The Order of Carmel, in its desire to follow the Lord Jesus, takes its title and inspiration from Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

The original Carmelites were hermits who settled on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the Crusades. They erected a chapel consecrated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, whom they looked to as the model of quiet, whole-hearted presence to the Lord.

Carmelites also feel one with the prophet Elijah, who centuries before had dwelt on Mount Carmel. The Spirit of God led him deep into solitude. In the experience full of symbolic meaning, he sensed the presence of God not in earthquake, fire or wind, but in a gentle breeze. In this prophet, who listened attentively and then acted on the word of God, Carmelites recognize their own calling.

In 1209 the hermits on Mount Carmel received a rule which expressed their deepest desire: to meditate day and night on the law of the Lord and to watch in prayer.

The Rule of Carmel is unique in its brevity and simplicity. It does not form the life but flows from it. For the true rule of Carmel is the profound longing that God has created in the heart of the human person.

Each of us is a capacity for God, a vast emptiness longing for true fulfillment. A Carmelite senses that his or her identity involves a concentration on "the one thing necessary" in an environment of silence and simplicity, and in a solitude which is balanced by the supportive and life-giving presence of others who share the search for God.

Because of the political unrest in the thirteenth century the hermits of Carmel migrated to Europe. Nuns first became a part of the Order in 1452. A century later Teresa of Jesus, Spanish saint, mystic and Doctor of the Church, initiated a reform which eventually established the Discalced (shoeless, signifying reformed) Carmelites as a separate branch of the Carmelite Order.

Carmel in the United States
Daughters of American settlers and one English woman who had entered a Carmelite monastery in Belgium sailed to the United States in 1790, founding the first community of religious women in the new nation. They settled in Maryland and the community they founded continues to this day as the Carmel of Baltimore. Our Cleveland Carmel is the "granddaughter" of this historic community having been founded in 1923 by the St. Louis Carmel which came directly from Baltimore. In 1951 our Cleveland community sent nuns to strengthen the Nairobi, Kenya Carmel and a year later founded the first English-speaking Carmel in Canada.

After almost forty years in Cleveland, during which the nuns at three different times and locations adapted a home to serve as a monastery, the community was able to plan a true monastery. With great joy in 1962 the nuns entered "the Promised Land," grateful to own a monastery which provides space for both the solitude and community life central to the Rule of Carmel. 1998 marked 75 years in the Diocese of Cleveland for Carmel. The year was filled with thanksgiving to God for the many friends and benefactors who have made Carmel's life of prayer a reality in Cleveland.

What do they do all day?

How does the spirit of Carmel take shape in everyday life? Most people would probably be surprised at the variety in the daily rhythm of a Carmelite. Prayer, of course, gets prime time; but it is prayer in a diversity of forms. Daily Mass is a festive celebration. One hour of quiet, solitary prayer in the morning and one in the early evening hold a privileged position distinctive of St. Teresa's reform. There is prayer together, four times a day, when we sing and recite the Liturgy of the Hours. Its rich texts feed and form us through the Psalms, other passages of scripture and the seasons of the liturgical year.

The atmosphere of prayer is meant to inspire all the activity of a Carmelite's life so much so that we tend to speak of prayer always in the singular: our life is one of prayer not prayers. Prayer becomes an attitude, a reverent approach to all of life. It is being present to what I am doing, making choices directed to the one for whom I am living.

The work of our day may be connected with maintenance of the monastery or its fine vegetable garden and other grounds. It may involve activity in the liturgical arts department or clerical work for the Diocese done within the monastery.

Recreation may be lively conversation at the evening meal or exercise in the spacious yard or spending time with a favorite book or hobby.

All these elements combine to form a daily and weekly schedule that has an in-built flexibility, meant to honor both individual differences and our common calling.

Renewal
Since Vatican Council II, we have been engaged in a reassessment of our customs and lifestyle About schedules and house government, about clothes and cloister we have asked: "How is this related to a deep life of prayer?" We have examined the difficulty of balancing silence and solitude with a strong community life. Among major results are these: a reasonable flexibility that makes possible longer periods of solitude for those who feel drawn to it; psychologically healthy choices of work and exercise; responsible ways of making decisions that consistently involve all the members of our community.

As St. Teresa was a woman of deep prayer in her time, so we seek to be 20th century Carmelites and persons of prayer, singing with contemporary melody the Mercies of the Lord.

Carmel of the Holy Family
3176 Fairmount Blvd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
216-321-6568