From the interpretation of the Carmelite Rule by Blessed John Soreth
Furthermore, the rule states: "According to the disposition of the place where you decide to dwell, each of you should have a separate, individual cell."1 The religious is a son of grace and the fruit of the womb of the cell. The cell (motherly) cares for him, feeds him, embraces him, and brings him to the fullness of perfection, making him worthy of conversing with God. The cell is "holy ground"2 and a "holy place,"3 where the Lord and His servant converse secretly, just as one speaks with a friend. Within it, the believing soul often unites with the true God, just as a bride is united with her bridegroom; here the heavenly is united with the earthly, the divine with the human. The cell of God's servant is indeed like a holy temple of God. In the temple, and in the cell, divine matters are discussed, but more often in the cell: the cell is the workshop of all good deeds4 and helps in maintaining constant perseverance. In it, anyone who lives rightly in poverty is rich. And everyone who has good will possesses everything needed for a good life.
However, to dwell in the cell more securely, three guardians are assigned to you: God, conscience, and the spiritual father. You are bound to God by devotion—completely devote yourself to Him. To your conscience (you are bound) by respect—be ashamed to sin before it. And to your spiritual father (you are bound) by the obedience of love—turn to him in everything. Moreover, until you are little, I will add a fourth guardian; and until you learn to think more about God’s presence, I will provide you with a mentor. I advise you: choose someone whose exemplary life has impressed itself upon your heart so much, and filled you with such respect, that whenever you remember him, it will inspire reverence toward him, and you will behave and think as if he were present. By kindling love, may he amend everything that needs to be amended in you. Thus, your life in solitude will not suffer from being separated from him. You will consider all your thoughts as if he were watching them, and it will compel you to amend, as if he could see and reprimand you.
For such a life in solitude, let each have a separate cell. Even as the rule literally states: "Individual (brothers) should have separate, individual cells." Let your cell be of two kinds, one external, and the other internal. The external one is the house in which your soul dwells with your body. The inner cell is in your conscience and must be inhabited by God, the God of your entire being, along with your spirit. The doors of the external cloister are a sign of the doors of the internal cloister. Just as the external cloister prevents the bodily senses from wandering outside, let the inner senses continually focus inwardly on God. Therefore, love your inner cell, love the outer cell, and take care of both. May the outer cell conceal you—not so that you can secretly sin in greater secrecy, but so that you may live in greater safety—that is why it may hide you. You do not realize how much you are bound to your cell. Perhaps you do not understand how, within it, you are not only healed of your vices but also spared from conflicts with others. And you do not realize what esteem you are bound to your conscience until you experience grace and the sweetness of internal comfort within it. Therefore, value appropriately both cells, but above all, take care of yourself: learn to have control over yourself in it, to arrange (your) life, to direct your behavior, to be demanding upon yourself, but also critical. No one loves you more than you do, and no one will judge you more faithfully. Someone says this:
“Take delight in your cell
and go out only reluctantly,
throughout the day be diligent in silence,
rise early at the appointed time:
pray, read, do penance;
do not cease to examine yourself.”
Therefore, the rule says: "…let each have a separate cell, which will be assigned to him by the personal decision of the prior with the consent of the other brothers or by the more rational part."
