Carmel in the Holy Land — Carmelite Sisters

Bethlehem Carmel

Carmel of the Holy Child Jesus,
Under the protection of the Souls in Purgatory

House of peace and joy.

One day, at Pau Carmel, when there was conversation with the Bishop of Bayonne about the foundation of a Carmel in Bethlehem, the Bishop asked Sr Mariam of Jesus Crucified if she knew what the word Bethlehem meant. She replied, "It means peace and joy." His Lordship responded, "No, that's not the meaning." The little sister repeated, "Peace and joy." Monsignor then replied, "Bethlehem means House of Bread." She gracefully replied with a sweet smile, "Tell me, Monsignor, if you never have bread to eat, could you have peace and joy ?"

Beth-lehem: in Hebrew, means the house of bread; in Arabic, the expression seems to have a different meaning: translated literally it mean the house of meat. In reality, the deeper sense is the same: in both cases we are dealing with nourishment, of what is truly essential for people to live.

Behold the night,
The immense primordial night,
Nothing exists but Love,
Nothing but Love taking shape
Separating sand from water,
As a cradle God prepares
The earth where he will one day come.
(Hymn from the Liturgy of the Hours)

 

Here is the place where was born the One who said,

"I am the Bread come down from heaven."

adding :

"He who eats my flesh, will live forever."

God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son
So that whoever believes in him will never die, but have eternal life.

* * * * *

Cradle of my Father, David.

Bethlehem Carmel's story is connected to that of Sr Mary of Jesus Crucified, Mariam Baouardy.

From 1872, as a simple lay-sister in Pau Carmel, she began to communicate to her Superiors the Lord's desire that a Carmel be founded in Bethlehem. The location of the future Carmel was revealed to her with precision : on a hill situated outside the small village, exactly where, long ago, the young David took his father's flock to graze ; the place from where he was called to receive annointing as king from the hands of the prophet Samuel and thus became the ancestor of Christ.

Certainly, the way was not smooth. The foundation was realized in 1875, having been authorized by Mgr Lacroix, Bishop of Bayonne (France), accepted, not without difficulty, by Mgr Bracco, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, with the blessing of His Holiness Pope Pius IX and assisted both financially and spiritually by Mlle Berthe Dartigaux (a friend of Pau Carmel and of Mariam).

On 12th September that same year, the founding sisters arrived in Bethlehem. The day was marked by a singular event, as so often happened in the life of the humble "little Arab". In itself it was a banal happening : all of a sudden, a flight of pigeons came to rest on a deserted hill to the west of Bethlehem. Mariam recognized with certainty the Lord's promised sign to show her where the future Carmel should be situated : "On the cradle of my father David," he had told her.

A deep valley separates this hill from that where the Crib had been. It is situated on the watershed between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean. Here there is always a breeze. There was a wonderful view, towards David's city, the village of Beit-Jala, the Judean desert dominated by the Herodian and the mountains of Moab.

* * * * *

Construction

While waiting for the monastery to be built, the sisters had to rent, in Bethlehem town, a house which became the provisory Carmel. The first Mass, said on 24th September, marked the official foundation of the Carmel.

From then on things rapidly progressed : the foundation stone of the new monastery was laid on 24th March 1876 and eight months later, on 21st November, the Carmel was solemnly tranferred to "David's hill".

The building was of a design very rarely found in a Carmel. The Lord inspired Mariam to build a circular cloister, reminiscent of "David's Tower", with an inner courtyard mainly open to the sky. It was a symbol of retreat from the world in solitude and prayer. The ground floor is reserved for the "offices" — the places for the sisters' work — while the cells are above.

The construction of the present chapelle was started in 1888 and was solemnly blessed on November 19, 1892.

* * * * *

Mission

From its foundation, Bethleham Carmel had a double "mission" :
to honour in a special way the poverty of the Child-God in the stable of Bethlehem
and to obtain from him, by their prayer and sacrifice, the strengthening of the Church and the salvation of France.

* * * * *

Nazareth and Emmaus

The mission of Sr Mariam of Jesus Crucified did not come to a stop with the foundation of Bethlehem Carmel. Hardly had the sisters arrived at their destination when they heard Mariam announce that the Lord wanted another Carmel, at Nazareth. She did not hesitate to take the first steps. In April 1878, she set out with the Prioress and another sister of Bethlehem to Nazareth to visit the place where the Carmel would be built. It was along this journey, during a stop at Emmaus, that she pointed out the place where, after his resurrection, the Lord made himself known in the breaking of bread.

(See Emmaus)

Mariam of Jesus Crucified was not able to achieve this foundation. It was only in 1910 that a group of 9 Carmelites left David's hill to found the Nazareth Carmel, which is dedicated to the Holy Family.

* * * * *

Today

Today, Bethlehem Carmel shelters a small community who faithfully try to live the ideal of Bethlehem : "It is the weak of this world whom God has chosen to confound the strong".

In the footsteps of Mariam, the Sisters want to live in the praise and love of the Lord, in a sisterly community centred on the Eucharist.

Drawn by Mariam, many people come to entrust themselves to her intercession. For the simple Christians of this country, as well as for some Muslims, Mariam is truly "the Saint", no matter what Westeners think. Moreover we are sure that from the heights of heaven, she never ceases to draw down the Lord's blessings upon her small Carmel which she loved so much.

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