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To the Most
Reverend Father
JOSEPH
CHALMERS
Prior General
of the Order
of Brothers
of the Blessed
Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel
It is with great joy that I learn of this
ancient and illustrious Order’s preparations for
the celebration, in September, of its General
Chapter, on the occasion of the eighth centenary
of the delivery, by St. Albert, Patriarch of
Jerusalem (1205-1214) of the formula vitae
which inspired the Latin hermits who took up
residence “at the spring on Mount Carmel” (Carmelite
Rule, 1). This was the first recognition by
the Church of this group of men who had forsaken
everything to live in allegiance to Jesus
Christ, after the sublime example of the Blessed
Virgin Mary and the prophet Elijah. The
canonical iter was concluded, with some
amendments, and the Rule was subsequently
approved by my predecessor, Pope Innocent IV.
By a happy coincidence, the Carmelite Order also
celebrates this year other anniversaries which
will be experienced as moments of grace, such as
the seventh centenary of the holy passing of St.
Albert of Trapani, dubbed the Pater Ordinis,
and the fourth centenary of the passing into
eternal life of Saint Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi,
Seraph of the Carmel. It is therefore with
profound joy that I express my participation in
the intense spiritual experience shared by the
Carmelite Family on the occasion of this
Chapter.
The first Carmelites went to Mount Carmel
because they believed in the love of God, who
had such love for the world that he gave up his
one and only Son (cf. John 3:16). Welcoming the
rule of Christ into their lives, they allowed
themselves to be transformed by that love. This
is the basic choice faced by every Christian. I
spoke of this in my first Encyclical Letter:
“Being Christian is not the result of an ethical
choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with
an event, a person, which gives life a new
horizon and a decisive direction” (Deus
Caritas est, 1). If this challenge applies
to Christians, how much more must Carmelites
feel its call, their vocation being the ascent
of the mount of perfection!
We know well, however, that it is not at all
easy to answer this call faithfully. In a
certain sense, there is a need to protect
oneself with armour from the perils of the
world. The Carmelite Rule too recalls this: “The
loins are to be girt with the cincture of
chastity. Your breast is to be fortified with
holy ponderings, for it is written: Holy
ponderings will save you. The breastplate of
justice is to be put on, that you may love the
Lord your God with all your heart and all your
soul and all your strength, and your neighbour
as yourself. In all things is to be taken up the
shield of faith, with which you will be able to
quench all the flaming arrows of the wicked one”
(no. 18). And: “the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God, should dwell abundantly in
your mouth and in your hearts. And whatever you
have to do, let it all be done in the Name of
the Lord” (no. 19).
Many men and women have attained sanctity by
living with creative fidelity the values of the
Carmelite Rule. Looking to them, as to all other
disciples who have faithfully followed Christ,
“we are inspired with a new reason for seeking
the City that is to come and at the same time we
are shown a most safe path by which among the
vicissitudes of this world, in keeping with the
state in life and condition proper to each of
us, we will be able to arrive at perfect union
with Christ, that is, perfect holiness”
(Dogmatic Constitution, Lumen Gentium,
50).
The theme of your chapter – In obsequio Jesu
Christi. A praying and prophetic community in a
changing world – illustrates the particular
way in which the Order of Carmel seeks to answer
the love of God by means of a life imbued with
prayer, brotherhood and prophetic spirit. At the
heart of your Rule is the precept of
convening each morning for the Eucharistic
celebration. It is the Eucharist, indeed, that
“reveals the loving plan that guides all of
salvation history... God's whole life encounters
us and is sacramentally shared with us”
(Apostolic Constitution, Sacramentum
caritatis, 8). The first Carmelites, who
pursued their personal sanctification by means
of daily participation in the Eucharistic
banquet, were well aware of this: in fact, the
daily celebration of the Eucharist results in “a
process which transforms reality, a process
leading ultimately to the transfiguration of the
entire world, to the point where God will be all
in all (cf. 1 Cor 15:28)”
(Ibid., no. 11).
With their gaze set firmly on Christ and
trusting in the aid of the saints who, for the
last eight centuries have embodied the precepts
of the Carmelite Rule, may each member of the
Order of Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of
Mount Carmel feel the summons to be a true
witness to the spiritual dimension within every
human being. The lay faithful may in this way
find in the Carmelite communities true
"’schools’ of prayer, where the meeting with
Christ is expressed not just in imploring help
but also in thanksgiving, praise, adoration,
contemplation, listening and ardent devotion,
until the heart truly ‘falls in love’” (John
Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte
Apostolic Letter, 6th January 2001, 33).
May The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and pride of
the Carmel, assist the Carmelites, the members
of the Third Order, and all those who in various
capacities are part of the great Carmelite
Family, and teach them to obey the Word of God
and preserve it in their hearts, meditating on
it daily. May the prophet Elijah make them
zealous upholders of the living God, and guide
them to the holy mountain, where they may feel
the gentle breeze of the Divine Presence.
With these sentiments, as I call upon the entire
Carmelite Family a profusion of the gifts of a
renewed Pentecost which increases their zeal for
the Lord, I wholeheartedly impart to all, with a
special thought for the Capitulars, my Apostolic
Blessing.
Castel Gandolfo, 14th August 2007
Benedictus pp. XVI |
