NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF LOURDES - starts today! - click for link to pray

Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes
O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Mercy,
Health of the sick, refuge of sinners,
comforter of the afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles,
my sufferings, look with mercy upon me.

By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were
you were pleased to make it a privilege sanctuary, whence
you dispense your favours, and already many
sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities,
both spiritual and corporal. I come therefore with
complete confidence to implore your maternal intercession

Obtain, O loving Mother, the grant of my request.
Through gratitude of your favours, I will endeavor
To imitate your virtues, that I may one day share your glory in. Amen

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

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Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes - click for link

Beyond the river Gave, to the west of Lourdes there is an old rock, jutting up from the ground. To the inhabitants of Lourdes the rock is known as the 'Big Rock', or Massabielle in the local dialect. Here, on this very spot, Our Lady appeared to St Bernadette eighteen times in 1858, not long after Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of Immaculate Conception in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus on December 8th 1854


The statue marks the spot and candles burn there perpetually as a sign of prayer.

OUR LADY OF LOURDES, PRAY FOR US!

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St Scholastica, Virgin - click for link

Mt 25:1-13.
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like to ten virgins, who taking their lamps went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride. And five of them were foolish and five wise. But the five foolish, having taken their lamps, did not take oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with the lamps. And the bridegroom tarrying, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made: Behold the bridegroom cometh. Go ye forth to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise: Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. The wise answered, saying: Lest perhaps there be not enough for us and for you, go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. Now whilst they went to buy the bridegroom came: and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage. And the door was shut. But at last came also the other virgins, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answering said: Amen I say to you, I know you not. Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour.

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Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor condemns Pope Benedict decree of excomunication removal from SSPX Bishops - click for link

Unhappy musings of a Cardinal about His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI decree removing excommunication from SSPX Bishops.

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Marian Shrines in Holy Land - click to read previous posts

A Visit to Carmel

The monastery of Carmel, Stella Maris, is situated two miles from Haifa. It is four hundred and ninety-five feet above the sea and has all the solidity of a fortress. Its thick walls, its heavily barred windows, its low doors, present a fine specimen of Medieval Monasteries in the Orient, always exposed to attack.


On reaching the esplanade you are faced with a bronze pillar set in a granite plinth and crowned by a statue of Immaculate Conception, the gift of Chile. To the right is a guest house, Stella Maris, once a villa built by Abdullah Pasha of Acre in 1821 from the ruins of the monastery.


This building also serves as the base of a lighthouse, whose big white light flashes one minute out over the sea and then back over the mountain. It can be seen at a distance of fifteen miles: surely a Star of the Sea.



To the right is the monastery within which is enclosed the church. In front of the monastery is a stone pyramid built in 1876, a monument to the two thousand dead of Bonaparte.




The main door leads into the church, which makes a profound impression for its sheer beauty.


Above the High Altar rises the statue of Our Lady of Carmel. Graceful and lonely the Virgin sits enthroned with the Child Jesus in her left arm, her sceptre in her right hand from which hangs a scapular.



The original statue was carved in 1821 by the Genoese Caraventa, but strange to relate it consisted only of head, hands and feet in wood, the rest was arrayed in rich clothing. In 1933, these were attached to a new statue carved from Lebanese cedar by the sculptor Rieda.

Beneath the altar is a dim grotto supported by two porphyry pillars. This grotto served on many occasions as the dwelling of St Elias.




It was near this grotto that the hermits had built the small chapel, during the lifetime of the Virgin. Within the Grotto an altar hewn in the rock is adorned with a statue of St Elias, his arm raised in a threatening gesture.





Beautiful dome above St Elias Grotto

Thousands of pilgrims flock to Mt Carmel on July 20, the feast of St Elias. From the terrace of the monastery the view is magnificent.




You seem to stand on the neck of a lusty giant resting on ancient and solid foundations, embraced by the waters of the Mediterranean. Two powerful forces, two giants, meet face to face. Between these two imposing elements puny man is ruler of all he surveys - how finite and insignificant he feels. It is difficult to decide which of the two elements encroaches upon the other - whether the land abuts on the sea, or the sea threatens the land. But it is Carmel at least that places the frame for the fascinating picture.

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SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY - click for link

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Saturday - Our Lady's Day

Beautiful thoughts on Our Lady, the Virgin Mother of God from "My Way of Life - Pocket Edition Of St Thomas' Summa"

Obviously, since God preserved Mary from the stain of original sin because she was to be the Mother of His Son, it follows that He will also have preserved Mary form the stain of any actual sin. As the goodness of the parents brings honour to their children, so, too, does the sinfulness of the parents bring shame to their children. But it is not fitting that the Mother of God should bring shame to her divine Son. Therefore, God preserved Mary from any personal sin, whether mortal or venial. Through the grace of God, which was infused into her soul at the moment of her conception, Mary was absolutely sinless. She was never stained with original sin, nor did she ever commit any personal sin, not even the least venial sin.

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Feast of Purification, Candlemas

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Marian's Shrines in Holy Land - click to read previous parts

The Latin Era

During the Pontificate of Alexander III, Aymeric of Malifay was sent as Delegate to the Holy Land and having visited Carmel, he appointed a Prior-General over all hermits: this was St Berthold of Limoges, who became the first Latin Superior (1150). He was succeeded by St Brocard, a native of Jerusalem, who completed the first church and monastery begun by his predecessor, and requested St Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem, to arrange a Rule, preserving the ancient traditions. The Patriarch gave the Rule in 1207, and thus founded the Carmelite Order as known in the West.
As the Crusaders withdrew, the position of the monks became worse and many of them went to Europe. Finally the Prior, Alan, a Breton, went to Europe and resigned his office at a general Chapter held at Aylesford.


St Simon Stock was was chosen in his place. He was one of the first to join the Order in England, and had lived for six or more years as a hermit on Carmel. At the monastery of Cambridge he received the privilege of the Scapular. Praying for some


sign of Mary's protection he cried: "Flower of Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven, Virgin Mother of the Son of God, Amiable Mother, ever Virgin, give to thy children of Carmel the privilege of thy protection, Star of the Sea."



"When she appeared to me with her heavenly court, and holding in her hand the habit of the Order, she said: 'This will be the sign of the privilege that I have obtained for thee and for the children of Carmel, whoever die piously clothed with this habit will be preserved from eternal flames.'"
St Simon by his popularity helped very much the extension of the Order in Europe, whose members were called familiarly "White Friars", but it was destined to die out for a time on Carmel itself. In 1291, Acre, the last stronghold of the Crusaders fell


and all the religious of nearby Carmel were massacred while they chanted the Salve Regina




and their monastery burned. For nigh four centuries - from 1291 to 1631 - Mt Carmel stood solitary by the sea, mourning the loss of her departed children, but God was preparing another Elias who was to spend his life upon the mountain in prayer and praise.
The reform of the Carmelite Order to its primitive rule by the great St Teresa at the beginning of the 16th century naturally inspired the Carmelites with the desire to return to Carmel, which then formed part of the small fief of the Arab Emir Tarab et Tarabie. Fr Prosper who was born at Nalda, in the diocese of Calahorra in Spain was the man destined by God to bring back the Discalced Carmelites to their to the Holy Mountain of Carmel. The Franciscans who after many difficulties had succeeded in establishing themselves in nearby Nazareth now came to the rescue of their Carmelite brothers and helped them to acquire possession of Carmel. He lived with them in Nazareth until the Emir in November 29 ratified the agreement. On November 29, 1631 fr Prosper offered Mass, the first for centuries, at the foot of Carmel. In 1761 the little monastery and church built by Fr Prosper was destroyed and the Carmelites forced out. Again they returned in 1762 and began the construction of a church and monastery over the Grotto of St Elias.

In May 1799 when Napoleon laid siege to Acre




Carmel opened her doors to all, among them the wounded and dying French soldiers. After the defeat of the French the Turks massacred the wounded and left the Sanctuary uninhabitable. Twenty years later the Carmelites decided to repair it, but instead, due to the war with the Greeks in 1821, the Sultan ordered its leveling to the ground. Six years later the first stone was laid in the great monastery (the fifth) and church which we see today.



Statue of Our Lady of Mt Carmel, Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery, Haifa.

Once more the monastery was menaced when the German Protestant Templars in 1886 tried to gain possession of the mountain. Despite Prussian gold, the danger was averted. Again in 1914 the Commnity was driven out and the monsatery was sacked. In January 1919 Fr Francis Lamb arrived from England as Vicar of Mt Carmel> He found British troops in occupation but they soon pulled out. Fr Lamb spent over thirty years on Mt Carmel and lived to see it once again a fruitful spiritual garden. The sad years, following 1948, made him long to be dissolved and the Lord soon granted his wish.

to be continued as "A Visit to Carmel"

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Feast of Our Lady of Good Success and the Purification on February 2nd

Devotion to Our Lady of Good Successe is approved by the Church for over three hundred years now. The history of devotion is closely related to the life of Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres Conceptionist sister, to whom Our Lady appeared many times. She revealed to Mother Mariana that devotion to her under the title of Our Lady of Good Success would be of invaluable help in the times of greatest crisis the Church was to face at the end of 20th century.

Novena to Our Lady of Good Success - longer version
Novena to Our Lady of Good Success - short version

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Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

PRESENCE OF GOD
O, Lord, I adore You in the little boat of my soul. Since You are with me, I shall not fear.

MEDITATION
1. In today's liturgy, especially the Gospel (Mt 8:23-27), Jesus appears in our midst as the ruler of the elements, the conqueror of all tempests. "And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves." Let us think of all the persecutions which have beaten against Peter's barque, the Church, down through the ages; or we can think of the trials which God still permits individual souls to undergo. Whatever happens, the spirit of faith tells us that every struggle and tempest is willed, or at least permitted by God: "Everything is grace"; everything is the result of His infinite love. God is not a tyrant who crushes us, but a Father, who tests us because He loves us. If He permits sorrow, interior or exterior trials, personal or public vicissitudes, it is only to draw out of them some great good.



Virtue and goodness are strengthened in time of difficulty; the efforts made in the bearing trials tend to make us surpass what we would have done had we enjoyed calm. Jesus was sleeping peacefully in the stern of the boat when the terrified Apostles awakened Him: He answered them reproachfully, "Lord, save us, we perish!""Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?". If we are disturbed and upset by trials, it means that we lack faith. Even when God conceals Himself, when everything seems to fail us and we feel terribly alone, we can be absolutely certain that God will never abandon us if we do not first abandon Him. Instead of becoming bitter or falling into despair, it is the moment to intensify our faith, to make strong acts of faith. St. Therese of the Child Jesus used to say, "I count on Him. Suffering may go to its limit, but I am sure He will never abandon me".

2. The Apostles were saved only when they called upon Jesus. As long as they laboured and struggled alone, they had no success. Many times we fail to surmount interior difficulties because we work alone. God wants us to experience our own insufficiency; therefore, He let us struggle until we have recourse to Him with full confidence. Certainly God wants our efforts, but He does not want us to place all our hope in them. This accounts for the small progress so many make on the road to sanctity - too much reliance on their own resources, too little on God's help. We must be firmly convinced that "our sufficiency is from God" (2Cor 3:5). We must have less confidence in ourselves and more in God. Jesus can do all things, and confidence works miracles. "We receive from God as much as we hope for" (J.C. Dark Night of the Soul II: 21,8). There are other kinds of tempests, too, such as those provoked by the difficulties we sometimes experience in our relations with our neighbor. St. Paul in the Epistle (Rom 13:8-10) gives us the remedy: "Owe no man anything, but to love one another." Love conquers all. Our love for God overcomes our interior storms; our love for our neighbour, in whom we love Christ, overcomes the tempest which arise from dissensions, misunderstanding, and clashes of temperaments. If from certain people we receive only pain and trouble, let us follow the precious advice of St.John of the Cross:"Where there is no love, put love, and you will find love" (Letters, 22).

COLLOQUY
"O my Lord, how true a friend You are, and how powerful! For you can do all You will and never do You cease to love! Let all things praise You, Lord of the world! Oh, if someone would but proclaim throughout the world how faithful You are to your friends! All things fail, but You, Lord of them all, never fail. How little is the suffering that You allow to those who love You! O my Lord, how delicately and skillfully and tenderly do You deal with them! Oh, happy are they who never loved anyone save You! You seem, Lord, to give severe trials to those who love You, but only that in the excess of their trials they may learn the greater excess of Your love. O my God, had I but understanding and learning to find new words with which to exhalt Your works as my soul knows them! These, my Lord, I lack, but if You forsake me not, I shall never fail You. Let all learned men arise up against me, let all created things persecute me, let the devils torment me; but You, Lord, do not fail me; for I have already experienced the benefits which come to him who trusts only in You!" (T.J. Life, 25).
Take away from me, O Lord, all trust in my own strength. Make me see that I can do nothing without You. Show it to me in a practical way, even if it causes me sorrow and humiliation. O Lord, I no longer desire to rely on my own strength; in You alone do I place all my trust. With Your help I shall continue to strive to practice virtue and to advance in Your ways, but with my eyes always fixed on You, O divine Sun, who alone can make my feeble efforts bring forth fruits of virtue! When storms arise, I will take refuge in You; I will call upon You with all the strength of my heart and with all my faith, certain that you will give me that peace and that victory which I would seek in vain apart from You.

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St John Bosco, Confessor - click for link

Today is the Feast of St John Bosco (1815-1888), a man who dedicated his life to the service of abandoned young people. St John Bosco was favoured by God with many prophetic dreams that helped his boys to reflect seriously on the last things, to avoid sins and to be prepared by regular confessions and receiving the Sacraments. St John founded the Salesian Order much needed in the poverty of the city of Turin, we now consider to be one of the most prosperous in the modern world.

Previous post St John Bosco

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Saturday - Our Lady's Day

Thoughts on Immaculate Conception of Mary from "My Way of Life - the Simplified Summa"

The Blessed Virgin Mary was a human being descended from Adam by way of carnal generation. She had a human father and a human mother. If she had not, therefore, been chosen to be the Mother of God, she would, like every other descendant of Adam, have contracted original sin at the moment of her conception in the womb of her mother. But because she was to be the Mother of His Son, God preserved her soul from the stain of original sin from the very instant of her conception in the womb of her mother. God did this by infusing divine grace into the soul of Mary at the very instant He crated her soul and united it to her body. He did it in virtue of the merits of Christ. no descendant of Adam receives the grace of God except through the merits of Christ. The Mother of God was no exception to this law of grace. Like every other human being who is descended by carnal generation from Adam, the Blessed Virgin Mary needed to be redeemed by the Blood of Christ. But whereas every other human being needs to be clean sed from the stain of original sin - which he has contracted by way of carnal generation from Adam - the Virgin Mary did not need to be cleansed from original sin. She never contracted this stain of sin. Through the grace of Christ, she was preserved from the stain of sin from the first moment of her conception in the womb of her mother. This is the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. Because of the widespread misunderstanding of the meaning of this doctrine, it might be well to mention here that the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is a different doctrine from the doctrine of Virgin Birth of Christ. the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception means that Mary was preserved from the stain of original sin from the first moment of her conception in the womb of her mother. The doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Christ means that Christ was conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit without the agency of any human father.

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Mystery and Reason for Incarnation

Thoughts on Incarnation from "My Way of Life - The Summa Simplified"

The vision of God is the goal of human life. It is divine grace and the supernatural infused virtues which come to man with it that enable him to attain the vision of God. But by sin, Adam lost grace and the infused virtues for himself and for the whole human race. How then, can man ever reach his true destiny? Must we say that real happiness is forever impossible to him? By sin he has cut himself off from God. Like a petulant child, he has run away from the home of God's love. But the love of God for man is strong and deep and wise; it has reached down from heaven to earth and rescued him from sin and death, and the manner of its coming is beyond the understanding of man. "By this hath the charity of God appeared towards us, because God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we may live by Him. In this is charity: not as though we had loved God, but because he hath first loved us, and sent his Son to be a
propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).


This is the central mystery of Christianity - the mystery if Incarnation of the Son of God. To save men from their sins, God sent His own Son into the world as a man. The Word of God, the Second Person of the Most Blessed trinity, became man and dwelt among amongst us for our salvation. the SOn of God is both God and man. He is one divine Person existing in two natures, one divine and the other human. Try as we may, we shall never understand in this present life how the SOn of God could become man and still remain God. But this is the mystery of God's love for us which He has revealed to us. Christ Himself, the Son of God in human flesh, proclaimed this stupendous truth. His miracles proved His claim. He was put to death by the Sanhedrin for making this claim. Christ died on the Cross rather than retract it; and he rose from the grave to prove that He, Who was really man, was also really God.

Though we cannot understand this great mystery, still, as St Thomas and the Fathers of the Church point out to us, by it the goodness, wisdom, justice and power of God are made known to us. In the Incarnation God, Who is almighty and all-perfect has condescended to unite to Himself a human nature which is created and limited in power. Surely this is a sign of God's goodness to man. Since Jesus Christ is both God and man, He can offer to God an infinite satisfaction for man's sins against God, and in this wisdom of God is manifested to us. Because Jesus Christ is man, it is man who satisfied God for sin, and in this we see the justice of God. Lastly, to unite a human nature to the Son of God as His very own human nature - this is a work that demands divine power.

The love of God for man shines out more clearly in the mystery of the Incarnation when we realize that God did not have to become man in order to save man from his sins. God could simply have forgiven man his sins and restore grace to him; or He could have been content with any satisfaction for sin that man himself might make. But the love of God for man was not content with half-measure or with what was simply necessary. God chose the best possible means of saving man, the best possible means of leading man to good and withdrawing him from evil.

Through Incarnation God leads man to good. The Incarnation is the firm foundation of the virtues of faith, hope and charity. It is the foundation of hope because it is manifestation of the strength of God's love for us. It is the foundation of Himself. It is the foundation of hope because it is a manifestation of the strength of God's love for us. It is the foundation of charity because God's great love for us cannot but enkindle our love for Him. Moreover, in the Incarnation men find the example they must follow to reach the vision of God, for in the life and actions of Christ we see the work of the Christian virtues in their full perfection. Lastly, through the Incarnation the divine life of grace is restored to man, and it becomes possible for him to live divinely here on earth so that he may inherit the vision of God in heaven.

The Incarnation withdraws man from evil. First of all, it shows him that he must prefer God and himself to the devil, who brought about the ruin of human nature. Secondly, it shows man his own great dignity. God has united to Himself no other nature but the nature of man. Surely,, then, man is something wonderful in God's eyes and in the universe. But the Incarnation also preserves man from presumption, for grace is restored to him through Jesus Christ and not because of his own merits. Then, too, in the Incarnation the love of God dissolves the hard ice of human pride. If God is humble enough to become man, can man be too proud to become godlike through divine grace? Most importantly, Jesus Christ, the God-Man, satisfied God for man's sins and so mertied for him the forgiveness of his sins.

The Son of God became man to save man from sin. Some theologians have held that God would have become man even if man had not fallen into sin. But St Thomas remarks that God has not told us what he would have done if man had not sinned. it is better therefore, to say no more than God Himself has said, that the Son of God became man to
redeem man from sin. He came into the world to take away all sin, both actual and original sin. Since original sin infects the whole human race, it can be said that, though Christ came to take away all sin, nevertheless He came principally to rescue mand from original sin.

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Mary - The Virgin Mother of God

Beautiful and logical explanation of dogmas of faith some sceptics may find difficult to believe.

The perpetual virginity of Mary is not so surprising when we reflect that Mary is the Mother of God. Christ is the true and natural Son of God. It was not fitting that God should share His parenthood with a man. Christ is also the Word of God. As the Word of God, He proceeds from His Father without corruption. It was fitting that He should proceed from His Mother without corrupting her virginity. He came to take away the sins of men. But if He had been conceived of Mary by a human father, He Himself would have been the subject to original sin. It was not fitting that He should be subject to the sin which He came to destroy. He came so that men might be reborn spiritually of the Holy Spirit. It was, therefore, fitting that He Himself should be conceived by the Holy Spirit. He came to restore the integrity of human nature. It was not fitting that He should destroy the physical integrity of His Mother. Lastly, it is He Who has commanded us to honour our fathers and mothers. It was fitting that He should not lessen the honour due to His Mother by destroying her virginity in His birth.

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On Rearing of Children - by Carmelites of the Holy Trinity in Washington - click for link

I recommend this reading to all Catholics with children and those who not yet have any - very inspiring and instructing and based on the example St Therese of Lisieux' family.

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Marian Shrines in Holy Land - click for link to read part 1

CHRISTIAN CARMEL

After the Ascension of Christ a new era dawned for the Order of Elias. The Lessons for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel relate that many persons who had walked in the footsteps of Elias and Eliseus were made ready by John the Baptist to hail the coming of the Messiah, and on the day of Pentecost, being assured of the truth, they immediately embraced the Gospel, and writers of the early Church state that the hermits of Mt Carmel were efficient helpers of the Apostles in spreading the faith. In the Acts of the Apostles (11:12) reference is made to the coming of the Prophets from Jerusalem to Antioch. Enock, the hermit of Carmel established the monastic life in Alexandria under St Mark. Baronius, referring to to this, says that St Anthony was not the institutor of the monks, but that he re-established the institute of the Essenes, which had flourished under St Mark in Egypt. It is said that St Elpidius,



another hermit of Carmel, went with St James to Spain and was appointed by him the first Bishop of Toledo.



Venerable traditions of this time are full of sacred interest to all devotees of Mary, the "Queen, flower of Carmel". Long centuries before her coming, from the time of Elias, she was known, loved and honoured in Carmel. Some may wonder to hear of devotion to Mary nine hundred years before God gave her to the world, but it must be remembered that Mary was promised to mankind from the moment of original sin. Her image shines besides that of her Divine Son, lighting up even the darkness of paganism. Did not the Druids have a temple and an altar erected to the Virgin who was to bring forth. "Virgini pariturae." The ancients, who hardly knew the meaning of virginity, enshrined it in one of the most brilliant constellations of the Zodiac.
Sepphoris, the home of Joachim and Ann, is not far from Carmel,



and it is related that Mary, as a child, visited Carmel with her parents, which would not be strange since Carmel was a renowned place of pilgrimage. Later the Holy Family dwelt at Nazareth, which is only a day's journey from the holy mountain,



and it is said that on their return from Egypt they visited the pious hermits, filling their hearts with joy and peace. This is most probable, as Carmel lies on the direct route between Egypt and Nazareth.

The Roman Breviary relates that on the Feast of Pentecost the holy prophets, who were enlightened by the Apostles, met and conversed with Our Lady, and that on account of their singular love for her, they paid her the respect of building a little chapel,

Excavation site of the remains of the Chapel built by Mt Carmel's hermits in honour of Our Lady

the first that was ever raised in her honour, and which stood near the Grotto of Elias. For this reason the Mountain of Carmel, cradle of the Monastic life, became the fief of Mary and the sanctuary of contemplative spirit. The beautiful title "Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt Carmel" commonly bestowed upon the hermits and approved by the Holy See recalls the glorious origin and the unity of the Carmelite Order throughout the centuries. Later, July 16, 1251, the Holy Virgin crowned her favours by granting to her Carmelite Order the privilege of the Holy Scapular, in the person of St Simon Stock, an Englishman, who was then Prior General of the Carmelite Order.



After the death of Christ, Our Lady visited Mt Carmel, when as it is related, she with St John and some others of the Apostles went to Nazareth to show them where the Holy Family dwelt and narrated to them many touching incidents in the life of her Divine Son.

During the first three centuries the monastic institutions gave many saints and martyrs to the Church. St Telesphorus, eight Pope, and St Dionysius, twenty-fifth Pope, both lived on Carmel.



In the 4th century, with the reign of Constantin, monasticism flourished all over the Holy Land, and many of the great defenders of the Church against heresy came from Carmel, e.g. St Spiridon fought the Arians at the Council of Nice;



St Cyril of Alexandria uprooted the Nestorians and proved the Blessed Virgin to be the Mother of God;



Caprasius, Superior of the hermits of Carmel was the opponent of Eutyches; St Cyril of Jerusalem strove against Macedonius and his heresies;



and historians state that Palladius who opposed Pelagius and afterwards went to preach the Faith in Scotland and Ireland was a monk from Mt Carmel.



In 614 the Persians desecrated the Holy Places of Palestine and in 637 Islam overran the country. The hermits of Mt Carmel were persecuted and some of them fled to Europe. Leo IV, elected Pope in 847, granted a special indulgence to all who would assist by alms the persecuted hermits of Carmel,



and with this help they continued to exist until the time of the Crusaders, when a Latin element was introduced.

To be continued "The Latin Era"
Text based on the book "Marian Shrines in Mary's Land" by Fr Eugene Hoade.

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