Dear brothers and sisters,

 

As we celebrate with the whole Church the “great Advent” of the third millennium of the new era^[1], and with our eyes intent on Christ Jesus, “the leader and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:2),  the Carmelite Family has been given the grace and opportunity to celebrate during 1997 the 750^th anniversary of the approval of the Rule of Carmel by Innocent IV (1 October 1247 - 1 October 1997).

 

LISTNUM 1 \l 12.     Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem, gave the Rule to the newly born “Carmelite” community present on Mount Carmel between the years 1206 and 1214, as a way of life, in accord with their proposal (propositum), which they were already living under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Albert, the patriarch, united the hermit-brothers into the first community of Carmel through his magisterial spiritual discernment, in accordance with his pastoral care as their bishop, and no less through his experience as a religious of the Canons Regular of Mortara (Pavia).

 

3. Later, Albert’s vitae formula underwent various pontifical approvals by Honorius III (1226), Gregory X (1229) and Innocent IV (1245; 1246). However, the most authoritative approval was that given by the pontifical bull of Innocent IV Quae honorem Conditoris of 1^st October 1247. Innocent IV’s intervention confirmed the corrections, clarifications and adaptations made to the “Albertine” text made necessary by the transfer of the Carmelites to Europe. He approved as a

Rule the “Albertine” text as corrected and adapted, and confirmed the transformation of the Carmelites as true “religious”, inserted in the stream of the evangelical-apostolic fraternity of the “Mendicants” so that they “could benefit, with the help of God, their own salvation and that of their neighbours”.^[2]

 

1. “TO GIVE MORE”

 

We deem the 750^th anniversary of the approval of the Rule to be a special year of grace for the whole Carmelite Family, a kairos, a propitious time not only to recall the past, but much more to look towards our future with wisdom, discernment and courage, at the dawn of the new millennium which is fast approaching.

In this regard we feel the appeal made by the Pope to all consecrated persons as addressed to us: “You have not only a glorious history to remember and to recount, but also a great history still to be accomplished! Look to the future, where the Spirit is sending you in order to do even greater things. Make your lives a fervent expectation of Christ, go forth to meet him like the wise virgins setting out to meet the Bridegroom. Be always ready, faithful to Christ, the Church, to your Institute and the men and women of our time”.^[3]

We also her the voice of St. Teresa of Avila who said: “Let it never be said of them, as of certain Orders that they are satisfied to praise their beginnings. We begin now. Let them always endeavour to begin and go forward from good to better”.^[4]

 

a) In the dynamism of creative fidelity

 

 As we accept the Pope’s appeal, we would like to emphasise that creative fidelity - as it is called today - which our Rule, in the epilogue, entrusts us with almost as a bequest: “If, however, anyone goes beyond this, the Lord himself at his return, will reward him. However, use discretion, which is the guide of the virtues”.^[5]

This is a criterion of deep spiritual discretio and of authentic far-sightedness which comes to us from Albert and is typical of the best monastic tradition. It is a criterion which considers any Rule not as a “sacred and untouchable” text, but one which has all the characteristics of  essentiality and therefore does not intend to include all the charismatic9 experience of the author and the community to which it is addressed. Nor does it pretend to be a substitute for the primacy of the Word of God, the mediation of Jesus Christ or the paschal gift of the Holy Spirit. In this, ultimately, lies the greatness and at the same time the limitation of every Rule.

Our Rule and our saints, who are the living word, have added to our spiritual heritage. However, the charism which unites us is greater than that which our predecessors have passed on to us in their writings and through their very lives. They invite us to go forward in fidelity to the grace of our vocation and to carry out that vocation in creative personal ways. As St. John of the Cross says, for us disciples of Christ “there are still many depths to be sounded in Christ”.^[6]

Albert, the patriarch, follows this criterion when he directs us to receive the “brief text” of the Rule as a pedagogical itinerary of the sequela Christi^[7], not as a closed itinerary, but one open to the demands of the future, under the absolute primacy of the Word, which beats in the hearts of the faithful (cf. Lk 24,22), and urges us to “give more” (supererogaverit) of oneself (cf. Lk 10,15), to “go beyond” with discernment towards further creative contributions in accordance with the motions of the Spirit. The experience of our forefathers, John of  St. Samson, John Baptist of Mantua, Teresa of Jesus and John of the Cross, expose, and this not only for their times, the Rule to a new spirit and invite us to go on living all the possibilities inherent in the Albertine text.

 

 

b) The “effects” in the history of Carmel

 

6. Indeed, we can read the entire history of Carmel from the  perspective of the “effects” of the discretio spiritualis. It has urged the various generations of Carmelite men and women to learn to “give more” while remaining faithful to the charismatic values of the Rule, and creative, also in the dialectic sense, when faced with new challenges and the possibility of “re-founding” the project of life in Carmel.

We have in mind the change which took place from an eremitical-cenobitic to an evangelical-apostolic form of life and the figures of saintly pastors - as for instance, St. Albert of Trapani and St. Andrew Corsini - as well as of learned doctors. We also have in mind the re-reading of the biblical models of Mary and Elijah and the popular evangelisation by means of the Scapular devotion, the birth of the reform movements and the ripening of various spiritual itineraries of mystical life which, in some cases, have characterised an era in the history of spirituality, as for example, the experience and doctrine of Saints Teresa of Jesus^[8], John of the Cross and Therese of the Child Jesus. With a profound sense of history, St. Teresa of Jesus said, “Let our gaze be fixed o the line of holy Prophets from whom we have our descent. How many saints in heaven wear our habit! We have the holy presumption, with the grace of God, to become not unlike them”.^[9]

 

 Looking at our times, at these post Conciliar years, our thoughts go to all those proposals for the renewal of the communities, some of which have tried paths never explored before. Our thoughts go also to the reflourishing output from study and reflection on the texts of our saints, especially those of  Teresa of Jesus, John of the Cross and Therese of the Child Jesus. Their teaching authority is amply acknowledged and valued throughout the universal church and throughout the world. Besides, other studies have been offered on the text of our Rule and we have been able to rediscover its hidden riches and its relevance for today.

This return to our sources has been very important and beneficial for the life of the whole Carmelite Family. As with the scribe of the Gospel, meanings old and new (cf. Mt 13,52) have been drawn out from the pages of this brief medieval text. The old has become new, and the new, because of its fidelity to the old, has expressed it anew in a vital way for the needs of our times.

  Here too the “effects” of this return to the sources has not been long without fruit. We think of the re-reading of the Elijan-Marian dimension of Carmel, of the historical revaluation of the figure of Albert, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, of the interest of our communities in the practice of lectio divina and in spirituality, of the work of spiritual and pastoral revitalisation of the Carmelite Family, of the collaboration between the O.Carm. and O.C.D. Carmelites.

We rejoice and thank the Lord for the wonders which he constantly works in our midst.

 

2. THE CHALLENGES OF THE PRESENT

 

 We do not wish to praise only the existent. We would like to exhort to proceed with further studies of the Rule of Carmel, both from the point of view of a critical reflection as also at an existential-community level.

We would like to make our own the words of the Pope when he asks consecrated persons to learn to “contribute in your own unique way to the transfiguration of the world”, ^[10] and to the young consecrated persons he points out “the Third Millennium awaits the contribution of the faith and creativity of great numbers of young  consecrated persons, that the world may be made more peaceful and able to welcome God, and, in him, all his sons and daughters”.^[11]

In the times in which we live and which, without a doubt will characterise the years of the third millennium, we are called to “give even more”, to “revitalise” our “forma vitae” wisely and with discernment in order to render it a meaningful sign for the men and women of today and to “leaven” with creative fidelity the values we find in the Rule, to better the quality of the spirituality in Carmel and of Carmel’s presence in the Church and the society of our time.

 

  Some socio-cultural events which have appeared during these past years constitute challenges for our times. We are aware that within these challenges, if we read them with discernment, we can see that “which the Spirit is saying to the churches” (Rev. 2,7) and that they reveal the meaning of our mission today. Hence we wish to focus our attention on some of the challenges which seem to be important for Carmel today.

 

a) The search for the meaning of God.

 

LISTNUM 1 \l 111.   We know how complex and ambivalent are today’s demands of religion and spirituality coming from our contemporaries, especially during these times of transition. The so-called “returns of God”, both in church circles as well as in those embracing various religions, need to be deciphered. Seemingly they can be reduced to two needs: on the one hand the need for security and more trustworthy points of reference, whilst on the other hand the need for the search for meaning and for transcendence  present in every man and woman. However, discernment is needed to find out whether the demand for religion seeks a comforting and private religion, whether it reveals a need for deep emotive “sensations”, whether it aims at an accommodating syncretism which blends elements culled from various religions or whether it aims at a true search for Meaning, for a transcendent purpose which gives direction to one’s life.

It is not difficult to see in this new climate the need to meet men and women who can speak of God from experience and learning, able to spread the fragrance of His presence; the need for a more active and responsible participation in the life of the Church; the need to promote, as an integral part of the missionary activity, a correct process of inculturation of the Gospel in the many cultural situations^[12]; the importance of putting into practice, again as an integral part of mission, the course of dialogue with the brothers from other religions, acknowledging in them the “seeds of the Word”, the “rays of truth which enlighten all men”, different ways of witnessing to the presence of God in the world..^[13]

 

b) The other as gift and worth

 

 Another cultural phenomenon which is surfacing and which needs our particular attention concerns the concept of man. It is evident that there are various concepts of man in the world. When, because of ideologies or party interests, there is a lack of the full sense of human dignity, and of interpersonal relationships, the incidence of individualism on the one hand and of communal totalitarianism on the other, becomes stronger. Often, as if in self-defence, the person is prone to various forms of violence: war, manipulation, abuses of every kind, revenge, etc. In this context, the other is often seen more as threat than as gift, more as competitor than as brother, more as a problem than as someone to love.

On the other hand, however, the emergent culture of otherness, as opposed to individualism and to “communal” totalitarianism, in order to affirm the other as gift and as a person of absolute worth who appeals to my solidarity and responsibility, is another positive challenge which concerns us closely. This opens up the way to creative intuitions to live and witness to fraternity.

 

c) Social justice at risk

 

Whilst in some parts of the world people live a life of strong individualism, distances seem to have become shorter and people more interdependent. The process of globalisation, marked by the great developments of the means of communication, allows us to reduce distances to the scale of a “village”.

In this context, the role of the economy is assuming a strong and dominant role. In fact, we talk so much today of “globalisation of the market economy”. The economy should positively have for its aim the common good, that is to raise the standard of living of all people, through the use of resources, an increase in production and in the quality of what it offers.

In reality we see that poverty is ever on the increase and oppresses two-thirds of the world population, while wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few. The so-called “market”, rather than being a regulating instrument of the economy, has been transformed, in the hands of a few big multinational financing enterprises, into an instrument of ideological pressure without any control on the part of the national governments. Thus the decisions taken in one particular place in the world are destined to affect the people in another without taking into consideration their national sovereignty and their basic rights as citizens.

The guiding purpose of this ideology, called “neoliberalism” is highly pragmatic: it is the accumulation of money as an end in itself and profit for profit’s sake in the interest of the few and the strongest. At the basis of such an ideology lies an individualistic view of the person, based absolutely on his capacity for production in terms of monetary income. It exalts competition in all fields an feeds its own greed for possession at the expense of others and of the environment.

It is, therefore, necessary, in the light of the Gospel values which characterise our vocation, to offer a “contribution towards rendering the world human”,^[14] “a renewed and vigorous evangelical witness of self-denial and moderation, a fraternal style of life inspired by criteria of simplicity and hospitality”.^[15]

 

d) Consecrated life as sign

 

Finally, as we try to contemplate the world of consecrated life, we have to consider the event of the recent Synod on consecrated life and the exhortation of the Pope which followed.

Here we wish only to emphasise a challenge which the post-synodal letter presents: the challenge of visibility.^[16]Many times the Pope, in line with Lumen Gentium,  speaks of the consecrated life as a sign, an icon, an image, a witness, “mirror of the divine beauty”, etc. The Pope asks that in the triple dimension of consecration, communion ad mission, the consecrated life give witness of being a living memory of the style of the life of Christ Jesus, to be a sign, among the weak and fragile humanity of his chosen ones, of an existence transfigured by the light of the Risen One, of a mystic journey which renders visible the superabundance of God’s gratuitousness.

To live in this perspective, the Pope exhorts us to leave behind any utilitarian and functional idea of consecrated life,^[17] and to complete our exodus towards a more theological and prophetic one, where priority is given to the quality of life of a religious institute. In fact, it is not without reason that he insists on the need to improve the spiritual quality of the Families of consecrated life, meaning by spirituality a dynamic journey of life in Christ, of life according to the Spirit, rendered concrete in “a concrete programme of relations with God and one’s surroundings, marked by specific spiritual emphases and choices of apostolates,^[18] which accentuate and represent one or another of the one mystery of Christ”.^[19]

Consecrated life will obtain the adequate resources it needs for “a convincing prophetic witness”^[20] and “a spiritual ‘therapy’ for humanity”^[21] by its mystical and spiritual quality and not from the number of its members or from works undertaken.^[22]

 

3. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

If these are the real challenges of our times which, even in their complexity, give us an opening to the prospect of God’s future, and if among so many sources of inspiration within the Church today, we have the Rule as an inspiriational text for our spirituality and mission in Carmel, we have to ask ourselves: how are we to re-read this ancient Rule so that it remains a living and relevant text for the whole Carmelite Family as it journeys towards the third millennium? 

 

a) Contemplative dimension and growth in Christ

 

We are deeply interested in the search for an authentic experience of God felt by our contemporaries, also because this search is frequently sought in dialogue with our saints. The search for God, new name for contemplation, is born “from meditating on the Word, from personal prayer and prayer in common, from the discovery of the divine presence and action in life, and, at the same time, sharing experience with the whole of the people of God”.^[23] We find that this perspective is very close to Carmel.

Our Rule, even if it does not use these terms, in reality traces a journey in contemplative experience, deeply rooted in the theological stand-point of the centrality of Christ, and well anchored in certain spiritual moments, essential to personal and community life. This centrality of Christ has been developed throughout our tradition as particularly witnessed by the experience and doctrine of Saints Teresa of Jesus^[24] and John of the Cross.^[25]  

 

The theological stand-point of the centrality of Christ permeates the whole of the Rule. In fact, in its essential lines, it proposes a life of transformation and growth in Christ.

Such a path runs within the perspective of the obsequium Jesu Christi. It is the affirmation - we can say this today with Vatican II - of the primacy of the sequela Christi, considered as the “basic norm”, the “supreme rule” of Christian life as such, and therefore of the consecrated life;^[26] a norm which gives direction and meaning to the whole programme of life described by the Rule.

In fact, at the beginning of the Rule, we find very meaningful expressions regarding the sequela, expressions which clearly owe their inspiration to St. Paul: “to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ”, points to the sequela as obedience of faith (cf. 2Cor 10,5) and as essential worship, a gift of oneself to God and the brothers (cf. Phil 2,17.30; Rom 12,1);^[27] “serve him faithfully with a pure heart and a good conscience, indicates the spiritual attitudes which are conducive to an authentic sequela of Christ, respectively: personal unconditional dedication to Him who is the Lord of history (cf. Col 3,24), integrity of life and a conscience capable of making choices consistent with the Gospel (cf. 1Tim 1,5.19).

This means that contemplative experience is entirely directed to increasing the life of the brothers in obedience of faith and in the gift of self in the measure of Christ Jesus, of Him who recreates the new man in us through the gift of his Spirit.

 

But how does one grow in obedience of faith and the gift of self? Here our Rule is quite concrete. Immediately it refers to the three basic pillars of Christian faith: Word, Liturgy, Charity. An authentic search for God in the Christian sense, is born, grows and matures ever more, if it is constant in prayerful listening to the Word,^[28] if it makes its own the prayer of Christ to the Father by praying the psalms as celebrated in the Liturgy of the Hours,^[29] if it lives the Eucharist as a gathering of the brothers around Christ the Lord regenerated by him in the paschal mystery and moulded by the new life,^[30] if it is animated by the spirit of charity in its interpersonal relationships.^[31]

Here we are a long way from the temptation of rendering our search for God into a search only of ourselves or of falling into an empty and abstract spiritualism. Here we are led back to the centre and source  of  contemplative experience; we stand before a live and life giving Presence, before the Face of the God of Jesus Christ who summons us and transforms us into Him.

 

 The Rule indicates for us in a concrete and essential manner, the visible signs of this transforming action in us. Let us pause a while to reflect on the exhortations to share our goods,^[32] to moderation of life,^[33] to put on the spiritual armour, that is, the assimilation and interiorisation of the logic of God’s way of acting in order to be capable of facing the difficulties of daily life,^[34] on the exhortation to occupy ourselves with work as a gift of ourselves to the brothers, according to the teaching and example of the Apostle Paul,^[35] on the exhortation to silence as sapiential pedagogy for an authentic communication among brothers^[36]  and on the exhortation to the prior and the brothers to practice fraternal love  in a mature manner, both obeying the word of Christ who calls us to reciprocal service.^[37] Let us pause also to reflect on those passages of the Rule which exhort us to expect the Lord in vigilant prayer,^[38] to work hard to welcome His salvation,^[39] to “give more” for the life of the brethren in creative generosity.^[40]  In all these passages we shall find sufficient indications to verify whether we are really learning to be contemplative men and women, that is, whether we can look at reality with the eyes of God and discern the signs of the times, whether the Word of God dwells abundantly  on our lips and in our hearts, and whether the Word of God is our sole guide which directs our manner of acting.

 

b) The theological view of fraternity

 

Consecrated life “can certainly be credited with having effectively helped to keep alive in the Church the obligation of fraternity as a form of witness to the Trinity.”, giving witness “that sharing in the Trinitarian communion can change human relationships and create a new type of solidarity”.^[41] Within the perspective of fraternal life in community, the Rule exhorts  us to listen to the Word, privately, through the lectio divina,^[42] and in common during meals in common,^[43] so as to remain rooted in Christ and in deep communion with Him. It exhorts us to prayer in common^[44] which, in praising the wonders of salvation through the psalms, gives witness to our being sons and brothers before God the Father. It exhorts us to place the Eucharist at the centre of our lives,^[45] a sacramentum fraternitatis, as a gathering of the brothers around the Lord of the community in order that, in Him and in the paschal dynamism and mystery, we may renew the gift of unity in diversity of persons.

 

This gift of unity in diversity finds its greatest vital concrete expression in the theological dynamism of the Agape, of divine charity. This is why the Rule exhorts us to consolidate our journey in fraternal unity through community meetings, thus becoming “guardians” of each other and attentive to the spiritual welfare of each, regaining the brother who errs with disarming charity.^[46]

 

In the theological dynamism of charity, solidarity with the other is also stressed. In fact, the Rule does not mean to emphasise community at the expense of the person. On the contrary, it exhorts us, in a wise balance, to respect the dignity of and to value the person, offering each one personal space which is to be faithfully safeguarded,^[47] to work in order not to be a burden to anyone,^[48] to measure one’s words,^[49] to attend to the needs of others taking into account cultural differences^[50] or physical disabilities,^[51] and again to be solicitous and respectful towards those who come from outside the community, whether friends, guests or others,^[52] and towards those who give us hospitality.^[53]

 Being attentive to the needs of those who come to us from outside the community and showing kindness to those who offer hospitality to us, constrains the brotherhood not to withdraw into itself in an easy gratification of self, but to open itself to a reciprocal exchange of gifts. This means that we learn to give and also to receive from others with gratitude whatever is good, enlightening and prophetic.^[54]

 

LISTNUM 1 \l 124.   When we become a community of brothers open to the other, whoever he may be - in the image of the celestial Jerusalem whose “gates never close during the day” (Rev 21,25) - we become, through our style of life, resplendent with the prophetic value of fraternity. Recognising in every man and woman a person who is our companion on the journey towards the building of the Kingdom, will allow each Carmelite fraternity to face with far-sightedness and patience the crises of history, and to learn to stand with parresia, with prophetic courage especially where the countenance of the brother is denied or disfigured.

 

c) Sharing, moderation and silence

 

Closely connected with the view of otherness, we consider the challenge of social justice today. It is at risk from a “materialism which craves possession, heedless of the needs and sufferings of the weakest, and lacking any concern for the balance of natural resources”.^[55]

 

The Rule of Carmel outlines a programme of life which takes into account the needs of the other as well as one’s own legitimate needs. It places this concern within the evangelical values of poverty and sharing,^[56] of fast and abstinence,^[57] and of silence.^[58]

The evangelical value of poverty and sharing helps to strip us of every form of division and antagonism, which doubtless give rise to greed of possession, in order to know how to give just measure to all things and to share generously material and spiritual goods for the welfare and use of the community and especially for the welfare and use of the poorest. The value of fast and abstinence, lived as a paschal journey of liberation from all false idols in order to embrace the Lord as the only treasure of the human heart, teaches us to set limits to our own needs and to a life of moderation and essentiality. Silence, not to be confused with taciturnity, invites us to think before we talk; to listen attentively to what the other has to say in order to really understand him or her.

Sharing which guarantees that no one is in need, silence which creates the conditions for the just and liberating use of the word, the practice of fast and abstinence which teaches the just value of the graciousness of God, all help us to distance ourselves from the mechanisms which create inequalities, injustices and impoverishment; and allow us to detect the presence and effects of such evils.

The community of brothers and sisters cannot remain indifferent to the cause of the impoverished, made ever poorer by reason of the market and of the burden of the national debt. The community which rediscovers the way of moderation and of the limitations of its needs, together with those who are committed to justice, peace and the protection of creation, will help to form an awareness that there will be no future on earth unless we rediscover the limit of every so-called development and the urgency of putting limits to one’s own needs. Only within this awareness can we render justice to those who have been left out of the banquet of life.

On the basis of this reasoning, a practical way  for Carmel would be to examine and discern, individually and in community, the standard of living, the level and quality of what is consumed, the use of money, and, at the same time, to support all the initiatives which propose just alternative forms of the economy. 

 

d) Spirituality as wisdom of life 

 

 In the light of the post-synodal letter, we see a close connection between the pride of place given to spirituality and the challenge to render consecrated life visible today. Being a prophetic sign “of a profusion o bounty” depends much on the intensity and quality of the spiritual itinerary of the members of the community. “What in people’s eyes can seem a waste is, for the individuals captivated in the depths of their hearts by the beauty and goodness of the Lord, an obvious response of love”.^[59] Our mystics, masters of wisdom, invite us to sapiential awareness of a contemplative life which is friendship and dialogue with God.^[60]

 

LISTNUM 1 \l 129.   With these statements as background, the programme of life outlined in the Rule seems even more attractive today. The Rule is not concerned with functionality, but with sapential projection which would teach us the “art of living well” in harmony with God, with oneself, with others and with the environment. Indeed, the Rule instructs us in a spirituality which aims at being wisdom of life, which has as basic elements: the central place of Christ and his word, a structure of human relationships within and without the community, and the putting on of the armour of God who transforms our lives in all its dimensions.

 Moreover, the text presents us with other values which form the mosaic of our life. For instance, the manner of using time, where priority doubtless is given to the time dedicated to prayer, to silence, to work, the time dedicated to the brothers, be it in dialogue in community^[61] or - as we have just seen - in the care of their needs, be it in welcoming those who come to us,^[62] or in proclaiming the Word.^[63] The Rule also leads us, when it refers to the living memory of the past,^[64] to a creative projection into the future,^[65] to fidelity to one’s vocation as lived in the present, especially in difficult and dark times.^[66]

 

 Other indications of a sapiential character concern the relationship between community and environment. Significant is the need for osmosis between the consecrated form of life and the choice of dwelling place.^[67] Not every place is suitable for the purpose. There is need for discernment so that even the structures themselves “speak” of our spirituality. For instance, the arrangement of the cells around the chapel on Mount Carmel expressed the dynamics of transformation which flows from the individual to the community and from the community to the individual. Significant and relevant also is the harmony to be achieved with the environment, in the spirit of adapting to the situation of the place and its real possibilities,^[68] in order to build a habitat of human proportions and with due regard to the common good.

 

CONCLUSION

 

The 750^th anniversary of the approval of the Rule of Carmel by Innocent IV, considered in the context of the progress of the Church towards the third millennium, opens to the Carmelite Family, human and spiritual perspectives which are very actual and productive.

If Carmel succeeds again in putting into practice in a creative way the values on which its vocation depends, remaining faithful to the primacy of the Word of God, to the directions of the ecclesial magisterium, to its charismatic experience and to the expectations of today’s people, then “the Lord himself at his return will reward it”.^[69] He will not fail to make its “lap” overflow (Lk 6,38) with a life transfigured by the Beauty of the Risen Lord.

 

To blessed Mary, to her to whom the first chapel on Mount Carmel was dedicated, we give thanks in the words of Teresa who said: “And you, my daughters¼thank God for being true daughters of this Lady, because having Her as your great Mother¼imitate Her. Consider the greatness and advantage that we have in having her as Patroness”.^[70]

To the Virgin who is Mother and Sister in faith, we entrust the whole Family of Carmel that it may “live in allegiance to Jesus Christ and serve Him faithfully with a pure heart and a good conscience”.^[71]