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The truth of the Lord remaineth for ever.
- Psalm 116 [117]:2

 

The Carmelite and The Shield of Faith

 “Because, indeed, man’s life on earth is a trial, and all who wish to live devotedly in Christ suffer persecution, and also since your adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, you are to use every care to put on the armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand the deceits of the enemy.” (Carmelite Rule, ch. 18)  Thus does Saint Albert of Jerusalem instruct the Carmelite in his Rule.

The first Carmelites, in the footsteps of the Desert Fathers before them, went out into the “desert” of Carmel to engage in hand-to-hand spiritual combat with the devil.  In our secularized world, the Carmelite no longer has to go out to meet the enemy.  The devil, who knows his time is short (cf. Apocalypse 12,12), comes to meet the Carmelite wherever he may be. Though Carmelites stand on the front line by virtue of their profession, this battle besets every Christian.

Saint Albert recommends a whole array of armour with which to be clothed for the battle, but most essential is the shield of faith – faith in the One Who said “I am the Truth,” and “the truth will set you free.”  (cf. St. John 14,6; 8,32)  This God Who is Truth can neither deceive nor be deceived.  But the devil, the father of lies and murderer from the beginning (cf. St. John 8,44), seeks to sow in men’s hearts doubts of God’s goodness, love and truth.  The enemy begins in the garden with a lie:  What God has told you is not so!  He withholds from you the truth – it is I who shall disclose the truth to you! (cf. Genesis 3:4-5)  He does not cease to whisper that same insidious lie over and over again, in myriad subtleties and disguises.  Saint Albert wisely exhorts that “in all circumstances the shield of faith must be taken up, in which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Carmelite Rule, ch. 19).” 

It is faith which recognizes the lies of the evil one as the deceptions that they are; faith which shields the soul from the constant bombardment of half-truths and un-truths that masquerade as wisdom for modern man; faith which reveals as false the claim that there is no truth.

The Carmelite of today stands in the breach beside his father St. Elijah, his faith held high, to tell the world that the Lord God lives; He is Truth; He is Jesus Christ.  Follow Him.  (cf. III [I] Kings 18,21)

Next Month:  The Carmelites and the Crib