Convent of the Carmelite “Ordine del Carmelo”

The rise of the Carmelite Order is linked to a group of Christian faithful (penitents, pilgrims) who, coming from Europe, settled in Mount Carmel more or less in the period of the third crusade, 1189-1192. Since the occupation of the Saracens, who had conquered Jerusalem, was underway, the pilgrims had to find safe places in the Holy Land. This is one of the reasons why they lived on Mount Carmel, belonging to the Latin Kingdom and protected by military fortresses. Mount Carmel is the last part of a mountain range in the Holy Land, today Israel. The Order is made up of two families: the Carmelite Order and the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, which in a precise historical moment split from the primitive stock. In official documents the Order of the Discalced Carmelites is called "Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel". The Carmelite Rule is the norm of life of Saint Albert, given to the Carmelites between 1206 and 1214 while he was Patriarch of Jerusalem; was definitively approved as a true Carmelite Rule by Innocent IV in 1247. The Carmelite Rule states that it is fundamental: "to live in the respect of Jesus Christ and to serve faithfully to him with a pure heart and with a good conscience".