FROM THE HEART OF CARMEL - by Dan Paulos

According to tradition, the holy prophet Elijah was the first hermit of the Carmelite Order. However, little is known about the faithful men who followed him to Mt. Carmel in Palestine. It was not until the 13th Century that the Church demanded religious Orders to keep critical records. It is known that the Order spread quickly, but many of the monasteries were destroyed by the Saracens, forcing the hermits to leave their foundations. They moved to Europe, and in 1247, St. Simon Stock was elected the Superior General, changing their rules and way of life to embrace the needs of the Church. The hermits then became monks, living and ministering in parishes much like the Dominicans and Franciscans.

As early as the 3rd Century, dedicated women lived in communities where they were obedient to a superior. But unlike the Benedictines, Dominicans and Franciscans, the Carmelite Order did not include a branch for women.

During the 13th and 14th Centuries, pious women often lived together and placed themselves under the spiritual supervision of the Carmelite priests. These aspirants remained in the secular world, coming and going as they pleased.

In 1451, John Soreth was elected to the Office of General, and immediately he began to establish the Second Order Carmelites for female members.

During that same year, Pope Nicholas V issued a bull which granted the Order permission to include women as members of the Second Order. The pope's approval was so strangely written, that the Carmelites understood it to mean that they were to allow entrance to pious virgins, widows, women who already lived together under the guidance of priests, or any others who wore the Habit of the Order.

Under these circumstances, the newly founded Second Order spread rapidly through Europe - especially France, Italy and Spain. By 1550, the Convent of the Incarnation in Avila housed over one hundred and eighty nuns, including the renowned Teresa de Ahumada y Cepeda, who later became the beloved St. Teresa of Avila. It was "fashionable" during this time, for many families to have a daughter enter the Carmelite Order. Obviously fashion has nothing to do with an authentic religious vocation, so the Second Order reigned in constant chaos.

Class distinctions were part of the early nuns' lives. So much so, that poor women who had entered the convent slept in large dormitories. Those who came from money lived in suites, and even went as far as having servants if they so chose.

After twenty-six years in the convent, St. Teresa began her reformation. The saint founded thirty-two convents herself, and her reform spread throughout the world.

The female Carmelites are now strictly cloistered. Their lives consist of prayer, penance, sacrifice, manual labor, fasting and silence. Their greatest mission is to pray constantly for the Church and Her priests, and for all those who do not pray for themselves. After the Vatican Councils, their way of life is still austere. They spend much of their time in their small cells, never eat meat, and during Lent, they often still deprive themselves of milk, cheese and eggs. They observe silence except for an hour of recreation each day.

The Carmelite Habit is fashioned after the one worn by St. Teresa: open sandals, a brown tunic and scapular, a white wimple and cloak, and a black veil.

In 1925, Paul Claudel, the French Ambassador to Japan, chanced upon Mother Aimee de Marie, who was on route to Hanoi from the Mans Carmel in France. She was sent in place of St. Therese of Lisieux, who was too ill to travel. Monsieur Claudel showed great interest in introducing the Carmelites to Japan.

Bishop Januarius Hayasaka, the first Japanese prelate, asked Mother Agnes of the Lisieux Carmel (the sister of St. Therese) to open a monastery in his Nagasaki diocese in 1928. Mother Agnes forwarded the request to the Cholet Carmel, the monastery responsible for training nuns for the missions. He informed these nuns that he planned to send one of his spiritual daughters to France as a postulant.

At the Cholet Carmel, in 1930, the Japanese postulant was clothed in the Habit of the Order. Bishop John Alexis Chambon, who was visiting from Japan, resided over the investiture ceremony. Again, the nuns were asked to open a monastery in Tokyo.

Three years later, on January 10th, a small group of missionary Carmelites departed from Cholet for Japan, under the protection of Notre Dame de la Gare. On February 25th, they reached the Port of Yokohama, and were joyously received by Bishop Chambon and students from the Sacred Heart School in Tokyo.

For four days the foundresses were housed at the St. Maur Convent while finishing touches were given to their small monastery. On the feast of St. Joseph, four days later, they were escorted to their new home, where Bishop Chambon celebrated Mass. With his blessing, the papal enclosure was established, and the monastery was given the name, CARMEL OF THE HOLY TRINITY. It was placed under the protection of the Blessed Mother of Mt. Carmel, St. Joseph, and all the saints of their Order.

In 1945, during World War II, the nuns were evacuated, only to return to a heavily damaged monastery. The nuns had made a promise to St. Joseph, that if their home would be liveable when they returned, they would open a new Carmel in his honor. Thus, in 1947, Carmel of St. Joseph at Nishinomiya was established despite the poverty of the war years.

Since the first foundation in 1933 - the Carmelites of Japan have founded five monasteries. And on March 1st, 1983, the Tokyo nuns celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their first Japanese foundation, which today houses twenty members.

In Carmelite tradition, each nun is assigned duties to perform throughout the day. None are considered more important than the next. However, there is one "duty" that has spread throughout many cultures and countries - due to the hidden gift of an unassuming artist.

The Prioress from Tokyo recently stated, "We would like very much to avoid publicity, so unbecoming to poor Carmelite nuns. We ask you not to play-up our names. Our great privilege is to be instrumental in spreading Marian devotion --- Mary, who is our Queen and Mother of Carmel."

The Carmel of the Holy Trinity produces some of the most exquisite Japanese Madonnas to be found today. The artist-nun was born in Aichi Prefecture in the Nagoya diocese, on March 6th, 1927. She is the youngest of four children. She later moved to Tokyo with her family, and entered the Futaba School run by the Sisters of St. Maur.

Sister is self-taught, having studied only in the school's mandatory hour-a-week art classes. At the age of 13 she began painting with water colors, but long before this, she enjoyed drawing familiar Japanese scenes.

She entered Carmel at age 21, and was immediately inspired to paint a Madonna in traditional garbs. Thanks to a senior monastery artist, Sister was able to grow in the field of painting the human figure; something she had never been taught. In 1964, the senior artist was confined to her bed with cancer, and it was at this time that the work of designing the monastery's Christmas cards was passed on to her.

Sister began her new duty by painting "copies" of some of her mentor's works - until at last she was stable enough to create her own charming images that are now so widely known.

When asked how long it takes her to paint an original Madonna, the cloistered nun responded: "It is difficult to compute the hours spent on each design, as our work time is cut-up by our hours of prayer dispersed throughout the day."

It's quite doubtful that this humble Japanese nun is aware of it - but her Madonnas are fondly admired throughout this vast world. And it is truly an honor to have been offered the loan of 27 of her original paintings, which are now being exhibited across the United States.

As the Carmelite patiently paints, she is totally silent with her thoughts. If you study her beautiful images with this same gentle quietness, assuredly you will be able to hear her messages of joy, hope, and peace for the entire world. What better time for her blessing than now? BIBLIOGRAPHY: Journey to Carith by Peter Thomas Rohrbach, O.C.D. Doubleday & Co., 1966 The New Catholic People's Encyclopedia The Catholic Press, 1976 Letters and documents from JAPAN Mother Mary Elias of the Eucharist, O.C.D. Sister Mary Gemma, O.C.D. (The artist) Letters and conversations from Santa Fe's Carmel Mother Rose Teresa, O.C.D.