The History of the Carmelite Order
The Carmelite order takes it name from Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land. The order traces its spiritual roots back to the prophet Elijah, who embodies the Carmelite ideal. As early as the 12th Century
there were a number of hermits, mostly former crusaders and pilgrims, calling themselves the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who were striving to live in the spirit of the prophet Elijah, a life of solitude and prayer.
Elijah’s cry of triumph serves as the motto for Carmelites: “I have burned with zeal for the Lord God of hosts”.
From its very beginning the Order of Carmel always had a special love and veneration for Mary, the Mother of Jesus. She is the Mother and Patroness of all Carmelites and the scapular which is worn by Carmelites is a sign of this devotion and reliance on Mary’s protection. Mary exemplifies one who, in her simplicity, was totally open and receptive to God’s action and is considered a role model in the Carmelite search for union with God.
The First Carmelites
This group of hermits living on Mount Carmel were given a Rule of Life by Saint Albert of Jerusalem between 1206 and 1214. The Rule of Saint Albert is perhaps the least known of the existing monastic Rules. It is a Rule noted for its shortness, simplicity and biblical foundation. Albert’s Rule sketches out a way of life based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, stressing continual prayer, in silence and solitude, self-giving and life in community.
After the Saracen conquest of the Holy Land the Order moved westward to Europe, reaching Britain as early as 1242. Certain modifications were introduced to adapt the Rule to the changed conditions in which the Carmelites found themselves. For the most part they ceased to live as hermits and became friars, giving themselves to preaching, pastoral work and prayer.
Until the 15th century the Order consisted only of friars, priests and lay brothers, although there were several groups of pious women living according to the Carmelite spirit. The Second Order, of nuns, was founded in 1452 by Blessed John Soreth, Prior General of the Order who also founded the Secular Order of Carmel for lay people.
The Reform of Carmel
In the 16th century the great Spanish Carmelite Nun, St. Teresa of Avila, wished to renew the Carmelite Order by returning the simplicity and austerity of the early hermits of Mt. Carmel. Her fervour and piety soon attracted a large following of nuns and quickly spread to the friars. A young friar St. John of the Cross became Teresa’s main collaborator in her reform efforts. Those adhering to Teresa’s reform soon became knows as “discalced” or without sandles, a reference to the fact that Teresa’s nuns and friars often went barefoot.
In 1562 Teresa established the first Discalced Carmelite community at the monastery of St. Joseph in Avila, Spain. She continued to form small communities of not more than 13 in a house throughout her life. Between 1567 and 1582 St. Teresa founded 17 monasteries for nuns and 15 monasteries for friars.
After her death monasteries of her reform were established in France and Belgium, and from these two countries nuns came to found houses in England and thence in Scotland and Wales. Now there are Carmels in almost every country of the world with the nuns numbering around 13,000.
Following St Teresa’s reform there are now, two branches of the Carmelite Order:
Carmelites of the Ancient Observance (OCarm)
St Teresa’s Reformed Carmelites, known as the Discalced Carmelites (OCD)
These two branches live the same Rule of St Albert and share much in common. Today there is a strong movement of mutual support and cooperation between the two stems of Carmel’s vine.
St. Teresa of Avila
Teresa of Ávila, born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus (28 March 1515 – 15 October 1582), was a Spanish noblewoman who felt called to religious life as a young child. A Carmelite nun, prominent Spanish mystic, religious reformer, author, theologian of the contemplative life and of mental prayer, she earned the rare distinction of being declared the first female Doctor of the Church. Numerous miracles, ecstasies and mystical experiences are attributed to St. Teresa including levitation and raising the dead.
Teresa, who had been a social celebrity in her home province, was dogged by early family losses and ill health. In her mature years, she became the central figure of a movement of spiritual and monastic renewal born out of an inner conviction and honed by ascetic practice. She was a prolific and profound writer, her works include her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, the Way of Perfection and her seminal work The Interior Castle, along with many other letters. St. Teresa is considered a prominent example of Spanish Renaissance literature. Together her works form part of the literary canon of Christian mysticism and Christian meditation practice, and continue to attract interest from people both within and outside the Catholic Church. Teresa believed that union with God was possible in this life, and indeed desired by God, not just for a select few, but for all. Much of her work serves as a guide for personal growth, prayer and progress on the path to spiritual union.
Only forty years after her death, in 1622, Teresa was canonized by Pope Gregory XV. At the time she was considered a candidate for national patron saint of Spain, but this designation was awarded to St. James the Apostle. She has since become one of the patron saints of Spain. In September 1970 Pope Paul VI proclaim Teresa the first female Doctor of the Church in recognition of her centuries-long spiritual legacy to Catholicism.
St. John of the Cross
Born Juan de Yepes y Alvarez on the 24th of June 1542 in Fontiveros, Spain, St. John of the Cross was the youngest of three sons born to Gonzalo de Yepes and Catalina Alvarez. John’s father Gonzalo stood to inherit a substantial family fortune acquired in the silk trade. He chose however to marry a young woman from Catalina, in unforgivable offense in the eyes of the family, and he was subsequently disinherited. Gonzalo with his wife and three children in great hardship. Just two short years after the birth of John, Gonzalo died leaving his wife and their small children in poverty. The second oldest brother died a few years after Gonzalo. The stark poverty the family endured was later embraced by St. John.
As a young man St. John was fortunate to receive the support of a wealthy patron who paid for John’s education in the hopes he would one day become a pastor. By all accounts John was a gifted and diligent student. At sixteen, and now working at the nearby Plague Hospital de la Concepcion, he had matriculated at the Jesuit College at Medino del Campo where after four years of a liberal arts education, he entered the Novitiate of the Carmelite Order. Upon professing solemn vows he undertook further study at the Carmelite College at San Andre. Here John had the opportunity to study under some of the finest minds of late medieval Europe at the great University of Salamanca whose reputation as a center of learning equaled, and in some respects surpassed, the renowned medieval Universities of Paris and Oxford. John had acquired an apparently outstanding grasp of both Scholastic philosophy and theology, and in general excelled in his studies to such a remarkable extent that, while yet a student, he was appointed to the post of Prefect of Studies at San Andre. In 1567 John took Holy Orders and entered the priesthood. On the auspicious occasion of the celebration of his first Mass, which brought him to back his hometown of Medina del Campo, he met Madre Teresa de Jesus — better known as St. Teresa of Avila.
This acquaintance evolved into a lifelong friendship and alliance, and was to prove momentous to both the 52 year old Carmelite Nun, and the young 25 year old priest whose deepening spirituality and strong sense of interiority had compelled him at this point to consider transferring from the Carmelites to the more austere and reclusive Carthusians. St. Teresa succeeded in persuading John that his vocation lay in the white mantle that presently stood upon his shoulders, and not elsewhere; the Order of Our Lady, she insisted, must not be abandoned, but reformed.
In 1568, in the company of three other Carmelite friars, St. John changed his name at Duruelo from Juan de Santo Matia to Juan de la Cruz and effectively entered upon the reform of the Order. The mutual vision and reciprocal commitment, coupled with the deep and holy affection that bound the younger John to the older Teresa, would sustain this collaborative effort for many years and through much hardship.
It was not long before the exemplary lives of the small community of reformed friars and nuns that had gathered around St. John and St. Teresa respectively began attracting vocations. With growing numbers the friars and nuns eventually attracted some criticism and even violent objections from those who had become accustomed to the individual latitude enjoyed before the reform effort. John suffered greatly for many years enduring humiliations and even imprisonment before being vindicated.
Like Teresa, John was a prolific spiritual writer and also a named Doctor of the Church. John’s works include the Ascent of Mt. Carmel and the Dark Night of the Soul, which is sometimes referred to as the “Mysical Summa” alluding to the great “Summa Theologae” of written by John’s contemporary St. Thomas Acquinas.
