Silence in Carmel (Tanay Carmel)

7/29/2019 Silence in Carmel (Tanay Carmel)

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Carmel…A life of

• Prayer

• Fraternity

•

Service



CONTEMPLATION

the heart of our Carmelitecharism. It is the dynamiccore of our specific missionthat unifies and shapes the

other essential elements of our way of life: prayer,fraternity and service.





Prayer is a dialogue with , arelationship and it is God who

always initiates it. Our search forGod is a response to his voice. It

is the experience of God whotransforms us.



The Carmelite charism

implies a way of lifepermeated by the livingpresence of Christ in the

sense of vacare Deo.



This attitude means to put all of

one‟s time and talents at thedisposition of the Lord, to allowone‟s heart to be captured by him

and belong to him, to enjoy beingin his company.



The first hermits on Mount Carmellearned from Elijah how to remain

in God‟s presence.(1 Kgs 17:1) andfrom Mary, the prayerful woman,who pondered everything in herheart, we have the sublime modelof prayerful attention.

Lk18:15)



In Jesus we see what we can beand will be. It is God‟s will Inthat we should reach the fullmaturity of His Son and to attain

this we must pass through aprocess of transformation.



This transforming process iscontemplation through which

we accept the boundless loveof God.

(Günter Benker, O. Carm.)



Contemplation was only

understood in the perspective of alife in the cloister, spending asmuch time as possible in one‟s own

cell or, even worse, fostering theold dichotomy between “action” and “contemplation” by makingsuch a great contrast betweenactive apostolate and a life

dedicated to prayer.



Our spirituality is particularly

rich in this matter. It is whatpeople expect of Carmel andwhat we must offer if we are to

be faithful to the vocation givenus by God.



Our Holy Rule states: “To meditate day and night onthe law of the Lord and

keeping watch in prayer.”



The centrality of prayer takespriority over all the other means

described in our Rule to enableCarmelites to live in allegianceto Jesus Christ and to render himunswerving service with a pureheart and an upright

conscience.”



Today contemplation isunderstood as an attitude and a

life-style, as an inner journeyand a process of transformationthat affects all dimensions of

our life : our prayer, activity,solitude our relationships, and

what we are.



Fr. Joseph Chalmer defined

contemplation as seeing withthe eyes of God and lovingwith the heart of God.



Contemplation is the mostessential and basic value of our

vocation because it meansentrusting ourselves in anysituation of our life to the

boundless love of God without anyother security so that He may heal

our wounds, purify ourmotivations, transform our feelingsand our thinking according to the

principles of the Gospel.



This fundamental metanoia, thisexistential change of mind and

heart is the centre of ourcharism as Carmelites. Through

this transformation we becomewhat we are supposed to be: tobe love in the heart of the

Church.



Spiritual life is not a matter of feelings but of a conscious

decision for a relationshipoffered by God through Jesus

Christ, the image of the invisibleGod who took the initiative andis waiting for our response.



As Carmelites we are asked to

respond by contemplation, amutual loving encounter orrelationship.



Contemplation has two

dimensions:• active: “contemplating God” in order to get to

know him better(meditation)



passive: “letting Godcontemplate me” so that I may be

fully known by him and at thesame time gain a true knowledge

of Him - no longer through myown activity but through thepersonal and intimate revelation

of his love.



This process of transformation is

liberating but also painful,because all the security thatcame from our familiar ways of

thinking and perceiving will betaken away from us. John of the

Cross therefore calls this processan experience of dark nightwhere we must only cling to pure

and naked faith.



This transforming process of contemplation which involves ouractive meditation in times of

prayer and in the events of ourdaily life as well as our passivereceptivity for God in all

situations of our lives which maylead into the true contemplativeexperience.





Our Carmelite tradition hands on

to us the cult of silence, receivedfrom the beginning of the Order,when it suggests, as an essentialpart of our life, that we live in thePRESENCE OF GOD, in constant

touch with HIM: “Bear yourself blameless in my presence” (Gen17:1).



Silence has two levels:• exterior:

of words and gestures or silenceon a “conscious” level;

• interior: (internal faculties)imagination, intelligence,affection or silence to enlighten

the depths of the “unconscious”, a silence to purify, pacify andunify.



But like all things, even silence

may be tainted by ambiguity. Itcan bring us to the fullness of LOVE and COMMUNION, or it canincrease selfishness, leading to alack of openness, seeking

comfort, flight, self-centerednessand self-interest.



Silence and Human Maturity “Silence is a science that is

learnt, a wisdom that isacquired, an experience that islived, but above all a love that

gives itself.”



Human beings are called topeace, deep joy, love and a

constant celebration of life. St.Irenaeus summarized this well:“The glory of God is man fullyalive.” It is to live and enjoy thelife for which Jesus came. “I

came that they might have lifeand have it to the full‟ (Jn 10:10)”.

P h thi f ll f



Person who come this fullness of life are those who have learnt to

love, as what befits one who isindwelt by LOVE, who live in arelationship of love. Thus, it is

only this RELATIONSHIP OF LOVEthat gives meaning to human life,

because only those who arecapable of developing and livingthis relationship achieve human

maturity.

C i ti i gift f G d th t



Communication is a gift of God thatbridge relationship with others and

with creation. It can be verbal (inwords) or non-verbal (actions, lookor even a thought). But any form of

communication if it is not born outof the depths of silence is

meaningless, and most of the time,hinders communion inrelationships, if not totally

destroys it.



Only silence endows words — instruments of dialogue and of

communication — with theirdeepest dimension and truemeaning.



People who keep silence come

to an interior peace that allowsthem to speak and work moreefficiently; in fact, silence is

also the climate of creativity.



Only those who have come totrue solitude are capable of a

true relationship of love. In fact,love demands an understandingdialogue, a sharing of life and

communication. Indeed, we cansay that to love is to share, and

to share is to communicate.



Silence and solitude are essential

factors to achieve perfectcommunication, sharing andauthentic relationship of love

and dialogue.



Only through silence can onelearn to search one‟s interior life,

to understand one‟s mystery, todefine oneself, to know oneself,to find real truth, to grow in

perfection, as well as to know theother and to enter into true

relationships.



Without silence our dialogue

becomes superficial, with nopossibility of understanding themystery of the other or to listencarefully.

Silence activates our ability forsolidarity. To seek silence, oneneed



“Silence is the great teacher of truth...

the teacher of love”. Hence it affects

the conscious and subconscious in a

person.



The heart of every person, nomatter what his/her state, needsto practice SILENCE because it is

the indispensable atmospherethat accompanies a person along

the way to growth and maturityuntil the person truly becomesformed according to the will of

GOD.



Two basic types of silence:

a) the silence that is a negationof the Word

b) the silence that welcomes theWord.



The silence that is a negation of the WordThis kind of silence closes theperson to love, to communication.

It takes on various forms:• Silence of indifference: asthough the other does not exist.



• Silence of pride: as though theother were worth nothing.

• Silence of rancor: notaccepting or unforgiving.

•

Silence of weakness: fear of commitment, flight.• Silence of complicity: covering

up culpable situations.• Silence of betrayal: refusing to

witness to the truth.



The silence that welcomes the

WordThis is the silence that gives properspace to persons. It provides onewith the opportunity to listen tohim/herself, to listen to the other,

to listen to God. It harmonizes themind with eternity, leaving roomfor LOVE.



This is the silence that purifies,silencing the dissonant voices of

selfishness that pollute LOVE.This is the silence that brings the

fullness of life.



The effects of silence in a person‟s

lifeIt calms, purifies, comforts,enlightens, frees, leads to unity,and strengthens communion,

reveals one‟s identity, refines the

conscience, leads one to intuit thepresence of God in oneself, makesthe “heart” grow.



Person who live in the depths of silence

contemplate reality in its true light.

They have attain the harmony of their

being, the most stable unity: “It is not I

who live, but Christ lives in me.” Theysee the essence rather than the

appearance of things... PEACE and JOY

are their permanent “habitat”. They arefree from biases and prejudices that

clouds the vision.



Silence, practiced responsibly and

fully, educates the person in thedifficult art of speaking, making one

weigh well one’s words and say only

that which is according to God’s will.

SILENCE IN CARMELITE TRADITION



SILENCE IN CARMELITE TRADITION

“If you remain united to the lightit will teach you everything;it will reveal whatever needs to be

learnt,not with words, but in another

way.” “Silence without internal words would be nothing, absolute

emptiness.”



The origins of the Order tell us of a

search for a style of life that aimed

at educating the heart. Its manyreforms have always stressed love of

silence, in loving and constant

attention to God’s presence, as an

established and sound means of

achieving VACARE DEO.



Carmelites have not invented anything

new or original. They searched the lives

of the people in the Bible, the greatmoments in their history, the habits of

their leaders, the manner of being,

speaking and acting of Jesus himself,and they found that these persons

achieved maturity in SILENCE.



The inspirational models of Carmel

— Elijah and Mary — are perfect

models of a contemplative and openSILENCE.

Our mystics experienced the fruits of

silence in their lives.



In Carmel, SILENCE is intimatelylinked with the experience of theDESERT and SOLITUDE, elementsthat are interdependent,

complementary and indispensablefor the rich and wonderful life of our spiritual heritage.



In this heritage, DESERT-SOLITUDE-SILENCE are not necessarilygeographical places. They areabove all states of mind and of

heart, which produce in persons aninterior refinement, a capabilityand availability to share one‟s gift

and to share in the mystery of theother. This is the revelation of LOVE.



Silence, as understood in Carmel,

leads to direct contact with thetruth of our existence and bringsus face to face with GOD, giving us

that deep experience which makesus desire ardently, “Ah, tear theveil of this our sweet encounter!” (John of the Cross, The LivingFlame of Love, Stanza 1).

We hear the voice of GOD when



We hear the voice of GOD whenwe live in contemplative silence,

and makes us hear its echoes inevery brother and sister, and inevery creature... Life in VACAREDEO, „Happy the man you choose,whom you invite to live in your

courts. Fill us with the good thingsof your house, of your holyTemple” (Ps 65, 4-5).

Silence makes up much of our Rule



Silence makes up much of our Rule

Number 21 presents silence so

explicitly with biblical references and indetail as to its observance:

The Apostle would have us keepsilence, for in silence he tells us to

work. As the Prophet also makes

known to us: Silence is the way tofoster holiness. Elsewhere he says, Your

strength will lie in silence and hope.

For this reason I lay down that you are



For this reason I lay down that you are

to keep silence from after Compline

until after Prime the next day. At othertimes, although you need not keep

silence so strictly, be careful not to

indulge in a great deal of talk, for asScripture has it - and experience

teaches us no less - sin will not be

wanting where there is much talk, and

he who is careless in speech will come

to harm; and elsewhere: The use of of



many words brings harm to the

speaker’s soul. And our Lord says in theGospel: Every rash word uttered will

have to be accounted for on judgment

day. Make a balance then, each of you,to weigh his words in; keep a tight rein

on your mouths, lest you should

stumble and fall in speech and your fall

be irreparable and prove mortal.



Like the Prophet, watch your step

lest your tongue give offence, and

employ every care in keeping silent,which is the way to foster holiness.”



As revealed in the whole of the

provisions of our Rule, silence is to give

content to life, authority to the word,

sense, content and transparency to

dialogue and communication, especiallyin that which concerns the highest level

of human life.



Silence is an indispensable means

that is recognized as sound from theexperience of many who in the past

and in the present have chosen to live

according to this Rule.

It is strange and remarkable what



It is strange and remarkable what

authority this Rule holds, a Rule that is

so brief and concise, yet woven with“well-chosen words”, born from lived

experience rather than from concepts

and empty considerations.

The value of silence is emphasized in

the Rule not only by the words innumber 21, but by the style of life it

puts before us.

Carmelite Experiences of Silence



Carmelite Experiences of Silence

The Carmelite’s style of life is

marked by silence. The whole of

the Rule implies that a life of

silence is synonymous with fullness

of life, because it is a life of intimacy with God, of fraternity,

and of service.

Throughout the centuries, Carmelites



g ,

have always kept and encouraged

silence and solitude insisting on a lifeof recollection, avoiding anything that

might endanger or threaten it, using

appropriate means to ensure life in thepresence of God. The Order shows its

fidelity to the recommendation of

these means: “The interior man is

aware that times of silence are

requisites of divine love.



Our life is a constant conversation withGod which consists in WORD-SILENCE.

To learn Silence-Word one needs to go

through solitude and the desert.“Silence and solitude are brother and

sister who hold hands and gently helpeach other” (John of St. Samson,

Theorems).



All this leads us to the conclusion that:

“Silence is voluntary solitude, kept

even in the midst of the people.

Without silence man is attracted toexternal things. It is silence that makes

the desert, without which it is

impossible to find holiness’, (L.Herling, S.J., Ascetic and Mystical

Theology).

l h h f l d d



In Carmel, the search for solitude and

silence is one with the experience of

the desert, which gives form to this

way of life. It is an experience that

leads the person to a purification of its ambiguities, towards a radical

Christian commitment, creating the

conditions for following Christ, “to serve him pure in heart and stout in

conscience”.

Silence-solitude-desert is not just an



j

external sign of life that the Carmelites

sought and still seek, but a desire toachieve the renunciation of all that is

attached to the old person in order to

arrive at the experience GOD as theABSOLUTE and of the relativity of all

else, including people and oneself. It is

a way of following Jesus who always

sought the presence of God in solitary

places.

The practice of the desert is the



The practice of the desert is the

keynote and is part of any serious

search for God.

The Carmelite way of life is oriented

towards the most absolute of of silences: the death of self in order to

contemplate God who dwells in

inaccessible light. It is in this mould of thinking that many generations of

Carmelites were formed.



QUOTES FROM OUR

CARMELITE SAINTS



Blessed John Soreth: “The cell protects

the son of grace... It nourishes him,embraces him, leads him to the fullness

of perfection and makes him worthy of

conversing with God...The cell of theservant of the Lord is like the holy

temple of God. As in the temple so in

the cell, divine matters are dealt with,

but in the cell, even more frequently...



You will have an external and an

internal cell: the external cell is the

room of your soul and body; the

internal cell is your conscience,

where the God of your interior worldmust dwell with your spirit.”



John of St. Samson (+l636) taught

the novices the value of silence,

calling the custom of keeping silence

“the virtue of silence”, difficult to

achieve for those who are poor inthe gifts of the spirit.



“It is often necessary to go to

extremes in order to find the just

means. Hence one must exerciseabsolute silence. In order to achieve

the necessary attitude of speaking

well and with precision, silence andsolitude are two brothers who hold

hands to help each other.



Interior silence is more perfect than

exterior silence. It checks andcontrols the movements of all the

passions. We must achieve interior

silence by practicing exterior

silence... Silence is a very important

cure for our blindness and all otherspiritual defects.” (Spiritual

sentences).



“The Father spoke one Word, which

was his Son, and he speaks it in an

eternal silence; and in silence it

must be heard by the soul.” (John of

the Cross)

“O C l i il d



“On Mount Carmel, in silence and

solitude, in uninterrupted prayer

because kept up through the various

occupations, the Carmelite lives as

s/he would in heaven... Thus thesoul yearns for silence in order to

penetrate ever more the infinite

being... S/he loves silence andprayer, because it is the essence of

our life.



The Virgin’s attitude during the

months between the Annunciationand Christmas is the model of

interior souls, of those chosen by

God to live an inner life, in the depthof the bottomless abyss... And this

does not prevent them from giving

themselves outwardly when charity

demands.” (Elisabeth of the Trinity)



“The visible events that renew the

face of the earth are anticipated inthe silent dialogue of the souls

consecrated to God...

Jesus gave himself to solitary prayer

in the quiet of the night, atop the

mountain, in the desert, far frompeople....” (Edith Stein)

CARMELITE SILENCE AND COMMITMENT



CARMELITE SILENCE AND COMMITMENT

Carmelite spirituality offers us a

complete, efficient, challenging and life

giving plan to go to the root of one’s being and discover the truth about

oneself as one searches for the truth

that is God and realize God’s plan. This

is achieved in silence by going through

the desert



This journey may begin with

imperfect motivations, but, as oneprogresses in one’s search for God,

these motivations are purified and

the person is led to an increasingly

full option for life, emerging in love

of solidarity, and achieving fraternalcommunion.



Then we will have silenced the spirit

of the world and there emerges in us

the presence of God. We come to theexperiential knowledge of the

gratuitous generosity of God and the

desire to identify ourselves with God

in the love of neighbor

Silence-solitude prepares the person



for presence that leads to adoration at

the same time transformingrelationships and service into signs of

love.

In silence-solitude our being is open to

the divine dimension making us achieve

God’s plan for us and for the world. Thisis the Carmelite way of preparing for

and realizing mission.

Changes Worked by Silence-Solitude



a) Life from the exterior to one’s

interior We achieve our integration when we

have a clear knowledge of ourselves,the circumstances of life, and

accepting them in the light of God.

The sense of guilt, sadness, distress,

all the things that cause neurosis will

disappear



It is in living in depth that our

being rests and finds PEACE and

JOY. Our commitment to the

diaconia will be a joyful witness of

the presence of God in us.

b)Disintoxication of the person and



genuine satisfaction

In solitude-silence, we listen more toGod who transforms us from the “old

person into the ‘new person”. It helps

us to be detached from conditional

necessities of life. It frees our mind,

memory and heart from anxiety,insatiability, and fear of losing little

things.

) f f d



c) Going from possessiveness to freedom

Silence-solitude gradually leads us intothe freedom of the children of God.

Through purification we pass from

attachment and possessiveness to the

liberation from ties. Going from

complexity to simplicity, from theephemeral to the eternal, from the

conditional to the essential.

d) Open to the universal merciful love



d) Open to the universal merciful love

If we dwell on the Rule meditated with

love, it will grow in value. The deep

consciousness of our fragility taken up

by the ever-present LOVE of GOD opensus to merciful love towards our brothers

and sisters. The capacity to love, freed

from the worship of self, manifests itself in welcoming every person joyfully,

kindly and gently



Thus, one of the more evident fruitsof silence-solitude is meeting the

brothers and sisters and getting out

of the narrow circle of oneself.



e) Life of discernment

A loving devotion to God, the only aim

of silence-solitude, leads us to

examine God’s plan for the world allthe time and exclusively. Constant

discernment, which purifies the

motivations and means of our actions,will be our daily guide in every

situation.



Then, silence gives rise to an attitude

of adoration and increases the capacityof self-giving even to the cross, of

faithfulness, of perfection, of honesty.

Action will be without many words,because it arises from the relationship

with the Lord, and is not based on

weak motivations, but only on the plan

of God.



Dear Lord, when looking up to Thee,

I see Thy loving eyes on me;Love overflows my humble heart,

Knowing what faithful Friend Thou art.

A cup of sorrow I foresee,

Which I accept for love of Thee.

Thy painful way I wish to go;

The only way to God, I know.

My soul is full of peace and light;



My soul is full of peace and light;

Although in pain, this light shines bright,

For here thou keepest to Thy breast

My longing heart to find there rest.

Leave me here freely all alone,

In cell where never sunlight shone.

Should no one ever speak to me,This golden silence makes me free!



For though alone, I have no fear;

Never wert Thou, o Lord, so near.

Sweet Jesus, please, abide with me!My deepest peace I find in Thee.



Only the one who has discovered

LOVE, present ever so deep within

the self, can come to the full giving of self in PEACE and JOY; but it is

impossible to perceive this love

without silence and solitude.

f) Going from the memory of God to



) g y

living in God’s presence

Union with God touches one’s most

secret roots, embracing one totally. The

certainty of one’s love takes on anunmistakable character, demanding

more and more loving silence-attention

and experiencing an ever growing thirstfor God.



One experiences a certain “natural”

living together with God. It is thepossession of the INFINITE GOOD that

gives endless rest and happiness. In

one’s life, one feels the TRINITY as the“parental home” where one wishes to

live for ever.

And so silence in practice becomes



And so silence in practice becomes

praise It becomes COMMUNION

with the SUPREME GOOD and, inthe SUPREME GOOD, peopled with

the brothers and sisters and withreality. One achieves life in vacare

Deo, which is what the Rule invites

us to aim for.

Silence in Carmel (Tanay Carmel)

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