Primitive and Fundamental Elements

From its beginning, the Order of Carmel has the remarkable privilege of having drawn its spirituality from two sources - the imitation of Elijah and the veneration of the Blessed Virgin.

Imitation of Elijah

As its name indicates, the Order of Carmelites took its origin in Palestine on the mountain famous from the Old Testament for the sacrifice of Elijah and for the grotto where the Prophet retired when he had accomplished his missions near Israel: "From there he went to Mount Carmel" (2 Kgs 2: 25).

Ancient inscriptions, from long before the Crusades, bear witness that Byzantine Christians venerated the Prophet in the very place where, according to legend, the School of the Prophets had been located - El Chader, at the foot of the mountain on the side by the sea.

The rule states explicitly that the hermits were assembled near the fountain of Elijah higher up on the mountain.

An itinerary from the beginning of the 13th century makes a distinction between "the Latin hermits who are called Brothers of Carmel" living near the "wadi ain es-Siah," the fountain of Elijah; and "the hermits of Carmel" who live near El-Chader, the School of the Prophets. Many others itineraries confirm this testimony and bear witness to the veneration given the Prophet Elijah on Carmel. Benjamin de Tudela, who visited the Holy Places in 1163, relates that two sons of Edom (thus he designates Aymeric and Berthold) built a chapel in honor of the Prophet near the Grotto of Elijah.

The monk John Phocas, who journeyed to Palestine about 1177, says that some years previously a monk, originally from Calabria, had raised the monastery of Carmel on its ruins and that he lived there with ten companions; as a result of a revelation, he established himself and built a chapel there.

Further confirmation of these facts is given by Jacques de Vitry who relates that several Crusaders led a solitary life "in narrow cells after the example and in imitation of the saintly solitary who was the Prophet Elijah, like bees of the Lord gathering into their hive the honey of spiritual sweetness." The authenticity of some documents pertaining to the early history of the Carmelites can be debated, but from clearly authentic works, it appears even to those who reject many other traditions of the Order; that the spiritual life of Carmel is completely impregnated with the spirit of Elijah and that imitation of the Prophet has given the Carmelite school its special stamp. The Abbot Trithemius (1516) was correct therefore in writing: "Although it was not he who gave them a rule in writing, Elijah was nevertheless the example and model for the holy life of the Carmelites." To prove this, it is not necessary to demonstrate historically an uninterrupted succession of hermits on Carmel imitating Elijah up to the time of the Crusades. It is sufficient that the hermits of 1155 chose the Prophet as their model and that contemporary evidence makes the fact of this imitation certain.

Veneration of the Virgin

We must note as a very remarkable circumstance of the foundation of the Order that the first hermits assembled around a chapel dedicated to the Virgin, "Saint Mary of Mt. Carmel." This is the origin of their name; at once they were called "Brothers of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel." Nomen fuit omen. From the very beginning, by a particular design of Providence, the new Order received its other character, a very special devotion to the Blessed Virgin. The legend in the breviary relates that Saint Brocard, second Prior General, when dying said to his brethren: "We are called the Brothers of Our Lady. Take care to make yourselves worthy of this beautiful name." Les Pelerinages por aler en Jherosalem (1220) and also Les Chemins et les Pelerinages de la Terre Saint (before 1265) mention this "little church of Our Lady." The Descriptio Terrae Sanctae by a certain Philippin (1263-1291), edited by W. A. Neumann, expressly designates it "Monasterium S. Mariae Carmeli. It is with good reason also that in 1282 Peter Emilien, the Prior General, wrote to Edward I of England that he would pray for him "to the Savior and to the aforesaid glorious Virgin for whose honor and glory the Order was specially instituted beyond the seas." The General Chapter of Montpellier (1287) expressed the same thing. In 1311 King Edward II of England wrote to Pope Clement V that he was particularly attached to the Carmelites because they were founded in honor of Mary; Clement V's opinion was the same. One of the most celebrated writers of the Order, John Baconthorpe, wrote of the Virgin at this time, commenting on "Your head is like Carmel:" "And since she is honored, and appreciated by Carmel, it is fitting, that on Carmel which was given to her; she should have Carmelites to venerate her in a special way. This is how it was from of old." The same author in his Expositio analogica Regulae Carmelitanae describes the Carmelite life as an imitation of Mary. It would be easy to multiply the evidence. But it is sufficient to add that the Carmelites, called by the people "Brothers of Our Lady," received as their official designation the title "Brothers of the Bl. V. Mary of Mt. Carmel," to which Popes and Bishops attached indulgences. The Devotion of the Scapular, Mary's habit, contributed partially to the Carmelites' becoming known as the Brothers of the Virgin.

This double ideal forms the first article of the oldest constitutions preserved for us, those of the General Chapter of Barcelona (1324). Here we read that from the times of the holy Prophets, Elijah and Elisha, devout hermits lived continuously on Mt. Carmel, sought this holy mountain and loved its solitude in order to give their minds over to the contemplation of heavenly things; they built a chapel here in honor of the Virgin and thus deserved to be called the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a name recognized by Popes. St. Albert gave them a rule which was approved. The Carmelites are imitators and successors of these hermits. Thus from its origin, the two specific elements of Carmel's spirituality have been imitation of Elijah and veneration of the Blessed Virgin. The Carmelites have always been mindful that they should imitate these two models, Elijah and Mary. They are the Sons of Elijah and the Brothers of Mary. From here also Carmel's mystical orientation proceeds.