Carmelite Saints & Blesseds

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the "Queen and Beauty of Carmel." Mount Carmel, the verdant height in the Holy Land where, according to Sacred Scriptures, the Prophet Elijah defended the faith of Israel in the living God, is the place where the Order of Carmelites had its formal beginning under the title of “Saint Mary of Mount Carmel” more than 800 years ago. This title has been solemnly celebrated since the 14th century, recalling the countless blessings of its patroness.

Saint Joseph

The Carmelite Order has great devotion to Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary, our Mother, and foster father to Our Lord. All Carmelites are entrusted to the care of St. Joseph, our Patron, on whom we rely for protection, strength and guidance. St. Joseph, pray for us!

Saint Elijah the Prophet

Scripture presents the Prophet Elijah as a man of God, walking continually in God’s presence and fiercely defending the worship of the one true God. He stood up for God’s rights in a solemn contest on Mount Carmel. Later, on Mount Horeb, he was granted an intimate experience of the living God. The hermits who instituted a form of monastic life in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the twelfth century, followed monastic tradition and turned to Elijah as their model.

Saint Teresa of Avila (Teresa of Jesus)

Virgin and Doctor of the Church, born at Avila, Spain in 1515. As a member of the Carmelite Order she made great progress in perfection and received mystical revelations. As reformer of our Order she underwent many trials which she intrepidly overcame. She also wrote books of the greatest spiritual value which reflect her own experiences. She died at Alba in 1582.

Saint John of the Cross

Priest and Doctor of the Church, John de Yepes was born in 1542 at Fontiveros, Spain and entered the Carmelite Order in 1563. In 1568 he became one of the first friars of the Discalced reform, taking the name John of the Cross. He was an heroic defender of the reform for the rest of his life. He died at Ubeda in 1591, and from that time he has enjoyed great esteem for sanctity and for the spiritual wisdom to which his writings testify.

Saint Therese of Lisieux (Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face)

Virgin and Doctor of the Church, Therese Martin was born at Alencon, France in 1873. At the age of fifteen she entered the Carmel of Lisieux. She practiced heroic humility, evangelical simplicity and trust in God, and taught the novices these virtues by word and example. She offered her life for the salvation of souls and the spread of the faith. After her death in 1897, her “Little Way” of holiness spread around the world.

Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity

Elizabeth Catez of the Trinity was born in 1880 in Bourges, France. In 1901 she entered the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of Dijon, making her profession of vows two years later. A faithful adorer in spirit and in truth, her life was a “praise of glory” of the Most Blessed Trinity present in her soul. Despite interior darkness and excruciating illness, she found her “heaven on earth” in the mystery of divine inhabitation.” As she died, she exclaimed that her Divine Spouse was calling her to “to light, to Love and life.”

Saint Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)

Edith Stein was born in 1891 to a Jewish family at Breslau, Germany (which today is part of Poland). Her passionate study of philosophy led her to the True Faith after reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Jesus. Despite tremendous opposition by family and friends, she was baptized a Catholic in 1922 and entered the Carmel of Cologne 11 years later. After her arrest by the Nazis, she was sent to the Auschwitz death camp where in 1942 she was executed in a gas chamber and cremated. She died a martyr for the Christian faith after having offered her holocaust for the people of Israel. A woman of singular intelligence and learning, she left behind a body of writing notable for its doctrinal richness and profound spirituality. She was canonized in 1998.