What is Carmel?
The
first Carmelite hermits appeared on the scene in the late 12th
century, probably around the year 1191. They were primarily
uneducated lay penitents from the Latin West, with perhaps some
priests, who ventured to the Holy Land as pilgrims or Crusaders and
chose to remain in Palestine as hermits. These first hermits
lived in deserted places, away from the activity of towns and
society, each settling in separate, cave-like dwellings or cells on
Mt. Carmel near the spring of Elijah. They were contemplatives
living a life of prayer, silence, solitude and penance with a
special emphasis on an intense relationship with Jesus. The
hermits formed a loose-knit community that had no ties with any
established ecclesial order, though their dedication to Mary led
them to become known as the brothers of St. Mary of Mount Carmel.
By 1300 these lay penitents were recognized as a religious order by
the Holy See and given full canonical status as Carmelite friars and
brothers.
The Carmelite Nuns were admitted to the Order in 1452, and in the
16th century St. Teresa of Avila initiated a reform of the Order
that began in Spain, spread throughout the world, and led to the
establishment of the Teresian Carmel of which we are a part. In
1790, four Carmelite Nuns from Flanders in Belgium crossed the
Atlantic Ocean to make the first foundation at Port Tobacco,
Maryland. Eventually this settlement of nuns moved to Baltimore. St.
Joseph’s Monastery in Seattle was founded in 1908 by a little band
of four nuns who ventured from the Baltimore Carmel by train at the
request of Archbishop Edward O’Dea. St. Joseph’s Monastery is the
7th Carmelite Monastery to be founded in the United States and the
first on the West Coast.