MESSAGE FOR THE CENTENARY OF THE PROCESSION OF OUR LADY OF CARMEL
Haifa, 5 May 2019
Fr. Saverio Cannistrà of the Sacred Heart, O.C.D.
Discalced Carmelite Superior General
This year we celebrate the centenary of the procession of Our Lady of Carmel in Haifa. The first procession was held on April 27, 1919, Sunday in albis, and was organized to solemnly bring back to the sanctuary of Stella Maris the statue of Our Lady of Carmel, that in 1914 at the beginning of the First World War, had been transferred to the parish church in the city. The Vicar Father of Mount Carmel at that time, the Englishman P. Francis Lamb (1867-1950), writes in his memoirs that there was an extraordinary participation of the people and that the English authorities were struck by this manifestation of faith and devotion for the Mother of God in the Latin Catholic community of Haifa. It was linked to the end of the Great War and the desire to thank the Lord and Our Lady for the return of peace. The procession was repeated in the following years until it became the most important in the Holy Land after that of Palm Sunday in Jerusalem.
Here in Haifa, devotion to Mary is like a centuries-old tree with large branches and deep roots […]
Via Message for the centenary of the procession of Our Lady of Carmel — DISCALCED CARMELITES
View the photo album of the 2019 Centenary procession from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and read the article in their newsletter
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