The Carmelites in Zimbabwe
Carmelites are ordinary people who give witness to an extraordinary reality – the abiding presence of God. It was the motivating force for Elijah whose spirit continues – “the Lord lives, in whose presence I stand” and “with zeal, have I been jealous for the Lord God of Hosts.”
From the Latin for brother the ‘friars’ of the Carmelite Order began not as a religious order but as a small band of mostly lay people who came together and formed a community on the slopes of Mount Carmel in the Holy Land at the beginning of the thirteenth century.
Over the centuries many people have felt called to Carmel, some as religious friars or nuns others as lay people.
Today most though not all friars are ordained priests but the identity as ‘brother’ remains the most fundamental aspect of a Carmelite friar’s vocation.
Unlike monks who live in largely enclosed monasteries often in remote places, the notion of being ‘in the midst of the people’ is very important for the friars’ way of life.
The material support of friars is also different from that of monks who historically live off their own farm produce or from renting out land. The Carmelite friars, however, are a mendicant order depending entirely on the providence of God in the form of the charitable support of the people they serve.