Carmel is all Mary's
« “This is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. »
( John 19, 26.27 )
The presence of Mary is found at the dawn of the Order. It is in fact to the Virgin Mary that the first chapel that the hermits of Mount Carmel built is dedicated, and the emerging Order took the name of “brothers of the Blessed Mary of Mount Carmel”
Thérèse of Jesus makes this ancient tradition her own. She never ceases to exhort her daughters: “Let us live as true daughters of the Virgin and be faithful to our profession, so that Our Lord gives us the graces that He has promised us. » (Foundations 16/7)
Thus each of us tends to achieve a deep communion with Mary. It is she who brings us into the intimacy of the life of Jesus, of the Trinity, of the saving plan of their love.
Mary is at the heart of the people of the Middle East where we live and each of our Carmels bears her very particular imprint.
Thus in Nazareth, Mary forms in us an attitude of wife, an attitude made essentially of attention and listening.
In Bethlehem, she invites us to become with her a mother who gives birth in pain and in joy.
In Jerusalem, she invites us to enter with her into the mystery of Redemption, uniting ourselves to the fruitful silence of the Word on the cross.
At Mount Carmel, she is the “Lady”, the “Sovereign of the place”, and also the “Sister” who accompanies us to help us reach the summit of the mountain of perfection, “the true mountain, Christ, our Lord “.
In Fayoum, Egypt, the Carmel of the Exiled Holy Family teaches us to pray with Mary for all the exiles of our time.
In Aleppo, our sisters of Carmel Notre Dame de Syria perpetuate a monastic and Marian presence, humble and fraternal in this predominantly Muslim country.
In Tangier, our sisters of the Carmel of the Holy Family and Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, are a living and silent presence in the heart of Morocco.