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 CARMELITE

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CARMELITE

rendered each foundation a hard task, yet from 1011 till the end of the century almost every year saw the foundation of one or two new convents. Germany, Austria. Poland, even distant Lithuania, were opened to tin- disciples of St. Teresa. The spread of the con- gregation may perhaps best be illustrated by statis- tics. In 1632 the reform counted 763 priests. 471 clerics and novices, and 289 lay brothers, total 1523. In 1674 there were 181 1 priests, 593 clerics and 747 lay brothers, total ,'il. r >4. In 17:>1 the total hail risen to 4193 members. No later statistics are available, but it may be taken that the increase continued for another twenty years until the spirit of Voltaire began to make itself felt. Comparatively little has been published about the foundations, the annals of the order reaching only as far as 1612, and much manu- script material having been lost, but a great deal is still waiting for the hand of the chronicler.

Although the exercise of the contemplative life was given prominence even by the Italian congregation. the active life received far wider scope than in the Spanish fraction of the order. Almost from the be- ginning it was decided on principle and in full har- mony with the known intentions of St. Teresa, that missionary undertakings were quite reconcilable with the spirit of the congregation. The pope himself sug- gested Persia as the first field of labour for Carmelite missioners. Such was the a a] of the fathers assem- bled in chapter that each of them declared himself ready to lay down his office and go forth for the con- version of unbelievers as soon as his superiors should give him permission to do so. This promise is made to the present day by every member of the order. It was not until 1604 thai the first expedition led by Paul Simon of Jesus Mary was actually sent out to Persia. Three fathers, a lay brother, and a tertiary. proceeded through German}', Poland, and Russia, fol- lowing the course of the Volga, sailing across the Cas- pian Sea. until after more than three years of great hardship they reached Ispahan on 2 December, 1607. They met with surprising success, and being speedily reinforced were soon able to extend their activity to Bagdad, Bassora, and other towns, penetrating into India where they founded flourishing missions at Bombay, Goa. Quilon, Verapoly, and elsewhere, even at Peking. Some of these missions are still in the hands of the order, although the political events of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries proved fatal to others. Another field of labour was the Near ( Irient . Constantinople and Turkey. Armenia and Syria. To these was added in 1720 "a new mission in America in the district called Mississippi or Lusitania, which was offered by Captain Poyer in the name of the French company, but under certain conditions". If indeed this mission was accepted, it does not seem to have been long prosperous.

One of the happy results of the establishment of missions in the Levant was the recovery of Mount Carmel, which had been lost to the order in 1291. Prosper of the Holy Ghost on his journeys to and from India had repeatedly visited tin- holy mountain and convinced himself that with prudence and tact it might be recovered. For a time the superiors were by no means favourably disposed towards the project, but at last they furnished him with the necessary powers, and a contract to the said effect was signed at Caitfa. 2'.' November, 1631. Onuphrius of St. James, a Belgian, and two companions were commis- sioned to re-establish religio'is life on the spot where the Carmelite order had had its origin. They reached Alexandrette on .", November 1633, and at the be- ginning of the following year took ]K)8session of Mount Carmel. For cells, oratory, refectory, and kitchen they used caverns cut in the living rock, ami their life in point of austerity and solitude was worthy of the prophets who had dwelt on Carmel. At length it became necessary to construct a proper convent,

in which they were installed 14 December, 1720, only to be plundered a few days later by the Turks, who bound the fathers hand and foot. This convent served as a hospital during Napoleon's campaign; the religious were driven out. and on their return, 1821, it was blown up by the Turks. An Italian lay brother. John Baptist of the Blessed Sacrament (1777- 1849), having received orders to rebuild it. and hav- ing collected alms in France. Italy, and other coun- tries, laid the foundation stone of the new fabric in 1S27. But as it became necessary to do the work on a larger scale than formerly, it was completed only by his successor. Brother Charles, in 1853. It forms a large square block, strong enough to afford protec- tion against hostile attempts: the church is in the centre with no direct entrance from outside: it is erected over a crypt sacred to the Prophet Elias, and has been elevated by the pope to the rank of minor basilica. There are few travellers of any creed who in the course of their journeys in the Holy Land do not seek hospitality on Mount Carmel.

It must not be supposed (hat the Carmelites were spared the perils to which the missionary life is ex- posed. John of Christ Crucified, one of the first band of missioners sent out to Persia met with a hostile reception in the neighbourhood of Moscow, and was thrown into a dungeon where he remained for three years. At last he was released and, nothing daunted, continued his journey to Ispahan. Another lay brother Charisius a Sancta Maria, suffered martyrdom in 1621 on the island of ( tnnuz; he was tied to a tree and cut open alive. Blessed Dionysius of the Na- tivity (Pierre Bertholet), and Redemptus a Cruce, a Portuguese lay brother, suffered for the Faith in Sumatra on 2s November, 1638. The former had been pilot and cartographer to the Portuguese vice- roy, but gave up his position and became a Carmelite novice at Goa. Soon after his profession the viceroy once more demanded his services for an expedition to Sumatra; Dionysius was ordained priest so that he might at the same time act as chaplain and as pilot, and Redemptus was given him as companion. No sooner had the ship east anchor at Achin than the ambassador with his suite was treacherously appre- hended, and Dionysius. Redemptus. and a number of others were put to death with exquisite cruelty. The two Carmelites were beatified in 1000. Other mem- bers of the order suffered martyrdom at Patras in Achaia in 1710.

In order to ensure the steady supply of missioners the order established some missionary colleges. The original idea had been to found a special congregation under the title of St. Paul, which should entirely de- vote itself to missionary work. The Holy See granted permission and placed the church of St. Paul in Rome (now Santa Maria della Vittoria) at the disposition of the congregation; but on second thought the project was allowed to drop, and the missionary career was opened to all members of the Italian congregation. Those who manifested a talent in this direction, after having completed their ordinary studies were sent to the college of S. Pancrazio in Rome (1662) or to that of St. Albert at Louvain (1621) to study controversy, practical theology, languages, and natural sciences. After a year they were allowed to take the missionary oath, and after a second year they returned to their provinces until a vacancy in one of the missions ne- cessitated the appointment of a new labourer; by these means the order was prepared to send out effi- cient subjects at very short notice. The seminars- of the Missions etrangeres in Paris was founded by a Carmelite, Bernard of St. Joseph, Bishop of Babylon (1597 1663).

An attempt in this direction had been made soon after the Council of Trent, but was not followed up. The pope, struck with the missionary zeal of the Car- melites, consulted Thomas of Jesus as to the best