A word from the Superior General

Where ever it is to be found on earth or in Heaven, our Betharram family is going to celebrate with great joy the canonization of Blessed Mariam of Jesus Crucified, the young Carmelite with the white veil, the young Arab woman, the “little nothing” as she liked to call herself.

The first cause of our joy will be the contemplation of Marie sharing the glory of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit after having been faithful to the Gospel on this earth. Such a perspective assures us that it is possible to take the Gospels seriously and to live them out fully and in great simplicity. We can see in the life of Blessed Mariam of Jesus Crucified that these words of the Gospels are full of life: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, to have revealed these mysteries to the poor and the humble”; “blessed are the poor in spirit......” “Whoever humbles himself will be exalted...” “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to the smallest of seeds or to a portion of yeast which a woman takes and which makes the dough rise; it can be compared to a treasure or to a pearl of great price...”
Mariam lived as if she was a fugitive: She was illiterate, wore the white veil (meaning that she was not obliged to attend the choir being unable to read the psalms), she used to call upon one of her sisters to write up the accounts of her mystical experiences or to write letters. There is no doubt that she was great by her experiences of God’s love; God chose her to be his confidante and intermediary to prove his love to the Sisters in the community. She was faithful to God’s love like her mother St Theresa, through the piercing of her heart which took place in the Carmelite Monastery of Pau on May 24, 1868. This experience of God’s love, like that of the beloved, was to be followed by the cross, sufferings, humiliations, misunderstandings, scorn and union with her Spouse, the crucified Christ, through the sufferings of the stigmata.

Even though she was considered to be the “little nothing” she had her position and moral standing in the community. It was she who, for example, planned and directed the building of the monastery in Bethlehem where she fell and fractured her arm. Gangrene set in and carried her off on 26 August 1878 at the early age of 32. As the poet says: “He who is loved by God can but die young”. Great was the influence she had on her spiritual director, Father Estrate and on the foundress of the Carmelite monastery in Bethlehem, Mlle Berthe Dartiguaux; after her death they both forgot something of the Gospels of which she had witnessed in their presence by her words and deeds! She had influence also on Mother Veronica of the Passion, founder of the Apostolic Carmel, for whom she had great affection and with whom she shared her spiritual experiences.

Mariam also had great affection for our Betharramite family; she always took a great interest in it, suffered for it and did all she could for it. Her writings prove that for her our Congregation was of divine origin; as St Michael Garicoits used to say, our Congregation is beloved by God. It was a source of sorrow for her when, in a vision she saw our Congregation like a garden of beautiful flowers suffocated by a huge spider’s web preventing it from breathing. She brought pressure to bear on Mgr Lacroix demanding that he send the Betharram Rule of Life to Rome, since it was then the best time to send it. Father Estrate took it in charge with the help of a diocesan priest, Father Bordachar. Neither of them really understood their mission until they saw that things beyond human nature were happening. And so it was that thanks to the wisdom and foresight of a young “Arab” who was illiterate, the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Betharram became an Institute of Pontifical right. Just as in a human family there has to be a father and mother: our Father is St Michael Garicoits, our Mother is Mariam Baouardy! Thank you, Mariam; we shall never be sufficiently grateful to you!

Our young Arab, Mariam, also had a missionary soul so much so that she was at the origin of the foundation of two Carmels – one at Mangalore in India and the other at Bethlehem in Palestine. She was one of the team that set out for Mangalore; a Carmelite monastery was founded and a beginning was made on the mission for an Apostolic Carmel. In the Mangalore Carmel she suffered greatly from the jealousy of her sisters because they didn’t understand her. Obedient to Mgr Ephrem, the Carmelite bishop of Mangalore, she returned to live in the Carmel in Pau. At the same time she was available with Mother Veronique de la Passion to be part of the team which would go and found the Carmel on the hills of Bethlehem, where she asked that the Priests of Betharram should be chaplains; something similar happened in Nazareth in 1910. It was certainly Mariam who pleaded for the Betharram foundation at Bangalore, Mangalore and Hojai, and for the wealth of vocations which the Lord showered on us allowing the incarnation of our charism in the rich culture of India. There were countless other signs in favour of Betharram. It was Mariam who helped us to overcome the reticence of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, of the Franciscans, guardians of the Holy places, and of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, which were all against the installation of a community in the Holy Land in 1879. The general reply was “No” save that of Pope Leo XIII who said “With God nothing is impossible!”

Our presence in the Holy Land was a great chance for the Betharramites to be formed for years – philosophy in Nazareth and Theology in Bethlehem. Thanks to this same presence our Fathers were called to take direction of the Patriarchal Seminary at Beit Jala. During her journey to Nazareth Mariam called at Amwas (Emmaus). With that interior sense of the things of God which is to be found in the heart of the poor she would say: “This is where Jesus shared bread with his disciples.” True enough subsequent archaeological digs discovered the remains of a third century Baptistery, a Byzantine basilica and another dating from the times of the Crusaders witness that for those days this holy ground was an important place of pilgrimage. The benefactress Berthe Dartiguaux bought the piece of land for the Carmelites of Bethlehem intending to found there another Carmel; in a similar fashion she bought a smaller piece of land for the Betharramites, their chaplains and on which they built a house.

Oh Mariam! You proved the extent to which you love us. We also love you very much for you are the model which shows that the Gospel of the poor can be lived. We ask you to protect our two communities in the shadow of the two Carmelite houses: in the one at Bethlehem there are four novices from Africa preparing to adopt our charism under the guidance of their Novice Master; in the one in Nazareth an Arab brother is accompanying the local Arab Christian community; another has arrived from India to study Hebrew so as to have a better understanding of the Bible and to accompany Hebrew Christians. As I often ask you, help us to live in truth and in love and save us from every illusions in the power of the Holy Spirit.

On the 17th May, in this year of consecrated life, we shall accompany Pope Francis who is going to declare you a saint. With the entire Carmelite family celebrating the 500th anniversary of the birth of St Theresa of Avila, we shall applaud and rejoice as we express our joy which will re-echo the glory which you are enjoying in Heaven. We shall be overcome with emotion when on the facade of Saint Peter’s we shall see your portrait together with that of the three other women: Marie Alphonsine, a Palestinian like yourself, Emilie de Villeneuve, French, and the Italian Marie Christine of the Immaculate Conception.

Gaspar Fernández Pérez , scj
Superior General