy #169 — Mary Our Guide and Model]] [[appendix-g-asp|Session 10]] [[appendix-h-asp|OCDS Ritual — Rite of Admission]] [[appendix-i-asp|Session 11]] [[appendix-j-asp|Session 11]] [[appendix-k-asp|Our Coat of Arms]] --- **Source:** Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, *Aspirancy Handbook: A Journey in Carmel* (US National Formation Program, 2024).