Lectio divina:
Within the Church, our fathers have always been disposed to praying. They have not given rise to well-known theological schools of thought, nor have there been any great predicators. When thinking of the Carmelites, the quickest image to come to mind is that of the Carmelite Nuns and to their cloistered way of life, and their way of expressing the Love which intercede in the Heart of the Church. Historically speaking, the Carmelite Friars have not had a much different way of life from that of the Nuns, although they have been engaged in the public apostolate. The Rules of the Order show us how they would make the Word of God their Daily Bread, and place It into their Spiritual Bag while going along their pilgrimages through the Holy Land. Although they had no formal indoctrination on the Bible, they became well-recognized by their characteristic awareness of how to slowly “ chew” on the Word of God making their one-day unorganized journeys, full of Life! As our founding fathers did in the 13th and 14th centuries, so did our Saints, who have contributed to the renown of the Carmelite Order. The Singular Word of God transformed into food, nutrition for the pilgrim who draws it out of his bag , just as he does with his piece of bread.
We believe that the principal points of the Carmelite Order are these: a concept of life as that of a pilgrim directed towards the Holy Land, towards the Celestial Jerusalem; and the use of the Bible as though it were the bread taken on the journey.
Saints within the Carmelite Order:
Within the Church, our fathers have always been disposed to praying. They have not given rise to well-known theological schools of thought, nor have there been any great predicators. When thinking of the Carmelites, the quickest image to come to mind is that of the Carmelite Nuns and to their cloistered way of life, and their way of expressing the Love which intercede in the Heart of the Church. Historically speaking, the Carmelite Friars have not had a much different way of life from that of the Nuns, although they have been engaged in the public apostolate. The Rules of the Order show us how they would make the Word of God their Daily Bread, and place It into their Spiritual Bag while going along their pilgrimages through the Holy Land. Although they had no formal indoctrination on the Bible, they became well-recognized by their characteristic awareness of how to slowly “ chew” on the Word of God making their one-day unorganized journeys, full of Life! As our founding fathers did in the 13th and 14th centuries, so did our Saints, who have contributed to the renown of the Carmelite Order. The Singular Word of God transformed into food, nutrition for the pilgrim who draws it out of his bag , just as he does with his piece of bread.
We believe that the principal points of the Carmelite Order are these: a concept of life as that of a pilgrim directed towards the Holy Land, towards the Celestial Jerusalem; and the use of the Bible as though it were the bread taken on the journey. |
The Carmelites:
We stand to honour the narration of the treasure handed down to us by our founding fathers, the precious stone which has given its fruits to the Church. We do so with the fear of knowing that we are not up to the same level as our fathers were; but as we have in our hearts and on our lips their very same teachings, which have only brought about so much good, and continue to do so within the Holy Mother Church and throughout the world, we enjoy talking about them, and indirectly about ourselves .
Where are we from?:
We have come from far off, both in time and in space. We come from Palestine: the original Holy Land, now called Israel. There, between 1189 and 1192, a group of faithful Christians, coming from Europe, probably with the Third Crusades , settled among the rocks of the Mount called Carmel, with the desire to belong to Our Lord. They expressed a Holy Vow, a propositum: that of obediently living the same way as the poor , naked Christ they loved. To live in ohsequium Jesu Christi. At the same time, young Francis was willing to do the same in Assisi. Actually quite a few were then desirous of doing likewise. This was because of the historical period in which the passage of the feudal society to the town society came about, thus giving rise to new values , which were totally different from the antique ones . Not all was lost, much was kept. This is the reason why Francis and the Carmelite Fathers rose to glory.
Pilgrimages were one of the principal factors of the early Carmelites, as they were created from the first pilgrims and pilgrimages were part of the Medieval Period .
Having the Word of God in hand and on their lips, our pilgrims went courageously to the Holy Land armed with their prayers and not with weapons. They went there not as conquerors but as peacemakers to adore God and give themselves over to Him as the Lord of the Place. The Crusaders , on the contrary, went with hearts determined battle for a cause with arms and violence. On Mount Carmel the hermits built a chapel dedicated to Our Lady , whom they considered their Sister.
Our Fore- fathers lived according to values which contrasted greatly to those of their times. For example, when well-being and a comfortable life prevailed, they preferred living as mendicants. They were true rebels to a certain system of commodities, no more nor less than were Saint Francis, Saint Dominique, and others of the early 13th century.
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