Stella Maris (Mount Carmel)

The Story

The Stella Maris Monastery crowns the slopes of Mount Carmel above the bay of Haifa in the Holy Land. It is the spiritual motherhouse of the Carmelite Order, which was born on this mountain, and its church rises over a grotto traditionally associated with the prophet Elijah. Mount Carmel is forever linked with Elijah's great contest with the prophets of Baal, when fire from heaven vindicated the God of Israel (1 Kings 18). In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Latin hermits settled in the mountain's ravines to live in prayer "in allegiance to Jesus Christ" after the prophet's example, and near a spring called Elijah's fountain they received the rule that founded the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The Carmelites were driven from the mountain with the fall of the Crusader states, carrying their Marian devotion into Europe, where it flowered in saints such as Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Therese of Lisieux. The Discalced Carmelites returned to Carmel in the seventeenth century; the present monastery, whose name means "Star of the Sea," a beloved ancient title of the Virgin Mary, was completed in 1836 after earlier buildings were destroyed. Today the monastery church, with the Elijah grotto beneath its altar, welcomes a steady flow of Holy Land pilgrims. The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16, associated with the Brown Scapular devotion, is celebrated here at the place where Carmel began.

Church Recognition

Stella Maris is the motherhouse sanctuary of the Discalced Carmelite Order on the mountain where the order was founded; devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, with her feast on July 16, is a long-recognized devotion of the universal Church.

Catholic Teaching

Mount Carmel joins the Old Testament witness of the prophet Elijah, a father of the contemplative tradition (CCC 2582-2584), to the Church's devotion to Mary, honored as Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Star of the Sea, whose intercession guides the faithful to Christ (CCC 971).

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Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

Stella Maris is the spiritual home of the Carmelite Order.

Go Deeper

Readers may explore the Discalced Carmelite Order's resources on Carmel's origins and the Brown Scapular devotion, the account of Elijah on Carmel in 1 Kings 18, and the Catechism on prayer in the tradition of Elijah (CCC 2582-2584).