Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

"Elijah and the Star of the Sea on Mount Carmel"

Haifa, Mount Carmel (Israel)

On Mount Carmel, overlooking the Mediterranean in Haifa, stands the Stella Maris sanctuary, the spiritual motherhouse of the Carmelite order. The site preserves the memory of the prophet Elijah, whose ardent zeal for the God of Israel forever marked the spirituality of this mountain, and links this biblical root with Marian devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Star of the Sea who guides sailors.

Carmelite tradition recalls the "spring of Elijah" on the mountain, piously associated with the prophet, although its precise historical identification is not confirmed in the sources. This same spirituality presents the Carmelite scapular as a sign of the Virgin's protection; the sources record its devotional prerogatives, but do not document a miraculous origin of the symbol at the sanctuary itself.

Let us distinguish with affection. The memory of Mount Carmel as the mountain of Elijah, the prophet's spring, and the symbolism of the scapular as maternal protection belong to tradition. The existence of the Carmelite sanctuary and monastery of Stella Maris and its spiritual link with Elijah and with Carmel, however, is documented. There is no single date for the "origin" of the scapular in this place: the memory of Elijah is biblical and ancient, while the current sanctuary belongs to modern Carmel, and its Marian presence was consolidated in recent times.

Stella Maris is one of the great references to the title "Star of the Sea", so close to the piety of the Rosary because of its Marian, contemplative and popular character; but a direct and exclusive historical link with the institution of the Rosary is not found in the sources.