St. Raphael Kalinowski and the Carmelite Secular Order 1 The

St. Raphael Kalinowski and the Carmelite Secular Order 1 The Carmelite Secular Order came into being in the 14th century in Western Europe but did not have any permanent institutions or legal norms at that time. The Carmelite Third or Secular Order may be defined as a group of lay people who are dedicated to the Carmelite spirit or charism of St. Teresa and who in an organized way, recite the Prayer of the Church and take part in the Eucharist on a regular basis. They usually meet monthly in a given location. All lay people belonging to the Carmelite Secular Order, formerly known as the Third Order, belong to the Carmelite family , and to a lesser extent people who wear the scapular as members of a Brown Scapular Confraternity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel . So also members of other Carmelite Confraternities, such as that of St. Joseph, the Infant Jesus or contemporary mission groups, Secular Carmelite Institutes, the Carmelite Missionaries , two groups of which were founded by Blessed Francis Palau. (A Community of Palau Sisters came to work in our Sydney house , based in Varroville near Campbelltown some years ago.) Others such as the `Elianum`, the Institute of Notre Dame de Vie, or various Teresian groups also belong to the Carmelite family. Increasing interest in the Carmelite Secular Order has resulted firstly from a rapidly growing devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary based on the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and embracing a great number of contemporary Christians. For example the original Carmelite Rule of Life , known as the Rule of St. Albert has been lived out for centuries by the Carmelite family , including lay associates, throughout Europe . Many people in addition , shared also in the Carmelite spirit, through a devout wearing of the Brown Scapular as a sign of dedication to Our Lady. This fact also ensured a welcome for Carmelites when they returned to a specific area, after decades of suppression in various countries throughout Europe. When an English Catholic layman, Thomas Walmesley , wrote to the public in 1863 asking them to support Hermann Cohen`s work in restoring the Carmelite Friars to England, he had this to say; `I appeal to all who have any devotion to Our Blessed Lady , but especially to those who wear her scapular, to assist her sons.`2 1 I am indebted to unpublished notes by Szczepan T. Praskiewicz for much of the information in this Appendix 3. 2 Letter of ThomasWalmesly in Carmelite Archives in Kensington , London. 1 It is true of course also that the Carmelite Order would have been known through the presence of the sisters in England in the preceding centuries , but inevitably their hidden contemplative life would have placed limits on how well the Order was known. Secondly, interest springs from a former religious culture itself and the desire people traditionally have had to identify with the spirit or charism of a particular Order: to that extent the faithful wished to be closely connected with religious Orders which were - in their opinion - the most certain way to salvation. People often wished to wear a symbol of the particular Order such as a medal or scapular, and to follow the Orders' spiritual practices, as well as to be buried in the habit of the Order . The latter was quite common in countries like Ireland up to the recent past. There was a widespread revival of this wish to find support and guidance for a life of prayer on the part of many people towards the end of the nineteenth century. This development led to a growth in the Carmelite Secular Order. St. Raphael Kalinowski, was a restorer of Carmelite life in Poland for Friars and nuns as we saw. He was also instrumental in renewing the Third or Secular Order of Carmel.He was sensitive to the needs of the faithful and he devoted himself fully to them , spending a lot of time celebrating the Sacrament of Penance and opening to them the treasures of Carmelite spirituality . He could be said to have brought Carmelite spirituality closer to lay people in many different ways - publishing various leaflets, books, giving talks, promoting the Brown Scapular, writing letters to people in a number of surrounding countries, such as Russia, Hungary and Romania. The Secular Carmelite Order and the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular. In 1902 Kalinowski established, a scapular Confraternity in Sulina, Romania, through his friend Teresa Moruzi, a member of the Secular Order , and he tried to obtain for it canonical recognition from the General of the Order by sending him the necessary application forms . He encouraged Jesuits working in a place called Jassy 3 to propagate devotion to the Scapular and also wrote to the Austrian Consul`s daughter Fanny Jelinek 4in Sulina asking her to spread the scapular devotion. 3 The second most populous city in Romania, also known as Lassey and Lasi.It is an important cultural center. 4 Her father Franz Jelinek was Consul in Sulina at this time. I t not clear how Kalinowski knew them, perhaps through the Moruzi family. 2 Catholic priests in Romania reported what a positive influence the scapular was in Christian life. There were instances of conversions from Orthodox Christianity to Catholicism due to the scapular. Raphael even made plans to establish the Secular Order of Carmel in connection with a Carmelite house in the capital Bucharest. He also eagerly propagated devotion to the scapular in Poland itself and tried to encourage priests in the surrounding territories to join the scapular Confraternity. He wrote to a certain Irena Balatowska : `Do try hard to establish Holy Scapular Confraternity in your parish and become a promoter of devotion to the Blessed Virgin. In his letters he insisted on how people should pray in relation to wearing the scapular, so that wearing it didn’t tend to become routine or border on the superstitious. He translated various spiritual books such as a guide for daily meditations on the Virgin Mary with the intention of publishing them. In his ministry in the various Churches he served , he transformed them into sanctuaries of the Virgin Mary of the Scapular ; in Czerna itself which became a great pilgrimage center, and in that of St. Joseph in Wadowice , a house he himself had founded. During his stay in Czerna , group pilgrimages from the Prussian sector of Silesia came to seek spiritual direction from him. Here they would buy Polish religious books available in the Priory. Though the Carmelite Secular Order and the Scapular Confraternity are distinct they are interrelated. Part of the ceremonial for induction into the secular Order ( as indeed for the other two Orders) is the conferring of the scapular. From the point of view of the Church`s formal worship a scapular, in connection with whatever Order, is called a sacramental, just like holy water or a religious medal. It is called a `sacramental` because though it is related to the church`s sacraments, it is not part of the seven.A sacramental can prepare and lead up to a fruitful participation in the life of the sacraments, and it can help people prolong this fruitfulness by having a blessed object on one`s person or in the home. The value of the sacramental does nor reside in the object itself but in the rite for blessing the object carried out by an approved minister of the church. The rite for the blessing and enrolment in the a particular scapular devotion was approved by a Decree from the Congregation for Divine Worship on 27 January 1989 and signed by Cardinal Martinez. Formal membership of a Confraternity of the Brown Scapular is not required in order for a person to be enrolled. In the enrolment ceremony the cloth scapular is always used but subsequently a medal can be substituted for this , especially in warmer countries and according to individual preferences. 3 Kalinowski`s specific work for Carmelite Secular Order. Raphael Kalinowski was the founder of Carmelite Third or Secular Order in Czerna and Wadowice and even before that , immediately after ordination, he was also appointed by the provincial as Director of the existing Secular Order , set up and led by Princess Marcelina at the Discalced Carmelite Convent in Lobozowa, Kracow. Secular Order meetings took place in Carmelite chapel on the first Friday of each month. Raphael took part in those meetings, directing and preaching conferences and hearing confessions. 5 Secular Carmelite members certainly were very devoted to Kalinowski as their Director. They went to him for the Sacrament of Reconciliation , he carried out the usual ceremonies for them , gave them inspiring talks and received what are now called their Promises. Like a good Father he tried to give them spiritual consolation such as arranging a meeting with Fr. Gotti, General of the Order . John Baptist Bouchaud OCD described in a biography of Kalinowski how he encouraged the members in Krakow to engage in charitable activities such as helping poor people, etc. The Secular Order as we saw had been in existence in Poland before Kalinowski's time but it was he who gave it a new impetus and established new communities. In this place I will briefly analyse historical facts related to our Secular Order in Poland and its relationship with St. Rafael. 1864 is thought to be the year Princess Marcelina established the Secular Order on her return from Paris, at the Carmelite Convent in Wesola , situated at 24 Copernicus St, Krakow. On December 8th,1873, the Third or Secular order was established in Poznan at the Discalced Carmelite Convent by a Belgian Discalced Carmelite Andrew of St.

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