Carmelite Rite
The Rite of the Holy Sepulchre, commonly called the Carmelite Rite, is the liturgical rite that was used by the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre, Hospitallers, Templars, Carmelites and the other orders founded within the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
History
The rite in use among the Carmelites beginning in about the middle of the twelfth century is known by the name of the Rite of the Holy Sepulchre, the Carmelite Rule, which was written about the year 1210, ordering the hermits of Mount Carmel to follow the approved custom of the Church, which in this instance meant the Patriarchal Church of Jerusalem: "Hi qui litteras noverunt et legere psalmos, per singulas horas eos dicant qui ex institutione sanctorum patrum et ecclesiæ approbata consuetudine ad horas singulas sunt deputati."[1]
This Rite of the Holy Sepulchre was one of the many variations of the Roman Rite with additions from the earlier Gallican rites that came into existence after Charlemagne decreed that the whole of his realm adopt the Roman Rite; it appears to have descended directly from the Parisian Rite, but to have undergone some modifications pointing to other sources. The
The hermits on Mount Carmel were bound by rule only to assemble once a day for the celebration of Mass, the Divine Office being recited privately. Lay brothers who were able to read might recite the Divine Office, while others repeated the Lord's Prayer a certain number of times, according to the length and solemnity of the various offices. It may be presumed that on settling in Europe (from about 1240) the Carmelites conformed to the habit of the other mendicant orders with respect to the choral recitation or chant of the Divine Office, and there is documentary evidence that on Mount Carmel itself the choral recitation was in force at least in 1254.[1]
The General Chapter of 1259 passed a number of regulations on liturgical matters, but owing to the loss of the acts their nature is not known. Subsequent chapters very frequently dealt with the rite chiefly adding new feasts, changing old established customs, or revising rubrics. An
The reform of the
Roughly speaking, the ancient Carmelite Rite of Mass stands about half way between the Carthusian and the Dominican rites. It shows signs of great antiquity – e.g. in the absence of
In the Mass there were some peculiarities. The altar remained covered until the priest and ministers were ready to begin, when the acolytes then rolled back the cover; before the end of the Mass they covered the altar again. On great feasts the
The Divine Office also presented some noteworthy features. The first
The calendar of saints, in the two oldest recensions of the Ordinal, exhibited some feasts proper to the Holy Land, namely some of the early bishops of Jerusalem, the Biblical Patriarchs
Feasts of the order were first introduced towards the end of the fourteenth century – viz. the Commemoration (
A word must be added about the singing. The Ordinal of 1312 allowed fauxbourdon, at least on solemn occasions; organs and organists are mentioned with ever-increasing frequency from the first years of the fifteenth century, the earliest notice being that of Mathias Johannis de Lucca, who in 1410 was elected organist at Florence; the organ itself was a gift of Johannes Dominici Bonnani, surnamed Clerichinus, who died at an advanced age on 24 October 1416.[1]
Current use
The Order of Discalced Carmelites was formally erected on 20 December 1593 by the Apostolic Constitution Pastoralis officii of Pope
After considering the question at its General Chapters of 1965, 1968 and 1971, the Order of Carmelites of the Ancient Observance (formerly styled "calced") decided in 1972 to abandon its traditional rite in favour of the Mass of Paul VI.[4] Over the last decade or so, a group of Carmelites living in North America (Lake Elmo, Minnesota and Christoval, Texas) adopted the eremitical life and have been experimenting with the new forms of the Carmelite rite according to the conciliar norms. The hermits see in it a return to something of the older usage, a liturgical pattern that is better suited in style and shape to the needs of a contemplative community that spends much longer in choir than the friars.
A number of Masses were celebrated according to the Carmelite Rite in July 2012 at St Joseph's Church, Troy, New York by Romaeus Cooney. This represented the first time that the Carmelite Rite has been celebrated publicly in over forty years.[5]
The Carmelite Rite is still offered regularly by the Carmelite Friars of St. Elias province of Middletown, NY. St. Joseph’s Church in Troy, NY continues to celebrate the Carmelite Rite on a regular basis.
The cloistered religious community of the Monks of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel in Wyoming celebrate mass according to the traditional Latin liturgy of the Carmelite Rite.[6]
There was an ad experimentum revision of Holy Week that was published in 1953, issued by Kilian E. Lynch, then the prior general. The main Carmelite missal was never republished, but used by the Carmelite Order from 1937 (its last edition) until they gave up the rite in 1972.
See also
- Latin liturgical rites
- List of Catholic rites and churches
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Rites". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ See "The Life of St. John of the Cross", by Father Bruno OCD
- ^ Parish of Our Lady of Carmel website
- ^ "Carmelite Rite in Troy, New York".
- ^ The Carmelite Monks use the full Carmelite Rite liturgy according to the printed books existent in 1962. They do not simply use elements taken from the Carmelite Rite, as do the Carmelite Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary Archived 2010-01-13 at the Wayback Machine, who experiment with the liturgy according to the needs of their hermits.
External links
- Index of Carmelite Websites
- Carmelite Spirituality
- Non-Roman Latin or Western Rites (some information based on the New Catholic Encyclopedia of the 1960s)
- Proper for the Liturgy of the Hours
- Video of Mass according to the Carmelite rite, celebrated by the former prior general, Kilian Lynch, who at the time of recording (1960) was prior of Aylesford. He is assisted by Edward Maguire as deacon and Camillus Lawler as subdeacon. The preacher is Malachy Lynch, Kilian Lynch's older brother and his immediate predecessor as prior of Aylesford.
- Extract from the Carmelite-rite Mass