The Place of the Virgin Mary in Carmel
Just as Carmel is called to live the life of Christ in prayer and his radical submission to the will of the Father, showing that all other realities are relative, so the Carmelite family is also called to manifest the love with which Jesus, the perfect son, loves his mother Mary. From the very beginnings on Mount Carmel, where the blessed Mother was a patron to the brothers because the built chapel was dedicated to her, through many well-known Marian shrines such as Carmine Maggiore in Naples or the diocesan Marian shrine in Trapani or Aylesford in England, to Kostelní Vydří here in the Czech lands, where Mary is venerated as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Order experiences Mary's presence, protection, and maternal care in so many ways that without Mary, Carmel simply would not be itself.
In the past, the Carmelites took pride in not having their own founder in the traditional sense: they took it to extremes and proved that it was Mary herself who wished to have her own family in the Church and that this first family dedicated to and founded by Mary is Carmel. Leaving aside the question of the historical accuracy of such arguments, we cannot deny that the blessed Mother has been given an honorary place reserved for founders in Carmel. This conviction that Mary is the founder of Carmel has borne the fruit of loving response and reverence. Not only were most chapels and churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but already a hundred years after the Order's inception on Mount Carmel, the Carmelite family established that every liturgical service should end with the Marian antiphon "Salve Regina". Similar expressions of Marian devotion also found their expression in the celebration of the liturgy in the Carmelite rite and in other, more popular forms of piety (e.g. at a certain time, the Carmelites particularly supported the veneration of the seven joys of the Virgin Mary).
The love of Carmel for Mary has never been something static; rather, it has reflected the specific situation of the Church and Carmel in various periods and epochs. In the beginning, Mary was honored – due to the medieval strong sense of patronage – as Patroness (1): Mary pledged to protect her family and the Carmelites of the time were sure that it was she who sought benefactors and protectors for them when they had no powerful allies in this world. The Carmelites could not respond to these Mariam interventions other than by committing to be her vassals and servants. They realized this primarily through their practice of Marian devotion. But at the same time, they recognized that the way of life outlined by their rule closely resembles the life of Mary herself; and so the first Order theologian John Baconthorpe wrote about the efforts of the Carmelites to imitate the life of the blessed Mother, as we know it from Scripture, but also based on some apocryphal writings.
(1) The term "Patroness" refers to the then societal forms of feudal and lordship. The Carmelites had a relationship with Mary, their Patroness, similar to that of a vassal to his feudal lord – the patron. Transferred to the spiritual level, it means that Mary protects the Carmelites while they commit themselves to loyalty and reverence towards their Patroness; and they also commit to doing everything possible to increase her honor and spread her cult. Above all, however, they commit to having an inner relationship with her, to developing it and caring for it. (Note by the editor.)
Taken from the book: Carmel in the Czech Church
Author: Redemptus Valábek, OCarm.
Published by: KNA
