Learn the story of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Carmelite Order, and the faithful daughter, St. Teresa, who was transformed by that which she loved!
Newsdesk (28/07/2023 18:01, Gaudium Press) Our Lady of Mount Carmel received this title in reference to Mount Carmel, a mountain located in Palestine, where lived Elias, a major prophet of the Old Testament who faced King Ahab and his pagan wife, Queen Jezebel, exterminated 400 priests of Baal and re-established among the Jews the belief in one God.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel gave birth to many spiritual children and today I want to talk about one of those daughters: the great St. Teresa of Avila, to whom I have a special devotion.
In the 12th century, a group of Christians decided to settle on Mount Carmel, living as hermits. There the Carmelite Order was born, which survives to this day. One of the first acts of these hermits was to build a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which came to be known as the Chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which would later be called Our Lady of Carmel.
It was not long before this devotion and way of life spread to various parts of the Middle East, but as time went on and the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land progressed, the Carmelites were persecuted and killed. Some of them managed to escape to Europe, where they continued the Order. However, life there was not easy either. Other persecutions arose, even within the Church itself. The way of life that they led as mendicant monks, their clothing and their particular way of serving God were not well understood, so they were persecuted and vilified, and had to face many difficulties, almost disappearing.
The Apparition of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
At that time, St. Simon Stock, Superior General of the Order, in view of the difficult situation they were facing, sent emissaries to the Vatican to inform the Pope of the situation and to ask for his protection. He then asked the brothers to pray for this intention. He himself withdrew and prayed fervently to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, to whom he was a great devotee, asking for Her intercession so that the persecutions might end. In response, Our Lady appeared to him, surrounded by angels, and gave him the scapular, promising those who wore it deliverance from dangers and from eternal fire.
After this apparition, the persecutions ceased, the Order was approved and, with the authorization of the Church, the Carmelites spread throughout the European continent and other parts of the world. Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the scapular spread rapidly, and this object of devotion came to be worn not only by Carmelites but also by lay people as a protection in the difficulties of life and a symbol of hope for the hour of death.
Carmel has produced many saints, among them St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of the Child Jesus and St. Teresa of Avila, whom we greatly admire for the firmness of their character, their unshakeable faith and their admirable ability to make important decisions.
Educating children in the faith
St. Teresa of Avila entered the Order after being left motherless at the age of 14. The most loving of mothers, Our Lady, awaited her in Carmel. She welcomed the impetuous young woman as her daughter and developed in her spirit an unequalled Marian piety.
The biography of this saint tells us that, as a little girl, Teresa learned from her mother to pray the Rosary and to see Our Lady as the road that leads to Jesus. This shows us that a child who learns to pray in the shelter of his home, in the harmony and security of his family, is a different child. Parents who claim that they do not give their children religious education in order not to impose their will on them and to not interfere in their choices are mistaken. Believe me, this is the worst thing a parent can do to their children. Giving them food, clothes, toys, a house, studies and fun, and not giving them God is like giving them nothing, because these children will grow up without knowing the truth and will become vacuous adults who will be easily swallowed up by sin.
A very important aspect of St. Teresa’s life, apart from her strong temperament, is her extreme sincerity. She recounted that, before entering the convent, she dabbled in some worldly whims and amusements, confessing that she was one of many young women who took refuge in the convent ‘to make amends’, not for lack of economic resources or marriage suitors, nor even for the love of God, but to ensure her own eternal salvation: “In this decision of choosing a state in life, I think that servile fear moved me more than love“.
Like Mother, like daughter
Life in Carmel brought about a complete transformation in the young Teresa, who began to live for Jesus and Mary alone, referring to herself as “daughter, slave and protégé of Our Lady”, a sentiment she passed on to her spiritual sons and daughters.
Later, when she decided to reform the Order, St. Teresa gave Mary Herself the office of Mistress and Patroness of Carmel, so that everything concerning the renewal of Carmelite life came to belong to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who became the perfect model of holiness for the friars, nuns and lay people who would become the Discalced Carmelites, the new branch of the Carmelite family she had created.
The more she grew in faith, the more St. Teresa resembled the Blessed Virgin on account of her immense love for Jesus and her purity of life, which allows us to say: ‘like Mother, like daughter’, because when love is true, it transforms the one who loves into the beloved and, just as it happened with St Teresa, Our Lady makes Herself accessible to each of us who wants to give Her heart and life.
By Afonso Pessoa
Compiled by Roberta MacEwan