Carmelite
Spirituality
Strictly
contemplative orders are characterized by their emphasis on the inner
life: the life of prayer and physical solitude.
They
imitate the hidden, inner life of Christ's union with His Father.
Thus,
the Rule of Carmel commands us to "meditate day and night on the law
of the Lord." The external precepts of the Rule are attempts to show
how this continual state of contemplation can be achieved: through finding
a suitable place to live; through silence; through prayer and celebration
of the Liturgy; through poverty and detachment; through living out the
virtues and through work. If our Carmelite presence in the world is to
reflect Christ's union with His Father, then the primary task of the
Carmelite is to realize this presence of God within himself. This is
acquired through what is called "inner solitude."
Inner
Solitude
For centuries Christians have
resorted to solitude in order to find the presence of God within. The
desert, the cave, the lonely uninhabited places have offered
themselves to those who yearn to leave all things to find God. In the Old
Testament, the prophet Elijah, our spiritual father, went to the
wilderness of Horeb to find and speak with his God.
It
was in his footsteps that the first Carmelites gathered on Mount Carmel
over 800 years ago. Ultimately, the heart is the
desert, the wilderness that must be entered in order to find God. And it
is the solitude that the Carmelite recognizes in order to live with God.
In
the Midst of the World
Christ did not come into the world to be a solitary mystic. The world was
created in order to find and love God. So, too, the Carmelite is called,
not only to the simple private life of contemplation, but to share that
experience of God with a world that is blindly seeking His face in all the
wrong places. In so doing, the Carmelite testifies to the boundless love
God has for the world. Prayer is not undertaken as a private task of
personal meditation, but solely to reflect and share the God which he
finds living within himself.
Active religious orders, on the other hand, are called to imitate Christ's
concern for people, especially the poor and defenseless. Their
spirituality is founded in their authentic call of service in Christ's
name.
The Carmelite is called to live amid the tension of these two ideals: the
abiding presence of God, and the call to be present in the world. Our life
is not simply one of service, but especially a presence in prayer. Not
only did Jesus come to serve the world, but he make His Father present
wherever He was present.
Thus,
the Carmelite disposes himself to the service of the Church. Our Rule does
not specify what work the Carmelite shall do, for any form of service
fulfills the vocation of Carmel if it is lived in the presence of God. The
Rule does not restrict or limit how or where the Carmelite serves the
Church, because his vocation is precisely to share that contemplation with
the world.
The spirituality of Carmel is a dynamic, life-giving tension. Neither
private prayer not public service by themselves fulfill the Rule of
Carmel. Rather, to be present to God in the midst of His people, to bring
to the world flames from the divine fire burning within our hearts, is the
Carmelite vocation and spirituality.
