Fr. Míċeál O'Neill, the prior general, has the following schedule planned for the month of February 2025:

February 1: Venezuela, celebration of the centennary of the affiliation of the Carmelite Sisters of Madre Candelaria to the Carmelite Order
February 3-7: Canonical visitation of the Italian Province (Part 1)
February 9-23: Provincial Chapter of the Indonesian Province; Visit to Carmelites in Sumatra
February 25-28: Fatima: Congress of the Carmelite Third Order

Prior General Marks the World Day for Consecrated Life with a Reflection for the Carmelite Family

On Sunday, February 2, the Church celebrated the feast of the Presentation of the Lord as well as the 29th World Day for Consecrated Life. The celebration for Consecrated Life began in 1997 under St. John Paul II. Pope Francis joined with religious men and women for the celebration of First Vespers. He spoke of the three evangelical counsels: poverty, chasstity, and obedience. He said, “They manifest the goodness of those things in the order of love, rejecting everything that can obscure their beauty— selfishness, greed, dependence, violent use and misuse for the purpose of death and destruction—and embracing instead all that can highlight that beauty: simplicity, generosity, sharing, and solidarity.” 

To mark the celebration within the Carmelite Family, Fr. Míċeál O’Neill, the prior general, has written his reflections on three themes-- consecrated life, fraternal affirmation and correction, and the significance of the jubilee year for us, Carmelite religious. He says that he writes these words “not as the answer to all our challenges but as part of a reflection that is ongoing in our Order.”

The Jubilee of Consecrated Life will be celebrated worldwide on October 8-12, 2025, as part of the yearlong Jubilee.

pdf To read or download the Message (860 KB) ...

The Whole World on Parchment: The Exhibition of the Choir Books from the Mainz Carmelite Monastery

An exhibition of ancient choir book from the Carmelite monastery entitled “The Whole World on Parchment. The Choir Books from the Mainz Carmelite Monastery,” is taking place in the Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum in Mainz, Germany from November 8, 2024 to March 23, 2025. The books were created from 1430 for the Carmelites to use during their religious services.

The prior general, Míceál O’Neill, O. Carm., together with the prior of the Carmelite community in Mainz, Josef Kemper, O. Carm., and with Richard Byrne, O. Carm., were invited to visit the exhibition in the week before it opened to the public, as final preparations were being made. As part of the exhibition, visitors are given the opportunity to lift up a replica of one of the choir books which, given the books weight 26kg each, most found difficult to do! They also saw the materials that were used to make the various inks and paints within the books. 

The Carmelite Choir Books: Exquisite Illumination

There are only six books, but they are impressive. Weighing up to 26 kg per volume and a total of around 1,600 parchment pages, the so-called Carmelite choir books are among the giants of medieval manuscripts. But they are not only large and heavy, they are also exquisitely beautiful and original.

Created for the Mainz Carmelite monastery, the huge books were used in services several times a day and night: the 150 psalms as well as antiphons, hymns, canticles, and responsories as well as the changing chants of the mass.

But the books go far beyond their practical needs. The melodies in square notation on four red lines and the texts in the script typical of the time are equipped with a rich world of images that are among the highest quality and most bizarre in book illumination of the 15th century. Biblical figures, countless mythical and hybrid creatures, monsters, dragons, animals, plants and people cavort in scenes that range from graceful to crude and salacious. Nothing human seems alien to these books!

It expresses the deep wish that it is not chaos but a deeper meaning that holds them together: the songs give everyday life a pleasant structure, they “sanctify time,” the texts convey wisdom, the paintings show perfection and beauty and the countless drawings show the world in all its facets: love, desire and passion, human highs and lows.

The weighty topics are presented with an impressive lightness, not with a raised index finger, but with sweeping pen drawings and subtle, humorous irony. These books do not speak of the dark Middle Ages, but rather of 600 years of cheerful hope, which culminates in the last sentence of the Psalter: “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!” 

Carmelites & Mainz

The Carmelites were first mentioned in documents in Mainz in 1285 and from then on were present in the city for more than 500 years. Their monastery, with an extensive library, was a place of education and the convent contributed significantly to the founding of the university in 1477.

During secularization in 1802, the Carmelites lost their Mainz Carmel, the brothers were expelled, and the property was auctioned off. A large part of the valuable book holdings came into the possession of what is now the Mainz Scientific City Library, but also went into various archives and libraries around the world. The valuable late-medieval choir books ended up in what is now the Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the late-Gothic monastery church was in such a deplorable state that the city council decided to demolish it. Many Mainz citizens protested against this. At the request of the bishop and thanks to the commitment of the Dutch Province, the Carmelites returned to Mainz in 1924.

The church building was transferred to the diocese. This was followed by renovations such as the restoration of the Gothic ceiling frescoes, the restoration of the church building after the Second World War and, most recently in 2009, an extensive redesign of the liturgical areas. Then as now, the Carmelites in Mainz are a contemplative community in the midst of people: the Carmelite Church is an inviting, spiritual place and the Carmelites are valued pastors in a diverse and colorful urban society.

Restoration, exhibition and digitisation

The restoration of the Carmelite choir books was funded by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate as part of the state funding program for the preservation of the collections. The digitization of the Carmelite choir books was carried out in the DFG project “Digitization of medieval manuscripts from Mainz, Worms and Speyer” at the Mainz University Library. The digitization project began with the Carmelites’ six large-format choir books and will be funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with 310,000 euros over the next three years.

Dr. Anja Lempges, deputy director of the Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum in Mainz, has worked on these highlights of European book art with a team of scientists and is presenting the special exhibition she has curated, “The Whole World on Parchment. The Choir Books from the Mainz Carmelite Monastery,” in the Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum in Mainz from November 8, 2024 to March 23, 2025.

“We would like to present the fragile, unique choir books of the Carmelites to a broad public,” explains Dr. Anja Lempges. The special exhibition is one of the highlights in the series of festivities for the 100th anniversary of the Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum in Mainz. The 100th anniversary of the repopulation of the Carmelite monastery in Mainz is also to be celebrated and is another reason for the special exhibition.

These six Carmelite choir books have been completely digitised. You can see the books for yourself here: (you have to scroll to the bottom of the page to find them):

https://gutenberg-capture.ub.uni-mainz.de/mittelalterlichehand/nav/index/all?facets=place%3D%22836512%22

However, if you can make your way to Mainz, it would be well worth seeing them and the associated exhibition for yourself. The exhibition finishes on 23rd March 2025.

Website for museum: https://www.dommuseum-mainz.de/die-ganze-welt-auf-pergament/

(Source: Cathedral Museum, Mainz, Germany)

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Images credits

Fr. Míċeál O'Neill, the prior general, has the following schedule planned for the month of January 2025:

January 1-3: Philippines, fraternal visitation
January 3-11: Vietnam, fraternal visitation
January 13-14: Meeting of Europeans Provincials in Rome
January 15-19: Trinidad and Tobago, fraternal visitation
January 20-29: Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico, canonical visitation
January 30-31: Venezuela, Celebrations of the Centenary of the Affiliation of the Carmelite Sisters of Mother Candelaria to the Carmelite Order. 

Brothers and Sisters in the Carmelite Family, friars, nuns, sisters and brothers in the affiliated congregations, lay Carmelites, in a special way our Third Order Carmelites, the Third Sunday of Advent, that we have just celebrated, invites us to be joyful always. The angels at Christmas will proclaim peace to people of good will, and the Jubilee Year that is about to begin will inspire us with the theme, “Pilgrims of Hope”. Joy, Peace and Hope are the gifts of God. Without them we cannot live a full human life. For that reason we have to pray constantly for these gifts while at the same time making them the hallmarks of how we live. Yet again this year at Christmas there are many millions of people from whom there can be no joy, there will be no peace for them and their hope is like a small flame that struggles to survive. Joy comes when God’s creation is able to speak the praises of God. Peace comes when men and women are open to the truth of God, and hope is strong when men and women remember that “all things work for good for those who love the Lord, (Rm 8,28)

I pray that our celebration of Christmas this year,  by proclaiming again the good news of the incarnation of the Word of God in the womb of Mary, may bring joy to us and to many, may put peace into the minds and hearts of those who are in a position to put an end to wars, and may strengthen our hope in the knowledge of God’s never ending love for all his creatures. May the Word of God speak joy, peace and hope to you, to your community and your family this Christmas. May it be possible for all of us to together to cry out with Mary, My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. (Lk 1,47)

A blessed and joyful Christmas to one and all.

Thank you.

To watch the video on YouTube ...

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The two General Councils (OCARM and OCD) met for their biannual meeting in the General Curia of the Discalced Carmelites (Rome) on December 10, 2024.

The meeting began with Midday Prayer in the Community Chapel, after which, the Councils met together to plenary session.

Together, the members of the Councils discussed the topic of safeguarding and shared various standards and structures (especially at Order-level) that are fundamental and necessary.

Time was spent discussing how the formation documents of the Orders (Ratio Institutionis Vitæ Carmelitanæ, Ratio Institutionis) were currently being revised. In particular, attention was given to the accompaniment necessary for friars who are in the early years after their solemn profession or priesthood. Different approaches were reviewed by the General Councils.

During the meeting, the various initiatives that both Orders have planned to celebrate the Jubilee Year of 2025 were spoken about. It was agreed that the two General Councils would make a joint pilgrimage through the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica in June 2025. In addition, it was agreed to celebrate a Eucharist together at Santa Maria in Traspontina (Via della Conciliazione, Rome) on June 2, 2025, together with all the members of the Carmelite Family present in Rome at that time. Building on the work done by the joint commission in 2000, both Orders will collaborate to prepare a map for pilgrims pinpointing significant Carmelite locations in Rome.

The General Councils then discussed how Marian devotion and Marian theology could be deepened and strengthened in both Orders.

During the meeting, various gifts were exchanged between the two councils including scapulars made by the Discalced Nuns in Haifa (Israel) and some recent publications in both Orders.

Carmelite Order Celebrates Day of the Cloistered Nuns, Pro orantibus. Prior General Sends Letter

In recognition of Pro orantibus, the day the Church dedicated to contemplative nuns, Fr. Míceál O’Neill, the prior general of the Carmelite Order, wrote to the monasteries of the Order. The letter focuses on 2024 being the Year of Prayer, as announced by Pope Francis at the beginning of the year. The prior general connects this year of prayer to the Carmelite charism, writing to those “who incarnate the Carmelite charism to think about our vocation to pray, to pray more intensely ourselves and to help other to pray.”

Reflecting on the Gospel read in the celebrations of both St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Francis of Assisi, he finds that God reveals “truths to children like us” in prayer. “Prayer is a communication between persons divine and human who are united in love.” The great Carmelite nun, St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, teaches us about the moment after Holy Communion when she began to think about the Gospel she had heard in the Eucharist. “There was no better place for her to be at the moment.”

Fr. Míceál also explores the Order’s tradition of prayer and contemplation as recorded in the Order’s Constitutions for the nuns. He points out that the revision of those for the men in 2019 focused the most attention on contemplation. Recalling that the nuns are well into the process revising their own Constitutions, he points out that proposed revisions clearly recognize the gift of contemplation is the nuns’ “charism and calling in a way that allows you to live out that vocation yourselves and explain it to the Church of today and to those who will approach you in the future …”

The prior general notes that liturgical prayer “is the privileged place desired by Christ for our encounter with him.”  He senses movement in the Order today “to recover and enhance our rich liturgical tradition.” He highlights a recent publication and the scheduled Liturgical Congress in May. He asks that the liturgies celebrated during the Jubilee Year “contribute to … enlightenment and moving us to seek reconciliation in families, in the Church, in communities.”

Finally, Fr. Míceál speaks of prayer as “discernment, discernment alone in the cell, nourished and completed by discernment in the community and vice versa.” He writes that “a community that comes together to pray and engage in communal discernment is a community that is capable of growing in maturity and responding each day, more fully, to the call to holiness which is union with God.” He concludes “union with God does not exist without union with neighbor, union with our families, union with our religious community.”

He concludes wishing that this day of Pro orantibus be an experience of joy for the sisters and a moment of renewal of love for prayer in their lives.

pdf Read the entire letter in English (409 KB) ...

The Prior General, Míceál O’Neill, and the General Councilor for Africa, Conrad Mutizamhepo held the formal visitation of the Carmelites in Tanzania and Kenya. Tanzania is a foundation of the General Commissariat of La Bruna in Naples begun in 2009. Kenya is a General Delegation started by the Upper German Province (now the German Province) with brothers from its former Provincial Commissariat of India (now the Province of St. Thomas). After the construction of the house Bustani ya Karmeli, Kenyan brothers from the Provinces of Catalonia and Arago-Valentina (now the Aragon-Castile-Valencia Province) continued the foundation.

Following the visit, the prior general reflected on their visit:

A visit to Africa is a visit to a continent that is teeming with life. The Carmelites have been in Tanzania since 2009 and in Kenya since 2001. Conrad and I enjoyed our two visits, getting a chance to talk to every member in the two countries and on some occasions, to take part in their wonderful liturgies. In Dar es Salaam the building of a Marian Shrine with a very large Church is underway. In Kenya the building of a new retreat and spirituality centre is well underway as well.

We were also impressed by the presence of the wider Carmelite Family in these countries. In Tanzania the Carmelite Missionary Sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus has a province of some seventy members, and there are the beginnings of a Carmelite Third Order. In Kenya, on the other hand, as well as the friars there are three monasteries of nuns, two affiliated Congregations, Donum Dei, and the Carmelite Sisters of the Sacred Heart, and a very well organised Carmelite Third Order.

Vocations for the friars are encouraging even if the numbers are not enormous. The commitment to providing good formation is very strong, but is a constant challenge because of the shortage of resources.

In Tanzania, they visited the communities of Bunju, Mabwepande, and Morogoro along with some houses of the sisters in Boko and Mapinga secondary school. In Kenya one celebration was for the 15^th anniversary of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Charles Lwanga parish. Thirteen couples exchanged wedding vows during the Mass which was followed by a huge celebration into the evening. On the feast of St. Teresa of Jesus the Carmelite Family, with representation from Third Order commemorated the Diamond Jubilee of the establishment of the Third Order in Kenya. This took place at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Naromoru Retreat Centre. Palm trees were planted to mark the significant anniversary.

Let us remember these men and women, religious and lay, as they work to build Carmel in new places.

Fr. Míċeál O’Neill, the prior general, has the following schedule planned for the month of October 2024:

October 1-4: General Council, plenary session
October 6-11: Canonical Visitation in Tanzania
October 11: Lecture via zoom to the Ongoing Formation Course on Titus Brandsma
October 11-19: Canonical Visitation in Kenya
October 17: Conference via zoom with the Assembly of the Italian Federation of Carmelite Nuns
October 21-November 1: Canonical Visitation in Germany

Fr. Míċeál O'Neill, the prior general, has the following schedule planned for the month of September 2024:

September 1 - 14:  Canonical Visitation of Poland
September 16 - 18:  Congress for Lay Carmelites -- Rome
September 19 - 21:  Provincial Chapter (Part 2) -- Malta
September 23 - 30:  General Council Plenary Session -- Rome