Haifa, The Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at Stella Maris, Dir el-Muhraka, The City of Akko (Acre) - July 30, 2011 (Matthew Mac Donald

On Saturday and Sunday, we had the chance to visit two of the most important Catholic shrines on Mount Carmel, which is in the vicinity of the port city of Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea. The first of these shrines was the Basilica of Stella Maris, which is in the custody of the Discalced Carmelites. We stayed at the Stella Maris guest house for two nights, having pizza and enjoying the beautiful views of the port city of Haifa and the Mediterranean Sea.

A few of us on the grounds of the Stella Maris Pilgrimage House

The Port City of Haifa

The Mediterranean Sea

Here are some photos of the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at Stella Maris:

Main altar for the Carmelite community

Statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (There is also a replica of this statue at the Carmelite Church of Santa Maria della Scalla in the Trastevere section of Rome)

Saint Theresa of Avila on the High Altar

The Prophet Elijah (St. Elias) and Saint John of the Cross

Saint John of the Cross and Saint Theresa of Avila

Saint Simon Stock receiving the Brown Scapular of the Carmelite Order of Our Lady

Memorial to Saint Theresa of Avila

Memorial to Saint John of the Cross

Memorial to Bl. Mary of Jesus Crucified (A Palestinian Carmelite from Bethlehem)

Memorial to Saint Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

The Main Altar with the Cave of the Prophet Elijah

The Cave of the Prophet Elijah 

The Dome of the Basilica with various scenes from the lives of the Saints of the Carmelite Order

Here is a rough translation of the Latin inscription: Somewhere in this cave Elijah the Tishbite dwelt, the great prophet, our father and leader. (More can be found about this in 1 Kings 19:9)

The Altar of the Prophet Elijah (St. Elias)

We also visited Dir el-Muhraka, the Horn of Mount Carmel, where in 1 Kings 18:21-34, recalls God sending a drought over the land of Israel for three years in punishment for their unfaithfulness to the covenant that He made with them through their worshipping the god Ba'al. In this passage, the prophet Elijah challenges the prophets and the priests of Baal to set up an altar to their god Ba'al with an offering of an oxen to see if it would be consumed by fire. Their prayers prove to be ineffective, at which they begin to smash their heads with swords and spears and the prophet Eiljah ridicules them for this. Elijah sets up an altar for the God of Israel with an offering of an oxen and a moat and douses it with water from four large jugs three times. He then prays for God's intervention and God sends fire down from Heaven which consumes the water, oxen and the altar. Then Elijah silts the throats of the prophets of Ba'al and rain falls on the land of Israel once more. Father Fabian Lopez celebrated a votive mass in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at the chapel of Dir el-Muhraka which is under the custodianship of the Discalced Carmelites.

The Prophet Elijah Slaying the prophets of Ba'al

Views from the top of the Horn of Mount Carmel

The Jezreel Valley

The Prophet Elijah

Main altar at the Carmelite Chapel where we had mass

The Motto of the Carmelite Order

The Carmelite Chapel at Dir el-Muhraka

We also visited the city of Akko, which is known also as Acre. It is located in the Western Galilee section of Northern Israel by Haifa bay. It was a city that belonged to the tribe of Asher and was one of the few Canaanite strongholds that the Israelites did not destroy. It would later become a central stronghold of the Greek and Roman occupations as well as one of the last strongholds of the Crusaders during the Middle Ages. It would later be seized by the Malmeluks of Egypt in 1291 and seized by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. The British would later occupy the city, using part of it as a prison before the state of Israel would gain possession of it in 1948. 

A Model of the City of Acre

The Crusader Citadel

A Pointed Arch from Crusader Times

The Hall of the Knights Hospitalliers

The Crusader Dining Hall

The Knights Templar Tunnel

A Turkish Market Place













Some of us, later in the day, would go and spend sometime swimming on the beaches of Haifa before we would pray evening prayer, have a pizza dinner and call it a night.