The Virgin Mary in Carmel

Called, by God’s gift, to be part of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, we are united in a family particularly consecrated to her love and worship, which seeks the perfection of charity, enlivened by communion with the Mother of God. This is what permeates our community and confers a special Marian character on our spirit of prayer and contemplation, on our ecclesial fervor, and on our very life of self-denial. In the title of the order, with its explicit reference to the Virgin Mary, is found the full meaning of our identity in the Church: an Order bound to Mary. “Totus marianus est Carmelus,” said Pope Leo XIII.

The history

The Virgin Mary is a reality so deeply rooted in our existence that it is absolutely impossible to set her aside. Although it is true that Jacques de Vitry, in the Historia orientalis (1216-1227), speaks of “men who gathered to live after the example of the holy and solitary man Elijah, the prophet, near the spring that bears the name of Elijah, and to dwell in little cells like bees of the Lord, producing spiritual sweetness,” it is also true that from the beginning the Carmelites looked to Mary.

The Order was born in Palestine in the twelfth century through the work of the Crusaders who settled on Mount Carmel, near the so-called “Fountain of Elijah,” seeking to draw inspiration from the mystical experience of Elijah, that wondrous man who runs through the whole history of Israel. In an uncertain year between 1206 and 1214, Saint Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem, granted them a “formula of life” in accordance with a “purpose” expressed by the hermits: to live in the service of Christ in continual prayer and penance, in the evangelical sense of continual conversion.

An anonymous pilgrim of the early thirteenth century provides us, in a document on itineraries and pilgrimages in the Holy Land, with the first historical evidence of the Marian character of the order, speaking of “a very beautiful little church of Our Lady” that the Latin hermits, called “brothers of Carmel,” had at Wadi’ain es-Siat. Another version of the same manuscript mentions “a church of Our Lady.” Later, the Virgin’s title would be given to the whole monastery, when the primitive chapel was considerably enlarged, as several ancient documents attest.

This primordial element of the chapel on Mount Carmel dedicated to the Mother of God is significant and is practically the starting point of the oldest devotion of the Carmelites to Mary. A small chapel raised in her honor, probably with an image of the Mother of God, indicates that the hermits of Mount Carmel wished to devote themselves entirely to a life of devotion to Jesus Christ under the loving gaze of the Virgin.

This gave rise to a new ecclesial experience. From then on, they acknowledged Mary as Patroness, as the Prior General Petrus de Lud declared to the King of England, Edward I, when he spoke of the Virgin Mary “in whose praise and glory this same Order was founded in a special way.”

There is good evidence for the existence of a church dedicated to Mary on Mount Carmel, even outside the Order. The book La citez de Jerusalem, written in 1220, says: “Near the Abbey of Saint Margaret, on the flank of that same Mount Carmel, there is a delightful place where Latin hermits called Friars of Carmel live. There is a little church of the Blessed Virgin. Good water gushes abundantly from the rocks in these places.”

The hermits who lived in the caves hollowed out on the slopes of the biblical mountain, beside the little church they dedicated to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, were among the first devotees of the Holy Virgin. They developed a sense of belonging to Mary as Lady of the place, took her name, and ascribed to her the same attributes that used to be ascribed to founders or patrons. From the valuable document The Institution of the First Monks, we can know that there (in the little church) those monks, commending themselves to the Virgin, gathered every day for the canonical hours and offered continual prayers, invocations, and praises to Mary and to her Son. They engaged in humble conversations about the word of God, flight from sin, and the salvation of souls. Therefore, even by foreigners, they were called Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.

From the texts cited, it is evident that Carmel has a wholly particular Marian character, which goes back to its origins. With reference to this Marian character of Carmel from the beginning, the choice of the church’s title implied a spiritual orientation, because in the feudal conception then prevailing, whoever was in the service of a church was in the service of the saint to whom that church was dedicated. And let the word service (in Latin, servitium, and also obsequium) be understood in its full force: it meant personal self-giving, placing oneself completely at her disposal, personal consecration, ratified by an oath, especially when this was sanctioned by religious profession.

Therefore, those who were dedicated to the service of a church considered themselves dedicated to the saint to whom that church was dedicated. Clearly, if the saint was freely chosen (as in the case of a new dedication of a church), devotion to him was more original, more spontaneous. Therefore, at the beginning of the Carmelite Order (and let it be considered that the first church would become the mother church of the future Order), we have a Marian choice. We speak of a choice because we do not imagine that the title was imposed from outside. But even if it had been, the fundamental reality would not change.

The title of the order is a sacred title from the beginning, and it is a title that denotes a relationship of intimacy with Mary, whose presence is sought. It appears for the first time, though it was certainly already in use, in the bull of Pope Innocent IV of January 13, 1252, where one reads: On behalf of the beloved sons, the hermit brothers of the Order of Saint Mary of Mount Carmel, and also in the bull of Pope Urban IV, in the year 1263.

The Marian Spirit of Carmel

The Carmelite ideal of life, especially its contemplative aspect, begins to take shape, as already mentioned, in two persons who from the beginning inspired the life and devotion of the Carmelites: Elijah, the prophet, celebrated throughout patristic-monastic literature as the prototype and model of solitaries and contemplatives, the man of God and of the absolute primacy of God, and the Virgin Mary, venerated by the Carmelites beside the Fountain of Elijah as the Domina loci, the Lady, the Patroness.

The first Fathers, the “Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel,” so called themselves in relation to her; they considered themselves dedicated to the Patroness of the place, becoming her possession and property, and committing themselves, consequently, to live in obedience and in her service, and to labor in her honor and under her protection. The Virgin Mary was the advocate, the protectress, the guardian of the place and of those who dwelt there. They lived at her side and were at her disposal for her worship and honor. These are the realities that appear in the historical documents of the earliest period.

Regarding the title of Patroness:

• On February 20, 1263, Pope Urban IV granted an indulgence for the rebuilding of the convent of Carmel: “Ubi caput et origo Ordinis memorati, ad honorem Dei et praedictae gloriosae Virginis Patronae ipsorum” (Where the head and the origin of the aforesaid Order is, in honor of God and of the aforementioned glorious Virgin, their Patroness).
• In the constitutions of the general chapter of Bordeaux of 1294, it was established: “Ordinamus quod in omni confessione beata Virgo Patrona nostra specialiter invocetur” (We ordain that in every confession the blessed Virgin, our Patroness, be invoked in a special way).
• In a prayer during the investiture of novices in the constitutions of 1324: “Virginis Mariae, quam praecipuam huius sanctae religionis patronam dedisti” (Virgin Mary, whom You appointed as the principal patroness of this holy religion).
• And Innocent IV, on April 17, 1354, urged those taking part in the general chapter of Narbonne to keep in mind the wholesome examples “Patronae vestrae Beatae Mariae de Monte Carmelo” (to your patroness, Saint Mary of Mount Carmel).

Regarding the Order founded in honor of Mary:

• In 1282, the Prior General Pierre de Millaud, when asking the king of England for letters of recommendation, promised prayers to the Virgin “in whose glory and honor this same Order was founded in a special way.”
• In the acts of the general chapter of Montpellier of 1287, one reads: “We implore the intercession of the glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, in obedience and honor of whom our religion of Mount Carmel was founded.”
• And in the Bull of Pope Clement V, of March 13, 1311, it is beautiful to find the words: “Your sacred Order was divinely instituted in honor of the glorious Blessed Virgin Mary.”

The aim of the hermits beside the Fountain of Elijah was “to live in obedience to Christ,” as the prologue of the Rule states, but it is beyond dispute that already in the first half of the thirteenth century the order was Marian, founded in honor of the Virgin, and the religious considered themselves especially dedicated to the Mother of God. This dedication was expressed in life through many signs, including the profession made to her: “I make my profession and promise obedience to God and to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and to the Prior General of the Friars of the Order of the Mother of God, Mary Most Holy” (fourteenth century, though it is believed to have been already in use in the thirteenth century).

With profession, the Carmelite consecrated himself to Mary, offering his life to her as a gift, taking on the commitment to honor her and to serve her with humility. For the sons of Elijah, profession amounted to the total sacrifice of themselves to the Virgin Mary. Life “in obedience” to Christ was also lived “in obedience” to Mary, because the Virgin was the Mother of Jesus, and therefore, in dedicating themselves to her service and honor, the Carmelites intended to imitate Mary’s obedience to God.

The ancient Carmelite tradition expressed its bonds of love with the Virgin through a series of titles connected with the mystery of Mary, perceived in a special way from the experience of life in Carmel. If at the beginning the title of Patroness of the Order predominated, the sweeter expression of Mother also emerged, as is seen in the ancient formulas of the Chapters and Constitutions, for example: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the glorious Virgin Mother of our Order of Carmel” (provincial chapter of Lombardy of 1333). Or: “In praise of God and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother” (Constitutions of 1369).

Well known is the appellation contained in the hymn Flos Carmeli (fourteenth century or early fifteenth century), “Mater mitis, Mater dulcis,” and Giovanni da Cimineto speaks of Mary as “fount of mercy and our Mother.” The two titles are connected with the mystery of the Virgin Mother of God, in the extension of her motherhood toward mankind. To this is added the title of Sister, adopted by the Carmelites of the fourteenth century in the devotional literature that recounts the origins of the order from the prophet Elijah onward and the Virgin’s relations with the hermits of Mount Carmel.

In The Institution of the First Monks the idea of the likeness between Mary and the Carmelites on account of chastity is developed, tracing this idea back to the first Carmelites of the New Testament, from the times of the Apostles.

They, seeing that Elijah’s predictions about Mary had been fulfilled, chose her as Patroness, having come to know that she alone was at one with them in the first fruits of spontaneous virginity: what she began among women (perpetual virginity), Elijah began among men. And this likeness between Elijah and Mary led the first Carmelites to call her (from apostolic times) “their Sister,” and themselves “Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

The title of “Sister” finds its foundation in the likeness that the Brothers of the Virgin find between Mary’s life and their own. The name “Sister” expresses the idea of Mary as model and example of life. A new name in the history of the Church and of religious families, an unusual expression that could only be suggested by a lived reality, that is, by a life wholly directed and shaped by that of Mary. Indeed, The Institution of the First Monks states that the monks of Mount Carmel found so much likeness between their way of life and that of Mary that they did not hesitate to regard her as one of themselves and therefore called her “Sister.”

The likeness between Mary and the hermits of Carmel arises from the practice of chastity. However, it opens up for the Order a very broad vision, that is, the possibility and the duty of imitating the virtues of the Mother of God. The Rule does not speak explicitly of the Virgin Mary, but Baconthorpe, in his book Expositio analogica Regulae carmelitanae, states that every detail of the Carmelite Rule is copied from the life of the Virgin.

In the apostolic Bull, Baconthorpe writes: “we are called Brothers of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary, since we have chosen a Rule of which many points are wholly like the life that the Blessed Virgin led.” This is also the thought of other writers of the fourteenth century. The Frenchman Jean Cimineto, who wrote in 1340, and the German Iohannes Hildesheim in 1370 insist on the likeness between the life of Mary and Carmelite life.

Cimineto states that Mary is the Mother of Carmel, since by her example she teaches the Carmelites how they are to live and therefore gives the typical form of the Order’s life. From this arises a sacred commitment and a specific duty of veneration and imitation. And the gaze upon Mary of Nazareth, “the handmaid of the Lord,” becomes ever firmer and more penetrating, because the Virgin of Carmel is the Patroness (and Lady) of Carmelite life, centered on the contemplation of the Word. Therefore, from the beginning the Carmelites felt Mary to be Mother and Sister at the same time, in an atmosphere of great simplicity and profound humility.

Carmelus totus marianus

The “Carmelus totus marianus” (Carmel wholly Marian) clearly reflects the importance and centrality of Marian devotion in the tradition and life of the Carmelite Order. This concept rests on a solid historical foundation, which includes the origin of Carmel as a place dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the title Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the worship and veneration given to Mary, and the Marian interpretation of the cloud on Carmel by Elijah and his disciples.

This commitment to Mary was strengthened through the Marian privileges granted to the Order, pontifical documents, capitular acts, and the contributions of writers from the first centuries of Carmelite life. All of this converges in affirming that Carmel is truly all Mary’s. The contemplation of Mary as the perfect realization of the Order’s ideal serves as a stimulus for the Carmelites to follow her example, seeking to conform their lives to hers through constant meditation on the Word of God and the gift of charity. Consecration to the Virgin Mary is a significant act that highlights this dedication to Mary.

Marian pietas, that is, deep devotion and love for Mary, was a distinctive characteristic of the Carmelite Order. The churches of the new foundations in Europe were often dedicated to Mary with reference to her Divine Motherhood, her Immaculate Conception, and her Assumption. The principal feasts celebrated with special devotion were the Annunciation, the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, and the solemn feast of Carmel in July.

The Carmelites defended the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and instituted a solemn feast in her honor that was celebrated throughout the Order from 1306 onward!

Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.

On Marian devotion in Carmelite spirituality, see the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus of Pope Paul VI.

Go deeper into the Perpetual Virginity of Mary.