CONTENTS
CARMEL’S CALL
Indulgenced Prayer to Our
Lady………………………………………………………....………………9
Introduction to Carmel’s
Call……………………………………………………………………….…....6
The Carmelite Third
Order…………………………………………………………………………………..12
Rule of the Third Order Secular
of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and THE RULE OF LIFE………...…14
Our Salvation in
Mary……………………………………………………………………………………….27
Home, Another
Carmel…………………………………………………………………………………29
Silence, Solitude, and
Suffering……………………………………………………………………………...30
The Imitation of Mary in Modern
Life……………………………………………………………………….32
The Third Order Novice
Master……………………………………………………………………………...34
The Spirit of Poverty in the
Third Order……………………………………………………………………..36
The Spirit of Obedience in the
Third Order…………………………………………………………………..38
Spiritual Rewards in
Carmel………………………………………………………………………………….40
The Tertiary in the
Parish……………………………………………………………………………………..43
The Tertiary and Marriage
Problems…………………………………………………………………………45
The Tertiary and the Catholic
Atmosphere in the Home……………………………………………………..47
The Tertiary and Family
Prayer………………………………………………………………………………49
The Tertiary and Vocational
Activities………………………………………………………………………52
The Third Order in the Life of a
Seminarian or Priest……………………………………………………….54
The Tertiary and Convert
Making……………………………………………………………………………57
The Tertiary and the Fatima
Crusade………………………………………………………………………...60
The Tertiary and the Matt Talbot
Legion…………………………………………………………………….63
The Tertiary and Catholic
Literature…………………………………………………………………………65
Renewal of the Christian
Spirit………………………………………………………………………………67
The Tertiary and
Communion………………………………………………………………………………..69
Increasing Membership in the
Third Order…………………………………………………………………..71
Liturgical
Prayer…………………………………………………………………………………………….73
THE MONTHLY
CONFERENCE………………………………………………………………………....76
Prayers for Council and Chapter
Meetings………………………………………………………………….80
Formula for General Absolution
with Plenary Indulgence………………………………………………….81
FORMULA OF PAPAL BENEDICTION TO
BE USED TWICE A YEAR……………………………..83
STUDY CLUB
QUESTIONS………………………………………………………………………………84
Carmelite Third Order
THE RECEPTION
CEREMONY…………………………………………………………………………..85
For Postulants
THE PROFESSION
CEREMONY………………………………………………………………………....90
For Novices
CARMELITE
CALENDAR………………………………………………………………………………...96
With Days of General Absolution
and Plenary Indulgence
SPECIAL INDULGENCES FOR
TERTIARIES…………………………………………………………103
Plenary and Partial
SUMMARY OF
INDULGENCES………………………………………………………………………...106
THE SABBATINE
PRIVILEGE…………………………………………………………………………..108
Our Lady and Purgatory
THE LITTLE OFFICE OF THE BLESSED
VIRGIN MARY……………………………………………109
According to the Carmelite Rite
Prayer Before the
Office……………………………………………………………………………………109
At
Matins…………………………………………………………………………………………………....110
At
Lauds…………………………………………………………………………………………………….121
At
Prime……………………………………………………………………………………………………..128
At
Terce……………………………………………………………………………………………………...133
At
Sext……………………………………………………………………………………………………….137
At
None……………………………………………………………………………………………………....142
At
Vespers……………………………………………………………………………………………………146
At
Compline………………………………………………………………………………………………….152
Prayer After the
Office……………………………………………………………………………………….157
LITANY IN HONOR OF OUR LADY OF
MOUNT CARMEL……………………………………..........158
For the Conversion of Sinners
Chaplet in Honor of Our
Lady…………………………………………………………………………..........162
Little Crown of the Blessed
Virgin Mary…………………………………………………………………….165
Actual Copy of the Carmelite
Little Office as Used in the Cloister………………………………………….167
INTRODUCTION TO CARMEL’S
CALL
Carmel’s Call is a call to
prayer. For nine centuries before the coming of Christ, holy men
lived on Mount Carmel and gave themselves to the work of prayer and
contemplation. Elias, the Prophet of Carmel, was their first
superior and is looked upon as the Founder of the Carmelite Order,
the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel.
The history of Carmel begins at
a time when God seems to have deserted His people. It begins in the
Third Book of Kings when Achab, King of the Jews, married a wicked
and idolatrous woman, named Jezebel, and permitted her to bring her
false gods with her into the country of the Jews. Until Jezebel’s
time the Israelites had not come into close contact with idolatry.
But Baal-worship was sanctioned now by the King and the worship of
false gods spread rapidly. To solve this situation, God sent His
Prophet, Elias.
Elias appeared before Achab
telling him: “As the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, in whose sight
I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years….” (3 Kings,
17:1). For three years no rain fell upon the earth. Holy Scripture
gives us the picture of men and beasts dying together at the empty
cisterns. One day when King Achab and his Minister, Abdias, were out
searching for food and water, Elias appeared before the King and
commanded him: “Send now, and gather unto me all Israel unto Mount
Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the
prophets of the groves four hundred….”
There follows one of the most
dramatic scenes in the Old Testament. On the appointed day the whole
nation of Israel assembled on Mt. Carmel together with all priests of
the false gods. Elias, burning with zeal, stood between priests and
people: “How long do you halt between two sides? If the Lord be
God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.” Elias then
proposed the terms of the contest, saying: “Call ye on the names of
your gods, and I will call on the name of my Lord; and the God that
shall answer by fire, let him be God.” And all the people,
answering, said: “A very good proposal.” (3 Kings, 18:24).
When the priests of Baal failed
to bring down fire, Elias, seeing that the time was come to offer
sacrifice to the Lord, “repaired the altar of the Lord that was
broken down….Hear me, O Lord, hear me: that this people may learn
that thou art the Lord God….Then the fire of the Lord fell, and
consumed the holocaust, and the wood and the stones, and the dust,
and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the
people saw this they fell on their faces and they said: The Lord, he
is God, the Lord, he is God.” (3 Kings, 18:24).
After the false prophets had
been taken to the torrent of Cison and slain, Elias began to pray for
rain. “And he said to his servant: Go up, and look toward the sea.
And he went up, and looked, and said: There is nothing. And again
he said to him: Return seven times. And at the seventh time, behold,
a little cloud arose out of the sea like a man’s foot.” Elias
knew that it was the sign of rain. The rain came and the earth was
made fertile again.
The little cloud seen by Elias
on Mt. Carmel has ever been regarded as a type of the Virgin who
would one day bring forth a Saviour. Just as the rain that fell made
the earth fruitful, even so the Virgin would bring Christ into the
world and produce grace in our souls, making our life fruitful for
eternity. Tradition tells us that Elias modeled his life on the
virtues of the Virgin and that in later centuries, his followers, the
sons of the prophets, built a chapel in her honor on Mt. Carmel.
Whence the title, Our
Lady of Mt. Carmel,
the oldest of all titles given to Mary.
The story of Elias is concluded
in the Fourth Book of Kings: “And it came to pass, when the Lord
would take up Elias into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elias and
Eliseus were going from Galgal. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay thou
here, because the Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel. And Eliseus
said to him: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not
leave thee. And they were come down to Bethel. The sons of the
prophets, that were at Bethel, came forth to Eliseus, and said to
him: Dost thou know that this day the Lord will take away thy master
from thee? And he answered: I also know it….And Elias said to him:
Stay here, because the Lord hath sent me as far as the Jordan…And
fifty men of the sons of the prophets followed them, and stood in
sight at a distance: but they two stood by the Jordan. And Elias
took his mantle and folded it together, and struck the waters, and
they were divided hither and thither, and they both passed over dry
ground. And when they were gone over, Elias said to Eliseus: Ask
what thou wilt have me do for thee, before I be taken away from thee.
And Eliseus said: I beseech thee that in me may be thy double
spirit…And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold a
fiery chariot and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias
went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Eliseus saw him, and cried:
My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof.
And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own garments, and
rent them in two pieces. And he took up the mantle of Elias, that
fell from him: and going back, he stood upon the bank of the Jordan.
And he struck the waters with the mantle of Elias, that had fallen
from him, and they were not divided. And he said: Where is now the
God of Elias? And he struck the waters, and they were divided,
hither and thither, and Eliseus passed over. And the sons of the
prophets at Jericho, who were over against him, seeing it, said: The
spirit of Elias hath rested upon Eliseus….”
From Elias Carmel has taken its
motto. In the Carmelite Coat of Arms all the elements of his double
spirit are to be found: the escutcheon is made up of a mountain in
brown and three stars in a field of white. The lowest star, in
silver, represents the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Star of the Sea; the
two upper stars, in gold, represent our Fathers Elias and Eliseus.
These stars would point to the Marian character of the Order and to
its Elian descent. Above the shield is a fiery sword over a crown,
and the motto: With
zeal have I labored for the Lord God of hosts. The
mountain denotes Mt. Carmel where the Order came into being, a
mountain which calls for prayer and contemplation. Over Mary’s
crown is the fiery sword of Elias, signifying the spirit of zeal for
God and His holy Mother. The whole constitutes the double spirit of
Elias, which he gave to his Order. Three stars stand for the epochs
in Carmel’s history: the pre-Christian, the Oriental, and the
Latin.
Canonically the Carmelite Order
was officially recognized and established as a mendicant order by
Pope Honorius III in 1226 A.D. Earlier St. Albert, Patriarch of
Jerusalem, had given the hermits living on Mt. Carmel a summary of
practices which came to be known as the Rule
of St. Albert. This
ancient Rule, with some additions and modifications, is still
followed by all Carmelites today.
In the thirteenth century the
Mohammedans conquered the Holy Land and finally caused even the
hermits on Mt. Carmel to flee for safety in Europe. The few who
remained were massacred by the Turks after the fall of Acre in 1291.
Those who fled to Europe were beset with many trials; clergy and
laity alike seemed to agree that there was no room for them. In the
midst of such trials the General Chapter held at Aylesford, England,
in 1245 elected Simon Stock, the first Prior General of the West.
We can well imagine how
fervently Simon Stock prayed to Our Lady to preserve her Order.
Today we know his prayer as the “Flos Carmeli” (Flower of
Carmel):
O beautiful flower of Carmel,
Most fruitful vine,
Splendor of heaven,
Holy and singular,
Who brought forth the Son of
God,
Still ever remaining a pure
Virgin,
Assist us in this necessity.
O Star of the Sea,
Help and protect us.
Show us that thou art our
Mother.
Our Lady could not forget the
long centuries of love for her, could not forget the Order that had
honored her in word and in work from the days of Elias. To this
Simon Stock, successor of Elias, Our Lady appeared on July 16, 1251.
She came to him dressed in the Habit of a Carmelite with her Infant
Son in her arms. Taking the Scapular in her right hand she gave it
to Simon Stock, saying: “Receive, my beloved son, this Scapular.
Whosoever dies wearing it shall not suffer eternal fire. It shall be
a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace.”
The Mother of Carmel had given
more than Simon Stock could ever imagine. In a short time the whole
world was seeking to be clothed in Mary’s Scapular. Then, as now,
many who had never seen a Carmelite wanted to wear the Scapular and
participate in the great Promise enjoyed by the Scapular Family of
Our Lady. So unbelievable was the Promise attached to the Holy
Scapular that theologians began to argue: how could Our Lady attach
such a Promise to a piece of brown cloth? But as if in answer, Our
Lady went even further when she appeared to Pope John XXII in 1322
telling His Holiness that all who would wear the Scapular faithfully,
practice chastity according to their state in life, and say the
Little Office (or if they could not read, abstain from meat on
Wednesdays and Saturdays) would enjoy the Sabbatine
Privilege: “I, the
Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and
whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory, I shall free.”
During the Generalate of St.
Simon Stock the Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel came into
being. Today it is so easy for men and women to enter Our Lady’s
Third Order, that few will be able to appreciate the difficulties
experienced by a lay person who wished to enter the Order some seven
hundred years ago. In the city of Toulouse in France there lived a
young girl, named Joan; she had grown up during the turbulent, bloody
days of the Albigensian Heresy and had reached her twenty-fifth year
when the Carmelites came to Toulouse in 1227.
Joan of Toulouse was attracted
by the extraordinary love the hermits cherished for the holy Mother
of God and she began to dream of becoming a Carmelite herself. Her
dream was given reality when St. Simon Stock visited Toulouse and
listened to her plea. After long deliberation, he invested her in
the Habit and adapted the Rule to her state of life in the world,
permitting her to share in the religious and apostolic life of
Carmel. Joan of Toulouse is therefore considered the Foundress of
the Third Order, the first Carmelite lay-apostle. She lived the life
of prayer and action, giving herself to the work of helping the poor
and unfortunate, bringing all to love Our Lady by means of her
Scapular. She died in 1286 and was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in
1896. Her feast is celebrated on March thirty-first.
Joan of Toulouse had to wait a
long time before she was raised to our altars, but her dream has been
realized again and again during these seven centuries in the lives of
other men and women like herself who wished to sanctify themselves in
Carmel and live in what we know today as Carmel’s Cloister in the
world.
This current Manual of Carmel’s
Call combines three
Third Order books: 1) The
Manual of Carmelite Tertiaries, 2)
The Little Office of
the B.V.M. for Tertiaries, both
compiled by the Rev. Stephen J. McDonald, O. Carm., who served as
Provincial Director from 1933 to 1936, and 3) Carmel’s
Call, edited by the
Rev. Alexis E. McCarthy, O. Carm., Provincial Director from 1947 to
1948.
One does not have to change his
state of life to become a Tertiary. Young men and young women,
married men and married women, may all enjoy the wonderful privilege.
Our Lord never intended that priests, brothers, and sisters should
have a monopoly on sanctity. “Be
ye perfect, as also your Heavenly Father is perfect,”
was a command given to all men. Keeping the optimism of Christ in
mind, Holy Mother Church extends the benefits of Religious Life out
into the world and invites all men and women to follow a more perfect
way.
Sovereign Pontiffs have often
repeated the fact that men and women everywhere may find in the Third
Order the answer to that longing expressed by every sincere Catholic
at one time or another: the longing to leave the world and dedicate
himself to God and Our Lady in a special way.
Tertiary Life is the answer for
those whose state of life makes it impossible for them to do more
than dream about Religious Life in some Order. It is the dream come
true.
Tertiaries are banded together
into various Chapters of the Third Order, usually found attached to
high schools, colleges, and parish churches. Monthly they come
together as a Community, pray together, receive an instruction on the
Rule, report on the apostolic work they are doing. Like every Order
approved by the Church, the Carmelite Third Order has superiors: a
Prior, a Novice Master, and several Councillors – all lay people –
who together with the priest-Director of the Chapter carry the voice
of God and Our Lady into Tertiary work in the world.
The religious habit of the
Tertiary is the Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. At the Chapter
Conference, held monthly, a larger Scapular measuring six inches by
eight inches is worn outside the clothing. This Third Order Scapular
(or if the Tertiary wishes, the full Habit of the Carmelite complete
with tunic, scapular, and white mantle) may be used on the day of
burial.
Since the main work of Tertiary
life is the work of prayer and sacrifice for others, a daily Office
is said by all: the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, and the
Rosary, or some other prayers given by the Director. Tertiaries add
new luster to each daily action, have the prayers and good works of
all Carmelites everywhere to help them, have numerous indulgences
granted to them by the Church, have the special graces necessary to
become perfect. Actually, they are Our Lady’s ambassadors to the
world.
May this combination of both
the third and fourth editions of Carmel’s
Call go out to many
devout men and women. May it bring to all of them Carmel’s spirit
of nearness to God and filial love for God’s holy Mother.
Feast of St. Simon Stock
May 16, 1950
Fr. Howard Rafferty, O. Carm.
Provincial Director
