The Stella Maris Monastery (Hebrew: )\u05de\u05e0\u05d6\u05e8 \u05e1\u05d8\u05dc\u05d4 \u05de\u05d0\u05e8\u05d9\u05e1 or Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Haifa is a 19th-century Discalced Carmelite monastery located on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Israel.<\/p>\n\n
1 History<\/p>\n\n
In the 12th century, during the Crusader rule of the re-gion,<\/p>\n\n
groups of religious hermits began to inhabit the caves of this areainimitation<\/p>\n\n
of Elijahthe Prophet. In the early 13th century, their leader and prior<\/p>\n\n
(referred to in the rule only as \u2018Brother B,\u2019 although sometimes claimed<\/p>\n\n
despite an absence of supporting evidence to be either Saint<\/p>\n\n
Brocard or Saint Bertold) asked the patriarch of Jerusalem, Saint Albert, to<\/p>\n\n
provide the group with a writ-ten rule of life.<\/p>\n\n
This was the originating act of the Order, who took the name<\/p>\n\n
\u2018Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel\u2019 or Carmelites. The oratory<\/p>\n\n
was dedicated to the Virgin Mary in her aspect of Our Lady, Star of the Sea,<\/p>\n\n
(Latin: Stella Maris). Within a few decades, the semonas-tic hermits left the troubled<\/p>\n\n
Holy Land and the Carmelite order spread throughout Europe.<\/p>\n\n
AttheendofSaintLouis\u2019\ufb01rstcrusadetotheHolyLandin<\/p>\n\n
1254,hetooksixCarmelitesbacktoFrancewithhimand the Order had begun to found<\/p>\n\n
houses throughout Europe from 1238 onwards. However, when Saint Jean d\u2019Acre<\/p>\n\n
fell in 1291, they were forced to withdraw by Mamluks.<\/p>\n\n
In 1631 the Discalced branch of the Order returned to the Holy<\/p>\n\n
Land, led by the Venerable Father Prosper. He had a small monastery constructed<\/p>\n\n
on the promontory at MountCarmel,closetothelighthouse,andthefriarslived<\/p>\n\n
thereuntil1761,whenZahiral-Umar,thethene\ufb00ectively independent ruler of Galilee,<\/p>\n\n
ordered them to vacate the site and demolish the monastery.<\/p>\n\n
The Order then moved to the present location, which is directly<\/p>\n\n
above the grotto where the prophet Elijah is said to have lived. Here they<\/p>\n\n
built a large church and monastery,\ufb01rstclearingthesiteoftheruinsofamedieval<\/p>\n\n
Greekchurch, knownas\u201ctheAbbeyofSt. Margaret\u201dand<\/p>\n\n
achapel,thoughttodatebacktothetimeoftheByzantine Empire.<\/p>\n\n
This new church was seriously damaged in Napoleon\u2019s 1799<\/p>\n\n
campaign. Sick and wounded French soldiers were accommodated in the monastery,<\/p>\n\n
and when Napoleon withdrew, the Turks slaughtered them and drove out the<\/p>\n\n
friars. <\/p>\n\n
In 1821, Abdallah Pasha of Acre ordered the ruined churchtobetotallydestroyed,<\/p>\n\n
sothatitcouldnotserveas a fort for his enemies, while he attacked Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n
The masonry was used to build a Abdallah Pasha\u2019s summer palace and a<\/p>\n\n
lighthouse,[1] which were sold back to the Carmelite order in 1846.[2]<\/p>\n\n
The current church and monastery, built under the orders of<\/p>\n\n
Brother Cassini of the Order, was opened in 1836. Three years later Pope<\/p>\n\n
Gregory XVI bestowed the title of Minor Basilica on the sanctuary, and it is<\/p>\n\n
now known \u201cStella Maris\u201d, meaning Star of the Sea. For much of the<\/p>\n\n
20th Century it was occupied by the Military, \ufb01rst the British,<\/p>\n\n
and later the Israeli, but at the end of their lease it was handed back to the<\/p>\n\n
Order.<\/p>\n\n
2 Carmelite center<\/p>\n\n
The Monastery serves as a centre of Carmelite spiritu-ality<\/p>\n\n
throughout the world. The symbol of the Order is mounted right above the<\/p>\n\n
entrance door. During the<\/p>\n\n
erec-tionofthechurch,friarswereassaultedbytheirneighbors and had to defend their property and the church guests. As a result, the monastery\u2019s ground \ufb02oor<\/p>\n\n
is built out of thick walls with few and small openings covered by bars.<\/p>\n\n
The monastery\u2019s main church resembles the shape of a cross. The<\/p>\n\n
ceiling of the hall is roofed and decorated by colorful paintings based on<\/p>\n\n
motifs from Old and New Testaments: Elijah rising to the heavens, David strings<\/p>\n\n
his harp, the prophet Isaiah, the holy family and the four evangelists. Latin<\/p>\n\n
inscriptions of biblical verses are writ-ten around the roofed dome. <\/p>\n\n
Above the altar stands the statue of the Virgin Mary car-rying<\/p>\n\n
Jesus on her knees. The statue is called \u201cour mis-tress the Carmel\u201d. The platform stairs lead to a quarried<\/p>\n\n
caveinwhichastonealtarwasbuiltontopofthestatueof Elijah. New embossments<\/p>\n\n
dedicated to Carmelite \ufb01gures are hoisted on all four corners of the central hall. At the western wall of the church is a large organ that is played in<\/p>\n\n
religious ceremonies and special concerts dedicated to church music.<\/p>\n\n
3 Gallery<\/p>\n\n
\u2022 View from the monastery<\/p>\n\n
\u2022 Stella Maris Church interior.<\/p>\n\n
\u2022 Stella Maris Church dome.<\/p>\n\n
\u2022 Stella Maris monument and lighthouse in a back-<\/p>\n\n
ground<\/p>\n\n
\u2022 Stained glass window depicting prophet Elijah<\/p>\n\n
\u2022 Church of Notre Dame du Mont Carmel in Haifa<\/p>\n\n
4 References<\/p>\n\n
[1] Dave Winter (1999). Israel handbook. Footprint Travel<\/p>\n\n
Guides. ISBN 1-900949-48-2. pp. 568-570<\/p>\n\n
[2] \u05e1\u05d8\u05dc\u05d4 \u05de\u05d0\u05e8\u05d9\u05e1[Stella Maris] (in<\/p>\n\n
Hebrew). Retrieved 2010-07-19.<\/p>\n\n
5 Bibliography<\/p>\n\n
\u2022 Irby, Charles Leonard; Mangles, James (1823).<\/p>\n\n
Travels in Egypt and Nubia, Syria, and Asia Minor; during the<\/p>\n\n
years 1817 & 1818. London: Printed for Private Distribution by T. White<\/p>\n\n
& Co. Irby and<\/p>\n\n
Mangles, 1823, p.193<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Stella Maris Monastery (Hebrew: )\u05de\u05e0\u05d6\u05e8 \u05e1\u05d8\u05dc\u05d4 \u05de\u05d0\u05e8\u05d9\u05e1 or Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Haifa is a 19th-century Discalced Carmelite monastery located on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Israel. 1 History In the 12th century, during the Crusader rule of the re-gion, groups of religious hermits began to inhabit the caves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[],"tags":[],"vacation_category":[],"class_list":["post-627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n