Carmelite Marian devotion?

[Alison]

Hey everyone! I’m discerning religious life right now and i’ve been looking into the Carmelites. I was just wondering how there Marian devotion is "structured". I’ve been doing the whole "to Jesus through Mary" thing so I guess I was just curious as to if the Carmelites practice that as well

[Anastasia]

Hello. It is not "structured". Carmelites see the Virgin Mary as a perfect model of the interior life (her total surrender to God, her not thinking of Herself, being hidden, being quietly available to God etc). The emphasis is on "getting to know the Virgin Mary and learning from her".

3 hours ago, Alison said:

"to Jesus through Mary"

I do not think so. Carmel is about going for Christ in a very direct way, like St John of the Cross. It least it is what I am familiar with.

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I will put here the poetry of Jessica Powers, a Carmelite, about the Virgin Mary. It is exactly what I was trying to express.

 

The Pool of God

There was nothing in the Virgin's soul
that belonged to the Virgin -
no word, no thought, no image, no intent.
She was a pure, transparent pool reflecting
God, only God.

She held His burnished day; she held His night
of planet-glow or shade inscrutable.
God was her sky and she who mirrored Him
became His firmament.

When I so much as turn my thoughts towards her
my spirit is enisled in her repose.
And when I gaze into her selfless depths
an anguish in me grows
to hold such blueness and to hold such fire.

I pray to hollow out my earth and be
filled with these waters of transparency.
I think that one could die of this desire,
seeing oneself dry earth or stubborn sod.

Oh, to become a pure pool like the Virgin,
water that lost the semblances of water
and was a sky like God. 

Edited February 14, 2021 by Anastasia

[Alison]

This was very helpful! Thank you :)

[AveMariaPurissima]

Hi Alison! Welcome to Phatmass! I encourage you to check out Vocation Station -- if you post your question there, you're even more likely to get additional answers! God bless!