THE SEAL OF CARMEL

 THE SEAL OF CARMEL

    As we remember the seal of Carmel.  We are anchored in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in our life of prayer, pondering day and night the Word of the Lord in our hearts.

    The three stars symbolise the three spiritual pillars of the Discalced Carmelite order such as St. Elijah, St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.

    The warm colours of red, orange and yellow symbolise the theological virtues of faith, hope and love.

    The dove is dark because it symbolises the dark night of the soul. The struggle to grow in spiritual life that is necessary in our journey toward union with God.  The strings symbolise the necessary graces that flow around us as we trust in God through our struggles and pain.

    The white background symbolises God's presence surrounding us.

    In the centre of the seal is Mount Carmel, cradle of the Order, its tip reaching to the sky, Mount Carmel, the Carmelites' place of origin is in Haifa, Israel.  In The 9th century BC, the prophet Elijah lived there and had a profound experience of God.  In that same place in the early 12th century some hermits, inspired by the memory of St. Elijah, gather there, with a desire to live a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ base on the Rule of St. Albert.

    The cross on the summit of the mountain was added to the seal in the 16th century as a distinctive mark of the Discalced Carmelites.  On the seal there are also three stars which represent the three great epochs in the history of Carmel; the first, or prophetic era, represented by the star inside the mountain, denotes the time of the prophet Elijah to the time of St. John the Baptist; the second indicates the era of those hermits living on Mount Carmel before the arrival of the Latin Crusaders; and the third signifies the present epoch spanning from the first Carmelite community living under the Rule of St. Albert until the end of time.

    Another meaning of the stars is that they stand as a remember to the members of the Carmelite order.  The star inside the mountain represents the Carmelites who are still on their way to the summit of Mount Carmel (heaven). The other two stars in the sky represent all the Carmelites who have gone before us and have reached the goal of their life's vocation:  union with God in love in the eternal joy of heaven.