Christopher O’Donnell, O.Carm.
Our Charism
Since the extraordinary general chapter in 1968, which presented us with Delineatio vitae (Outline of Life), much attention has been given to our identity and charism. Three main influences have played a role here:
- The expressions "common life" and "(brotherly) love" (caritas) were replaced by the term "brotherhood." This substitution occurred after the release of the statutes in 1971. The word brotherhood quickly took hold, although in practical life, it was more problematic. The way brotherhood was discussed raised expectations among our younger brothers for a certain lifestyle and sharing, which was foreign and beyond the capabilities of many older brothers. They were more accustomed to "encoding" love in the way they behaved towards each other in daily contact. Regarding brotherhood, we must avoid unrealistic expectations; we must be patient, but at the same time, we must not forget one important value. Here as anywhere else, growth towards maturity is an important feature, and this happens through (or sometimes despite) brotherhood.
- The emphasis on the contemplative dimension of the order has been renewed; primarily thanks to the Nijmegen School, notably with the influence of Kees Waaijman and Hein Bloomenstijn.
- The service to the poor is conceived more freely. This shift occurred during the years when Falco Thuis was the general of the order (1971–1983). The Philippines, where Dutch brothers worked, and Brazil, where the Dutch also served, notably influenced this change.
We can find several contemporary parallels regarding the rediscovery of our charism. In the early 1960s, Calvinist Hoekendijk summarized the role of Christians in three New Testament Greek words: kérygma, koinonia, diakonia. Although these words do not precisely correspond to our charism of living contemplatively in brotherhood among people, there is much similarity. Similarly, we have noticed the triad of concepts in Vita consecrata: consecration, community, and mission (art. 13).
When we look at the three fundamental elements of our charism, we should note two basic ways in which the statutes conceptualize them.
- These are values that interconnect. We can start from any of them and will inevitably arrive at the other two. Thus, we are:
- contemplative brotherly community among people,
- community of brothers that is contemplative among people,
- among people, we are a contemplative brotherly community.
- Just as we have discussed regarding Elijah and Mary, it is important to show the roots of these elements in our tradition and to draw from this tradition more deeply than we might have been used to until recently. Furthermore, the statutes attempt to express these values in language appropriate to the present, especially regarding how they complement and influence each other.
This leads to a consequence important for formation and for the entire future of the order. Each person will probably express this entirety of the charism differently through their life. Each will tend to prefer one of those elements and make it the core from which the remaining elements will emanate. Similarly, provinces and even individual houses of brothers will place emphasis differently. This opens up a very complex topic of pluralism. There are many ways to be Carmelites today. As we have said, young people who come to us may see our charism from a new perspective. We need to be open, besides the way we live our charism, to other ways of living our charism. In the words I have already used: in spirituality and theology, there are two approaches: the "vertical" and the "horizontal." In the case of the Carmelite order, I believe there are three starting points: contemplation, brotherhood, and service among people. These starting points emerge when we look at the three fundamental elements of our charism.
Living Contemplatively
The word contemplation is a cunning word in modern English: it is a word with deep ambiguity. The longest entry in the fifteen-volume Dictionnaire de spiritualité is the entry "Contemplation," spanning 600 columns. The word contemplation is often used in our society. Its basic meaning is "gazing," looking, seeing, contemplation (before oneself), reflection. The Greek word theoria has the same range of meanings. The statutes were exposed to the extensive use of this word in the history of spirituality and its broad range of meanings within the order, especially among the brothers for whom this third element of our charism – being "among people" – is most characteristic.
The statutes provide useful insights.
- They present the contemplative style of life as part of the basic charism of our order and highlight its importance in the Rule (art. 16). The Rule is not only cited for its 10th chapter on continuous devotion to the Word of God but also the ascetic chapters: on the spiritual armor (chap. 19), on work (chap. 20), and on silence (chap. 21).
- The statutes suggest what contemplation means (art. 17). They describe it as "seeking the face of God," an inner process (journey) of responding to God's love, a transforming experience overcoming us by God's love.
- The statutes usefully demythologize some earlier notions of contemplation that regarded it as something that pertains only to experts and some particularly chosen saints:
"Contemplation begins when we entrust ourselves to God, however He chooses to approach us. It is an attitude of openness to God, whose presence we discover everywhere (art. 17)." - Here conversion is mentioned. Christian contemplation and mysticism differ from other experiences of elevated consciousness by the necessity of transformation; contemplation and mysticism are not a matter of techniques one can learn: "This love frees us from our limited and imperfect human ways of thinking, loving, and acting; it transforms them into divine ways (art. 17)."
- Contemplation is not merely an individual quest. It has ecclesial value because it determines the quality of our brotherhood and our service among people. It enables us to read the signs of the times more deeply (art. 18). It seems here we should notice two things: contemplation develops the perspective of faith, so we are able to see reality from a prophetic perspective; the purity of heart that contemplation requires also allows us to see the reality around us more deeply. The teaching of the Statutes on contemplation is summarized in a rich article within the chapter on prayer:
"Contemplation is in the Carmelite tradition truly an undeserved gift, with which God comes to us of His own initiative, increasingly penetrating us with His life and love, and we respond by allowing Him to be the Lord of our lives. It involves an attitude of openness to God, whose presence we discover everywhere. Thus, we follow the example of the prophet Elijah, who always sought God, and the example of Mary, who kept all these things in her heart (art. 79)."
Brotherhood
I have already emphasized that in our community life, there has been a significant shift from merely living "commonly" (mainly seen in promised poverty and in prayer). Living together can be done in a very formal and impersonal way: one performs acts of brotherly love without empathizing with or caring more for others. Replacing this with the value of brotherhood is a significant shift. The statutes give us approximately five points that can help us grasp the meaning of brotherhood:
- they connect brotherhood with the contemplative dimension of our vocation (art. 19),
- they underscore mentions of brotherhood that are already found in the Rule (art. 19),
- they enumerate the human values necessary for brotherhood: growth in community, overcoming privileges, participation and co-responsibility, caring for each other's spiritual and mental well-being, walking the path of dialogue and reconciliation (art. 19); these ideas are expanded in the entire second part of the Statutes,
- in developing brotherhood, they place great importance on Scripture, the Eucharist, and prayer (art. 20); this is also addressed later,
- because we are a contemplative community, "we seek God's face and serve the Church" (art. 20).
Just as in the case of Elijah, Mary, and contemplation, the articles on brotherhood also seek to present our heritage, to develop it further than we have been accustomed to think about it, and to show contemporary perspectives on brotherhood in terms of human development and the mission of the Church.
Service Among People
As the Statutes explain the third dimension of our charism, they reevaluate our life even more radically than was the case with brotherhood. The language of the Statutes largely draws from the perspective of liberation of the third world that emerged in the 1970s. However, it is also influenced by a deepened historical awareness of the calling of the brothers ("fratres") in the Middle Ages.
In religious congregations founded after the Council of Trent, community is seen from the perspective of the apostolate: people come together to live together and dedicate themselves to a specific apostolate. The way the brothers (fratres) understood it or how it was perceived in the Middle Ages is different. Here, brotherhood is either a priority value or (only) a subsidiary one. We gather in community to seek God's face, and this naturally includes love and service to others. The calling of the brothers (fratres) is somewhat of a bridge between the monastic ideal of contemplation and liturgy and the apostolic ideal of later institutes that were founded primarily for some particular work of apostolate.
In the past, the term "apostolate" was exclusively used. In recent years, this word has largely given way to the expression "mission." Our sixth and seventh chapters speak of apostolic mission. However, when defining our charism, the word "service" is employed – with a rich biblical connotation of the term diakonia and with an important clarification that it involves brotherly life "among people." In the first part of the Statutes, the discussion of this service among people is presented more in contemporary language (art. 21–24), but in other places, we find more traditional expressions, especially in the section on prayer, including service at Marian pilgrimage sites (chap. 5) and in the chapters on mission (chap. 6 and 7).
What we find in the Statutes can usefully be supplemented by two apostolic exhortations. First, the document Christifideles laici, which highlights both the urgency of mission in the Church today (art. 23) and the sacramental foundation of the mission: baptism and confirmation for all, priestly ordination for some (art. 22–23). The second document is Vita consecrata, which outlines a new perspective on the mission of religious today in a chapter entitled Servitium caritatis (service of love): The consecrated life as an expression of God's love in the world (art. 72–105).
While in the past, much reflection went into what we have to convey in the apostolate, today there is a new emphasis on listening, discerning, hospitality, reaching out to people where they are. We do not come with ready answers. It is true that for some of our young people, especially those who are somewhat more conservative-minded, this is challenging. The neo-conservative mentality envisions faith as a set of eternal truths, largely backed by definitions from the magisterium of the Church, to which one can immediately turn for answers. Another tendency of this group of people is pietism: your problems will vanish through prayer. Against both extremes, we must offer the experience of brotherhood, where everyone is far from the ideal and where there is a daily struggle for authenticity. At the same time, we strive for authentic contemplation, in which we seek God's face and remain attentive to the needs of others. Our faltering prayers and our uncertain efforts in service to the living God can be an important guiding element. We have something to offer – both from our heritage and from our experience of the Carmelite charism, but before we offer anything to people, we must first listen to them and discern together with them.
A key aspect of life among people is solidarity, which means being with them as well as serving them. Indeed, sometimes the only service may be solidarity.
As one would expect, service to those who are "minores" (literally: "the lesser," meaning in any way poor or marginalized) is clearly prioritized. Who these minores are in specific situations is a question of discernment. In choosing a specific service, we are guided by our understanding of poverty and our fidelity and obedience to Jesus Christ: "For the task of the convents of apostolic brotherly life is precisely this: to be among people." (Art. 32.)
To be continued in the next issue.
Translated from the English by Miluše Hosnedlová and Jája Vanišová.
