View source for Congregation of Mother of Carmel

{{Short description|Religious institute}}

{{Infobox organization
| name                = Congregation of the Mother of Carmel
| native_name         = 
| image               = 
| caption             = 
| abbreviation        = C.M.C.
| motto               = 
| formation           = {{start date and age|1866}}
| founder             = [[Kuriakose Elias Chavara]]
| type                = Centralized Religious Institute of Consecrated Life of Pontifical Right (for Women)
| headquarters        = Mount Carmel Road, Thaikkattukara P.O., Aluva 683106, Kerala, India
| membership          = 6,383
| membership_year     = 2017
| leader_title        = Superior General
| leader_name         = Mother Sibi Varikkaplamthadathil, C.M.C.
| main_organ          = Syro-Malabar Church
| website             = {{url|http://www.cmcsisters.org/}}
}}
The '''Congregation of the Mother of Carmel''' (C.M.C.) is a [[Syro-Malabar]] [[religious institute]] of [[Discalced Carmelite]] [[nun#Religious Sister|Religious Sisters]] founded in 1866. It was the first native congregation for women in that church.<ref name="CMC">{{cite web|url=http://www.cmcsisters.org/about.php|work=Congregation of the Mother of Carmel|title=About the Congregation|access-date=2012-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327154450/http://cmcsisters.org/about.php|archive-date=2010-03-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History==

===Foundation===
The congregation was founded as the '''Sisters of the [[Third Order]] Regular of the [[Order of Discalced Carmelites]]''' by [[Kuriakose Elias Chavara]], on 13 February 1866 at [[Koonammavu]] in the southern state of [[Kerala]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kcbcsite.com/kcbc_congregations.htm |work=Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council |title=Religious Congregations |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229034003/http://www.kcbcsite.com/kcbc_congregations.htm |archivedate=2012-02-29 }}</ref>

The first house of the new community was opened in Koonammavu with three women:  Eliswa, a widow, her daughter Anna, Eliswa’s sister Tresa and another young lady named Clara came as the fourth member on the next day.. They were given the rules of the Discalced Third Order under the authority of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly|Roman Catholic Archbishop of Verapoly]], Bernardine Baccinelli. Leopold Beccaro was their spiritual director.

===Division===
In May 1887, the [[Holy See]] established the Syro-Malabar Church in India as independent of the hierarchy of the [[Latin Church]]. This caused problems for the young congregation, as both Latin and Syrian bishops claimed authority over them. This had to be settled by Rome, which ruled that the Sisters were part of the Syro-Malabar [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Thrissur|Vicariate Apostolic of Trichur]]. The Sisters who belonged to the Latin Church separated and  was named the '''Congregation of Teresian Carmelites''' (C.T.C.).

With the eventual reorganization of the Syro-Malabar hierarchy, the Sisters found themselves divided among five different congregations, each under a different bishop and led by its own [[Superior General]]. The first foundation outside of Kerala from among the different groups was to the [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] in 1958.

===Union===
Full union of the disparate congregations did not take place until 16 November 1963, when they were recognized by the Holy See as a congregation of the Eastern Church, at which time the congregation took the name of '''Congregation of Mother of Carmel''', by which it is currently known.

==Current==
The congregation today is divided among 20 [[ecclesiastical province|Provinces]] and six regions throughout India and Africa. They also serve in Germany, Italy and the United States.<ref name=CMC />

==Saints of the congregation==
Elias Chavara was [[beatification|beatified]] by [[Pope John Paul II]] in 1986, along with [[Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception]] in the course of his visit to India. One of the congregation's early members, [[Euphrasia of the Sacred Heart of Jesus]], was beatified by [[Pope Benedict XVI]] in 2006. Chavara and Euphrasia were canonised by Pope Francis on 24 November 2014.

[[Mary Celine Payyappilly]], the first Superior General of the united C.M.C. congregation was declared as [[Servant of God]] by [[George Alencherry]], [[Major Archbishop]] of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church on 9 April 2018.

==References==
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[[Category:Eastern Catholic orders and societies]]
[[Category:Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]]
[[Category:Discalced Carmelite Order]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1866]]
[[Category:1866 establishments in India]]