This year we celebrate the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Albert of Jerusalem: because of that, this edition of CITOC-magazine is centred on the commemoration of that event. The Patriarch’s letter to the hermits of Mount Carmel became our Rule. With the passing of the years it has lost nothing of its originality. It is ever current and ever a source of inspiration, for the first hermits gathered around the spring of Elijah on Mount Carmel, and for the whole Carmelite Family, spread today throughout all five continents.
A short biography illustrates the life of the legislator, and an article looks at the historical context in which St. Albert responded to the request of the hermits for a “norm for their life”. Some thoughts about our Rule in the light of the ecclesiology of the II Vatican Council, and a number of testimonies from members of the Carmelite Family as to how to live out the Rule in daily life, create a bridge to our own days.
This edition also reports on a number of joyful events that show how our Rule is being followed in various nations and in various circumstances: the 125th anniversary of the arrival in New York of the first Carmelites from Ireland, which marked the beginnings of the American Province of St. Elias; the 25th anniversary of the refounding of the Order in France, restoring a presence that was interrupted by the French Revolution; the 25th anniversary of the Spanish Carmelite youth movement called Jucar.
Our Rule is being followed today in new and different settings. We see one response to the challenges of the moving tides of history, in the report on the unification of the Province of Aragon and Valencia with the Province of Castile, to form the one Province of Aragon, Castile and Valencia.
In addition to all these articles and the other items of information, we offer our customary selection of news items, some of which have already been published in CITOC-online, to give some idea of what is happening in the Order at the moment.
We hope all our readers will enjoy reading this latest issue of CITOC-magazine
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Fr. Christian Körner, O.Carm.
