reflection
Translated from the book by Ch. O'Donnell: Celebrating with Mary,
published by the Carmelitan Publishing House in 1996.
Various titles of the Virgin Mary in liturgy and popular devotion generally emphasize some aspect of her relationship with God or with us or relate to a particular place or religious institution. The names associated with a specific place or order need to be elaborated somewhat if we are to truly understand their significance: For example, by the title “Our Lady of Lourdes,” it is meant “Mary, as she appeared and is venerated in Lourdes.” Similarly, “Our Lady of Mount Carmel” means “Mary, as venerated by the Carmelite Order.” The Carmelite veneration of the Virgin Mary has undergone a long and interesting development. We can conveniently divide it into three periods, which overlap and together form a certain type of Marian devotion.
The Order invokes Mary primarily as its protector. As we have seen, the original chapel of the hermits on Carmel was dedicated to her. The Carmelite rule clarified that this little church was to be placed in the middle of the cells of the hermits. The chapel served as a place for the celebration of daily Mass (which was quite unusual at that time). In the Marian reflections of the Order from the 13th to 14th centuries, it is often stated that the Order was founded in honor of the Virgin Mary. Although this statement is historically inaccurate, it expresses a certain spiritual attitude that led the hermits to dedicate the chapel on Mount Carmel to the Virgin Mary. When the Order came to Europe, the favorite title of its churches became the Annunciation. If we realize that the key concept of rule, “obedience to Jesus Christ” (obsequium Jesu Christi), had a feudal connotation, we can easily understand how the idea arose that Mary is the protector of the Order. The annual (and weekly) memorial of the Virgin Mary celebrated Mary's action “from above down” for the Carmelites, namely protection, and the Carmelites' action “from below up” in honor of Mary, namely thanksgiving and obedience. Alongside the title Protectress of Carmelites, the title Mother of Carmelites also arose at that time.
The second period of Marian devotion of Carmel occurs in the 14th and 15th centuries and is characterized by devotion to the Most Pure Virgin. The main emphasis is not placed on Mary's purity but on the purity of heart, which was completely devoid of sin and wholly dedicated to God. (8) Now we understand why the mystery of the Annunciation was so appealing and why many Order churches were dedicated to it.
The special veneration of Mary as the Virgin is evidenced by the fact that when the Carmelites adopted the Roman Missal in 1584, they replaced every Sancta Maria with Beata Virgo. At that time, the Carmelites also most fervently defended the Immaculate Conception.
The veneration of Mary, the Most Pure Virgin, resonated with the contemplative ideal of the Order, which had already been clearly established in the pseudonymous work Regulations of the First Monks, which was attributed to John, the forty-fourth bishop of Jerusalem, but appeared only in 1370: With regard to this life, we can distinguish two goals, one of which we can reach with the help of God's grace and through our own effort and virtuous life, namely to offer to God a heart that is holy and pure from all actual stains of sin... The second goal of this life can be granted to us only by God's goodness, namely to experience in heart and comprehend in mind not only after death but already in this mortal life the powerful presence of God and the bliss of heavenly glory. Guided by this text and its associated spirituality, the Carmelites found in Mary a constant model for their contemplative life.
Alongside the veneration of Mary, the Most Pure Virgin, the notion of Mary as "sister" began to develop. Perhaps a certain medieval penchant for titling played a role here, but the designation also corresponds to the full name of the Order, “Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel,” which was indeed contested but for which the Order fought valiantly. The title "sister" appears already in the Fathers. Paul VI used it in his closing address at the third session of the Second Vatican Council:
Just as we are, she is a daughter of Adam, and thus our sister in relation to our common humanity.
Mary is the perfect child of the heavenly Father, his “beloved daughter” (LG 53), because she was more than anyone else led by the Holy Spirit (cf. Romans 8:14). The Carmelites, living in the spirit of the prophet Elijah in celibacy, felt a connection with Mary, the first virgin among women. The image of Mary as “sister” acquires further meanings in Carmelite devotion: by God's providence, the Order was named Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. The Order is dedicated to Mary, thus she becomes like a home for it, where people receive the gift of God's closeness. Elijah was the first man living in celibacy, Mary is, in her dignity, the first among women. The Carmelite contemplative vocation, “to keep the Lord's law in one's heart” (rule 7), is akin to the vocation by which Mary lived for most of her life. As the handmaid or daughter of the Lord, she becomes a model of true discipleship, obedience (obsequium) to Jesus Christ, which is the heart of the rule. These points are significant not only for the consecrated members of the Carmelite Order (first, second, or third) but for all who have a special relationship with Carmelite Marian devotion by wearing the scapular, about which we will now speak.
The third expression of veneration to the Virgin Mary in the Carmelite family is the scapular. This devotion has prevailed since the 16th century, although both previous forms of devotion (protector and most pure virgin) continue and give the Carmelite devotion expressed by the scapular a particular character. The origin of the scapular is disputed: evidence of a Marian revelation to St. Simon (Stock?) is late, almost two hundred years after the presumed event; from a historical perspective, the testimony is not completely satisfactory. Similar accounts can be found in other Orders, sometimes even involving Mary giving a whole garment. The conclusion of J. Smeta is crucial, according to which “one cannot entirely exclude the possibility that the story is based on actual facts.”
Yet the Marian scapular does not depend on the authenticity of that revelation. The scapular primarily symbolizes the protection of the Virgin Mary. Clothing as a symbol of protection often appears in the Christian tradition, especially in Eastern iconography, in the form of the Madonna with the cloak. Besides protection, the scapular, representing the Carmelite habit, signifies dedication to Mary. Since consecration is fundamentally performed by God, when we say that we dedicate ourselves to God and Mary, we announce that we freely want God's will to manifest in our lives, and that Jesus be our Lord. By wearing the scapular, we indicate that we want to embody the values by which Mary lived through our actions and attitudes.
We need not be overly concerned with the so-called "sabbath privilege." Although its origin is dubious, it expresses confidence in Mary's powerful intercession at the moment of death and during the purification and healing process associated with purgatory. It would not be wise to speak of deliverance from purgatory on the first Saturday after death, but except for this, it is safe to proclaim the “conditions” associated with this “privilege”, not based on visions or “promises,” but according to the New Testament, which urgently recommends all three conditions: they are prayer, purity corresponding to the state of life, and repentance.
