The Carmelite Rule was written by the Patriarch of Jerusalem for – “..his beloved sons in Christ, B. and
the other hermits..” – living on Mount Carmel. We do not know the names of those who left us a rule – ‘to live
a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ’, – they only left us their title “Brothers of Saint Mary of Mount Carmel”
and that is all the identity they needed.
Since then Carmelites have looked to Mary as an ideal guide in following Jesus. We find our Marian
identity by pondering the Scriptures and in the example and writings of our saints. The Gospel reading
for the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel July 16th. is from John 19:25-27:
“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother…When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved, he said to his mother – ‘Woman this is your son. Then he said to the disciple, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that moment the disciple took her into his own home.”
These few verses sum up Carmel’s approach to Mary. We stand with her before Jesus, and we accept
her as mother and sister given to us by him. From the moment Mary agreed to give birth to him,
her life belonged totally to Jesus. She teaches us how to be truly his disciples on our pilgrimage of faith.
“Today I stood with you beneath the cross
And felt more keenly than I ever did before
That you, beneath the cross became our Mother”
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
(A Carmelite nun who died in Auschwitz)
