It was probably early in the morning around the year 1200 AD that some brave devout men left the city of Acre in the Holy Land and set off southwards along the coast to the mountain range of Mount Carmel. Acre had only been recaptured by the Christian crusaders a short time before and the coast road was still open to Arab raiding parties. The men leaving Acre were hoping to find some secluded valley on Mount Carmel where they could devote themselves to a life of prayer and contemplation. After some searching, they were fortunate and discovered a narrow valley on the southern slopes of Mount Carmel, which was hidden from sight from below by a bend in the valley and which was provided with an ample supply of fresh water from a nearby spring. Above the valley, the long summit of Mount Carmel was covered by a thick forest and, it is said, that lions roamed there in times past.
In the valley, the small group from Acre found some level ground where they could grow crops and they settled in the caves on the sides of the valley or in wooden huts which they constructed. As the years past, others were attracted by the hermit life and the numbers in the valley grew. Around 1212 or 1213, the hermits decided that it was time to seek some formal recognition from the Church and so a small group set off walking the 15 miles back to Acre where they sought the help of the Papal Legate Albert. Albert was a religious himself, having joined the Canons Regular of Mortara in Northern Italy where he became prior. Later he was appointed as a bishop and then sent out to the Holy Land as the papal legate in 1204. He listened to the small group of hermits and prepared a letter for them which contained a series of instructions on how they were to live and added some passages on spirituality based mostly on the letters of St Paul.
Albert’s letter is what has now become known as the Carmelite Rule – probably the shortest Rule for any religious Order. Over the years, it has been revised and some some extra passages included. However, initially, this letter from the Patriarch was probably not intended as a formal rule but rather it was a series of prescriptions which the hermits needed to observe if they were to be recognised as a formal religious order in the Church. It seems likely that Albert intended to give the hermits time to adopt his prescriptions – one of which was that they should build themselves a chapel – and then he, or one of his assistants, would have visited the hermits in their valley, checked that everything was in order and then there would have been a ceremony in their chapel to declare the new Order of the Hermits of Mount Carmel was formally recognised by the Church. It is likely that, at this moment, Albert would have drawn up a more formal and extensive Rule for the new Order.
Unfortunately, fate intervened and on 14th September 1214, he was killed during a procession in Acre. So he never had the opportunity to visit the hermits on Mount Carmel and the hermits were left with only the text of his initial letter. However, over the succeeding years, this letter of Albert was approved, with some minor corrections and updates, by the Holy See. To have such a short Rule would seem to be a hindrance to an expanding and developing Religious Order. In reality, this was largely overcome by the Order developing a set of Constitutions which were approved, modified and updated by successive general chapters. However, having such a short Rule did serve the Order well as it’s situation changed dramatically as the Holy Land came under greater and greater threats from the Arab forces. In the 1230’s, the situation in the Holy Land became so dangerous that numbers of the hermits sought safety elsewhere. The first foundation outside the Holy Land was made in 1235 on the north coast of Cyprus. Then, in 1238, the hermits were forced to contemplate returning to Europe where most of them had their origins. A foundation was made in Messina in 1238, followed by two foundations in England in 1242 at Hulne in Northumberland and Aylesford in Kent. Once present in Europe, the Order spread rapidly and when Simon Stock was elected prior general c1256, there were 23 foundations in Europe. Here it is worth noting that, under the leadership of Simon Stock, the Order grew even more rapidly and by the time he died in 1265, he had presided over the foundation of a further 27 houses.
In this rapid expansion, the Carmelite Rule played a significant role. The shortness of the Rule and its absence of detailed regulations left the Carmelites free to adapt to the different conditions that they found in Europe. Being a hermit in a cold climate has its limitations! Although the initial foundations in Europe were eremitical and based outside the towns, it soon became clear that there was a role for the hermits in the cities and other populated areas. The hermits in the Holy Land had lived in their valley in the presence of God. Now, in Europe, there was a need for them to bring the presence of God to the people who lived in these crowded cities.
Here maybe the conciseness of the Carmelite Rule becomes a benefit. Those who draw their inspiration from Carmel, are not simply the heirs of the hermits who settled in their secluded valley on Mount Carmel but they are, hopefully, people who have a prayer life and a closeness to God, who seek to pass that on to all those who find our present world too busy, materialistic and lacking in vision.
Richard Copsey O.Carm.
