Carmelite Saints

“Behold the living God in whose presence I stand” (1 Kgs 17:1)
Saint Elias (Elijah) (850 B.C.) was an Old Testament Prophet and is held as the spiritual father of Carmel. The first Carmelites were Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land during the 12th century. They settled on Mount Carmel near a spring called Elijah's Fountain to live a solitary life of prayer and penanceAlbert, the holy patriarch of Jerusalem brought the hermits on Mount Carmel together, at their request, into community and gave them a written rule by which to live between 1206 and 1214.

Saint Simon Stock was chosen as the sixth general of the Carmelites in 1245, after the situation in the Holy Land had caused the friars to leave mount Carmel and spread throughout Europe. The Mother of God appeared to St. Simon Stock with the scapular of the order in her hand and said "This shall be the privilege for you and for all the Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit shall be saved."

Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Jesus (1515-1582) reformed the Order of Carmel and is the foundress of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns. Discalced means barefoot and comes from the practice of wearing sandals. The Teresian Carmelite family has at its heart the Order of Discalced Carmelites made up of friars, nuns and secular members. She was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970 by Pope Paul VI.


Holy Father Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591) Discalced Carmelire friar and Doctor of the Church.

St. Therese of Lisseux (1873-1897) Doctor of the Church.

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity (1880-1906) is a modern mystic from Dijon, France who died at the young age of twenty-six and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 25, 1984. My mother and I read her biography  together over our family ski trip.

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) (1891-1942) was born in Germany to Jewish parents. She was a profound philosopher and brilliant writer, and had a great influence on the women of her time. She converted to Catholicism after reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and was martyred at Auschwitz.

Saint Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla), a Third Order Carmelite, wore the scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and would frequently ask for the intercession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The pope was convinced that Our Lady of Mount Carmel, along with Our Lady of Fatima (who appeared wearing the brown scapular), saved him from his assassination attempt.