Be Holy and Lead Others to Holiness
CONGREGATION
OF THE MOTHER OF CARMEL(CMC)
CMC,
the first indigenous religious congregation for women in the Syro Malabar
Church, was founded as the Third Order of Carmelites Discalced on February 13th
1866 at Koonammavu, Kerala by Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871). Rev. Fr. Leopold Beccaro OCD is its
co-founder. Rooted in the Indian Culture, nourished by the heritage of St.
Thomas Christians, CMC took its form as an offshoot of the Carmelite family.
On
20th May 1887 by the decree Quod iam pridem of Pope Leo XIII,
Syro Malabar Christians were separated from the Latin jurisdiction of the Archdiocese
of Verapoly and established Syro Malabar dioceses of Trichur and Kottayam. This
was a turning point in the life of the then infant Congregation. Both Latin and
Syrian bishops claimed the jurisdiction of the convent at Koonammavu and on
18th April 1890 verdict reached from the Holy See entrusting the convent under
the vicariate of Trichur. As a result, on 17th September 1890, there occurred a
bifurcation and Latin sisters went to the vicariate of Verapoly and later came
to be known as Congregation of Theresian Carmelites (CTC). With the
reorganization of the dioceses of Trichur, Ernakulam and Changanacherry in 1896,
the Syrian section got divided into independent units, each of which was directed
and patronized by the Local Ordinary of the respective diocese. The further
bifurcation of Ernakulam and Changanacherry into Kothamangalam and Pala paved
the way of forming new units of the Congregation. All the five units were
growing independently under the patronage of Local Ordinaries guided by its own
Mother General.
The
great event of the Unification of the above independent segments
of the Congregation under one Mother General took place on 16th November 1963
under the guidance of Papal delegate late Msgr. Hippolytus OFM Cap., who later
became the first bishop of Jammu-Kashmir. The Congregation was raised to the
Pontifical status by the Sacred Congregation for Oriental Churches on 2nd March
1967 under the new name, Congregation of the Mother of Carmel (CMC). Thus after
a century of independent growth, the Congregation started her united
full-fledged onward march into new avenues of love and service. Today CMC renders
her faithful service in four continents like Asia, Africa, America and Europe
with much dedication. Her beauty is doubled due to the presence of indigenous
vocations from different states of India and also from Africa. Today she is
blessed with 6410 nuns and
nearly 500 formees in different stages in 21 provinces, 2 Vice Provinces and 5 regions
including Chavara Region Africa. Thus the Abode of Virtue for the girls of
Malabar, started at Koonammavu, has reached the ends of the earth with the
Good News of Salvation beyond the limits of time,culture and place. By this the
Kerala women who were for the life confined to the kitchen at home, were
brought to the limelight for the service of womenfolk.
Our founder St. Chavara Kuriakose Elias envisioned the spiritual resurrection of the people
of God through the initiation of our congregation. The prime duty and goal of
the establishment of our congregation was to enable the people of God to
understand the meaning of the gift of faith and also help and support them to
worship God in spirit and truth and lead them to infinite bliss of mystery of
the salvation of Christ.On 8th February 1986 Blessed Pope John Paul II
beatified our founder Father Chavara Kuriakose Elias; and one of the members
of our congregation Mother Euphrasia was raised to the status of Blessed
by Pope Benedict XVI on 3rd December 2006. On November 23rd 2014, Our Founder Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Sr. Euphrasia Elavuthunkal is canonized by Pope Francis. The Congrigation celebrated its 150th Jubilee in the Year 2015-16(1866-2016).