On account of the celebration of the 400 years since the death of Fray Jerónimo Gracián (Valladolid, 1545 – Brussels, 1614), the General Councils of the Carmelites and the Discalced Carmelites have put together a programme of commemorative events. On the 20th of September, a solemn celebration of the Eucharist will be held in Brussels, to be led by the General Superior of the Discalced Carmelites, Fr. Saverio Cannistrà, O.C.D. On the 12th and 13th of November, a congress will take place in Madrid, on the biography and spiritual profile of Fr. Gracián. On Friday, the 14th of November, also in Madrid, a solemn celebration of the Eucharist will be held, led by the Prior General, Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm. This celebration will mark the closure of the centenary.

At the same time, the two Generals are writing a joint letter, to be addressed to the Carmelite Family, to commemorate this important figure in the history of Carmel. More information about all these events will be given in later bulletins.

Wilfrid Mc Greal O.Carm.

When people ask us, “Who are you? What do you do?” we reply “We are friars - we are mendicants.” Being mendicant is an integral part of our calling as Carmelites; it recalls our origins and also has serious implications for our work for justice, peace and the integrity of creation.

Carmelites are part of that Renewed Energy that touched the Church and society in the latter part of the 12th century. Twelfth century Europe experienced a significant growth in prosperity and, flowing from that, cities grew and culture flourished. Literacy was no longer the preserve of a clerical elite, a growing merchant and professional class had access to learning while vernacular languages began to flourish.

This newly confident society began to ask questions and the Church found itself challenged and to some extent outmanoeuvred. A desire grew for religious teaching that would help people encounter Christ in his humanity and, above all, bring the basic tenets of Christianity to the people where they were.

An awareness began to grow that the Christian calling was not meant to be a withdrawal from the world, but rather an involvement. Allied to this viewpoint was rediscovery of the energy behind the origins of Christianity, namely the early Church and in particular the apostolic community at Jerusalem. The notion of a vigorous, generous community where people shared their personal gifts and possessions was allied to a commitment to evangelism. The perspective emerged of an active engagement with society as preachers who lived gospel values, especially poverty.

As people gained access to the scriptures through a growth in literacy, first hand study of the gospels enabled fresh and radical interpretations to be proclaimed. The earthly life of Jesus, his humanity and above all his poverty was the inspiration - something to be imitated. People began to see the possibility of embracing a life of poverty so that they could devote themselves to a life of service, prayer and mission to their neighbours and those hungry for such teaching. It was seen as possible to live a life of commitment without withdrawing to some lonely place. However, the leaders of the Church were not quick to see the value and virtuality of these new perspectives.

The reason for a lukewarm reaction to the new movements lay in the strictures of the Church and the lack of education among many of the clergy. A rural world was still envisaged and too many clergy were barely literate - there was no formal programme for training clergy.

What was happening was eventually to be grasped by Pope Innocent III - an articulate laity from the new urban society was wanting to live the fullness of the gospel message. The radical living of the Gospel, which involved a voluntary embracing of poverty, was given shape by the Waldensians and the Humiliati. These late 12th century laity who began to live the ideals of the Jerusalem Church were the forerunners of the friars, they created a context for the mendicant movement in the Church.

The Waldenses or the poor men of Lyons were inspired by Waldes, a banker who took the gospel injunction of “sell everything and give to the poor” literally. Having settled his possessions on his wife Waldes became a wandering preacher supporting himself by begging. Soon he attracted disciples who all vowed themselves to absolute poverty .

Waldes and his followers were dismissed as illiterate but that only meant they could not read the Latin of the schools. They did have Provencal translations of the Gospels and the langue d’oc was spoken in northern Spain, southern France and north Italy. The fact that Waldes and his followers insisted on preaching incurred the wrath of the Church authorities and no amount of protestation of orthodoxy could protect them from the charge of heresy. Pope Lucius III, influenced by the Archbishop of Lyons, condemned the Waldensians driving many of them into conflict with the Church. However, some of the “poor men” remained in the Church and they gradually allied themselves with the Humiliati. This movement, that was strongest in Northern Italy, was given support by the new Pope Innocent III who was motivated by shrewd intelligence and pragmatism. Again poverty, simplicity and penitential practices marked this movement which anticipated many features of the friars. The group attracted recruits from the aristocracy and the new middle classes with communities ranging from Milan to Verona. Some of the Humiliati were married, pursuing trades or professions but living a penitential ‘life’; others lived in community and devoted themselves to preaching. The clergy condemned these lay preachers but the Pope recognised the value of what they were doing. His decision was revolutionary but also pragmatic. The Humiliati were orthodox in their teaching and provided a counter balance to the teachings of the Cathars whose dualism and what was at bottom anti-life teaching was perceived as a threat not just to the Church but to society itself.

The other group of poor Christians were the hermits and pilgrims who made their way to the Holy Land. Again they were inspired by their reading of the Gospels, wanting to experience the places where Jesus had lived his mission. Such pilgrims were often hermits and again ready to preach, sharing their experiences with the people they encountered. Renunciation, penance were again the energy. that inspired such pilgrims. As Carmelites we can recognise in these poor men, enthused by the Gospel, the profile of those who were to live on Mt. Carmel, pilgrims who put down roots in the Holy Land, no longer anxious to return to Europe.

It was at this stage out of the religious turbulence and growing prosperity of Western Europe that the movement known as the friars was to emerge. At the heart of that movement was a layman with a powerful but simple vision, Francis of Assisi. He wanted, along with his followers, to live evangelical perfection and perfection that would be aided by complete destitution. What interests us today is the influence of that vision and how far its essence can still touch the life of the Church and society today.

Francis was visionary and charismatic; how his vision, his deal was eventually lived out has been seen either as a betrayal or the necessary condition for the development of a permanent organisation. Francis is famous for his voluntary act of renunciation giving up wealth for a solitary life of prayer, penance and poverty. He was undoubtedly influenced by the Waldensians and Humiliati but he saw radical poverty as an aid to his work of proclaiming the Gospel. He envisaged a fraternity based on the life of Christ and the disciples as depicted in the Gospels. He wanted a literal following of Christ’s life on earth and this is expressed in the First Rule:

The brothers shall appropriate nothing to themselves, neither a place nor anything, but as pilgrims and strangers in this world, serving God in poverty and humility, they shall with confidence go seeking alms. Nor need they be ashamed, for the Lord made himself poor for us in this world This is that summit of most lofty poverty which has made you, my most beloved brothers, heirs and kings of the kingdom of heaven.

Francis asked his followers to renounce not just personal property but also corporate property. He wanted to live in total dependence on the providence of God “naked to follow the naked Christ” (St Jerome).

The Pope authorised Francis’s initiative and soon his little brothers included men from all walks of life - aristocrats, academics and artisans. Francis preached repentance, moving away from feuds and hatred and building peace. For Francis nature was the great picture book of God’s love and abundance. Francis never wavered in his belief in absolute poverty but after his death as his followers became a universal missionary enterprise, compromise was realised as churches were built and priories founded. However the friars lived on the edges of the new towns and cities dependent on the generosity of the people for survival, but also close to those they wanted to evangelize

While Francis was inspiring a new way of living the Gospel in Italy, Dominic was creating an order of preachers who were organised and’ educated but also committed to poverty. For Dominic the mission of preaching and a democratically constituted community mattered but his way of living again valued radical poverty.

Dominicans in their missions were ordered to travel on foot which meant they kept contact with the people. The communities of brothers - friars - caught the popular imagination and while the church establishment viewed their arrival with misgiving they never wanted for patrons. Land was available in the new suburbs while royal patronage was also forthcoming.

The size of the churches built for the friars was not meant to indicate power or prestige but rather a large space to accommodate the crowds who carne to hear the friars preach. The friars preached peace and reconciliation and gave the people a sense of hope and purpose. Holiness was something that could be achieved in married life and being involved in society, it did not entail withdrawal from life into some remote place. Such preaching moved people to repentance and as a result people turned to the friars as confessors who would provide understanding. The idealism and simplicity of the early friars made them popular teachers, as they were perceived as being sensitive to people’s needs.

The commitment to preaching and helping people in their spiritual journey prompted an awareness among the friars of the need for learning for education. The friars soon became involved in the universities, some in pursuit of learning and others who had come from academic backgrounds returning to the schools.

However the friars did not see university life as a profession or a career path, they saw the disinterested pursuit of truth as a high Christian value. Teaching was not a step on the road to benefice, but rather- a service to the community; Friars were happy to go from one place to another teaching and sharing their experience. Because they were free from purely material considerations they had the freedom to pioneer Greek and Hebrew studies and be open to innovations. The great schoolmen of the 13th Century Aquinas, Bonaventure and Albert were as much mystics as academics and others like Tauler and Eckhart were as happy preaching in the market place as they were researching in a library.

While the friars first and foremost spoke to the growing populations of the new towns their commitment and integrity appealed to the wealthy and even the powerful in society. Benefactors were quick to come forward donating land and paying for the building of churches and community lodgings. The friars obviously made an impact and such practical support enabled them to consolidate their apostolic activities.

Kings were also impressed; Henry III of England and Louis IX of France were both promoters of the new mendicant orders. Friars were in demand as preachers and were often entrusted with delicate diplomatic missions. The friars appealed because they seemed to combine integrity and intelligence. However the friars did not seem beholden to their royal patrons and when outspokenness was called for they could respond with vigour and candour. Adam Marsh, one of the early English Franciscans was candid enough to earn the fury of Henry III who had also been criticised by the Dominican Roger Bacon. King Louis of France who was also faced with tough speaking from friars was more inclined to reflect rather than rant.

The later middle ages saw the friars struggling to live up to their ideals sometimes poverty suffered while often the freedom involved in the lifestyle of mendicant preachers was abused. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales paints a less than flattering picture of a friar, while Langland’s Piers Plowman saw a terrible fall from grace amongst the mendicants. Whenever a reform movement took place among the friars, the emphasis was on a deeper commitment to community life and the living out of poverty. Community and common ownership went hand in hand. Too often friars evaded community life by becoming chaplains to the powerful and losing touch with community living.

When we look at the 16th Century Reformation in Western Europe there was a significant involvement by friars. Many genuinely wanted to reform the Church and not to break up its unity. Such reformers were involved in university life and were caught up in. the ferment of ideas that spread through Europe helped by the recent invention of the printing press The climate was not favourable to any official openness and to new ideas since the Papacy lacked the creative intelligence of an Innocent The popes in the early 16th Century were, in the main, caught up in political struggles and religious uniformity was by and large a concern of Kings, princes and the Emperor. However if anything did contribute to a general malaise in the Church it involved wealth and the flamboyant use of resources.

In the light of this historical background, what does being a mendicant, trying to live a simple life as a friar mean today? Our present century is an age marked by globalisation, consumerism and an emphasis on choice. Our planet is divided, a planet with gross inequalities, increasingly scarce resources and too many people “excluded from the banquet of life.” A culture that extols choice and then excludes most members of society because they have no money is fuelling conflict. Choice becomes a hollow concept in communities where children have to take their turn in having access to a meal.

Some fifty years on it is clear that Vatican II was a watershed for religious life. Its documents on the Church and liturgy allowed a space for renewal that was further helped by renewal in biblical studies and in the reading of history. Marxism and the market were also realities that had significant impact. The Marxist analysis of history brought a critical viewpoint that made many religious challenge the assumptions that shaped social and economic life. Catholic social teaching had also begun to analyse social structures and stressed the role of the worker over the profit motive and capital. In fact the Church’s social teaching came to assert that private property is not an absolute right, but rather an aspect of stewardship. Property brings responsibilities and is not something that is for the exclusive use of an individual.

The renewal of interest in biblical studies and a desire by religious orders to return to the founding spirit had significant consequences. For Carmelites, a deeper reading of the rule helped the vision of the Jerusalem Community come to the forefront as a model for prayer and life. The living of poverty through freedom from possessions and a desire to share gifts and life with others became a new energy and a reality. A deeper awareness of the Scriptures as a living word helped a rediscovery of that more reflective way of reading the Scriptures, which is Lectio Divina. When the word of God is read in a contemplative and ruminative manner it soon leads those involved to making connections with life; with the very context in which they live. This especially for Carmelites has led to an awareness of the way of being a praying community in the midst of the people and helps find a focus which provokes a generous involvement in the needs of the people who live alongside us.

Availability, service of the people, sharing of resources are all ways that poverty can be lived as a Gospel calling and they are also ways that the calling of being mendicants can find expression in the 21st century. The search for meaning, the longing for someone to listen and take one seriously are desperate needs today. Carmelites, if they are to be true to their calling, can respond in a significant way to such needs but the response will cost, the cost will be time, patience and commitment.

Medieval Carmelites were often guides and intimates of kings and other leaders in society. Records show that medieval friars could be forthright in their counsel and like other friars had a vision of society where burdens were shared. ‘Today it is clear that our calling draws us to work for justice and the integrity of creation. The new world order since the fall of communism, has done little to help the poor, in fact inequalities and the AIDS pandemic leave an ever growing number of people vulnerable and exploited.

If we are truly mendicant “we will travel light”. “Travelling light” would imply not just a willingness to give up ownership of goods but also a commitment to taking risks as we work for the disadvantaged. Friars are not part of the hierarchy nor have we any privileges or dependents. This leaves a freedom to be outspoken for justice and a readiness to accept the consequences. Often those who are on the fringe might well be rejected by society or seen to be not worth helping. Again prejudice or “economic” arguments can be adduced to excuse or avoid helping groups of people. Another factor can be the ambiguities of situations.

The challenge for Carmelites, and this is a cause for reflection as we begin to engage as an NGO at the United Nations, is that many issues which relate to justice and the integrity of creation are not clear-cut. A desire to help refugees and asylum seekers runs up against the cries that such people are economic migrants. Some countries operate policies that at heart are racist but can be presented in the light of trying to manage scarce resources. However, the contradiction is that money for weapons and war seems readily available despite whatever pleas of shortages had previously been stated. Working in such areas often means that we alienate many members of the establishment and can also feel alienated. However, the prophetic part of our calling should prompt us to be outspoken and do all we can to help educate people about the realities of the situation and counteract misinformation. The media in developed countries often paint a picture of Europe for example being swamped by refugees when the reality is that most refuges are to be found in Africa.

In the Old Testament, Elijah attacked the idols of his time and moving from place to place, he tried to speak God’s word, defying the King and risking his life. For friars in the 21st century, there is a calling as we travel light to confront our contemporary idols and the negative consequences of globalisation. The response and the needs will differ according to where we live. Issues of justice in America, Europe and Australia are different from facing the barrel of a gun in Africa. However, the new media make us present to one another as never before. The information about current realities is an agenda we cannot ignore; it is a challenge needing the discernment of prayer and the spirit However, in a world where combating terrorism so often overturns principles of justice and where the wounds of poverty continue to hurt, we as friars are being asked how our praying communities with our mendicant tradition can really serve our brothers and sisters. I believe our traditions do give us a foundation; and our willingness to be open to God’s word will give direction. What is an energy and a freedom is our insertion in and our living out the mendicant way, ­freedom that comes from being ready to. travel light. The poor pilgrims that set out journeying hopefully so many years ago inspire us to continue the journey today in hope and unfettered by unnecessary attachments.

Opus Sanctorum Angelorum

Holy Silence, the right Partner for Progress

Silence is the fifth of the seven character traits in the Work of the Holy Angels, it allies itself closely with the other six traits. Silence is certainly not a finality in itself: we do not practice silence for silence’s sake, but in view of some other good. Thus, silence is an ancillary virtue like humility (2). A loquacious humility were no humility, it would not be inconspicuous, it would not be prompt and ready to serve. Clearly, humility needs to be imbued with a spirit of silence. Silence serves truth and charity (4). Not every truth is to be blurted out, justice and charity must dictate our speech. Charity is often silent out of compassion and consideration.

Holy silence adds simplicity and nobility to obedience (3); by silence we learn to carry out a task according to the original intention of our superiors, without ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’, without adding the ‘signature’ of our own likes and dislikes.

Fidelity (1) would quickly lose its strength if it were not assisted by interior silence. In times of trial, self-dialogue wages a wearying battle against fidelity, chipping away at our perseverance. Just as fidelity is lost in a few falls, even so it is with silence.

Silence can only thrive in communion with temperance (6), for nothing is so difficult to restrain as the tongue. "If any one does not offend in word, he is a perfect man. … The tongue is a small member, but it boasts mightily!" (Jas 3,2.5). Now, self-restraint is the formal mark of temperance and all her children.

Finally, if we wish to learn holy silence, we do well to turn to and imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary (7), who kept all things in her heart, to ponder them. By her silence Mary was intimately associated with the holy Angels. How dear silence should be to us, for there can be no habitual communion with the holy Angels in a soul that does not love and practice silence. "Be on guard against many words," explains St. Dorotheus, "for these extinguish completely the holy and most reasonable thoughts as well as the inspirations coming from heaven", which the holy Angels wish to transmit to us. A soul – or even an entire community – which loses its love for silence, loses sight of its eternal goal.

Importance of Silence

"If you wish to make great progress in virtue, if you wish to arrive at perfection, then observe [holy] silence" (Rodriguez, ibid., II,6). How incredibly important silence is! Innumerable saints attest to this by the witness of their lives. Notwithstanding, there is something in us that makes us wish it really wasn’t true, or at least, that silence were really not so indispensable. Silence, you see, has very much the specter of death about it (don’t people speak of ‘dead silence’?), and what we want is life! Ah, the saints tell us, silence is like the very salt of life, both conserving it and giving it genuine savor. His life is certainly insipid, who does not know how to keep silence.

The Origin of Noise

In Paradise there was, in the moral sense of the term, no noise, for all things contributed together to the glorification of God and the edification of man. Created in grace, all man’s faculties were ordered to the good, to God, in a wonderful symphony of love. Man loved God intensely and supremely by nature and even more by the divine gift of friendship. The infused virtues exercised sweet dominion within human nature, for man had also received the preternatural gift of integrity, whereby all the lower faculties of body and soul were wholly docile to his intellect and will. In his own being man was a veritable paradise. Peace and harmony reigned there, the dialogue of love was framed in holy silence, for there was nothing inordinate in Adam and Eve’s own nature, in their contact with God, with one another, or with creation about them.

But then the ‘diabolos’, the effecter of chaos, the father of lies, sowed falsehood in the mind of Eve; she begot the sin of rebellion and induced Adam into the same chaos. Disorder, dissonance (‘noise’), discordance are the afterbirth of Original Sin. Though not destroyed, our nature was damaged by Original Sin. Although the natural inclination and longing for God remain, the Sirens of self-love seek vigorously to install themselves upon the throne in our heart. While continuing to seek ‘good things’ all the faculties clamor in a disordered way, wanting only their own pleasures.

Noise dissipates and fatigues the soul; in silence we gather our forces. Silence restores order and brings peace, which St. Augustine defines as "the tranquility of order". Without discipline of holy silence Christ cannot reign as King in our heart!

Silence begins with Faith, blossoms in Love

"Numquam minus soli quam soli!" – "Never less alone, than when alone!" – exclaimed St. Bernard. Lovers second his sentiments, which they render with this modern quip: "Two’s plenty, three’s a crowd!" Lovers want to be alone, they want to dedicate themselves exclusively to one another.

Since the ‘beloved’ of the devout soul is the Divine Bridegroom dwelling within, should it not follow that this soul too delights to be alone and free to converse interiorly with the beloved. But this love is a mystery of faith. Hence, holy silence presuppose faith, which is its fertile ground.

In her Memoirs, Sr. Lucy of Fátima sketches well this reflective trait of Bl. Francisco: "Francisco was a boy of few words. Whenever he prayed or offered sacrifices, he preferred to go apart and hide, even from Jacinta and myself. Quite often, we surprised him hidden behind a wall or a clump of blackberry bushes, whither he had ingeniously slipped away to kneel and pray, or ‘think’ as he said, ‘of Our Lord…’ I asked him: ‘Francisco, why don’t you tell me to pray with you, and Jacinta too?’ ‘I prefer praying by myself,’ he answered, ‘so that I can think and console our Lord,…’

"Sometimes, on our way to school, as soon as we reached Fátima, he would say to me: ‘Listen! You go to school, and I’ll stay here in the church, close to the Hidden Jesus. It’s not worth my while learning to read, as I’ll be going to heaven very soon [the Blessed Mother had promised him as much!]. On your way home, come here and call me.’ … Francisco went [to kneel before the tabernacle]. … and that was where I found him on my return [from school, hours later.]" (Chapter: Francisco, Lover of Solitude and Prayer).

The Realms of Silence

We have four faculties in our soul where virtues take up their residence and work: prudence in the mind, justice in the will, fortitude in the irascible (aggressive) appetite and temperance in the concupiscible (pleasure) appetite. These four are called the cardinal virtues, because the moral live hinges upon them; all the other virtues are grouped around them (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1805).

On the supernatural level, however, charity is the inner form of all virtues, for it orders them to the final goal, God, as St. Paul exclaims: "If I have all prophesy and know all mysteries, … if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, … if I distributed all my goods to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body up to be burned, but have not charity, … I am nothing, … it profits me nothing" (1 Cor 13, 2a-3a.2b-3b).

Now we wish to take a look at the cardinal virtues and see one or other of the contributions that silence offers. We can give but an anecdotal sketch of the areas in which silence plays a significant role.

Silence and Prudence

Prudence is the virtue by which we find and deploy the reasonable means in the pursuit of the right end. "A man of understanding sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth" (Prov 17,24). In its relation to the end, prudence is associated with wisdom, by which we savor the supreme goodness of God, so as to judge the value of all things, as it were, from on high. In this context Cardinal Journet writes: "When anyone is in the state of grace, then there is a dialogue, conversation of friend with friend. So we see that the dissipation of mind which so prevails in the world today is a form of madness. We need times of silence: 'Be silent, and see that I am thy God in thy heart.' In times of difficulty or sadness, in times of suffering, if you frequently call to mind that God is in you to give you His love, you will not be alone, you will find the Guest within you, and He will answer you" (The Meaning of Grace).

Means, of course, are not to be desired for their own sake, but only insofar as they help us to the goal. Among all the means silence enjoys a place of honor. In the Cell of Knowledge we hear this exhortation from Our Lord: "If you wear the habergeon or the hair, fasting bread and water, and if you were to say every day a thousand Pater Nosters, you should not please Me so well as you do when you are in silence, and suffer [allow] Me to speak in your soul" (anonymous,14th C. England).

Writing on recollection, Bl. Titus Brandsma, a Carmelite, observed: "A … point emphasized by the Rule is silence and recollection as a necessary condition for a life of prayer. Active recollection, by which we put ourselves and keep ourselves in the presence of God, has always been regarded as the essential preparation for communion with God in the mystical life. Just as the Prophet did not hear the voice of God in the storm, but in the gentle breeze, so the heart of the spiritual man must not be shaken by the storm but must listen for God's voice in the silence of its own interior. The constitutions of the Order have always stressed this. To recover recollection of spirit has ever been the first step of all reform" (Carmelite Historical Sketches, Lect. 2: The Hermits of Carmel).

A retreat master was accustomed to ask the retreatants if they had difficulties with meditation. From the show of hands and nods, it was evident that they did. Then he would ask if many also had difficulties with distractions. Yes, this too, is seemingly a universal affliction. St. Aloysius’ grace of recollection is not given to everyone. At the end of his novitiate, asked if he had had difficulty with distractions, he responded: "All the distractions of the entire year would not amount to the space of a single Hail Mary!"

Playfully, the retreat master would then point out to the group: "You say that you have difficulty with meditation but facility with distractions. Don’t you realize that distractions are just ever so many mini-meditations?" "Where your treasure is, there too shall your heart be!" (Mt 6:21). Distractions are a loss of silence that comes primarily from a lack of poverty and detachment. Distractions are mostly about the things we want to possess, to enjoy, or whose possession we sense is threatened.

Silence and Justice

The most common fault against justice, gossip, could be overcome by discrete silence. How true are the poet’s words: The only instrument that gets sharper with use is the tongue! "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. ... With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor" (Prov 10:11; 11:9). The desert father Hyoperrechios accordingly observed: "It’s better to eat meat and to drink wine than to devour one's brother in a feast of slanderous speech" (Apophthegmata, nr. 921).

St. Francis de Sales comments: "From rash judgments proceed mistrust, contempt for others, pride, and self-sufficiency, and numberless other pernicious results, among which stands forth prominently the sin of slander, which is a veritable pest of society. Oh, wherefore can I not take a live coal from God's Altar, and touch the lips of men, so that their iniquity may be taken away and their sin purged, even as the Seraphim purged the lips of Isaiah (6:2ff). He who could purge the world of slander would cleanse it from a great part of its sinfulness!

He who unjustly takes away his neighbor's good name is guilty of sin, and is bound to make reparation, according to the nature of his evil speaking; since no man can enter into Heaven cumbered with stolen goods, and of all worldly possessions the most precious is a good name. Slander is a kind of murder. … St. Bernard says, the devil has possession both of the slanderer and of those who listen to him, of the tongue of the one, the ear of the other" (Devout Life, III, ch. XXIX).

By the same token, justice, at times, may demand that we speak out; here silence would be false and seven sinful: "If you would be justified in condemning a neighbor's sin, you must be sure that it is needful either for his good or that of others to do so. For instance, if light, unseemly conduct is spoken of before young people in a way calculated to injure their purity, and you pass it over, or excuse it, they may be led to think lightly of evil, and to imitate it; and therefore you are bound to condemn all such things freely and at once, unless it is obvious that by reserving your charitable work of reprehension to a future time, you can do it more profitably" (ibid).

Silence and Fortitude

Fortitude strengthens us in the face of death; in daily life it makes its presence felt through its children: patience, meekness, constancy, etc. The practice of interior silence in the face of our neighbor’s character faults (perhaps only apparent) challenges our patience and the constancy of love. Outward silence is not sufficient for virtue; we must also attain to a silence of heart. Patience and meekness cannot exist in separation from holy silence. "Consider," says St. Catherine, "that Divine Charity is so closely joined in the soul with patience, that neither can leave without the other" (Dialogues, Divine Providence). The desert father Hyperrechios exclaimed categorically: "He who does not bridle his tongue at the moment of anger will not overcome the other passions either" (Apophtegmata, nr. 921). The desert father Poemen observed: "There is an individual who seems to practice silence, but his heart condemns others. In reality, such a person is talking constantly" (ibid., nr.601). In the same vein he counseled: "The victory over everything that afflicts you is holy silence" (ibid., nr. 611). For holy silence includes peace of heart.

Silence and Temperance

How naturally we are inclined to pleasure, particularly to those of the palate. Greater than our appetite for food and drink is pleasure in words. For the belly – even of the fool is quickly satiated – but his mouth never grows tired of words. "When words are many, transgression is not lacking, … the mouths of fools feed on folly" (Prov 10:19; 15:14).

The desert father Sisoes confessed: "Behold, now it’s been thirty years that I have no longer prayed to God because of a [certain] sin; but for this I pray: ‘Lord Jesus, protect me against my tongue – and nevertheless, I still fall daily on account of it and sin’" (Apophthegmata, nr. 808).

Whereas the desert fathers did well to practice near total silence in their isolated hermitages, this hardly serves as a model for us in our family or community situations. St. Francis de Sales counsels the right measure in conversation: "The silence, so much commended by wise men of old, does not refer so much to a literal use of few words, as to not using many useless words. On this score, we must look less to the quantity than the quality, and, as it seems to me, our aim should be to avoid both extremes. An excessive reserve and stiffness, which stands aloof from familiar friendly conversation, is untrusting, and implies a certain sort of contemptuous pride; while an incessant chatter and babble, leaving no opportunity for others to put in their word, is frivolous and troublesome" (loc. cit., ch. XXX).

Curiosity

Insatiable is the appetite for news! Coheleth was certainly speaking of curiosity when he affirmed: "All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. … the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing" (Ecc 1,7.8b). The soul that gorges itself on newspapers, magazines, radio and television can never come to rest. To this list computer games and surfing must be added. Recent studies show that American youths, for instance, now spend more time before the computer screen and before the television. Formerly, they averaged several hours of TV a day.

False silence out of shame

In the area of temperance one also meets a false kind of silence, used to curtain one’s sense of shame. St. Francis advises: "The best remedy against temptations whether great or small, is to open our hearts and make known our suggestions, feelings and affections to our spiritual director. Remember that silence is the first condition the devil makes with a person whom he wishes to seduce like those who wish to lead astray women or young girls. First of all, they forbid them to communicate the evil proposals to their fathers or husbands. On the contrary, God through His inspirations requires above all that we should make them known to our superiors and spiritual directors" (loc.cit., IV, ch. VII).

Music

A principal danger in modern society comes from music which is both ubiquitous and mostly bad. Here a grave misconception reigns in the minds of those who think that the problem is principally one of bad lyrics. Granted the lyrics are often terrible. Ironically, though, this can constitute but a small part of the problem, since the music is generally so loud one cannot hear the words. No, the primary problem has to do with the very kind of music people are listening to; it is truly seductive. Here is the reason why:

It pertains to the nature of all art to imitate nature. Thus, we recognize good art in those works which tastefully reproduce well the original of nature. In the ordered, clear rendering we find art both beautiful and pleasing. This is particularly evident in the case of painting and sculpture.

If people take delight in distorted art, this is a sign of moral degradation. Unconsciously, you see, they perceive themselves as ugly (in consequence of their sins) and find this brokenness depicted ‘well’ in art. In this sense much of modern art is a true self-revelation (cf. Pope John Paul II, Letter to Artists, 2), for it does, in fact, reproduce the decrepitude it finds in its model, the dissolute generation of today. However, the artist is not just a camera, but he has a mission in society: he should present beauty, which is the visible form of the good (cf. ibid., 3), and so spiritually uplift the viewer.

The case with music is quite distinct and unique. Music does not imitate some extrinsic reality, but rather music imitates the interior passions (emotions) of the soul. Music excites emotions. You do not have to tell a child, "This is happy music" or "This is sad music!" In songs, the medium, that is, the music itself, is the essential message, not the words, and the emotions of our soul are the strings upon which this message is played.

Today’s forms of music aim largely at stimulating sensuality, at provoking a passionate state of soul, whereby the passions are given more and more dominion over reason and will. Whoever understands this, sees immediately the absurdity of speaking of Christian Rock: Behind pious lyrics, the music is constantly and pursuasively caressing the sensual chords of the heart.

Silence is the only effective remedy to sensual, inordinate music: refuse to listen to it! Even good music is to be taken in moderation. Best of all is sacred chant, where the music truly accompanies the spiritual content of the text, such that we not only intellectually believe and adhere to God, but believe in Him more firmly and love Him more intensely with our heart, as well. Sacred music uses the emotions and orders them harmoniously in the life of soul under the worthy direction of intellect and will. In this well-ordered integrity, man is more fit to morally meet the challenge of life. Moreover, he will be more receptive to beauty and joy in life and know how to order all things to the supreme goal.

Recapitulation

Bl. Titus affirmed, "To recover recollection of spirit has ever been the first step of all reform." Less than to a few particular sins, the general state of dissipation and dissolution of modern Christianity may be traced back to the loss of silence, which is concomitant with the spirit of worldliness, in which most other sins take their roots. The choices that led to this catastrophic state were not in themselves grievous sins, but the cumulative effect of defects in prudence, whereby charity grew cold, whereby the means ceased to be used as means and came to be sought as the gratifying end of peoples’ lives.

Those who wish to cultivate a deep friendship with the holy Angels must needs practice silence. In the beginning this is hard, because so much, it seems, is lost. In the end, there is joy, because silence disposes us for the authentic gifts that come to us through Divine love.

In our modern society, people are bombarded with the constant noise of television, cell phones and iPods that drowns out silence essential for fostering holiness, asserted Susan Muto in her paper presented Nov. 16 at the Carmelite Monastery in Roxbury. Muto is an author and executive director of the Epiphany Association, a nonprofit ecumenical center dedicated to spiritual formation.

“Silence is not to be shunned as empty space. It is to be befriended as fertile ground for intimacy with God. Noise has the opposite effect. It tends to fragment us,” she wrote in her paper entitled “The Relevance of the Rule of Carmel on Silence in a Noisy World.”

The work was presented by Sister Vilma Seelaus of the Carmelite Monastery in Barrington, R.I. Muto, a Catholic, holds a doctorate in English literature from the University of Pittsburgh, where she specialized in the work of post-Reformation spiritual writers, was unable to present the paper personally due to a family emergency.

Muto’s paper continued, saying that rather than being a luxury reserved for monks or mountaintops, silence is a survival measure in a noise-polluted world. It allows people of faith to be centered in God, standing on the firm ground of his unchanging love.

The Rule of Carmel, written by St. Albert of Jerusalem and confirmed by Pope Innocent IV in 1247, requires silence of Carmelites from after evening prayer to lauds the next morning.

Though Carmelites need not observe silence as strictly at other times, St. Albert advises them not to indulge “in a great deal of talk.” Instead, silence should be a “sweet fragrance” that seeps through the walls of the Carmel and purifies the outside air.”

“As Scripture has it, and experience teaches no less, sin will not be wanting where there is much talk,” he wrote.

Avoiding gossip is just as important in the office as it is in the monastery, Muto asserted.

“Working in silence produces positive, productive results,” she said.

Christians are called to restrain their speech, to say what they mean and to mean what they say. They need to understand that their words can affect others around them and even their spiritual community. When they curse others, they are cursing people made in the image and likeness of the Lord, Muto said.

Words can mock, abuse the weak, and inflict pain on others by pointing out their faults. They can also be scathing, vengeful remarks that strip a person of dignity or proud words that make the poor feel forgotten by God, she said.

Spending time in silence allows people to collect their thoughts and keeps them from rash words, she said.

“Everyone needs silence,” she said. “To neglect this need is to risk living a tense, fragmented, spiritless life. If we do not nourish our souls, they atrophy as does a body without food. To maintain any kind of Christ-like presence in the world, we need to seek silence and its fruits.”

Spiritual reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation are aided by silence and give the faithful the opportunity to encounter their Creator, she said.

“The encounter between the soul and God ultimately transcends what language can contain. In many ways, such intimacy is unspeakable. It is beyond words.”

Muto finished by quoting St. John of the Cross who said, “The Father spoke one Word, which was his Son, and this Word he speaks always in eternal silence, and in silence must it be heard by the soul.”

Sister Vilma, who has lived the Rule of Carmel for over 50 years, gave her reflections and answered audience questions after reading Muto’s paper. Sister Vilma recently published a book entitled “Distractions in Prayer: Blessings or a Curse?”

“I’m not sure if such a presentation leads itself to questions or to mindfulness meditation,” she began.

Sister Vilma said that St. Theresa of Avila affirmed that God is always present, even “in the pots and pans.” It takes practice to learn to feel his presence around us, she added.

Sister Claire Thornton, a Sister of the Holy Cross, said the talk emphasized the importance of silence in a world cluttered with noise.

“When I sit on the subway and I see people with their cell phones and their iPods on, it seems to me that as a culture we’re having an increasingly difficult time being still,” she said.

Young people are creating their own worlds, she added.

Evelyn Morrissey, parishioner at St. John the Baptist Parish in Quincy, agreed, adding that it can be easy to feel invisible to others on public transportation.

Morrissey said she has been the recipient of harsh words and hopes that more people will learn to reflect before they speak. She finds it necessary to at times remain silent and stay in God’s presence in order to not react rashly.

A privileged meeting with The Carmelite Nuns at their home in Addington.

This program was made as part of CTV's 'Up Close and Personal' Series
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December 2013

Initium Novitiatus

• 08-12-13 Mary Lucy Nthule Mumo (MAC), Machakos, Kenya
• 08-12-13 Mary Assumpta Kamene (MAC), Machakos, Kenya
• 14-12-13 Cesaltino Dos Santos (Aust), Hera, Timor Leste
• 14-12-13 David Soares (Aust), Hera, Timor Leste
• 14-12-13 Juliao Dos Santos (Aust), Hera, Timor Leste

Professio Temporanea

• 14-12-13 Mª del Pilar del Espíritu Santo (VAL), Valencia, España
• 14-12-13 Inmaculada de la Stma. Trinidad (VAL), Valencia, España

Ordinatio Sacerdotalis

• 14-12-13 Anthony Trung Nguyen (SEL), Middletown, New York, USA
• 14-12-13 Praween Lawrence (STSA), Vellappilly, India
• 28-12-13 Jijo Augustine Mattappillil (Ind), Sleevamala, India

*foto: Ordinatio Sacerdotalis de Anthony Trung Nguyen (SEL), Middletown, New York, USA

John Coates

Solitude is not the same as isolation. The latter is an unhealthy withdrawal from human society; a turning in on oneself that is only too often a trait of neurosis. Solitude, in contrast, is a healthy turning toward one's beloved."Solitude, when it is healthy, will bring us closer to our Lord Jesus Christ and not lead us away from Him. If one finds it difficult to live with others, one will surely find it difficult to live alone. Solitude is not intended to be empty and void, but alive and filled with activity; the activity of loving and communicating with Jesus be it a prayer of thanksgiving or just enjoying God. Contemplative prayer and solitude should be restful and not fill us with boredom and anxiety.

Solitude should give us an opportunity to make advances in prayer but, in order for this to happen, we must free our mind of anxiety and learn to put aside all of our worry. Learning to be with God does not happen over night. This period of communication strikes fear even into the hearts of priest and religious. In our society we are taught to abhor solitude. Television, radio and other distractions make it very difficult for us to appreciate being alone.

"Silence and solitude does not refer only to the lessening of decibels.” It is almost impossible for us here at Carmel, to commune with the Indwelling Spirit unless we withdraw from the hustle and bustle of the world. This does not always mean that we must physically withdraw.  Often this is not possible, but we can withdraw ourselves spiritually. A divided attention is an exhausting attention. If we drain our psychic energies by the endless multiplicities of images and sounds, many of them garish and deafening, we cannot retain the inner stamina necessary or prayer.

Prayer is so necessary for us to grow in virtue. It is impossible for one to practice prayer on a regular basis even though the prayer may be one of distraction, without a noticeable growth in virtue. “The divine presence is bound to transform one from sin to virtue and eventually from common goodness to heroic sanctity.” Often there are those whose period of.solitude are constantly 'interpupted cecause of the inordinate interest in the business of others. We should not meddle in things that do not concern us. If we can avoid the needless interfering in the lives of others we can and will avoid many distractions. Our inner peace is unsettled by gossip and our prayer life suffers. When we are trying to direct the actions of others our own affairs go unattended. So we must avoid letting the faults of others distress us. We should learn not to focus our attention on their petty faults. "The safe path for the soul that practices prayer will not be to bother about anything or anyone and to pay attention to itself and pleasing God." This does not mean we are not to be concerned about others.

The spiritual experience that one has in solitude, of course, varies from person to person, but you and realize "that God treats each of us differently." Though He has several times entered into me, he has never made His coming apparent to my sight, hearing, or touch. It was not by His motions that He was recognized by me, nor could I tell by any of my senses that He had penetrated to the depths of my being. Only by the movement of my heart was I enabled to recognize His presence, I know the might of His power by the sudden departure of vices and strong restraint put upon all carnal affections:  and it is by God's mercy and grace that we discover and are convinced of our secret fault. How can we but admire the depths of the wisdom of God? The goodness and kindness of so loving a God we are aware of co& we have perceived in some degree the loveliness of his beauty, and have been filled with amazement at the magnitude of his greatness.

The earliest Carmelites were to imitate the Jesus who was in the habit of going aside to pray, to be alone with God, his Abba.

Keith J. Egan

Keith J. Egan

So I say now that all of us who wear this holy habit of Carmel are called to prayer and contemplation. This call explains our origin; we are descendants of men who felt this call, of those holy fathers on Mount Carmel who in such great solitude and contempt for the world sought this treasure, this precious pearl of contemplation. (IC.5. I .2)'

Carmelite Spirituality is a richly woven tapestry whose warp and woof change over time to accent now one hue, then another. This Carmelite tapestry, like Joseph's coat, is multicolored with rich fibers running this way and that. Some fibers arc so integral to an authentic Carmelite charism that, were they eliminated, the tapestry would no longer be true to the Carmelite tradition. Unthinkable is Carmelite life without Mary. What would Carmelites do without the inspiration of Elijah) Carmel's various ministries, whether preaching, teaching, or the all important ministry of the contemplative life, are crucial to the variations that occur in Carmel's spiritual tapestry. Even more incomprehensible is Carmelite life without solitude. Solitude lay at the heart of the original charism of Carmel and has been restored whenever new life has been breathed into Carmelite spirituality. When great figures in Carmel's tradition have articulated their understanding of Carmel's way of life, they have inevitably retrieved solitude as crucial to the authenticity of Carmelite prayer. The quotation from Teresa of Jesus at the heading of this essay shows how strong was Teresa's conviction that the recovery of solitude was crucial to her reform of the Carmelite Order.

Carmel's staying power in the church's religious traditions may well rest on its insistence that solitude has a unique place in its way of life and prayer. At the very heart of human existence is the challenge to be a person and at the same time to be in relationship with others. That is the paradox of solitude and community. Two modern philosophical systems put the emphasis at opposite ends of the spectrum. Marxism comes down on the side of community, while existentialism favors the autonomy or freedom of the person. Keeping the poles of this paradox, solitude and community, in creative tension, is the challenge of every human person, of the human community, and is a special concern of the Carmelite tradition. Were there space in this essay, one might inquire in what way the paradox of solitude and community reflects the three persons and one nature of the Trinity and the unity of two natures in one person of the Incarnation. Or one might explore how celibacy can create within one a holy solitude. These explorations must wait for another day.

In Carmelite spirituality solitude is in creative tension with com-munity and with the ministries undertaken by community. l suggest that a crucial factor in the attraction of so many religious seekers to the Carmelite charism is its ongoing struggle to live creatively this paradox of solitude and community. From the beginning Carmel gave a special place to solitude but always as a solitude within community. Living the dynamic of solitude within community is Carmel's mission in the church, its perennial challenge, its key to ongoing reform and its way of challenging its members to stand in mindfulness before the living God even as some Carmelites serve the apostolic needs of God's people. Solitude, shaped variously in differing eras, has been a decisive factor in the life of prayer for anyone who is called to pray within or with the Carmelite family. One way to track the evolution of Carmelite prayer is to trace how solitude was configured at different moments in Carmel's history, especially by classic figures in its tradition like the three Carmelite doctors of the church, Teresa, John and Therese.

Solitude in the Carmelite Tradition

The solitude of the original Carmelites was integral to their “allegiance to Jesus Christ.”' This phrase from the prologue to the Formula of Life sees Carmelite life as an imitation of Christ and as an “...obedience to His way of life depicted in the Gospels, remembered in the tradition.....” The earliest Carmelites were to imitate the Jesus who was in the habit of going aside to pray, to be alone with God, his Abba (Luke 5:16).' The Carmelite charism thus focuses on a central issue of human existence and at the same time imitates a habit of Jesus whom Carmelites by their rule were pledged to follow. From their first location on Mount Carmel the Carmelites had inherited a desert spirituality which prized solitude. The desert dweller Abba Moses once said: The man who flees and lives in solitude is like a bunch of grapes ripened by the sun, but he who remains amongst men is like an unripe grape.

The first Carmelites were conscious that they had settled in a land made holy by the presence of Jesus, who often sought solitude, and in a land made sacred by the monks of the deserts whose very name, monk, means to be alone. A modern interpreter of Carmel's prayer, Kilian J. Healy, has written that “...the tradition of Carmel has always been to live a life of solitude, silence and mortification in order to be continually occupied with God....To be occupied with God (vacare Deo); this is the spirit of the Order....”' This solitude is for the sake of being alone with God so as to experience the transforming power of God's love. The thesis of this essay is that Carmelite prayer has grown and matured creatively whenever solitude has been nurtured. Solitude here does not mean the completely eremitic life where one lives totally alone. The Carmelites have never espoused a life divorced from community; in fact, in 1247 they expanded the communal aspects of their life so as to identify with the fraternity of the friars. Carmelite solitude has always been for the sake of inner solitude, a habit of deep inner mindfulness of the presence of a loving God. Physical solitude is for the sake of solitude of the heart or, as John of the Cross would say, for the sake of poverty of spirit, an emptiness to be filled by God's love. Carmelite prayer depends on the retrieval of a solitude that is faithful to the original charism of Carmel and at the same time is shaped by the signs of the times. Without discernment in each age, Carmelite prayer would not be ecclesial and contemporary. In every era the Holy Spirit shapes the life of the church and its religious communities according to a design that can be seen as an ongoing epiclesis. This is a calling on the Holy Spirit to weave the threads of the Carmelite tapestry according to God's will.

Carmelite solitude has been and is lived in various manifestations, that is, in one way by cloistered Carmelite nuns, in another by apostolic Carmelite sisters, then again by the friars and in other ways by lay Carmelites and by anyone who turns to Carmel for inspiration. As Saint Paul taught, every charism is for the sake of the whole community (1 Cor 12). Cannel's paradox of solitude and community is a gift to be shared with all who seek to live attentively in God's presence.

It is impossible to report in a brief essay the whole story of Carmel's retrievals of solitude during the eight hundred years of the order's existence. I shall indicate only some special moments in that history that illustrate the connection between solitude and Cannel's life of prayer. These moments reveal how Carmelites have lived according to the aphorism vacarr Deo, being open to God's presence, “continually occupied with God: as Kilian Healy translates the phrase: John of the Cross's Spanish for vacare Deo has been translated into English as 'free for God” (SC.7.6). Solitude makes one free for the guidance of the Holy impossible for the Latins in the Holy Land. By 1238 some of the Carmelites were migrating to the West and found themselves in places like Cyprus, Sicily, England and France. When they got to Europe, the hermits of Mount Carmel encountered the phenomenon of the friars. The friars were everywhere and were attracting recruits in extraordinary numbers. Dominic and Francis had turned traditional religious life on its head. In place of the stability of the monks, the friars were mobile and international. Along with the personal poverty of the monks, the friars adopted corporate poverty. The friars streamlined the monastic liturgical hours. Perhaps most revolutionary of all, the friars began to evangelize the expanding urban centers of Europe. To prepare for this ministry the friars entered the universities so that they might prepare their members to bring the gospel to the large numbers of poorly instructed Christians in Europe. With their move into the universities the friars became student orders, with each of their foundations a feeder for specialized student houses in various provinces.

The first Carmelite foundations in Europe were eremitic, but it soon became evident that this lifestyle was out of sync with the taste of the friars' patrons and with the sensibilities of young recruits eager to throw in their lot with the enormously popular mendicant orders. In 1247 the Carmelite Formula of Life became an official Rule, and the Carmelite hermits slipped into the ranks of the friars. The Carmelites quickly acted like friars and turned with haste to make foundations in cities like London, Cambridge, Oxford, Paris and Bologna. The papally approved revision of the Formula of Life entailed only slight verbal changes in the text but the implications for solitude and prayer were telling. The changes not only allowed the Carmelites to settle in non eremitic sites (towns), but the time of silence was shortened. The Carmelites now gathered in a common refectory and recited the canonical hours. While the once eremitic Carmelites now lived the more communal life of the mendicants, they had a legacy of solitude that had to be woven into the newly shaped Carmelite tapestry if the Carmelites were to remain faithful to their original charism. The Carmelite historian, Father Joachim Smet, believes that the transition from an eremitic to a mendicant order was more gradual and less abrupt than l have described this change. Father Smet's interpretation extends the eremitic character of the Carmelites beyond 1247 and therefore puts additional emphasis on solitude after this date.”

The demands prompted by Carmelite participation in the evangelization of Europe's towns altered the way solitude could be lived. This ecclesial call to evangelization recast the more simple paradox of solitude and community into a tension between solitude and ministerial community, a community called upon to serve the neighbor through preaching, teaching and spiritual guidance. The stillness, quiet and solitude experienced on Mount Carmel were no longer possible. Hence it was inevitable that the prayer of the Carmelite friars would also be altered.

The change from hermits to friars, an alteration of the original Carmelite charism, did not occur without opposition. First of all, the Carmelites encountered the general opposition to friars that was mounted during the second half of the thirteenth century by bishops and secular clergy who saw the friars as intruders into their ministry of evangelization. Within the Carmelite Order, Nicholas the Frenchman, prior general from 1266 to1271, scolded his brothers in no uncertain terms for fleeing to the cities instead of remaining faithful to solitude: ''You who flee solitude and spurn the consolations it has to offer, would you hear how the Lord has shown by his words the high esteem in which he holds it [solitude]?” Nicholas proceeded to eulogize solitude as practiced from Abraham to Jesus, and he reminded his brothers that their predecessors had, though rarely, preached what they had reaped in solitude with the sickle of contemplation:” However, neither external nor internal opposition deterred this recently minted mendicant order from a commitment to evangelization.

At the very time they were undergoing opposition, certainly by 1281, probably earlier as their Constitutions could have dated from 1247, the Carmelites were telling their young members that the order had a long tradition of being “true lovers of solitude for the sake of contemplation.” That significant statement about solitude in the prologue of their Constitutions was retained in the Constitutions for centuries. Here is the longer context of this quote from the rubrica prima, a charter for young Carmelites contained in the Constitutions:

Since some of the younger brothers in our order seek when and how our order began but in truth do not know how to respond, we wish to answer them with the following written words: bearing witness to the truth, we say that from the time of the prophets Elijah and Elisha who dwelt devotedly on Mount Carmel, holy fathers of the Old and New Testament praiseworthily lived there in ever continual holy penitence on that same mountain as lovers of solitude for the sake of contemplation.

As early as 1281, if not three decades earlier, the Carmelites had composed a mission statement for the young that gave pride of place to solitude, a solitude for the sake of contemplation. The Carmelites were also becoming more and more conscious of what was implied by their having been founded on Elijah's mountain. To look toward Elijah and Elisha for their inspiration was to become aware of the prophetic dimensions of their solitude and prayer.

from http://www.carmelite.com

Carmelite spirituality is Christian spirituality – not an idiosyncratic or esoteric spirituality. As such, contrary to some popular misconceptions, it is not reserved to a select group within the Church or to a spiritually elite, but is accessible to all whom the Spirit calls to follow this way. As a Christian spirituality, Carmelite spirituality is a way of following Jesus Christ and walking the path of the gospel.

Carmelite spirituality is characterised by an intense thirst for an immediate and direct experience of God. Reduced to its most fundamental expression, Carmelite spirituality is centred on prayer, understood as loving friendship with God, and contemplation as the free gift of God. Hence, Carmelite spirituality is focused on attention to one’s relationship with Jesus. This is expressed in various ways in the major sources of Carmelite spirituality, such as the Rule of St. Albert, the writings of the founders of Discalced Carmel Sts. Teresa and John of the Cross, and indeed in the writings of all our Carmelite saints.

In the Rule of St. Albert, the Christian character of Carmelite spirituality is clearly expressed as living ‘a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ’. This involves a gradual and progressive conversion and transformation – a putting on of the mind and heart of Jesus. Sts. Teresa and John of the Cross, speak of prayer and contemplation as ‘friendship with God’ and ‘union with God’ respectively. Prayer and contemplation, as a relationship with God, in and through loving friendship with Jesus Christ, is not a technique or one of the many daily activities, but embracing of one’s whole life. For the Carmelite then there is no experience in one’s life that is outside the ambit of relationship with God.

Together with prayer and contemplation, Carmelite spirituality emphasises the doctrine of the Divine Indwelling. Both Sts. Teresa and John of the Cross teach us that God, the Blessed Trinity, dwells within the human person. Hence, one need not go out of self in search for God but enter progressively ever deeper within oneself to be with God who dwells at the very centre of our being. St. Teresa speaks of this journey within as an itinerary through a castle with seven mansions. St. John of the Cross hymns this reality: “What more do you want, O soul! And what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfactions, fullness and kingdom – your Beloved whom you desire and seek? Be joyful and gladdened in your interior recollection with Him, for you have Him so close to you. Desire Him there, adore Him there. Do not go in pursuit of Him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and wearied thereby, and you shall not find Him, or enjoy Him more securely, or sooner, or more intimately than by seeking Him within you.” (S.C. 1:8) Interiority and recollection, then, are at the very heart of Carmelite spirituality.

In order to foster and facilitate relationship with God, through prayer and contemplation, Carmelite spirituality proposes certain means, both personal and communal, namely meditation on the word of God, liturgy, silence and solitude, and asceticism. The Rule of St. Albert urges an unceasing pondering of the Law of the Lord in Scripture and the strengthening of one’s heart with holy thoughts, so that the word of God may abound in one’s heart and lips, and guide all one’s actions. The Rule also exhorts Carmelites to come together daily for the celebration of the sacred liturgy.

Carmelite spirituality proposes silence and solitude as necessary pre-requisites for prayer and contemplation. Silence refers not only to external noise but also to the stilling of one’s internal noises. Silence is the condition for listening attentively to the still small voice of God. Solitude provides the ambience where one may be alone so as to focus more attentively on the Beloved. Solitude then is not primarily separation or isolation from others, but a place of privileged encounter with the Beloved.

Asceticism is the means of freeing self from the tyranny of self-will, simplifying one’s life, and preserving all of one’s energy for journeying to God. For St. John of the Cross, the main expression of asceticism involves a radical detachment from inordinate or disordered desires and appetites. Detachment is a way of prioritising God above all creatures. As such, it witnesses to the primacy and all sufficiency of God. Asceticism is not only at the service of a deeper life with God, but it is also geared to the demands of the apostolic ministry.

Although Carmelite spirituality highly esteems prayer and contemplation these are always in service of the apostolate. Hence, integral to Carmelite spirituality is apostolic service to the Church. This aspect is particularly highlighted by St. Teresa. For St. Teresa, while prayer and contemplation are paramount, they are not ends in themselves but are orientated to the support, welfare, and apostolic fruitfulness of all those engaged in the work of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Carmelite spirituality, then, is not simply about self salvation, but a way of co-operating with God in bringing about God’s reign on earth.

Finally Carmelite spirituality teaches that authentic prayer and contemplation is accompanied by and promotes growth in the human and theological virtues. This leads to a flowering in the Carmelite of the two-fold gospel commandment of love of God and love of neighbour.

from http://www.carmelite.com