Curia Generalizia dei Carmelitani
Via Giovanni Lanza, 138
00184 Roma, Italia.

Prot. 115/2003

16th July 2003
Solemn Commemoration of 
Our Lady of Mount Carmel

To my fellow Carmelites,

The text of the Third Order Rule, which I have pleasure in presenting, has had a long history. It has been claimed that the first such rule was written by Blessed John Soreth in 1455. It was to him that Pope Nicholas V addressed the famous bull "Cum Nulla" in 1451, thus putting the official seal of approval on lay people being members of the Order, living our spirituality in their own situation.

It was decided after the Second Vatican Council to submit the Third Order Rule to a process of updating. This process has lasted for more than thirty years and has involved the input of many lay Carmelites. An international commission was appointed by the General Council after the General Chapter of 1995 to oversee the final stages of this process. A new text was submitted to a meeting of lay Carmelites held in Rome during the Jubilee Year 2000 and the comments of the participants were incorporated into the final draft. The new General Council, elected at the General Chapter of 2001, wrote the final document to be presented to the Holy See for approval. This approval was received in 11 April 2003.

It has been a long process but worthwhile because now I believe that we have a fine document that will help lay Carmelites as they seek to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ. I wrote in the letter, "Into the Land of Carmel" to celebrate the 550th anniversary of the papal bull 'Cum Nulla': 'The Rule of St. Albert is the charismatic document that stands at the beginning of all forms of Carmelite life. In this brief text are the essential elements of the Carmelite charism in embryo. These elements have been worked out more fully through the years that followed and the Carmelite tradition has been enriched by the lives of countless individuals and especially by our saints. Every person who is called to live according to the Carmelite way has some effect upon the tradition and passes it on to others. Carmelite religious have Constitutions by means of which the Rule of St. Albert is applied to the conditions of the present day. In the same way, the Third Order have a rule which, like the Constitutions of the religious, seeks to make the connection between the Carmelite ideal and the present reality of those who pledge themselves to live by it."

Therefore with this decree I promulgate the Rule of the Carmelite Third Order otherwise known as the Carmelite Order Secular of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. It is to be observed as from 8 December 2003. The time between the promulgation and the coming into effect (vacatio legis) is to provide an opportunity for studying the Rule and for adapting local statutes before it becomes obligatory. In order to reach as many people as possible in the shortest time, the promulgation of the text, and its publication, is through the medium of the internet. The original language of the Third Order Rule is Italian and this is the text which is normative in case of disputes over meaning. The General Curia will take responsibility for the translations into the other two official languages of the Order, namely English and Spanish, as well as Portuguese and French. These translations will be posted on the Order's web site as soon as possible so that as many lay Carmelites as possible will come to known the Third Order Rule as a source of inspiration for their life in Carmel.

The date of the promulgation (16 July) and the date of the coming into effect (8 December) were chosen in order to underline the position of Our Blessed Lady in the Carmelite's life. Mary is the Mother and Sister of all Carmelites, those consecrated in the religious life and those who live out their vocation as lay people. She teaches all of us to ponder over the events of life and to discern God at work in our world so that we can glorify God with her. May Our Lady of Mount Carmel guide us all as we seek to follow her Son faithfully.

Joseph Chalmers, 0.Carm.
Prior General