Carmelite

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(kär'mə-līt') pronunciation
n.
  1. A monk or mendicant friar belonging to the order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, founded in 1155. Also called White Friar.
  2. A member of a community of nuns of this order, founded in 1452.
Carmelite Car'mel·ite' adj.


Mendicant order of the Roman Catholic church. It originated 1155 on Mount Carmel in Palestine, where a number of former pilgrims and crusaders began to live as hermits. Their rule was written by St. Albert, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and approved by Pope Honorius III in 1226. As Muslim incursions made Palestine increasingly unsafe, the Carmelites scattered to Cyprus, Sicily, France, and England. In England and Western Europe the order transformed itself from a group of hermits into one of mendicant friars. The first institution of Carmelite nuns was founded in 1452. St. Teresa of vila and St. John of the Cross reemphasized the strictness and austerity of Carmelite traditions, establishing Discalced (barefoot) Carmelite orders in 1562 and 1569, which gave rise to an independent order in 1593. Both the reformed and the original orders suffered greatly during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era, but they were later restored in most of Western Europe as well as in the Middle East, Latin America, and the U.S.

For more information on Carmelite, visit Britannica.com.

Carmelites were originally established as a monastic order in Palestine in the mid-12th cent., claiming descent from early hermits on Mount Carmel. Several communities were established in England c.1242. Shortly afterwards the Carmelites were reorganized as mendicant friars (the ‘white friars’). They remained especially popular in England, where there were nearly 40 friaries at the dissolution.

Monastic order founded on Mount Carmel in the 12th c. It became an important mendicant order in medieval Europe. The reforms of St Teresa, introducing greater austerity, led to the formation of a separate order, the Discalced Carmelites (Carmes Déchaussés), who wore sandals rather than shoes and stockings. This reformed order was introduced to France in 1604 by Bérulle and Madame Acarie. The Carmelites occupied a significant place in ancien régime society.

[Peter France]


[Ge]

A monastic order of friars established in the 13th century and known as the White Friars. Their houses were mainly, but not exclusively, in towns.

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Carmelites (kär'məlīts), Roman Catholic order of mendicant friars. Originally a group of hermits, apparently European, living on Mt. Carmel in Palestine, their supervision was undertaken (c.1150) by St. Berthold. In 1238 they moved to Cyprus, and thence to Western Europe. St. Simon Stock (d. 1265), an Englishman, was their second founder. He transformed them into an order of friars resembling Dominicans and Franciscans and founded monasteries at Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, and Bologna. They rapidly became prominent in university life. An enclosed order of Carmelite nuns was established. The Carmelites, like other orders, declined in the 15th cent. They were revived by St. Theresa (of Ávila) and St. John of the Cross in 16th-century Spain. These great contemplatives gave the order a special orientation toward mysticism. Their reformed branch is the Discalced (or Barefoot) Carmelites; it is now more numerous than the Carmelites of the Old Observance. The Discalced Carmelites cultivate the contemplative life in all aspects, and they have produced many works on mystical theology. St. Theresa (of Lisieux) is a well-known Discalced Carmelite of the 19th cent. In 1790 the first community came to the United States and settled near Port Tobacco, Md. There are presently about 6,900 priests and brothers living in Carmelite communities, with 500 living in the United States.

Bibliography

See E. A. Peers, Spirit of Flame (1944, repr. 1961); P. Rohrback, Journey to the Carith (1966).


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A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


n.

A mendicant friar of the order of Mount Carmel.

    As Death was a-rising out one day,
    Across Mount Camel he took his way,
        Where he met a mendicant monk,
        Some three or four quarters drunk,
    With a holy leer and a pious grin,
    Ragged and fat and as saucy as sin,
        Who held out his hands and cried:
    "Give, give in Charity's name, I pray.
    Give in the name of the Church.  O give,
    Give that her holy sons may live!"
        And Death replied,
        Smiling long and wide:
        "I'll give, holy father, I'll give thee -- a ride."
    
        With a rattle and bang
        Of his bones, he sprang
    From his famous Pale Horse, with his spear;
        By the neck and the foot
        Seized the fellow, and put
    Him astride with his face to the rear.
    
    The Monarch laughed loud with a sound that fell
    Like clods on the coffin's sounding shell:
    "Ho, ho!  A beggar on horseback, they say,
        Will ride to the devil!" -- and thump
        Fell the flat of his dart on the rump
    Of the charger, which galloped away.
    
    Faster and faster and faster it flew,
    Till the rocks and the flocks and the trees that grew
    By the road were dim and blended and blue
        To the wild, wild eyes
        Of the rider -- in size
        Resembling a couple of blackberry pies.
    Death laughed again, as a tomb might laugh
        At a burial service spoiled,
        And the mourners' intentions foiled
        By the body erecting
        Its head and objecting
    To further proceedings in its behalf.
    
    Many a year and many a day
    Have passed since these events away.
    The monk has long been a dusty corse,
    And Death has never recovered his horse.
        For the friar got hold of its tail,
        And steered it within the pale
    Of the monastery gray,
    Where the beast was stabled and fed
    With barley and oil and bread
    Till fatter it grew than the fattest friar,
    And so in due course was appointed Prior.
                                                                  G.J.


  See crossword solutions for the clue Carmelite.
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Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel
Abbreviation Order of Carmelites (O.Carm.)
Motto Zelo zelatus sum pro Domino Deo exercituum
("With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts")
Formation Late 12th century
Type Roman Catholic religious order
Headquarters Via Giovanni Lanza,
Rome, Italy
Prior General Most Rev. Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral
Website www.ocarm.org

The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites (sometimes simply Carmel by synecdoche; Latin: Ordo Fratrum Beatissimæ Virginis Mariæ de Monte Carmelo) is a Roman Catholic religious order founded, probably in the 12th century, on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain.[1] 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 extrapolation by hagiographers.[2]

Contents

Charism and origin

Pietro Novelli, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Carmelite Saints (Simon Stock (c1165-1265) (standing), Angelus of Jerusalem (1185-1220) (kneeling), Mary Magdalene de Pazzi (1566-1607), Teresa of Ávila (1515-82)), 1641 (Museo Diocesano, Palermo).

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, 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. The foundation was believed to have been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The conventual buildings were destroyed several times, but a monastery of Discalced Carmelite friars was built close to the original site under the auspices of Fr. Julius of the Saviour and duly consecrated on 12 June 1836.

Some time between 1209 and 1214 the hermits received a formula vitae "in keeping with their avowed purpose" (Rule Ch. 1) from the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and Papal legate St. Albert of Jerusalem. Albert had been responsible for giving a rule to the Humiliati during his long tenure as Bishop of Vercelli, and was well-versed in diplomacy, being sent by Pope Innocent III as Papal Legate to what was known as the Eastern Province. As an experienced prelate he created a document which is both juridically terse and replete with Scriptural allusions, thereby rooting the hermits in the life of the universal Church and their own aspirations.

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 sixteen 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) until the 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 1242 they were in Aylesford, Kent, England, and two 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 Saint 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 priory at Paris by Saint Louis in 1259.

Reforms

Carmelite nuns.

Quite early in their history the Carmelites began to develop ministries in keeping with their new status as mendicant religious. This resulted in the production of a letter Ignea Sagitta (Flaming Arrow) by the ruling prior general, Nicholas of Narbonne, who called for a return to a strictly eremitical life. His belief that most friars were ill-suited to an active apostolate was based on a number of scandals. However, the tendentious letter is not found quoted in early extant Carmelite texts, raising the question whether it was ever issued. In any case, Nicholas resigned from office at the General Chapter in Paris in 1271 to pursue the solitary life he favoured. This tension within the charism of the Order remains - the need for solitude and the need to respond to the Church's apostolic mission.

In the 14th and 15th centuries the Carmelites, like a number of other religious orders, declined and reform became imperative. Shortly before 1433 three priories 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 rest of the Order with its own special set of Constitutions as ratified by Pope Eugene IV and governed by its own vice prior general. 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 prior general. Blessed John Soreth, who was then prior general and had already established the order of Carmelite nuns in 1452, accordingly sought until his death in 1471 to restore the primitive asceticism.

In 1476, a papal bull cum nulla of Pope Sixtus IV founded the Carmelites of the Third Order, who received a special rule in 1635, which was later amended in 1678. The 16th century saw a number of short-lived reforms, but it was not until the second half of the same century that a thorough reformation of the Carmelites in parts of Spain was carried out by Saint Teresa of Ávila, who, together with Saint John of the Cross, established the Discalced Carmelites. Teresa's foundations, although welcomed by King Philip II of Spain - who was most anxious for all Orders to be reformed according to the principles of the Council of Trent (1545–1563) - did create practical problems at grassroots level. The proliferation of new religious houses in towns that were already struggling to cope was an unwelcome prospect, creating a backlash from local townspeople to nobility and diocesan clergy. Teresa made a point of trying to make her monasteries as self-sufficient as was practicable and restricted the number of nuns per community accordingly.

Out of concern over the advent of Protestantism, the Order was now inspired with a new asceticism and fervour. In 1593, the Discalced Carmelites had their own superior general styled propositus general - the first being Fr. Nicloas Doria. Due to the politics of foundation, the Discalced friars in Italy were canonically erected as a separate juridical entity.

The prior general, Fr. John Baptist Rossi, realized that if reform was going to work, it could not be left to the whims individual provinces. The problems created by Teresa's movement for those stubbornly rejecting the need for reform had created the fragmentation of the Order in Castile and many committed nuns and friars now belonged to a completely separate Order. Fr. Rossi laid the groundwork for a more systematic programme of reform. The place that offered the best conditions was the Province of Tourraine, which gave its name to the reform. One of its great figures was Br. John of St. Samson. The Congregation of Mantua continued to function in its little corner of Italy throughout this period.

It was only at the end of the 19th century that those following the reform of Tourraine (by this time known as the "strict observance") and the Mantuan Congregation were formally merged under one set of Constitutions. The friars following Mantua conceded to Tourraine's Constitutions but insisted that the older form of the habit - namely their own - should be adopted. In a photograph of the period Blessed Titus Brandsma is shown in the habit of Tourraine as a novice; in all subsequent images he wears that of the newly styled Ancient Observance.

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 on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

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 re-founding 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.

A Carmelite nun reading in the cell of her Convent.

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 Third Order of lay Carmelites count 25,000-30,000 members throughout the world. Provinces exist in Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Hungary, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Portugal and the United States. Delegations directly under the Prior General exist in Argentina, France, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, the Lebanon, the Philippines and Portugal.

Carmelite Missions exist in Bolivia, Burkino Faso, Cameroon, Colombia, India, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, Mozambique, Peru, Romania, Tanzania, Trinidad, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

Monasteries of enclosed Carmelite nuns exist in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, Spain, Portugal and the United States. Hermit communities of either men or women exist in Brazil, France, Indonesia, Lebanon, Italy and the United States.

The Carmelite Martyrs of Guadalajara, Spain.

The Discalced Carmelite Order also built the priory of Elijah (1911) at the site of Elijah's epic contest with the prophets of Ba'al (1 Kings 18:20-40. 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 held sacred by Christians, Jews and Muslims; the name of the area, is el-Muhraqa, an Arabic construction meaning "place of burning", and is a direct reference to the biblical account.

There are several Carmelite figures who have received significant attention in the 20th century, including Saint Thérèse of Lisieux,[3] one of only three female Doctors of the Church,[4] so named because of her famous teaching on the "way of confidence and love" set forth in her best-selling memoir, "Story of a Soul";[5] Titus Brandsma, a Dutch scholar and writer who was killed in Dachau Concentration Camp because of his stance against Nazism; and Saint 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 (i.e., non-vowed monastic) great figures include Saint George Preca, a Maltese priest and Carmelite Tertiary.

Habit and scapular

Christian Sacramentals
A series of articles on

Scapular

Escapulariocafe.JPG


General articles
Saint Simon Stock
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Rosary & Scapular
Sabbatine Privilege

Specific Scapulars
Mount Carmel (Brown)
Fivefold Scapular
Passion (Red)
Passion (Black)
Seven Sorrows of Mary (Black)
The Archangel (Blue/Black)
Good Counsel (White)
Sacred Heart of Jesus (White)
Immaculate Heart of Mary (White)
Immaculate Conception (Blue)
Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary

The original way of life 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—the black or brown stripes representing the scorches the mantle of Elijah received from the fiery chariot as it fell from his shoulders—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 constitutions. Their distinctive garment was a scapular of two strips of dark cloth, worn on the breast and back, and fastened at the shoulders. Tradition holds that this was given to St. Simon Stock by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who appeared to him and promised that all who wore it with faith and piety and who died clothed in it would be saved.[6][7][8] There arose a sodality of the scapular, which affiliated a large number of laymen with the Carmelites. The order made some grandiose claims, 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. A miniature version of the Carmelite scapular is popular among Roman Catholics and is one of the most popular devotions in the Church. Wearers usually believe that if they faithfully wear the Carmelite scapular (also called "the brown scapular" or simply "the scapular") and die in a state of grace, they will 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. The Lay Carmelites of the Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel wear a scapular which is smaller than the shortened scapular worn by some 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.

From the time of her clothing in the Carmelite religious habit (1583) till her death (1607) the life of Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi is said to have had a series of raptures and ecstasies.

  • First, these raptures sometimes seized upon her whole being with such force as to compel her to rapid motion (e.g. towards some sacred object).
  • Secondly, she was frequently able, whilst in ecstasy, to carry on working e.g., embroidery, painting, with perfect composure and efficiency.
  • Thirdly, during these raptures Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi gave utterance to maxims of Divine Love, and to counsels of perfection for souls. These were preserved by her companions, who (unknown to her) wrote them down.

In the 19th century, another Carmelite nun, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, was instrumental in spreading this devotion[9] 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 day before Ash Wednesday) for all Catholics. Therese of Lisieux emerged as one of the most popular saints for Catholics in the 20th century, and a statue of her can be found in many European and North American Catholic churches built prior to the Second Vatican Council (after which the number of statues tended to be reduced when churches were built).

See also

Other Branches of the Carmelite Order

Provinces of O.Carm. Carmelite Friars

Communities of Carmelite Sisters

Spirituality

Tradition

Notes

  1. ^  "The Carmelite Order". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
  2. ^  "Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
  3. ^ "Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway"
  4. ^ O’Riordan, Maureen. "Doctor of the Universal Church". Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway. http://www.thereseoflisieux.org/doctor-of-the-universal-church/. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  5. ^ O’Riordan, Maureen. "Writings". Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway. http://www.thereseoflisieux.org/writings/. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  6. ^ EWTN History of the Scapular [1]
  7. ^ Matthew Bunson, 2008, The Catholic Almanac, ISBN 978-1-59276-441-9 page 155
  8. ^ Gerald M. Costello, 2001, Treasury of Catholic Stories, OSV Press, ISBN 978-0-87973-979-9, page 128
  9. ^ O’Riordan, Maureen. "Therese and the Holy Face of Jesus". Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway. http://www.thereseoflisieux.org/the-holy-face-of-jesus/. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 

References

  • Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion
  • Copsey, Richard and Fitzgerald-Lombard, Patrick (eds.), Carmel in Britain: studies on the early history of the Carmelite Order (1992–2004).
  • "The Carmelite Order" by Benedict Zimmerman. The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908.

Further reading

  • T. Brandsma, Carmelite Mysticism, Historical Sketches: 50th Anniversary Edition, (Darien, IL, 1986), ASIN B002HFBEZG
  • J. Boyce, Carmelite Liturgy and Spiritual Identity. The Choir Books of Kraków, Turnhout, 2009, Brepols Publishers, ISBN 978-2-503-51714-8
  • W. McGreal, At the Fountain of Elijah: The Carmelite Tradition, (Maryknoll, NY, 1999), ISBN 1-57075-292-3
  • J. Smet, The Carmelites: A History of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 4. vol. (Darien IL, 1975)
  • J. Welch, The Carmelite Way: An Ancient Path for Today’s Pilgrim, (New York: 1996), ISBN 0-8091-3652-X

External links


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