Saint of the Week: Our Lady of Mount Carmel

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Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Feast Day: July 16
Mount Carmel, which juts out into the Mediterranean near Haifa, Israel, has been considered a sacred place since the prophet Elijah built an altar

Our Lady of Mounty Carmel (CNS)
Our Lady of Mounty Carmel (CNS)

there in his contest with the prophets of Baal.
The Carmel headland is traditionally associated with the beginnings of the Carmelite order around 1195, when a group of lay hermits formed a community there.
Mary had been honored there as early as the fifth century, and by the 12th century Mount Carmel had become a site of Marian devotion.
The Carmelites chose Mary as their protectress and dedicated their oratory on Mount Carmel to her.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the patron of Bolivia and Chile. This Marian feast became an optional memorial in the Revised Roman Calendar of 1969.