What Carmelite Spirituality Has Taught Me About Zeal, Silence, and Trust

As many of you reading this know, I spent two year in the Carmelite cloister. These were two years that shaped me deeply in going forth from there, in being able to live now as a wife and mother in the way the Lord is calling me to (imprefectly, but aware of the call and equipped with certain tools). I believe there are lessons from Carmel for all of us, that there is something to be learned from this ancient and yet ever new spirituality within the Church that goes all the way back to the prophet Elijah.

Carmel is a school of the heart. It teaches us that holiness is not found in grand displays, but in a deep, faithful, and total belonging to God. It invites us into recollection, prayer, silence, and the kind of interior life that keeps bringing us back to what is most true and real in life. Carmelite spirituality is a spirituality of totality. It demands a total gift of self, the giving up of everything; and in doing so, it also promises the gift of everything in Christ.

The story of the Carmelites begins with a prophet whose life was marked by fire: Elijah. He stands on Mount Carmel as a witness to the living God, refusing to divide his heart between the Lord and idols. If you haven't read 1 Kings 18, I would pause for a moment to read before continuing. This is one of my favorite stories and messages in Scripture to this day. There is a fire in Elijah that we all should learn from — a zeal that is wholehearted. He reminds us that our yes to the Lord is not meant to be partial. It is meant to be singular, clear, and burning with love for God.

Early hermits gathered on Mount Carmel in this same spirit of Elijah seeking a life of prayer and solitude, but also fraternity. They drew away to the desert to "die" to the world and give a more total yes to Christ. Carmel was never just about escaping the world. It was about learning how to belong to God more fully in the midst of real life, real people, and real sacrifice. The Carmelite way holds together contemplation and community, silence and charity, solitude and shared life. It teaches us that holiness is tested not only in private prayer, but in the patience, humility, and love required by ordinary relationships. These early hermits not only sought to live in imitation of Elijah, but also of Our Lady and they were known from the beginning as the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Their aim was not only to live in the zeal of Elijah, but also the humble, receptive, contemplative heart of Mary. She teaches another kind of strength — the strength of surrender, of listening, of holding things in the heart before God. Carmel is where Elijah’s fire and Mary’s stillness meet.

In 1220, the Carmelites faced persecution and death in the Holy Land and thus moved to Europe to survive, though some did remain behind to be martyred for Christ. When they arrived, they struggled to adapt their way of life. The Franciscans and Dominicans were blossoming, and the Carmelites did not yet know where they fit within the Church in a more active lifestyle than how they had originated. This is where we see an active element of the Carmelites enter their way of life in preaching, hosting retreats, and through spiritual guidance.

In the year 1251, when the Carmelite order was struggling and facing uncertainty, Mary appeared to Saint Simon Stock, the Provincial General, and gave him the brown scapular. She gave it as a sign of her maternal care, protection, and love for the Carmelite order. She said,

"Take this Scapular, it shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger and a pledge of peace. Whosoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire," and, "Wear it devoutly and perseveringly. It is my garment. To be clothed in it means you are continually thinking of me, and I in turn, am always thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life."

The scapular is not just a piece of cloth. It is a reminder that Mary wants to wrap us in her mantle and lead us more deeply to her Son, and even more, that anyone who gives themselves over to her will find union and salvation with her Son through her Heart. As word spread of this gift from Our Lady, lay people began cutting off small pieces of the brown scapular from the Carmelite Religious who wore them. This began the devotion that we see today, which was eventually approved and recognized by the Church, of lay people being able to partake in this gift of the Brown Scapular by entering into the "Confraternity of the Brown Scapular".

So this is the invitation of Carmel to all of us: to live with a single heart, a singular love for the Lord. To let Elijah remind us to burn for the Lord. To let Mary teach us receptivity and trust. And to let the brown scapular remain what it was always meant to be — a quiet sign and way of life in which we belong to her, and through her, more totally to Jesus. That is the beauty of Carmel. It is hidden, but never meaningless. It is simple, but never shallow. And it keeps inviting us back to the one thing that matters most: a total love for God.