Elijah, Father of Carmel

“We who live in Carmel and who daily call on our Holy Father in prayer know

that for us he is not a shadowy figure out of the dim past.

His spirit is active among us in a vital tradition and determines how we live.”

-St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

As well as turning to Our Lady, the first hermits on Mount Carmel drew great inspiration from Elijah, the great prophet of Mount Carmel, raised up by God to be His witness, to hear and proclaim His word. From Elijah the motto of the Carmelite Order was chosen:

“With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord, God of Hosts.”

—1 Kings 19:10

Elijah personified not only the prophetic but also the contemplative life, because of his deep awareness of living always in the presence of the living God. In this spirit, the Carmelite seeks in the course of her daily duties to make her whole life a prayer, ever mindful of the presence of God and seeking to live by faith, hope and charity. Just as Elijah was moved to act having heard the word of the Lord, the study and meditation of Scripture is of prime importance in the daily life of a Carmelite, who by her Rule is directed to keep the word of God continually in her heart. A life of prayer is thus nourished by a prayerful reading of Sacred Scripture and other spiritual reading including the Fathers of the Church, the Saints of the Order and other Carmelite authors, as well as sound theological works. 

“What does the Church need? She has need of the one who prays. She has need of the one who stands to attention on the mountain, to be enlightened in truth with the light of the Word of God, and who from that consuming light, then sends forth light and grace over the whole Body of Christ.”

—Saint Paul VI