OUR GOALS & GUIDELINES

1. The primary goal of the Teresa 500 Summits Project is to promote a Carmelite approach to Christian life, spirituality and prayer, in addition to honouring Saint Teresa of Avila, one of the greatest Carmelite saints, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of her birth.

2. On the practical level, our goal is to raise money that would financially support the formation programme of the Anglo-Irish Province of the Discalced Carmelite Order. In recent years vocations to our order have been growing steadily, but this promising development also needs new sources of financial support. So we hope that our project will help to meet at least some of the needs of formation and training programme of the Carmelite novices and students in the Anglo-Irish Province. 

3. The main target of our fund raising project is to walk and climb 500 mountain summits anywhere in the world over the next few years. So, if you are able to climb or walk in the mountains, we would like to invite you to join us. It will be absolutely sufficient and valuable to climb just one of them. So get your boots out and water bottles at the ready!

Mountains

4. Mountains are a unique place where people can explore not only the beauty of creation, whilst enjoying a very active form of physical exercise, but it is also a place where they can experience something extraordinary.  Many consider mountains to be environments where upon entering the person passes through a veil into a new realm: a place of spiritual encountering with one’s true self and the true God of love and compassion.

Health & safety

5. On life’s journey we encounter many boulders and inclement places in order to reach the light of His summit, and with mountain terrains we too can experience stormy climates and precarious conditions.  It is for this reason that we would like to stress that every mountain expedition should be taken very seriously by those who wish to participate in the Teresa 500 Summits Project. Mountain climbers and walkers should know, and always remember, that they are fully responsible for their behaviour and actions whilst in the mountains.

6. Those embarking on any mountain walk or climb should wear the appropriate clothing, footwear and equipment, and take sufficient quantities of food and water, in order to protect their safety and to make it a pleasurable experience.

7. Continuing on the subject of safety, we would like to stress the importance of appropiate insurance that would be available from a number of sources. So, we strongly recommend that those participating in our project should possess one, as the animators of the Teresa 500 Summits Project cannot take any responsibility for any injury or accident relating to any kind of participation in this project. We do not want to take away the primary focus of what we are trying to achieve, but to ensure everyone’s safety and peace of mind.

8. For we cannot accept any liability for the fundraising activities, the participants need to consider any potential risks and make it clear that their mountain expedition is fundraising in aid of Teresa 500 Summit Project rather than organised by the Teresa 500 Summits Project. It means that the participants need to make sure that they take out appropriate insurance to cover their liability.

Participants

9. The Teresa 500 Summits Project is open for every person. It means that every person is invited to take part in this project. There are, however, three forms of participations:

a) Climbers/Walkers,
b) Spiritual climbers.

10. Those willing to participate in our project may freely decide which one of these forms suits them the best. They can choose one of the forms, two or all of them. You can walk or climb any mountain summit over 2,000 feet (609 m) in the world chosen by you. We only ask you to notify us about your climb or walk by sending to us your name, day of your mounatin expedition and a few pictures from the mountain summits that you achieved. You can send all the information via e-mail to: teresa500summits@gmail.com

Spiritual climbers and walkers

11. It is not necessery for everyone to climb or walk in the mountains in order to support this project. It is also very important to support those who climb spiritually. Therefore, we greatly invite those of you who would like to pray for our climbers and for the whole project. You can also become a spiritual co-partner of those who climb by choosing one or more climbers for whom you wish to pray. You can tell them about your intension and then pray for them.