During the second decade of the century the hermits of Carmel sought to solidify their juridical status. In 1226, they obtained confirmation of their “norm of living” from Pope Honorius III. April of 1229 brought several privileges and decisions from Pope Gregory IX. On April 9, he placed the hermitage on Carmel under the protection of the Holy See and granted permission for divine service to be held there behind closed doors in time of interdict. ...

The site chosen fo the hermitage, the fountain of Elijah, is worthy of note, for it was to have a profound influence on the charism of the Order. The memory of the prophets Elijah and Elisha attached to various localities in the Palestine of the crusades is very striking. Among the places associated with Elijah is Mount Carmel. Hardly a pilgrim who passed this imposing land mass on the road from Acre to Jerusalem failed ...

Albert ruled the diocese of Vercelli for twenty years... He composed a Rule for the Humiliati. In the Holy Land, where he arrived in 1206, he dedicated himself as legate to the much needed work of promoting harmony among the feuding Christian princes. On September 14, 1214, during a procession in the Church of the Holy Cross in Acre, Albert was assassinated. The formula vitae outlined by the patriarch echoes the style of life of the ...

De Vitry (Jacques de Vitry, bishop of Acre from 1216 to 1228 and wrote of the hermits in Palestine) would seem to indicate that western hermits settled on Mount Carmel from the beginning of the Frankish conquest of Palestine, yet indisputable evidence occurs only in the 13th century. Two earlier references must be discarded. In 1163, the Spanish rabbi, Benjamin of Tudela, saw near the cave of Elijah a church built by two Christians and dedicated ...

The victory of Saladin at Hattin in 1187 put the quietus on religious life, cenobitical and eremitical, in Palestine. So After Hattin, the eremitical life in the open countryside became difficult, if not impossible, for Latins. One place remained where hermits might follow their vocation undisturbed: Mount Carmel until the end of the kingdom lay within the sphere of Frankish power. Carmel offered an ideal setting for retirement and reflection. Its rugged slopes, dense with vegetation; its ...

  De Vitry makes special mention of the eremitical life in Palestine: "Holy men renounced the world, and, according to their various affections and wishes and their religious fervor, chose places to dwell in suitable to their object and devotion. Some, especially attracted by the Lord's example, chose that desirable wilderness called Quarantena, wherein our Lord fasted for forty days after his baptism (Mt. 4), therein to dwell as hermits and served God most valiantly in ...

“Every Order taketh its name either from a place or from a saint,” writes John Baconthorpe, 14th century English Carmelite; “from a place, like the Cistercians who are called after Citeaux, and our Order after Carmel.” As a matter of fact, it is to Mount Carmel, a mountain in Palestine on the Bay of Haifa, that the Carmelite Order traces its origin. The date of its origin, the subject of an age-old controversy, can now ...

(This article was originally published on the Solemnity of the Assumption, 2017. It offers a timely reflection on today's Solemnity by Bl. Titus Brandsma.) What happened at the end of Mary’s life? Did she die, or was her dormition (her “falling asleep”) which is one and at the same time her assumption? In his promulgation of the Assumption in 1950 on the Feast of All Saints (Nov. 1), Pope Pius XII declared “the Immaculate Mother of ...

Loving God, your servant, Titus Brandsma, laboured zealously in your vineyard and gave his life freely because of his faith in you. Through his intercession I ask for your mercy and help. Father, Titus never refused when he was asked for help by your people. In his name, I come to you with my needs: (mention requests.) Lord, help me always to imitate the great faith, generous love, and burning zeal of Titus Brandsma. Glorify ...

We invite you to quiet yourself and enter into peaceful, prayerful state. Read Blessed Titus Brandsma's reflection on Albert Servaes' Fourteenth Station of the Cross. Brandsma's sincere sorrow and love shine through these meditations, the portent of his own Christ-like passion and death at Dachau. Using the question(s) at the end of each reflection, Allow Titus' words to inspire your own authentic prayer and meditation. ---------------------------------------------------- This sad final walk. Christ, my Lord and God, is ...