Everything about Carmelites totally explained
The
Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or
Carmelites (sometimes simply
Carmel by
synecdoche;
Latin:
Ordo fratrum Beatæ Virginis Mariæ de monte Carmelo) is a
Roman Catholic religious order founded in the
12th century on
Mount Carmel, whence the order receives its name.
Saint Bertold has traditionally been associated with the founding of the order, but few clear records of early Carmelite history have survived and this is likely to be a later invention by
hagiographers.
Charism and origin
The
charism, or spiritual focus, of the Carmelite Order is contemplative prayer. The Order is considered by the Church to be under the special protection of the
Blessed Virgin Mary and thus has a strong Marian devotion. As in most of the orders dating to medieval times, the First Order is the friars (who are active/contemplative), the Second Order is the nuns (who are cloistered) and the Third Order consists of laypeople who continue to live in the world, and can be married, but participate in the charism of the order by liturgical prayers, apostolates (ministries), and contemplative prayer. There are also offshoots such as active Carmelite sisters.
Carmelite tradition traces the origin of the order to a community of
hermits on Mount Carmel that succeeded the schools of the prophets in ancient
Israel, although there are no certain records of hermits on this mountain before the 1190s. By this date a group of men had gathered at the well of
Elijah on Mount Carmel. These men, who had gone to
Palestine from
Europe either as pilgrims or as
crusaders, chose Mount Carmel in part because it was the traditional home of Elijah. It was but natural that this community of Eastern hermits in the
Holy Land should gain constant accessions from pilgrims, and between
1206 and
1214 they received a rule from the patriarch and
Papal legate Albert of Jerusalem. The foundation was named the
Stella Maris Monastery, in honour of the
Virgin Mary in her aspect of
Our Lady, Star of the Sea, (Latin:
Stella Maris). The abbey was destroyed several times, but a refounded Stella Maris monastery is still considered the headquarters of the order.
The original
Carmelite Rule of St. Albert addresses a Prior whose name is only listed as "B." When later required to name their founders, the Brothers referred to both Elijah and the Blessed Virgin as early models of the community. Later, under pressure from other European
Mendicant orders to be more specific, the name "
Saint Bertold" was given, possibly drawn from the
oral tradition of the Order.
The rule consisted of 16 articles, which enjoined strict obedience to their
prior, residence in individual cells, constancy in prayer, the hearing of
Mass every morning in the
oratory of the community,
vows of poverty and toil, daily silence from
vespers until
terce the next morning,
abstinence from all forms of meat except in cases of severe illness, and fasting from
Holy Cross Day (
September 14) to
Easter of the following year.
History
Early history
The Rule of St. Albert received the approval of
Pope Honorius III in
1226. With the increasing cleavage between the West and the East, however, the Carmelites found it advisable to leave their original home, and in
1238 they settled in
Cyprus and
Sicily.
In
1240 they were in
Aylesford,
Kent,
England, and four years later in southern
France, while by
1245 they were so numerous that they were able to hold their first general chapter at Aylesford, where
Simon Stock, then eighty years of age, was chosen general. During his rule of twenty years the order prospered, especially by the establishment of a monastery at
Paris by
Saint Louis in
1259.
Reforms within the Order
In the
14th and
15th centuries the Carmelites, like other monastic orders, declined, and reform became imperative. Shortly before
1433 three monasteries in
Valais,
Tuscany, and
Mantua were reformed by the preaching of
Thomas Conecte of
Rennes and formed the congregation of Mantua, which, was declared independent of the order by
Pope Eugene IV. In
1431 or
1432 the same pope sanctioned certain modifications of the Carmelite rule, and in
1459 Pope Pius II left the regulation of fasts to the discretion of the general. John Soreth, who was then general, and had already established the order of Carmelite nuns in
1452, accordingly sought to restore the primitive asceticism, but died of poison at
Nantes in
1471.
In
1476 a bull of
Pope Sixtus IV founded the Carmelites of the Third Order, who received a special rule in
1635, which was amended in 1678. The
16th century saw a number of short-lived reforms, but it wasn't until the second half of the same century that a thorough reformation of the Carmelites was carried out by
Saint Teresa of Ávila, who, together with
John of the Cross, established the
Discalced Carmelites.
Out of concern over the advent of
Protestantism, the order was now inspired with an asceticism and a devotion hitherto unknown to it. In
1593 the Discalced Carmelites had their own general, and by
1600 they were so numerous that it became necessary to divide them into the two congregations of
Spain and of
Italy, or St. Elise, the latter including all provinces except Spain. Henceforth there were four Carmelite generals: the general of the Observantines, of the independent congregation of Mantua, and of the two congregations of the Discalced Carmelites. Other reforms within the Order include those of Tourainne and Mantova.
Controversies with other orders
By the middle of the
17th century the Carmelites had reached their zenith. At this period, however, they became involved in controversies with other orders, particularly with the
Jesuits. The special objects of attack were the traditional origin of the Carmelites and the source of their scapular. The
Sorbonne, represented by
Jean Launoy, joined the Jesuits in their polemics against the Carmelites.
Papebroch, the
Bollandist editor of the
Acta Sanctorum, was answered by the Carmelite
Sebastian of St. Paul, who made such serious charges against the orthodoxy of his opponent's writings that the very existence of the Bollandists was threatened. The peril was averted, however, and in
1696 a decree of
Juan Tomás de Rocaberti,
archbishop of Valencia and inquisitor-general of the
Holy Office, forbade all further controversies between the Carmelites and Jesuits. Two years later, on
November 20,
1698,
Pope Innocent XII issued a brief which definitely ended the controversy on pain of
excommunication, and placed all writings in violation of the brief upon the Index.
Modern history
The
French Revolution, the secularization in Germany, and the repercussions on religious Orders following the unification of Italy were heavy blows to the Carmelites. By the last decades of the
19th century, there were approximately 200 Carmelite men throughout the world. At the beginning of the
20th century, however, new leadership and less political interference allowed a rebirth of the Order. Existing provinces began refounding provinces that had gone out of existence. The theological preparation of the Carmelites was strengthened, particularly with the foundation of St. Albert's College in Rome.
By
2001, the membership had increased to approximately 2,100 men in 25 provinces, 700 enclosed nuns in 70 monasteries, and 13 affiliated Congregations and Institutes. In addition, the Lay Carmelites count 25-30,000 members throughout the world. Provinces exist in Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Ireland, Malta, Poland, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia. Delegations directly under the Prior General exist in Portugal, the Czech Republic, the Philippines, and France. Carmelite Missions exist in Lithuania, Romania, Burkino Faso, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Cameroon, Mozambique, Kenya, India, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Trinidad, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Argentina. Monasteries of enclosed Carmelite nuns exist in Italy, Ireland, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, Peru, the United States of America, Kenya, the Philippines, Nicaragua, Indonesia and the Dominican Republic. Hermit communities of either men or women exist in the United States of America, France, Italy, Indonesia and Brazil.
The
Discalced Carmelite Order is still represented on the summit of the Carmel range at the Muhraka Monastery. The monastery is situated about 25 kilometers south of Haifa on the eastern side of the Carmel, and stands on the foundations of a series of earlier monasteries. The site is believed by Christians, Jews and Muslims to be where the encounter between the prophet Elijah and the priests of Baal took place (
1 Kings, 18:20-40). The name of the monastery, Muhraka, meaning "place of burning", is a direct reference to the biblical account.
There are several major Carmelite figures in the 20th century, including St.
Thérèse of Lisieux, one of the few female
Doctors of the Church, so named because of her famous teaching on the "Little Way" of confidence in God;
Titus Brandsma, a Dutch scholar and writer who was killed in Dachau Concentration Camp because of his stance against Nazism; and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (née
Edith Stein), a Jewish convert to Catholicism who was also imprisoned and died at Auschwitz. Saint
Raphael Kalinowski (
1835-
1907) was the first friar to be sainted in the Order since co-founder Saint
John of the Cross. The writings and teachings of
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, a Carmelite friar of the 17th century, continue as a spiritual classic under the title
The Practice of the Presence of God. Other non-religious (
for example, non-vowed monastic) great figures include Blessed
George Preca, a Maltese priest and Carmelite Tertiary.
Habit and scapular
The original rule of the order was changed to conform to that of the
mendicant orders on the initiative of St.
Simon Stock and at the command of
Pope Innocent IV. Their former habit of a mantle with black and white or brown and white stripes was discarded, and they wore the same habit as the
Dominicans, except that the
cloak was white. They also borrowed much from the Dominican and
Franciscan rules. Their distinctive garment was a
scapular of two strips of gray cloth, worn on the breast and back, and fastened at the shoulders. Tradition holds that this was given to St. Simon Stock by the
Virgin herself, who appeared to him and promised that all who died clothed in it would be saved (this tradition wasn't fully articulated until it appeared in documents dating to 1642, however, some 400 years after St Simon's death, making it of doubtful authenticity). There arose a sodality of the scapular, which affiliated a large number of laymen with the Carmelites. The order speedily became infected with arrogance, however, contesting the "invention" of the
rosary with the Dominicans, terming themselves the brothers of the Virgin, and asserting, on the basis of their traditional association with Elijah, that all the prophets of the Old Testament, as well as the Virgin and the Apostles, had been Carmelites. Their second general, Nicholas of Narbonne (
1265–
1270), protested in vain, only to be deposed from his office.
A miniature version of the Carmelite scapular is very popular among Catholics. It is one of the most popular
sacramentals of the Catholic church. Wearers usually believe that if they faithfully wear the Carmelite scapular (also called "the brown scapular" or simply "the scapular") and strive to live a Christian life, that'll be saved from
eternal damnation. Catholics who decide to wear the scapular are usually enrolled by a priest, and some choose to enter the Scapular Confraternity.
Third Order Lay Carmelites wear a a scapular which is smaller than the shortened scapular worn by Carmelite religious for sleeping, but still larger than the devotional scapulars.
Visions and devotions
Among the various Catholic orders, Carmelite nuns have had a proportionally high ratio of
visions of Jesus and Mary and have been responsible for key
Catholic devotions.
Sister
Marie of St Peter a Carmelite nun in
Tours France started the devotion to the
Holy Face of Jesus. She said that in an 1844 vision Jesus told her: "
Oh if you only knew what great merit you acquire by saying even once, Admirable is the Name of God, in a spirit of reparation for blasphemy."
Another Carmelite nun, Saint
Therese of Lisieux was instrumental in spreading this devotion throughout France in the 1890s with her many poems and prayers. Eventually
Pope Pius XII approved the devotion in 1958 and declared the Feast of the
Holy Face of Jesus as Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday) for all Roman Catholics.
Further Information
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