The spirit of our Carmel DCJ comes from the faith experience of Mother Mary Teresa of St. Joseph. Meditating upon and contemplating the Sacred Heart of Jesus, wounded and bleeding, yet burning with love for mankind, a desire was born in her to love the Sacred Heart with her whole being and make Him loved in every heart He had created. She wanted to consecrate herself to God as a victim of love.

Through reading the life of the great Carmelite reformer, St. Teresa of Avila, Mother Mary Teresa found a spirituality that corresponded to her own heart. To spend her life in union with God, living for Him alone and offering all for the glory of the Divine Heart and the salvation of souls was dear Mother's ardent desire. But God did not will that her zeal remain entirely hidden.

Our Foundress received the grace to put the contemplative spirit of Carmel into the active apostolate. Intimately united with Jesus through prayer, silence, and solitude, yet ever aware of the needs of her time, Mother brought her contemplative life to bear on the direct apostolate through the care of children, the elderly, and mission work.

This is the mission her daughters carry on today. We are, in the words of our Foundress, "Servants of the Divine Heart," consecrated to Him for our own sanctification, the salvation of souls, and reparation.