Mary, Holy Mount where the Word became flesh
To come to savor all,
desire to savor nothing.
To come to possess all,
desire to possess nothing.
To come to be all,
desire to be nothing.
To come to know all,
desire to know nothing.
To come to what you savor not,
you must go by a way you savor not.
To come to what you know not,
you must go by a way you know not.
To come to what you possess not,
you must go by a way you possess not.
To come to what you are not,
you must go by a way you are not.
When you dwell on something,
you cease to cast yourself upon the All.
For to come from the All to the All,
you must deny yourself wholly in all things.
And when you come at last to possess the All,
you must possess it desiring nothing.
For if you desire to possess something in all,
your treasure in God is not pure.
(The Ascent of Mount Carmel I, 13, 11-12)
Most Holy Virgin of Mount Carmel, holy Mount raised up by the Father from all eternity so that upon your summit the luminous cloud of the Holy Spirit might descend and in your virginal womb the eternal Word might take flesh; favored Daughter of the Father, Mother of the only-begotten Son, most faithful Spouse of the uncreated Love: prostrate at your feet I begin this ascent, for I know that no one reaches the summit unless first led by your maternal hand. You are the surest way to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the only way that leads to the Father in the ineffable embrace of the Holy Spirit.
Teach me to climb Mount Carmel with a light heart, leaving at each bend of the path whatever weighs down and enslaves. May self-love, the desire to be esteemed, vain curiosity, the craving to possess, the noise of creatures, and attachment to all that is not You or your Son be left behind. Help me understand that the soul only begins to rise when it learns to descend; that only the one who claims nothing truly possesses; that the one who has God is not rich; that only the one who has emptied self to make room for the Beloved truly sings of freedom.
Sweetest Mother, You know the secret of the Mount, for in You blossomed the bush that burned without being consumed. In your silence the Father spoke; in your humility the Word found rest; in your purity the Holy Spirit reposed like a serene flame that gives life without destroying and transforms without violence. Grant that my soul too may become a little inner cell where the Most Holy Trinity may find delight and establish its dwelling.
If the way grows rough, do not let me turn my eyes back to the valley. If the ascent becomes steep, remind me that every summit demands detachment. When night falls, teach me to walk with no other light or guide but the one burning in the heart, for that hidden light is Christ himself, the Sun that never knows setting, though often veiled to the senses to purify faith and enlarge love.
You taught your son John of the Cross that the Mount is not conquered by strength, but by poverty of spirit; not by an abundance of consolations, but by naked fidelity; not by seeking the delights of God, but God alone; not by lingering over the gifts, but by always running toward the Giver. Obtain for me that holy interior freedom which makes the soul so light that the Holy Spirit may lift it as the wind lifts the flame toward heaven.
Lead me to the fountain that flows and runs, though it is night; let me discover in Christ the living water that quenches every thirst and, at the same time, awakens an ever-greater desire for infinite Love. Introduce me into the inner wine cellar where the Beloved communicates his secrets; let me taste the silent music and the sounding solitude where earthly voices cease because God begins to speak in silence. May my heart learn to recognize the passing of the Bridegroom even when he seems to hide among the shadows, for then too his absence is presence and his silence is a word of life.
And when, at the end of my pilgrimage, the hour comes to climb the last stretch of the Mount, come to meet me clothed in the beauty of Carmel. Cover me with your holy scapular, take my hand as a Mother and lead me to your glorious Son, so that, already transformed into the Beloved by the purifying action of the Holy Spirit, I may rest eternally in the bosom of the Father, where every ascent finds its rest, every night becomes dawn, and every love reaches its fullness in the blessed contemplation of the Most Holy Trinity.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, lead me along the narrow path of the Mount until I am forever transformed into Christ, glory of the Father and fire of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
By: Msgr. Alberto José González Chaves