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(z okazji 100. výročí narození P. Metoděje Minaříka, O.Carm.)

Misja formatora, podobnie jak misja rzeźbiarza, polega na uwalnianiu ukrytej piękności...

Misja formatora, podobnie jak misja rzeźbiarza, polega na uwalnianiu ukrytej piękności...

Tématem byl apoštolát, který terciáři nebo karmelitánští laici v různých zemích a světadílech rozvíjejí...

Niecałe dziewięć miesięcy przed swoją śmiercią Papież Jan XXIII nadał duszpasterstwu ton, który wpływał na sobór w kolejnych czterech latach...

P. Emanuele Boaga, O.Carm.

On 1 May 2011, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed his predecessor John Paul II (1920–2005) blessed. The Carmelites are particularly grateful to this blessed pope for all his statements and documents that support reverence for Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and also for his fatherly kindness that he expressed to the family of Carmel numerous times.

Karol Wojtyła was born on 18 May 1920 in the small Polish town of Wadowice, near Krakow. Near his parents' house was a convent of the Discalced Carmelites, founded in 1892 by Fr. Raphael Kalinowski, whom Karol Wojtyła greatly admired and canonized as pope in 1991. As a child, young Karol often visited the Carmelite church, especially on Carmelite feast days, and he drew many graces there, as he mentioned multiple times in his memories, even as pope.

After his high school studies, he began studying philosophy at the University of Krakow in 1938. In this city, Carmel is very vibrant: there is a convent both of our brothers and the Discalced friars, and there are two convents of Discalced Carmelite nuns. In the convent of the Discalced Carmelites, student Wojtyła took part in spiritual exercises and had closer contacts with both nunneries. However, it was a Carmelite layman, originally a tailor, Jan Tyranowski, who introduced him to the works of great mystics John of the Cross and Teresa of Jesus.

In 1942, Wojtyła entered the seminary in Krakow and was ordained a priest on 1 November 1946. His connections with Carmel deepened, and he grew to know its spirituality more and more. At the Pontifical University Angelicum, he pursued further development of the teaching of John of the Cross and defended his thesis on this topic on 19 June 1948 with the highest honors summa cum laude.

Upon returning to his homeland, his love and admiration for Carmelite spirituality continued to grow, but Archbishop Cardinal Sapieha urged him to continue on the path of diocesan priesthood. During his priestly service in Krakow and while teaching ethics at the Catholic University in Lublin, his contacts with Carmel continued. In 1958 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Krakow, and in 1967 he became the archbishop of Krakow. His relations with the convents of the Discalced Carmelites and the Carmelite nuns in Krakow and Zakopane were intense, and as archbishop of Krakow, he visited our brothers' convent there.

One more thing has deeply connected Karol Wojtyła with Carmel since childhood: his sincere devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, to whom he attributed numerous graces and protection even during his pontificate. For him, the scapular was an outward sign of this devotion. He received it as a boy in the convent of the Discalced Carmelites in Wadowice. He often recalled this fact and spoke about his deep reverence for Our Lady during every meeting with both branches of the Carmelite order. It can be said that during his pontificate, he turned to the members of the Carmelite family and to all those who walk the path of Carmel at every suitable opportunity, especially on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, to remind them of her protection and graces and the role of Our Lady in the mysteries of Christ and the Church, and to encourage them to act out of filial gratitude and to live a close life with Mary according to God's will. At least seventy times — on the occasion of the Sunday Angelus prayer, during meetings with various groups during his apostolic journeys, and at Wednesday audiences — the pope spoke about some aspect of Carmelite devotion to Our Lady and led her beloved children to prayer and following her virtues.
The most important teaching of John Paul II for Carmelites is his apostolic letter Il providenziale evento, issued on 25 March 2001, on the occasion of the Carmelite Marian Year. This document contains, among other things, key lines of Marian devotion that Carmel is to cultivate.

Pope John Paul II beatified and canonized many Carmelites. Among them were three martyred priests: Titus Brandsma, Hilarius Januszewski, and Jakub Retouret, along with the African lay martyr, a member of the scapular fraternity Isidor Bakanja. Furthermore, on 20 December 2003, he confirmed the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Maria Teresa Scrilli, founder of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel,¹ and on 20 December 2004, he signed the decree on the miracle that was obtained through the intercession of the Servant of God Maria Crocifissa Curcio, founder of the Congregation of Carmelite Missionary Sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. He also beatified the Maltese Carmelite tertiary George Preca, a priest and founder of the Society for Church Doctrine MUSEUM. Another priest, Carmelite tertiary Pietro Poveda Castroverde, was beatified by him on 10 October 1993 and canonized in 2003.

There are even more members of the Discalced Carmelites beatified and canonized by John Paul II. Let's recall the blessed individuals who were later canonized: Henry de Ossó y Cervello, Raphael Kalinowski, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Maria Maravillas of Jesus. In 1992, the pope declared Fr. Kalinowski the second patron of the Polish diocese of Sosnowiec, and in 1999 he proclaimed Edith Stein co-patroness of Europe, along with St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Catherine of Siena. He further beatified these religious and religious OCD: Maria of Jesus Crucified (Miriam Baouardy), Elizabeth of the Trinity, Teresa Maria Manetti of the Cross, three martyrs from Guadalajara, Francis Palau y Quer, Joseph Naval Girbós, Maria Mercedes Prat y Prat, martyrs of the French Revolution John Baptist Durveneuil, Michael Louis Bruland, James Cagnon, Maria Sagrario of St. Louis Gonzaga, and the martyr Alfonso Maria Mazur. He confirmed the heroic virtues of the Servants of God: Maria Teresa Gonzáles Quevedo Cadarso, Maria Josefa of Jesus Crucified, Elijah of St. Clement, Anthony of Jesus Bound, Anita Cantieri, Kamila Rolón of St. Joseph, Eleonora Lopez de Maturana of St. Louis, John Vincent of Jesus and Mary, Teresa Mira García, and the parents of St. Therese of the Child Jesus: Louis and Zelie Guerin.
During his journey to India in 1986, John Paul II beatified the co-founder and first General Superior of the Carmelites of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Fr. Cyriac Elias Chavara.

This also includes some apostolic letters that John Paul II wrote on the occasion of various Carmelite anniversaries and extraordinary celebrations. He made further mentions of great figures of Carmel during various audiences and meetings. In line with the Carmelite ideal, there are words of John Paul II addressed to the General Capitularies of both branches of the order. During his pontificate, we Carmelites celebrated four General Chapters (1983, 1989, 1995, 2001). At the first three, the pope granted us a special audience, and he sent a letter to the last chapter. The Discalced Carmelites also celebrated four General Chapters during his pontificate (1985, 1991, 1997, 2003), and each time the pope addressed them with fatherly words of blessing. Similarly, he encouraged Carmelite religious with paternal care during special audiences on the occasion of the General Chapters of their congregations.

John Paul II also participated in other celebrations of the Carmelite family. On the occasion of the 550th anniversary of the issuance of the bull Cum Nulla [which is traditionally considered the official consent for the establishment of the second and third orders in Carmel] on 7 October 2002, he sent a letter to the General Superiors of both order branches, highlighting the many fruits that Carmelite nuns bear in the church through their “radiant witness of exemplary women,” and he also encouraged laypeople associated with the Carmel family to walk the path of holiness in the light of the prophet Elijah and Our Lady.

The pope's interest in the parishes and religious communities of the Roman diocese is also well known. His visits to parishes entrusted to the Carmelites were characterized by simplicity and friendship, and his sincere affection often went beyond official speeches.
Nine Carmelites of original observance were appointed bishops by John Paul II, and two bishops already appointed by Paul VI were called to other sees. From the Discalced Carmelites, he appointed 14 bishops and called five bishops already appointed by Paul VI to other sees. On 22 May 1979, he elevated Fr. Anastasius Ballestrero, a Discalced Carmelite and bishop in Bari and Turin, to the rank of cardinal.

To many churches dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the pope bestowed the honorary title of “basilica minor” and crowned many images of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Notably, we recall the audience at St. Peter's Square on 12 September 2001, which was marked by [general] astonishment and pain over the terrorist attack on the two towers in New York. On this occasion, the pope placed a new crown on the head of the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which was brought from the nearby church of Santa Maria in Traspontina on the occasion of the conclusion of the Marian Carmelite year and the 750th anniversary of the scapular.
All these actions, undertaken to intensify Marian devotion, speak of the deep and tender bond that connected the heart of John Paul II with the Mother of God and with every person, and which is — it seems — almost his legacy and encouragement, as he often repeated: “to turn to her in fervent prayer, that we may receive through her intercession all we need on our life's journey and to reach happily the holy Mountain, Jesus Christ, our Lord” (words during the Angelus prayer on 21 July 1988).

In the parish of Our Lady Queen in Torrespaccata in Rome, a precious relic is kept. In 2007, Cardinal Stanislav Dziwisz, the archbishop of Krakow and former secretary of John Paul II, donated the scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which John Paul II wore, to the local church and community. On their behalf, it was received by the pastor Fr. Lucio Maria Zappatore, O.Carm.

From the revue CITOC 2/2011 translated by Martina Vintrová

Misja formatora, podobnie jak misja rzeźbiarza, polega na uwalnianiu ukrytej piękności...

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