Devotion to Our Blessed Mother

“How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O noble daughter!…Your head rises upon you like Carmel…” (Sng 7:2,6)

A centuries-old document tells us that our first fathers built a chapel in honor of Our Lady and placed themselves under her special patronage, consciously modelling their lives on her total surrender and loving union with God. Their Marian devotion was not only a matter of words, but expressed for them the identity of the Order. She was seen as the perfect model of what it meant to be a disciple, as well as of prayer and contemplation: a pure capacity for God, pointing others to her Son Jesus, living always in his presence, and keeping her soul as a sanctuary reserved for God alone.  She was for these medieval Carmelites — officially known as the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel — as she is for their twenty-first century heirs: Mother, Sister, and Advocate.

Unceasing Prayer and the Word of God

“Each of you is to stay in his own cell or nearby, pondering the Lord’s law day and night and keeping watch at his prayers…” (Rule, #8)

The beating heart of Carmel has always been this unceasing prayer, a continuous conversation with “the Lord of the law.” Carmelites looked to both Elijah and Mary as a model of prayer. Elijah’s battle cry: “The Lord lives, in whose presence I stand”, resounded in their hearts and oriented their lives toward this standing before the face of God. With Mary, the perfect contemplative, the Carmelites pondered the Word of God in their hearts, allowing it to penetrate their whole being, to form and transform them, bringing them ever closer to union with God.  Through prayer, the Word, in a sense, “becomes flesh” and through their lives of deep union and surrender to the Holy Spirit, with Mary the Carmelites bring forth the Word in order to share it with others.

The Scapular

“…the sign of total consecration…” (Pope Pius XII)

It was to St. Simon Stock, in a moment of ardent petition for the preservation of the Order, that “the most glorious Mother of God appeared…holding in her blessed hands the Scapular of Carmel” and assured him of her predilection of those who would wear it piously. The Brown Scapular is perhaps the most deeply rooted symbol in the Carmelite tradition. Throughout the centuries, many miracles and blessings have been granted through the veneration of the Scapular. In contemporary piety it is looked upon as a sure and visible sign of consecration to Mary’s Immaculate Heart and an impenetrable shield assuring her maternal protection. It reminds the wearer of Our Lady’s promise to help in a special way all those who live according to her spirit and who have confidence in her mission of Mediatrix of all grace.

Teresian & Sanjuanist Influence

The charism received by Our Holy Parents, St. Teresa of Jesus of Avila and St. John of the Cross, has left an enriching mark on Carmelite Spirituality.  Though the Discalced Reform begun in 1562 sought a return to the ‘sources’ and a renewed fervor to follow the “Primitive Rule” of the hermits on Mt. Carmel, the Holy Spirit also inspired Teresa and John with a fresh impetus and spiritual vision.

In founding her first monastery of St. Joseph’s, St. Teresa opted for smaller communities where a fervent contemplative life would be fostered and a vibrant community life maintained.  She wanted her nuns to be “hermits living in community” with a strong apostolic thrust added to their prayer.  Becoming a “prayer warrior” was not secondary to the contemplative vocation, but rather (as Teresa saw it) one of its main objectives.  We are here for the Church and the world.

St. John of the Cross, in his turn, has also profoundly enriched the Order and the Church with his spirit and his writings, tracing the path up the Ascent of Mt. Carmel, journeying with us through the Dark Nights of the spiritual life and exposing us to the rays of the Living Flame of Love.  As a trained theologian, gifted poet and seasoned spiritual director, St. John of the Cross articulates remarkably the contemplative path towards union with God through love.