In comparison with the written rules of religious Orders, the Albertine version is unusual in a number of ways. It has twenty-four brief chapters; in the first, Patriarch Albert addresses "his beloved sons in Christ," B[maybe Brocard?] and the other hermits under obedience to him who live near the spring on Mount Carmel.²  Chapter 24 concludes: "Here are a few points I have written down with a standard of conduct to live up to, but our Lord, at his second coming, will reward anyone who does more than he is obliged to do." The final sentence shows a Benedictine balance: "See that the bounds of common sense are not exceeded, however, for common sense is the guide of the virtues." Neither Elijah nor Mary is named in the Rule, though the "spring on Mount Carmel" can be identified with the fountain of Elijah, and Chapter 14 recommends the building of an oratory among the cells and daily Mass. It would develop that the oratory bore the name of "the Lady of the place," and pilgrim accounts soon after 1231 specify that the oratory was dedicated to Mary, inevitably Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

All considerations of a Marian aspect to Carmelite origins must keep in mind that the hermits on Carmel and their successors in Europe came into a medieval Church and society with a highly developed sense of Holy Mary. Carmelite Marian life absorbed much of what was around them. There are two aspects of particular note: one the theme of patronage, the other the name of Mary in the Order’s title. The dedication of their oratory to Mary reflected the understanding that she was their patroness; she was present to their community. The second element is the incidence of Mary’s name in the title of the Order, particularly important given the Carmelite problems of origin and identity, for they encountered opposition as they migrated back to the West. The Holy See was prohibiting the formation of new religious congregations, as a result of legislation promulgated at the fourth Council of the Lateran, A.D. 1215.

Albert’s Rule refers to hermits, more frequently to "brothers" (Latin fratres, whence frati). A bull of Innocent IV (1252) was addressed to archbishops and bishops "in favor of the hermits of St. Mary of Mount Carmel." It was common to use Marian titles for many enterprises—monasteries, churches, hospitals, religious congregations. Through the balance of the thirteenth century, pontifical documents used such titles as "the Order of St. Mary of Mt. Carmel," "hermit brothers of the Order of Blessed Mary of Mt. Carmel," or simply, in legal and civil documents, "Order of Saint Mary of Mount Carmel." A rescript of Urban IV (1263) called Mary "Patron of Carmel." Among Order documents, the 1294 Constitutions were the first to declare Mary as patron. About the same time (1274, under Gregory X) "Carmelites" became a common term. When a woman’s branch was founded, similar titles were used; the 1481 Parma Constitutions were "Statutes of the Religious Sisters of the Order of the Most Blessed Mother of God of Mount Carmel." The current title is "Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel," abbreviated to simply Carmelites. The sister Order is "Discalced Brothers of the Order of the Most Blessed Mother of God of Mt. Carmel," or, simply (since St. Teresa of Jesus [d. 1581] and St. John [d. 1591]), the Discalced Carmelites. Our abbreviations convey the difference: O.Carm.³  and O.C.D.

The 1281 Constitutions provided a foundational text in the initial article (rubrica prima), as the answer to questions of younger members about origins of the Order. The Elijan origin was stressed, but it was not until the 1324 version that Mary was mentioned. The question then became: How did our Order originate and why are we called Brothers of the Order of the Blessed Mary of Mount Carmel? The answer (along with the reference to Elijah) became: After the Incarnation, the successors of Elijah built a church there (on Mt. Carmel) in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and chose her title. Therefore, from that time they were by apostolic privilege called the "Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel."

² In 1999, Orbis Books (Maryknoll, New York) published At the Fountain of Elijah: The Carmelite Tradition, by Wilfrid McGreal, O.Carm., in the series Traditions of Christian Spirituality.

³ With O-period Carm-period—I have not yet succeeded in persuading even family members that it is not spelled like "o’clock"!