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Chapel Doorway at Carmelite Hermitage Carmelite hermit life began in the desert atmosphere of Mount Carmel, a chain of mountains overlooking the beautiful Mediterranean Sea on the west coast of Palestine. It was here that the great prophet Elijah lived in a cave at the base of the mountain... Elijah, the prophet who met the Lord of Hosts, not in the thunder and whirlwind of activity, but in the whisper of a gentle breeze portrays a person of deep interior prayer (I Kings 19:12)
Eremitic life, as in the Carmelite way, has its roots in the early centuries of Church history. Its lifestyle is one in which the Christian faithful dedicate their lives to solitude and separation from the world in order to more fully develop a life of contemplation and interior silence. Primitive Rules with their ancient disciplines of prayer, fasting, simple lifestyle, and manual labor accompany this style of consecrated life in the Church.
“They manifest in everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom they have surrendered their life simply because God is everything to them. Here is a particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One.”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994, #921)
We follow the traditions and discipline that was given form in the Rule of Saint Albert written for the Carmelites, in the Roman Catholic tradition of Consecrated life according to Canon 603.
Mt. Carmel Hermitage is a nonprofit tax exempt corporation in the state of Wisconsin. May God bless you for your support. Your Prayer requests are welcome. Please feel free to send them and they will be lifted up in prayer. Email
HERMITAGE ARTS •2514 92nd Street • Luck, WI 54853 • Email