![]() ![]() ![]() The Rule of Mysticism exhorts those who follow it to live a life of continual prayer, obedience to a superior, perpetual abstinence and fasting, manual work, and total silence. Their rule, which was given in 1209 by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, says that all converges toward the contemplation of God. By the twelfth century, pilgrims from Europe who had followed the Crusades to the Holy Land settled with the ascetics on Carmel and started a religious holy order known as Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. ![]() For the next thousand years Mount Carmel continued to be a place where hermits devoted themselves to prayer. Upon meeting Mary after Christ’s Ascension, they were so overcome by her sanctity that they returned to the mountain to build a chapel in her honor. The descendants of these ancient contemplatives were among the first to accept the teachings of Christ and to be baptized by His apostles. ![]() He and his followers mystically dedicated themselves to her, setting an example as the first monks. In his prophetic visions on Mount Carmel, Elijah became aware of the coming of the mother of the Messiah. The First Book of Kings is filled with tales of wonders he performed and prophesies he gave. In about 860 b.c., the prophet Elijah (also known as Elias) arrived on this holy mountain to begin a life of contemplation and prayer. Those who wanted to ascend the mountain for meditation lived in caves so as not to intrude on the landscape with unnatural structures. It is considered a natural paradise and a sacred place, and in biblical times it was forbidden to disturb any of the natural life on it. The word hakkarmel means “the garden” in Hebrew, and true to its title, there is a remarkable profusion of plants and wildflowers on this mountain. Mount Carmel, in what is today northern Israel, has always been a place rich in mystical tradition. It shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace.” “Receive my beloved son, this habit of thy order: this shall be to thee and to all Carmelites a privilege, that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire. ![]()
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