1. Name of the Order:
Ordo fratrum beatissimae Virginis Mariae de Monte Carmelo – Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Carmel /O.Carm. – Ordo carmelitarum/.
Note: It is usually unknown that from this original Carmelite Order, the Order of Discalced Carmelites or the Teresian Carmel /OCD/ separated as an independent order in 1593.
2. Structure of the Order:
The Carmelite Order is an exempt (i.e., removed from the authority of the bishop) clerical order. The entire order, headed by a general superior, is divided into provinces led by provincial superiors, which consist of several houses (monasteries, convents) with local superiors (prior). The first male order also includes a second, female order (Carmelites) and a third order, both cloistered and secular (Carmel in the world). The Brotherhood of the Sacred Scapular is also associated with the Carmelite Order.
3. Name and residence of the provincial superior among us:
From 1908 to 1950, we had only one monastery in Kostelní Vydří. Therefore, we did not have our own province. According to the agreement of our government with the Holy See – the so-called Modus vivendi from 1928 – we must not belong to a foreign province and can only be directly subordinate to the central leadership. The general superior personally appoints a representative – a delegate – from among us. Currently, he is P. Radim Josef Jančář, in Frýdlant nad Ostravicí.
4. Headquarters abroad:
Curia Generalizia, Via Giovanni Lanza, 138, 00184 Roma, Italy.
General superior: P. John Malley, O.Carm.
5. Founder of the Order:
Our order does not have a founder in the strict sense. It originated on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. During the Crusades, many hermits from Europe (at that time there was a flourishing of hermit life) went there and settled in various holy places. Some settled on Carmel, where the tradition of the prophet Elijah was preserved. Thus, the order considers the prophet Elijah as its spiritual founder. It lives by his dual spirit: to stand before God's face and to zeal for His honor. In a special way, however, the hermits on Carmel also venerated the Virgin Mary. They dedicated the first church built on Mount Carmel to her. Thus, the Virgin Mary and the prophet Elijah have been and are the two main figures of the order. Another important figure who was present at the beginnings of the order was St. Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem, who gave the Carmelites their rule (around 1209). However, he did not become the founder of the order, nor did he ever belong to the order, even though the order honors him as its saint.
6. Mission of the Order:
The main mission of the order is to live in union with God, to have and spread devotion to the Virgin Mary, to maintain inner life in the Church and the world, the spirit of prayer, even mystical, and to preserve spiritual values. To create smaller order communities living spiritually, to provide spiritual guidance to others, to conduct exercises, or various courses, to publish spiritual writings, but also to help with spiritual administration in case of a shortage of priests.
7. Overview of the history of the order:
The order was founded on Mount Carmel in Palestine. When the Mohammedans were capturing the Holy Land back, the hermits, including those from Carmel, began to return to various European countries, adapting to European conditions, settling in cities, and teaching at universities, including in Prague, when Charles IV founded it and looked for professors in the orders for it. At that time, the Carmelites were associated with the mendicant orders. Perhaps the most famous period in the history of the order is the reform of St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross, from which a new order arose after their deaths. Today, Carmelites are present worldwide, most numerous in Roman countries, in Spain, Italy, and then in the USA.
Charles IV introduced the Carmelites to us by founding a monastery at Our Lady of Snow in Prague in 1347. Later, they were in Prague at St. Havl (1627–1782). Other monasteries were in Tachov (established 1351), in Chyše near Plzeň (1485), nearby in Rabštejn (1483), in Planá (1666), and an attempt was made to establish one in Rakovník. In Slovakia in Prievidza (1426) and in Prešov (1431). Then again in Kostelní Vydří (1908).
8. Famous figures of the order:
The most famous saints of the order are St. Teresa of Jesus (1515–1582), St. John of the Cross (1542–1591), and St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi (1566–1607). From the most recent times, Blessed Titus Brandsma (1881–1942), who was martyred in Dachau. He was proclaimed blessed in 1985. Notable saints include St. Thérèse of Lisieux and Blessed Benedicta of the Cross (born Edith Stein), who is a Discalced Carmelite.
9. Current state of the order among us:
7 priests, 1 lay brother, 3 clerics, 5 novices, and 4 postulants.
Priests live in the parishes of Frýdlant nad Ostravicí, Kostelní Vydří, Jindřichův Hradec, Strmilov, Olomouc-Hejčín, and Dobrá Voda near Nové Hrady.
10. Spirituality of the order:
The spiritual path of Carmel is primarily determined by the two great figures in the history of salvation – the prophet Elijah and the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, whom the order has accepted as its spiritual founders. From the prophet, the Carmelites received the spirit of inner zeal, fervor for God, and His interests, along with the spirit of inner contemplative prayer. The prophetic mission of the order lies in the constant re-presentation of God in this world, in the spiritual guidance of people through personal inner experience with God. The Virgin Mary, as the Mother of Carmel, serves the brothers as a teacher of the inner life and of listening, guiding them to the closest union with God in love, humility, hiddenness, and simplicity. The scapular that the Carmelites wear as part of their habit is meant to be an external sign of this inner spiritual journey they have chosen. The essence of the Carmelite spiritual path is the effort for a permanent, current, and intimate connection with God in love, to live in God's presence. For a Carmelite, “prayer is not an oasis in life, but life itself.” (P. Titus Brandsma, O.Carm.) In this lived connection, the Carmelite is sent to carry out the most ordinary things with a generous heart, with pure intentions, and with the commitment of the whole person like the Virgin Mary. Like Mary, he brings Jesus to the world, like Mary, he meditates day and night on the law of the Lord and keeps it in his heart, like Mary, he remains with his brothers in community and prayer to obtain lasting Pentecost for the world.
