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 ...