P. John Malley, O.Carm.
After nearly four years of thorough preparations, Pope John XXIII inaugurated the Second Vatican Council on October 11, 1962. In his positive and optimistic speech, the eighty-year-old pope gently admonished the legalism in the Church and spoke of the need for the world to receive God’s remedy of mercy and love instead of criticism and condemnation. Less than nine months before his death, Pope John XXIII set the tone for pastoral care that influenced the Council for the next four years.
During the third session, which began in September 1964, the Council issued a masterful and key document on the Church, Lumen gentium. In it, it presented a broad and biblical image of the Church as the People of God. Later in the fourth session, two more documents were published: the Decree on the Apostolate of Laity Apostolicam actuositatem and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et spes. These three documents have been studied over the years in the Carmelite Order, and several Carmelite brothers and sisters have published articles on the themes they raised.
Father Redemptus Valabek, O.Carm, lived and studied in Rome during the Second Vatican Council. He came here in October 1957 from his home province of St. Elias (USA). After four years of studying theology at the Collegio S. Alberto, he was ordained a priest on June 25, 1960. He then continued to study spiritual theology at the Gregorian University, where he obtained his doctorate in 1961. The following year, the Second Vatican Council began, bringing significant conclusions regarding the Church, religious life, laity, liturgy, and the world in which Father Redemptus lived. The theology and spirit of the Council inspired and permeated him, and he incorporated the teachings of the Council into his life, works, and lectures for another forty years, until his sudden death on August 5, 2003.
The magazine Carmel in the World first published in 1961, a year before the Second Vatican Council began. Father Redemptus was actively involved in this magazine in every way from the start. He wrote countless articles, served as its editor, and until his death, he truly was its soul and heart. At the same time, he taught spirituality and theology at the international theological center for women religious, Regina Mundi, in Rome. He was also a member of the Carmelite Institute, a responsible person for formation at the St. Albert College, and an international delegate for the Third Order. He was often invited to give retreats and lectures, especially to Carmelite laity. He passed on his deep love for the Virgin Mary and respect for St. Therese and other saints and shared with them the charisma and spirituality of Carmel.
In this article, I would like to address the impact of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council on the concept of “The Family of Carmel”. The Council offered a new perspective on the role of laity in the mission of the Church. This necessarily led to a better understanding of the tremendous potential that the Third Order holds in Carmel – lay men and women – and what they mean both for the Order and for the Church. In the pre-conciliar period, many groups of tertiaries were seen as somewhat devout groups of men and women who had minimal influence on the Order and played no significant role in its activities, rarely bringing new ideas to its spirituality and charism. This was to change!
During the Council, younger members of the Order, like Father Redemptus and myself, began to realize that if laypeople truly form the Church, the People of God, they should not be regarded in Carmel as anything “superfluous”. Perhaps some of us religious were influenced by the terminology that had been favored for centuries – we often thought of Carmel in a hierarchical sense. The First Order – priests and brothers – was its central group; the Second Order – contemplative nuns – was second in significance; then came the Third Order religious – active sisters – who did significant work among the people; and finally, the Third Order secular – laity, who seemed to be at the bottom of the Carmelite ladder.
However, due to the documents of the Second Vatican Council, many Carmelites began to clearly perceive the need to explore this perspective and perhaps even change it. In our mutual relationships, there should be greater respect for one another’s vocation. To indicate this reality, from 1983 to 19951 I used the term Family of Carmel. I wanted to encourage all members of Carmel to comprehend Carmel as a whole, a grace from God, poured out on us through the Holy Spirit, so that we may be equal members of Carmel.
After this introduction, I would like to share some facts that the Council’s documents on the laity provide us. I will attempt to show how these facts are present in our identity as Carmelites and how they have newly influenced our understanding of ourselves.
The Council and the Laity
Pope John XXIII was pope for only three months when, on January 25, 1958, he unexpectedly announced his plan to convene the 25th ecumenical council. After the promulgation of the first document of the Council, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum concilium, on December 4, 1963, it became clear that the Council Fathers had outlined new paths for the laity. In this document, we find the following encouragement: “The mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to a full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical actions” (SC 14). The laity were urgently called to take on their new and fully legitimate role in the Church as God’s people. It was clear to the Council participants that the apostolate and other tasks of the laity, entrusted to them for building the mystical body of Christ, stemmed from their baptism.
The Decree on the Apostolate of Laity laid the foundation for this active role of laity – men and women – in the work of the Church. It was published and promulgated in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on November 18, 1965. This document also encouraged many Carmelite laypeople to reevaluate their mission as members of the Third Order: perhaps lay Carmelites could now accept new responsibilities and new tasks.
The Council Fathers were clear that “the apostolate of the laity” existed in the Church even during the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. Laypeople, both women and men, were an integral part of the mission of the Church together with the apostles. However, prior to the Second Vatican Council, there was no official teaching on the laity established and published by any decree. Now laypeople, men and women, were finally recognized as co-responsible for the mission of Christ in the Church and in the world, alongside bishops, priests, and religious.
During discussions about this decree, the bishops sought to grasp the matter from all sides, but it became evident that there was no precedent, no document to build upon, no consistent theology on the laity and their apostolate, no official teaching of the Church. Nevertheless, this document was written, and its importance was emphasized, not because it was “long awaited” nor due to a lack of priests and religious, but because laypeople are, in essence, God’s people… they are the Church.
This realization was vital, due to the widening gap between the modern world and the evangelical message: the rise of educated and prepared laypeople and the emergence of various apostolic activities were indeed significant and through them, the values of the gospel spread more intensely. The bishops recognized that it is primarily the responsibility of laypeople, women and men, to bring Christianity to the secularized world, as Pope Paul VI said: “They are in the Church a bridge to the contemporary world.”
The purpose of the decree was to define the essence, character, and diversity of the lay apostolate, to lay its fundamental principles, and to provide practical guidelines for its most effective execution. I would now like to briefly summarize some of these main points.
After a brief introduction, the decree is divided into six chapters:
1. The Call of Laity to the Apostolate. “The Christian vocation is by its nature also a vocation to the apostolate...; there are different services in the Church, but one mission – to bring Christ’s message and His grace to people” (art. 2,5). Emphasis is placed on the following words: “However, even laypeople, when they have been granted participation in Christ’s priestly, prophetic, and royal office, fulfill in the Church and in the world their share in the mission of the whole People of God. The Lord Himself commissions them to the apostolate” (art. 2,3).
2. The Goals of the Laity’s Apostolate. “Regarding the world, God’s plan is for people to build the order of temporal things together and to continuously improve it” (art. 7). They can do this through charitable initiatives towards all those in need, especially those lacking the basics for life. The essence is love, for every person was created in the image of God.
3. Various Fields of Apostolate. The activities of the laity take place in various areas – in ecclesial communities within dioceses or parishes, in families, especially in the education of children, among youth, in social services, and in national and international issues.
4. Various Forms of the Lay Apostolate. The decree emphasizes that the apostolate and service of the laity must be integrated into the apostolate of the whole Church. It should also pertain to the activities of tertiary communities: “Among these associations, those that enhance and emphasize greater inner unity between the practical lives of their members and their faith merit particular attention” (art. 19).
5. The Order of the Lay Apostolate. The decree demands that all activity be conducted under the guidance of ecclesiastical authority and hierarchy, but it also states that initiatives coming from the laity should be supported.
6. Education for the Apostolate. This is especially essential in the area of spirituality and knowledge of Scripture: “The Holy Council therefore urges in the Lord all laypeople to willingly, generously, and determinedly respond to the call of Christ, who today invites with increased urgency, and to the prompting of the Holy Spirit” (art. 33), so that they may become co-workers of the Lord in His saving mission.
The Decree on the Apostolate of Laity is an integral part of the other documents of the Council that concern the laity, and it cannot be read in isolation from them. It is based on the theology of the Church as presented in the constitution Lumen gentium, especially in the chapter on the People of God, and finds its fulfillment in the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et spes, which emphasizes the role that laypeople have always had and continue to have in the missionary life of the Church, in Christian education, in liturgy, and in ecumenism.
The Decree on the Apostolate of Laity was very important at the time of its publication. And today, amidst the great and rapid changes of the technological world of the 21st century, which the Church must confront, it seems even more urgent. Change – this is almost the key word characterizing our society. For centuries, changes in the Church occurred only slowly. There were few educated laypeople, political, social, and religious life was a matter of the hierarchy, and for most laypeople, life was a massive effort to secure basic human needs, to provide for their families, and to ensure the simple functioning of society. Unfortunately, all decision-making and leadership were solely in the hands of men, and the Church presented itself as hierarchical and paternalistic.
Today, the description of the Church has changed. Due to the explosion of knowledge, the spread of education, technical and scientific development, and new ways of communication and transportation, the importance of laypeople is growing and should continue to grow and be supported. Not only bishops, priests, and religious, but especially laypeople are called to learn to cooperate with one another, to evangelize the world, and thereby partake in the mission of Christ.
The Relationship of the Council and the Family of Carmel
Based on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, I would now like to discuss the concept of the Family of Carmel, how it has developed in history and tradition, especially in the years 1983–1995 during my service on the General Council.
At the beginning of the 13th century, Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem, wrote rules for the men who settled at the spring of Elijah on Mount Carmel. They were hermits, pilgrims from Europe, possibly former crusaders. They were laypeople, and later some of them became priests, so it is clear that the community of Carmel arose from laypeople. After 1230, various groups of our brothers from Mount Carmel came to Europe, and in 1247 – after the easing of the rule – the Order became part of the mendicant movement and took on more of a priestly and clerical character.
Also in Europe, Carmelites sought to find God in silence and solitude with a strong emphasis on community. They were characterized by other values as well: warm respect for the Virgin Mary, a spirit of contemplative prayer, Elijah’s prophetic dimension, and service to people. For centuries, the life according to the charism of Carmel was associated only with male members of the Order.
It is indeed a mystery why it took so long for contemplative nuns to be accepted into the Order. Individual women lived according to the Carmelite rule for a long time, but not in community. It was only in 1452, during the generalate of John Soreth, when the bull of Pope Nicholas V, Cum nulla, established the first monasteries for nuns in Florence, Holland, and France. This bull became the magna carta for nuns, religious sisters, and lay tertiaries, who thus became an official part of the Order. It laid the foundation for the notion of the Family of Carmel.
At the time I made my first religious profession (in August 1950), when describing Carmelites and Carmelite sisters, terms like first, second, and third order were used, just as they had been for centuries. Gradually, these terms became personally insufficient for me, perhaps because I felt them as something that divides us in the whole dynamic unity which is such a strong component of our charism and spirituality. The term family in my life has always meant something warm, unifying, encouraging, and loving. I experienced this in my blood family, during my formation in Carmel, and in my priestly service in the province of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the USA.
During my time as provincial councilor (1972–1978) and as provincial (1978–1983), the term “region” began to be used as a unifying element among the brothers worldwide. When I was elected general superior of the Order in 1983, I wanted to push our way of thinking further, to strengthen the awareness that Carmel is not just identical to the brothers, but rather a gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church and the world. As I contemplated the value of community, the brotherly and sisterly element, other values came to mind: solidarity, sharing, acceptance, home, unity, love – values that are inherent to the concept of family. Scripture reminds us that the mission of every family is to show, support, protect, and pass on life and love. If this occurs in the spirit of mutual relationships and dependence on one another, corresponding virtues can arise and grow: trust, respect, reliability, and fidelity.
I sought to instill among the members of the Order a spirit of love and unity and to promote a deeper understanding and use of the term Family of Carmel. I often used this phrase in my letters and speeches. Members of the General Council supported me in this, and during the years 1983–1995, this idea became one of our main priorities. The idea of family, which fosters better understanding and communication, was primarily aimed at the members of our Order – brothers, nuns, sisters, and laity, but it also supported our relationships with the Discalced Carmelites and the Carmelite Order of the Immaculate Conception in India.
During my first year in the service as General Superior, I visited thirteen provincial chapters in 1984. I tried to ensure that the idea of the Family of Carmel was not just a topic for discussion, but that this idea also entered into practice. During my travels, I had many opportunities to visit not only the communities of brothers, but many other members of Carmel – monasteries of nuns, sisters affiliated with the Order, groups of tertiaries, and especially young people from our parishes, schools, and churches who were lively interested in our history, charism, and spirituality.
Before the General Chapter in 1989, several important steps and initiatives took place:
a) regional congresses of the Carmelite family in Brazil, the Philippines, and Zimbabwe, aimed at gathering representatives of various Carmelite groups for better understanding, sharing, and encouragement in living according to our spirituality;
b) cooperation between provinces, which began in 1970 and was well supported by both individual regions and the General Council;
c) relationships between monastic communities improved due to encouragement to establish federations, and their contact with the General Council also improved through visits and correspondence;
d) three meetings of the general superiors of women’s congregations affiliated with the Order were held, and other contacts developed in individual provinces;
e) preparations began for an international meeting of Carmelite laity, which took place in Aylesford, England. It seemed that new relationships were developing among members of Carmel, especially with young people. The General Chapter, which took place in Rome in September 1989, certainly approved the further development of the idea of the Family of Carmel.
One of the most positive steps in this development occurred in December 1991 during my second term as General Superior (1989–1995), and it was a true grace of the Holy Spirit that we received on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the death of St. John of the Cross. For the first time, the General Councils of the Discalced Carmelites and our Order met in Rome. Father Camilo Maccise, who was elected General Superior of the Discalced Carmelites in May 1991, played a very encouraging role in this.
This first meeting fostered a spirit of friendship and cooperation not only among us who lived in Rome but also among the members of the provinces worldwide. Following this meeting, on July 16, 1992, the first joint letter of both generals to the Family of Carmel was issued: “A Praying Community in the Service of the Church.” A year later, in June 1993, which I remember with nostalgia and immense gratitude, we met almost exactly 400 years after the separation of the Discalced Brothers from the Order on Pentecost Sunday, June 6, 1593. Since the day of this sad separation, there had been almost no official contacts between the two Orders for centuries. Since 1991, two meetings of both General Councils have been held annually, one in May and another in November. As a result of these meetings and the friendships that emerged from them, many joint letters from both generals have been sent. Various inter-Order commissions have been formed, and a number of steps have been taken to emphasize what unites us as Carmelites rather than what divides us. As a family, we have much in common.
During my stay in Rome, one of the most significant actions within my effort to support the spirit of family among our members was the meeting of the provinces in Nantes in September 1994. The theme of the meeting was “The Family of Carmel.” Usually, such meetings of provinces are attended only by members of the General Council, provincials, delegates, and special guests. This time, there were forty-one official members and an equal number of guests, representing the broader Carmelite family: general superiors and sisters from various congregations associated with the Order, several cloistered nuns, representatives of the Lay Carmel, several members of the Teresian Carmel in France, and general councilors of the Discalced Carmelites. All participated in the activities and decisions. It was truly a concrete way and demonstration of what it means in reality to be a family.
At this meeting, participants attempted to answer the question that I had been striving to answer for twelve years: “What exactly is the Family of Carmel?” I believed it was essential for this idea to take root in our consciousness and to gradually become a reality in the daily life of Carmelites. The participants from Nantes wrote in the final document: “At this historic moment, we mean by the Family of Carmel all those persons who are inspired by the Rule of St. Albert and the tradition and spirituality of Carmel, whether as individuals or as members of institutions and groups. Most of them belong to one of the three largest religious traditions (Carmelites of the Immaculate Conception, particularly in India, Discalced Carmelites, and Carmelites of the Original Observance), composed of individuals and groups of religious, religious sisters, and laity.
Conclusion
I would like to conclude this article with two truly exceptional examples of the Family of Carmel. One of them is a group of Italian laypeople, men and women, called La Famiglia, which is located primarily in Tuscany with its center in Castellina near Florence. The second is the international community of tertiaries known as Travailleuse Missionnaires, found in seventeen countries around the world.
I first met La Famiglia in 1984 during a visit to the Tuscan province. This province then had about twenty-five members, most of whom were elderly and ill. During my visit, I learned about the community of tertiaries founded by Father Agostino Bartolini, O.Carm., as a newly ordained priest in June 1945. La Famiglia consisted of various communities organized into groups with different missions (bakers, fishermen, hunters, etc.) around the chapel of Our Lady of Carmel in Castellina. Over forty years, La Famiglia grew to about three thousand members!
I often visited Father Agostino in Castellina and was always warmly welcomed; it seemed they had felt some abandonment from the province beforehand. I quickly decided that I wanted to get to know the members of the province and encourage them to integrate this group more closely into the life of the province. I felt that this group had a special vitality, that it could signify the future for Carmel in central Italy. It represented a family since its members included children and developed through young people, encompassing a number of parents and adults of all ages.
During my twelve years of residence in Rome and the four years that followed, I maintained close contact with La Famiglia. Several times a year, I held Mass on Sundays in their chapel in Castellina, dined with them, and formed beautiful friendships, especially with a young community called La Stanza. Each year, I was invited to their lovely theatrical performances. From this group emerged many vocations to our Order, the first of which was P. Agostino Gelli, who was ordained a priest on July 16, 1988. Then followed, I believe, about eight more young men. During my travels as General Superior, I often spoke about La Famiglia, explaining their relationship with Carmel, their lifestyle, formation program, and their affiliation with the Third Order, which allows them to fully live the values and ideals of our charism and spirituality and to be part of the Family of Carmel. This group practically implemented the documents of the Second Vatican Council on the laity.
The second example of the Family of Carmel I encountered was the Missionaries of the Immaculate, commonly known as Travailleuse Missionnaires or Donum Dei. In February 1984, the founder of this group of French laywomen, P. Marcel Roussel, sent two of its representatives – Renee Prieur and Renee Renoud – to inquire at the General Council of the Order about the possibility of joining Donum Dei to the Carmelite Order as part of the Third Order. The members of the Donum Dei community consecrated themselves to the Virgin Mary and considered themselves “Carmelites living in the world” in the tradition of St. Therese. The mediator between this community and the Order from the beginning was Father Redemptus, who at that time was the international delegate for laypeople.
For three years, Father Redemptus was one of the key figures in negotiations with the Cardinal Vicar of Rome regarding their incorporation into the Order. Finally, on February 22, 1987, on the third anniversary of their founder’s death, they were incorporated into the Order as an international group of tertiaries. At that time, these women lived and worked in France, in Rome, and also in three French-speaking missionary territories: Burkina Faso, Vietnam, and New Caledonia.
In later years, the number of Missionaries Donum Dei grew significantly, and Father Redemptus played an important role in their spiritual development and their relationships with Carmel. He taught them and gave them retreats, celebrated Masses for the reception of new members or during their permanent consecration, visited their communities around the world, and often advised both individual members and in administrative matters concerning the entire group. The Missionaries Donum Dei, shortly after their affiliation with our Order, developed their relationships with French bishops and soon opened communities in Marseilles, Toulon, Liesse, Domremy, Consolation, Lisieux, and Lourdes. They also established missions in eleven countries around the world. Their testimony as laywomen living the values of Carmel proved to be providential for us brothers as these women became instrumental in the emergence and support of male vocations to Carmel and in the establishment of seminars in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Cameroon, and Vietnam. (They also run a restaurant L’eau vive in Brno. – Note by the editor.)
I mentioned that Father Redemptus was very active from his priestly ordination in 1960 in building and supporting relationships among the brothers, nuns, active sisters, and all members of Carmel, as well as with the Brothers and Sisters of the Discalced Carmelites and the Carmelites of the Immaculate Conception. He was truly devoted to the “Family of Carmel.” During his time in Rome and during his summer stays in the USA, he spread this idea in lectures, retreats, and spiritual direction. His numerous articles in the magazine Carmel in the World testify to his dream and desire that we perceive ourselves as members of the Family of Carmel. I am honored to have been able to write this article in his honor and to express my sincere gratitude for everything he did for Carmel.
From the magazine Carmel in the World, 3/2011, pp. 187–203, translated by Martina Vintrová.
