The Carmelite Order takes it name from Mount Carmel, a beautiful mountain of Palestine where hermits were accustomed to live before Jesus Christ came on earth. Eight hundred years before Christ, the Prophet Elias had lived on Mount Carmel and had gathered around him a group of followers who lived as hermits under his guidance. It is a tradition among Carmelites that Elias himself had a vision about her who was to be the Mother of the Savior, and that, side by side with their desires and prayers for the coming of the Savior, his followers looked forward in a special way to the coming on earth of His Blessed Mother. We read in the Book of Kings that for two years there had been no rain in Palestine. The prophet Elias then began to pray on Mount Carmel and to intercede for his people. Suddenly there appeared above the sea a little cloud, and shortly after an abundant rain fell on the parched land. It is believed that in this little cloud, heavy with rain, which appeared on the horizon, the holy prophet beheld the image of her who was to be the Mother of the Messiah, the image of the Blessed Virgin. From that time on, the prophet honored the Blessed Virgin, and he strongly urged his disciples to consecrate themselves in a special manner to her cult. It was then that Carmel was born. Later on these hermits became known to the people as the "Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel."

In the year 412 the first written rule was given to the Hermits of Carmel, but it was only in 1247 that St. Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem, gave the Rule as it is known today to St. Brocard, the second Latin General of the Order. There they lived in and around Palestine, in fasting, watching and prayer, valiantly carrying on the traditions of their ancient forefathers. In the twelfth century, during the wars of the Crusades, the Saracens began to attack their monasteries and kill the monks, so they were obliged to flee to Europe for refuge, chiefly to France and England.

St. Louis IX, King of France, led two Crusades to the Holy Land and had they succeeded, there would have been great advantages in this for the few hermits remaining on Mount Carmel. This great monarch also established a monastery of Carmelites at Paris which for a long time was called "The Convent of the Stripes" since the Carmelites who wear a white mantle over the brown Habit, were ordered to stripe it brown—the mantles consisting of four white stripes and three brown. This law was made by the Mohammedans, as only Mohammedan princes were allowed to wear a completely white mantle. The pure white was restored to the Carmelites by the Bull of Honorius IV. St. Louis continued to befriend the Order during his life, and after his death in 1270, the Carmelites at Paris received his royal mantle which was preserved as one of the most notable relics of the great king.

Then began a troubled period for the small group of hermits. Their eremitical life was little suited to European conditions, and recently two new Orders had begun in Europe and were flourishing: the Franciscans and Dominicans. Nobody wanted a third new Order just then, and efforts were made to get the Pope to suppress the Carmelites. The General of the Order, St. Simon Stock, prayed fervently to Our Lady to save her Order, and she answered his prayer by giving him the Brown Scapular with the promise of her special protection to all who should wear it in her honor. This heavenly gift brought about a remarkable change in the life of the Carmelite Order. It became recognized by the Church and accepted and honored by people everywhere.

In the next century, another illustrious son of Carmel received a further proof of the Blessed Virgin's special predilection for her Order. This was St. Peter Thomas, Patriarch of Constantinople, who was honored by a vision of Our Lady. She said: "Take courage, Peter; the Order of Carmelites is destined to endure unto the end of the world, for Elias, the founder thereof, has already long since gained this favor from my Son."

During the fourteenth century, Europe was ravaged by many severe plagues, which brought thousands to an untimely death, and misery and suffering were the lot of all. Since this made it impossible for the Carmelites to continue living in their accustomed austerity, several popes of the period mitigated their Rule, allowing them to eat meat on certain days and shortening their periods of prayer and nightly vigils. However, as time went on, Carmelites began to drift away rather too far from their original ideal of hermit life, until eventually two great saints arose who brought back the original ideal in a new way.

The Birth of the Discalced

These were St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross, the two great Spanish mystics whose writings have enriched the Church with a complete compendium of mystical theology, and whose lives and example have instilled a new vigor and renewal in the Church of their times, and which has continued to this day. Pope Gregory XV stated in his bull of the canonization of St. Teresa: "In our own day, it is by the hand of a woman that God has wrought the salvation of many. Rising above the weakness of her sex by her magnanimity, and ever aspiring higher, she has courageously girded her loins and strengthened her arm and formed an army of elect souls, destined to combat with the spiritual sword for the house of God and the prescriptions of His law."

Born Teresa de Cepeday Ahumada at Avila in 1515, she lived for over twenty years under the mitigated Carmelite Rule in the Convent of the Incarnation. But God had destined her for greater things. Appalled by the lack of unity among Christians in the neighboring countries, Teresa longed to make some reparation to God for the sins of the world. On August 24, 1562, in the face of many difficulties, she put her desires into action by founding in Avila a new convent, where she and a few nuns might observe the Primitive Rule of Carmel. Six years later, in 1568, with the assistance of St. John of the Cross, she initiated a similar reform among the friars.

John de Yepes was born in the little village of Fontiveros, near Avila, in the year 1542, and entered the Carmelite Monastery of Medina in 1563. Fired with the desire for a more perfect form of life he was on the point of becoming a Carthusian, when it was suggested to him that he should meet Mother Teresa of Jesus, then busy with the reformation of the Carmelite nuns. That meeting was the beginning of one of the finest friendships that has ever existed between the servants of God on this earth. John was completely won to Teresa's plans and became the first member of the Reformed Friars.

The result of their labors may be seen today in the world-wide Order of men and women known as the Discalced [shoeless] Carmelites, because as a distinguishing mark they wear sandals instead of shoes. This branch of the ancient Order of Carmel spread throughout Spain, then to France and all parts of the world.

 

After almost five years of existence in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, the Carmel of the Holy Trinity relocated to Spokane, Washington, on July 11, 1990. The first Mass was offered in the temporary chapel of the new Carmel on July 12th. Father Ranger, assisted by Father Rizzo, blessed the house after the Mass.

The move is over and we are glad it is all behind us! Our arrival in Spokane, however, is not the end but the beginning of a story which we hope to write down, day by day, for the great glory of God.

Much has already been achieved since that first day of November, 1989, when Father Rizzo blessed the property—and we are so grateful to God and to all our benefactors! Phase I of the construction is now completed. We have a temporary chapel that seats only twelve persons; it will eventually be part of our refectory. Our future kitchen now serves as choir and sacristy. The future pantry is our kitchen and the future interior sacristy is our refectory. There is, at least, one sure sign of stability: we have a permanent laundry room! On the second floor, there are eight cells, a bathroom, and a community room so small that the eight of us barely squeeze in. We have no parlor and no real enclosure. So, we need some "elbow room" and look forward to Phase II of the construction.

God willing, our property in Phoenixville will soon be sold. Owing to the depression, we did not sell for a high price but we did find a buyer, to the amazement of our broker! Phase II will not yet give us a fully-built Carmel, but it will enable us to receive vocations. Our priority is to build the chapel, the choir, the parlors, more cells and to erect a fence around the new building, thus fulfilling the conditions for a papal enclosure. At that point, we will be able to receive postulants. However, the latest estimates indicate that we will run out of money before we can complete Phase II. We rely upon Divine Providence and upon your charitable help for the completion of this second phase, which is so important for the growth of our community. For the rest of the Carmel, we know it will take many years before everything can be built, but we will be patient... We hope, at least, to see the Carmel fully built before the first generation of Carmelites passes away! We are taking root in Spokane, and with God's grace and your help, we will grow into a strong tree bearing much fruit.

Last year, when we announced our intention to move to Spokane, we received—and are still receiving—letters from families that were also trying to relocate to the Post Falls-Spokane area. Two or three years ago, when he approved our intention to relocate the Carmel, His Grace Archbishop Lefebvre told us to establish the new Carmel not further than a one-hour drive from a priory. Now that we are only twenty miles from the Immaculate Conception Priory in Post Falls, we realize more fully the wisdom of the Archbishop's advice. The world is falling back into paganism and Christian civilization will survive and grow around monasteries, priories, seminaries, convents, just as Christianity first developed around monasteries in medieval Europe. With the grace of God, the priory in Post Falls and the Carmel in Spokane will be the center of a stronghold of Catholicism, where God is loved and served and where the faith of many—especially children—will be preserved from corruption.

"The world is on fire. Men try to condemn Christ once again, as it were, for they bring a thousand false witnesses against Him. They would raze His Church to the ground..." These words were written by Our Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus in the first chapter of her Way of Perfection, where she explains the motives of her reform and encourages her daughters to be zealous for their vocation. How true these words are today!

If you would like more information about the Carmel of the Holy Trinity, and would like to receive our newsletter, please send us your name and address. God bless you.

 

The Carmelites of Spokane
S. 4027 Wilbur Road
Spokane, Washington, 99206