Published by Carmel was founded by Saint Elias of the Old Testament this prophet bridged the gap between the Old and New Testaments by finding a group of religious men to live in anticipation of the coming of the Savior and His mother who gives birth to Him, that live on Mount Carmel. Saint Elias has a vision on Mount Carmel of the Mother of Christ and understands that she and her son, with a gentle rain of grace, will overcome the world. Egypt gave the mountain to Saint Elias. The Old Testament tells us that Saint Elias fought Jezebelle, who represented Evil on the earth, then, as it does now. Carmel is known as the Desert Call. This is the second major way devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is Israeli. Saint Luke, the apostle, painted a picture of the Queen of Carmel with the star of Bethlehem, also the star of David, on her shoulder on the beautiful mantle that covers her head. The picture is painted by Saint Luke, again and again as the Magi Countries eagerly find them. The Desert Call is the same for us as it was for the Magi, to sacrifice for and pursue the Lord until you find him in your life. This Epiphany may lead you else where, beyond the cloisture, but it can be a good place to start. I know that home is fine.
What does Carmel know? Over the generations we have built up a great collection of saints, heroes, and leaders that, while not all strictly Carmelites, are best understood when read and studied with a familiarity that comes for an intense family life. We were meant to be familiar with the saints, canonized and uncannonized, as the early Christians show us, even when looking at the Catacombs,where the saints are buried close to the altar. Parents reading the lives of the saints is a good introduction for the children to Carmel.
What is most powerful though, is the saintly example of father,mother, brother, sister, cousins, children and so on. We learn from each other how to be the best possible people we can be. Carmel protects this knowledge and encourages it by focusing inward to our lives at home. The Jesse tree as a pictorial history of the family of God is important, obviously. Even more important to a family whose favorite Carmelite devotion is the Christmas Tree. It is decorated with precious memories.
The brown scapular is important to Carmel. It is designed like a small baptisimal robe in brown wool. Again it is the family of God that Carmel insists on. The secret to holiness, is the desert call which awakens us to the God in the midst of our family and the center of ourselves.
