Alan Morley-Fletcher of Chemin Neuf (“Prayer for today”, 13 September) is not quite correct when he contrasts “traditional orders”with Chemin Neuf which accepts married couples, etc. Speaking as a Carmelite friar, but also with reference to other mendicant groups, we have for centuries included married people and single people alongside friars, nuns and, more recently, religious sisters, as full members of the order living the charism in different ways. Often this has led to different parts of the family living and serving together in community as still happens today. Distinctions like first, second and third order are a chronological description as to when these groups were juridically recognised, not an indication of levels or degrees of membership. The Carmelite