+ Jean Sleiman, OCD, Archbishop of Baghdad for Latin Catholics
Before I begin to speak about Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Eastern Churches, I must clarify what is meant by the Eastern Churches or Christian East, and also Our Lady of Mount Carmel. I intend to describe the relationship between respect for Our Lady of Mount Carmel, particularly expressed through the scapular, and the mariology of the Christian East.
However, the Christian East remains a diverse ecclesiastical reality. It includes the following families of different rites: Byzantine, Antiochian (Syrian), East Syrian, Assyro-Chaldean, Armenian, and Coptic. Christianity continues to thrive in the lands of the Near and Middle East and has spread to countries on five continents. To remain within the framework of the Near East, I will set aside the numerous diasporas and prefer the experience from Lebanon, where all the churches meet and coexist with Islam and Judaism. This is an experience I have lived, although with knowledge of other realities, which makes it seem the most telling to me.
I. The Presence of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Eastern Churches
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, especially through the sign of the scapular, is present1 in the Eastern churches where the Carmelite Order exists. The Barefoot Carmelites established a secular order in the first decades of the seventeenth century at their communities in Iraq, Syria, the Holy Land, Lebanon, and Egypt. Many believers from all Eastern churches were affiliated with the “scapular fraternity.” While the secular order remained tied to the monasteries of the brothers, the scapular transcended all barriers. How and why? We will attempt to answer that after outlining the characteristic features of the presence of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Christian East.
1. The Feast on July 16
On the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16, all those whom Our Lady has clothed in her habit gather annually. The Carmelite churches in the Near East become greatly visited pilgrimage sites. The feast is preceded by a novena, during which preachers recount the miracles that have occurred over the centuries through the scapular. However, the form of the novena has undergone certain developments. The faithful pray the rosary together before the Mass, and preachers increasingly strive to base their sermons reliably on the Bible and theology. This does not detract from the privileges of the scapular, nor do they neglect the vision of St. Simon Stock, yet they emphasize to the faithful: if we wish to enjoy the protection of the scapular and the promised graces of conversion, it is necessary to take Christian life seriously.
The solemn Mass is held on the evening of July 15. Many other Masses are celebrated on the feast day itself. The faithful participate in large numbers and return home with the scapular. Scapulars are distributed with Holy Communion. Many come for additional scapulars after the Holy Mass to bring them to friends and relatives who were unable to attend due to illness, demanding travel, or because of emigration.
2. The Cult of the Scapular Throughout the Year
Requests for scapulars are commonly encountered throughout the year. Often, someone asks us to “dress them in the scapular,” much like a request for confession. Those who request the scapular are very concerned about prayer (associated with it) and the blessing of the scapular. They usually prefer the (cloth) scapular to the medal, as they have greater confidence in its effectiveness. In any case, these encounters provide opportunities for spiritual guidance and catechesis.
3. What Does the Scapular Mean to the Faithful?
It is mainly a sign of protection and deliverance from purgatory. Additional spiritual goods are associated with it; however, these remain secondary compared to lifelong protection and victory over hell, along with the hope for a short time in purgatory.
In popular devotion in the East, there are other similar signs. Christian mothers dress their children in some saint's garment or through a private vow. Among the Maronites, it is common to see children in religious habits: in the dress of St. Anthony, St. Charbel, and others. However, the scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel retains its uniqueness and naturally finds its place in popular devotion. Will we meet Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Eastern churches?
II. Presence Among the People, Not in Churches
It seems to me that Our Lady of Mount Carmel is present in the hearts of Eastern believers, but not at all in their churches. Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel has not permeated liturgy, which is very striking. It is only mentioned in certain Maronite parishes. Only one Maronite church in Lebanon is dedicated to her, due to the personal piety of a priest. I am not aware of anything similar in other countries, although now and then one might encounter a displayed icon in some church. Carmelite nuns from Harissa in Lebanon have composed their own office according to the Byzantine rite, but, as far as I know, it has not exceeded the high walls of their enclosure. Isn’t this a question worth pondering?
1. Kinship Based on Forgotten Origins
Now I will summarize the history of the Order as conveyed by both branches of Carmel from generation to generation: At the beginning of our Marian devotion stands place, name, and dedication. This trio of words summarizes the most certain traits that marked our Marian spirituality from the beginning: Mount Carmel, the Marian name of the Order, and the explicit mention of the dedication of the Order to the service of the Holy Virgin. I will only discuss the place where the “chapel in honor of Our Lady” stood. An anonymous pilgrim from the early 13th century gives us the first historical testimony of the Order's Marian devotion in a report on the pilgrimages to the Holy Land when he speaks of a “beautiful chapel of Our Lady” that the Latin hermits known as “brothers of Carmel” had in Wadi Ain-es-Siah; another version of the same manuscript speaks of the “church of Our Lady.”
Subsequently, the title “Our Lady” will also designate the monastery as soon as the chapel is significantly expanded. This can be deduced from various ancient documents.2 This initial fact about the chapel on Mount Carmel dedicated to the Mother of God is significant because it is here that the oldest veneration of Carmelites to Our Lady has its origins. The chapel built in her honor, likely adorned with her image, testifies that the hermits of Mount Carmel wanted to live entirely in imitation of Christ under the loving gaze of the Virgin Mother; she presides over the birth of a new experience of the church. Therefore, we regard her as the Patroness, according to the words of the General Prior de Millaud to the English King Edward I about Our Lady, “to whose honor and glory the very Order was specially established.”3 This claim will be increasingly supported by later tradition.
Let historians, especially those who belong to the older observance (i.e., the order of Carmelites “with shoes”), forgive me. They have emphasized, albeit each in a slightly different way, the “crusading” and “feudal” dimension of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. She is the patroness of (the holy) places of her Son, and so on.
In my humble opinion, they would gain more by deeply questioning the origins of the Marian nature of Carmel. Is it possible for any order to arise in a particular environment and not be influenced by it? Is it possible for the Marian character of Carmel not to have, at least at the beginning, a slightly Oriental influence?
In the original rule, nothing is said about Mary, as nothing is said – apart from the expression “at the spring of Elijah,” which is not spared historical criticism – about the Prophet Elijah himself. However, Elijah’s stature can rightly be rooted in the archetype that the Prophet represented for monks in the East. The Marian character of Carmel would only gain by finding its “Oriental” origin.
2. Mary’s Motherhood
If I trust a historian like Father Nilo Geagea, it should be accepted that the church where the first Carmelite hermit community settled was dedicated to the Mother of God. Eastern mariology and the subsequent veneration and Marian cult in the Christian East have their roots in Mary’s motherhood. However, this motherhood of Mary is the culmination of the Spirit's work in this daughter of Zion; it is also the fruit of her femininity in the strongest biblical anthropological sense, the fruit of her virginity as her complete availability to the Lord. It will also be internalized by her listening to the Word, which becomes fruitful in her, by (listening) to how God leads her through her faith, hope, and love. Whatever Carmel can say or has said about Our Lady of Mount Carmel is rooted in Theotokos (Mother of God), still honored in the Christian East, which, despite the deep diversity of its traditions, sees in her the one who most resembles the image of God among human beings. In relation to the Church, Mary is the icon of God’s people or rather, “the soil in which the Church was sown,” as St. Ephrem said. Eschatologically, she is the one in whom the final deification takes place.4 She is the first to see God. But she is especially exalted in the synergistic aspect of human cooperation with God, as in this hymn: “What shall we offer You, O Christ! since You became visible on earth as a man for us? All of creation, having come forth from You, gives testimony in gratitude: Angels their song; Heaven the star; the Magi their gifts; the shepherds their wonder; the earth the cave; the desert the manger; and we, the Mother Virgin” (Troparion for the Nativity of Jesus Christ).
III. The Presence of the Christian East in the Mariology of Carmel
The deep mariology of Carmel, the mariology of our saints, can very well enter into dialogue with the mariology of the Christian East, enriching it and being enriched by it. This requires the building of a specific mariology, especially with regard to the mystical experience of Teresa of Jesus, John of the Cross, and other saints of Carmel. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross is a well-chosen guide who would lead this work – with her fundamental anthropological approach, her encompassing theological reflection, her mystical approach, deeply penetrating the mystery, and mainly her personal experience of God. After all, in the Shoah, during the extermination of the Jews, Edith stands as Our Lady at the foot of the Cross. Or rather, she is not only at the foot of the Cross: she herself is crucified.
This mariology will be able to engage well in dialogue on the level of image and likeness, which is an archetype dear to the Byzantine Christian East, on the level of deification, the new covenant, paths of knowledge, and especially contemplation.
St. Ephrem elevates Mary’s beauty and holiness: she is a guide for seeking the beauty and splendor of Carmel. He highlights Mary’s relationship to the Eucharist, which nourishes the Body of Christ born from her womb. This is a theme that Carmel can deeply develop and unfold due to the feminine dimension of its spirituality and personalities. Ephrem elevates the intimate union of Mary with Jesus: this is a prelude to the mystical experience of the saints of Carmel. With John of Damascus, who builds a synthesis of Eastern patristic theology, Carmel can confidently say: “Mary, you are our Lady, to whom we, the faithful, dedicate our spirit, soul, body, our whole being, and we honor you as we can, with hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs” (In dormitionem, I, 14, PG 96, 720c).
Conclusion
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is present among the faithful of the Christian East. In my humble opinion, she is for them one with the “auxilium christianorum – helper of Christians.” This title under which she is invoked is filled with tears and the blood of still dramatic histories, the histories of the constant retreat of Eastern Christianity and its continuous suffering. Our Lady’s garment is thus perceived and worn as a sign of protection amidst threats.
These thoughts were originally presented as a contribution to a Carmelite seminar on Our Lady, which took place from June 14 to June 21, 2001, in Sassone, Italy. Published by Edizioni Carmelitane in the collection In communion with Mary: Our heritage and prospects for the future, published in Rome in 2003, this article has been reprinted with the kind permission of the publisher. Translated from French by Barbora Turková.
