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HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF CARMEL

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This a simple story of man’s desire for divine union and intimacy with God.​

Unlike most Religious Orders, Carmel has no founder.  It is interesting, and meaningful, that the Carmelite Order began as a lay (secular) order! 

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In the latter part of the 12th century, the Holy Land had been re-opened by the crusaders.  Many pilgrims and crusaders went to live as hermits on Mt. Carmel.  They were totally dedicated to God in solitude and prayer in imitation of the spirit of the prophet Elijah, and they meditated upon the word of God in order to be able to live it more fully.  They recognized that Elijah had been Israel’s conscience when the Israelites turned away to false gods, and that he had brought them back to the practice of their faith by being a true witness to God; as secular Carmelites, this is our prophetic mission in the marketplace of today’s world.

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The hermits demonstrated their love and devotion to Mary by building in the midst of their separate cells a chapel in honour of our Lady; they also called themselves the Brothers of the Lady of Mount Carmel, and placed themselves under her patronage.

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Between 1206 and 1214, the hermits requested that Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem, compose a Rule for them; this brought official “ecclesial recognition”.  In 1226, Pope Honorius III gave official confirmation of the Rule, thus officially establishing the Carmelites as an Order.  The first General Chapter was held in England in 1247.

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In the Middle Ages the Order was weakened by wars, illness, and, eventually, the original Rule was mitigated (made easier) in order to attract more members.  There were subsequently a few efforts at reform, but none were successful until Teresa of Avila.

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The Reform

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 As a young woman 20 years of age, Teresa entered the Carmelite monastery of the Incarnation in Avila, Spain.  (As context, the previous year, St. Ignatius and his companions made their vows as Jesuits; Martin Luther had begun the Reformation approximately 40 years earlier; and Henry VIII made himself head of the Church of England in the same year that Teresa entered.)

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Teresa, troubled by the relaxed standards at the Convent of the Incarnation, and inspired by a vision of hell, wanted to return the Carmelites to strict observance of the original rule of the Order.  In 1560 St. Teresa of Avila initiated the reform of the Order.  In 1562 Pope Pius IV granted her permission and she founded a small convent in Avila wherein the original Rule of St. Albert (the primitive Rule) was to be observed.  The aim of the reform was to restore and emphasize the strictness and contemplative character of the basic Carmelite life, which was to seek union and intimacy with God. 

 

In 1567, Teresa also received permission from the Prior General of the Carmelites for the foundations of two monasteries of men who would follow the primitive Rule.  The first monastery was at Duruelo, and included only three members, including John of the Cross, a young priest ordained only the previous year.  With the support of King Philip II of Spain, the Discalced Carmelites, as they came to be called, enjoyed immediate popularity, and new monasteries were rapidly founded.

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There followed several years of difficulties and upsets within the Carmelite Order, until, in 1581, the Discalced were established as a separate Province of the Order.  Finally, in December, 1593, Clement VIII established the Discalced Carmelites as an independent religious order with their own Superior General and Administration.  ​​​

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What were the differences between the original (primitive) Rule and the mitigated Rule? ​

The descriptions we have of the monastery of the Incarnation may serve to illustrate.  The monastery was very large, with as many as 180 nuns.  In addition, many nuns from higher social classes brought their personal servants with them.  An active social life with much visiting between the nuns and the public was the norm. In contrast, the return to the primitive Rule meant a return to perpetual abstinence from meat, and participation in the yearly fast from September 14 to Easter.  More time was given to the exercises of the spiritual life, particularly mental prayer.  Communities were kept small, with thirteen (modeled after Christ and His apostles) being the ideal number.  Initially called Contemplative Carmelites, they became known as Discalced (“shoeless”) Carmelites, because they adopted the practice of wearing sandals.  By contrast, the older group came to be known as Calced Carmelites; now, they are known as just “Carmelites”, or “Order of Carmelite” – “O Carms” for short.

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History of The Secular Order​

 

In the writings of St. Teresa of Avila, we find a host of persons who helped her generously in her work of forming foundations for the Discalced Carmelites.  All are mentioned with heartfelt gratitude.  She also wanted to share with them the spiritual treasures of Carmel, and so, very frequently, she would confer on them the small scapular of the Order. However, official recognition of the Third Order (Secular Order), was not forthcoming.  In fact, the Constitutions strictly stated that Seculars were not accepted.  It was not until the end of the seventeenth century that the Third Order experienced any new developments. In Belgium, in 1699, a book appeared, offering for the first time, a very short Rule for the Third Order, and was proof that the Third Order was very much alive and growing.  

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In 1708, in Marseilles, another book appeared, written anonymously by a French Teresian Carmelite.  This book noted in its Preface the existence of the Third Order “in all nations of the world wherever the First Order was established, even in the mission territories”.  It provided a Rule, a Ceremonial, and a kind of Constitutions, all proper to the Third Order.  This Rule, then, should be considered the first true and proper Rule of the Third Order of the Teresian Carmel.

The Rule was presented to the Holy See, but was refused.  Nevertheless, the Superior General did not abandon the Third Order:  the Rule was revised and imposed on all Congregations of the Third Order in January, 1883.  Finally, in 1921, the Rule was approved by the Holy See.  The goal or purpose of the Third Order was established:  “to honor God and His Most Blessed Mother, and to serve the Church through an ascetical and prayerful life.”

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This remained unchanged until Vatican II.  In 1963 – 1965, the Second Vatican Council redefined the role of the laity in the Church.  As a result of the process, in 1970, a new redaction of the Rule was published, with some significant changes to represent the new emphasis on the special vocation of laypersons which came out of Vatican II.  In 1974, the Holy See approved the text of the Rule of life to be used experimentally for five years and in 1979, the text received definitive approval. When the Church comes along with different legislation, different documents, different understandings, then the Order responds to the church by making the necessary adaptations.

 

The Order is part of the Church

The Final change was the recognition that all of Carmel is guided by the Rule of St. Albert, and, to conform to the First and Second Orders, a committee of ten lay people wrote the Constitutions for the Third Order (Secular Order).  On June 16, 2003, the Holy See approved our present Constitutions without the usual provisory five-year trial period.

 

Considerable Evolution has Taken Place​

What began as the Confraternity of the Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel has now become The Secular Order, and is a fundamental part of the Order itself. In the Order of Discalced Carmel, the friars, the nuns and the seculars are considered one family and the entire family of Discalced Carmel, has only one Rule - the Rule of Saint Albert as its base. Each group is recognized as distinct, which is evident in the Constitutions and Statutes but we are all one family.