White Friars

Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel

Abbreviation	Order of Carmelites (O.Carm.)
Motto	Zelo zelatus sum pro Domino Deo exercituum (Vulgate, 1 Kings 19:10;14) ("With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts")
Formation	Late 12th century
Type	Roman Catholic religious order
Headquarters	Via Giovanni Lanza, Rome, Italy
Prior General	Most Rev. Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral
Website	www.ocarm.org

The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel or Carmelites (sometimes simply Carmel by synecdoche; Latin: Ordo Fratrum Beatissimæ Virginis Mariæ de Monte Carmelo) is a Roman Catholic religious order founded, probably in the 12th century, on Mount Carmel in the Crusader States, hence the name Carmelites. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain.Saint Bertold has traditionally been associated with the founding of the order, but few clear records of early Carmelite history have survived, and this is likely to be a later extrapolation by hagiographers.

The charism (or spiritual focus) of the Carmelite Order is contemplation. Carmelites understand contemplation in a broad sense encompassing prayer, community, and service. These three elements are at the heart of the Carmelite charism. The most recent statement about the charism of Carmel was in the 1995 Constitutions of the Order, in which Chapter 2 is entirely devoted to the idea of charism. Carmel understands contemplation and action to be complementary, not contradictory. What is distinctive of Carmelites is the way that they practice the elements of prayer, community and service, taking particular inspiration from the prophet Elijah and the Blessed Virgin Mary, patrons of the Order.

The Order is considered by the Church to be under the special protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and thus has a strong Marian devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. As in most of the orders dating to medieval times, the First Order is the friars (who are active/contemplative), the Second Order is the nuns (who are cloistered), and the Third Order consists of laypeople who continue to live in the world, and can be married, but participate in the charism of the order by liturgical prayers, apostolates, and contemplative prayer. There are also offshoots such as active Carmelite sisters.

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