Carmelites

The Carmelite Order, more precisely the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, was born in Palestine as a purely monastic one. The rule of the Order, made up of poverty, silence, fasting, abstinence and nightly vigils, was approved for the first time by Honorius III in 1226. During the thirteenth century the Carmelites left the Middle East and settled in Europe, soon spreading across the continent. In 1432 Pope Eugenius IV mitigated the rigour of the original rule, thus causing, in the following decades, a number of internal reforms to the Order to stop the relaxation of morals that followed. With the reform of John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, the Discalced Carmelites were born, who obtained, from 1593 onwards, complete autonomy from the Calced Carmelites, or those of ancient observance. Despite these divisions, the Order continued to expand throughout the Early Modern period. Its wide spread among the laity also led to the establishment of the Carmelite Third Order and the Confraternity of the Scapular. Greatly reduced after the French Revolution and during the nineteenth century, the Order has gained new vigour in the twentieth century, redefining its mission after the Second Vatican Council.