From 11 to 16 June 2024, His Eminence Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, engaged in a Pastoral Visitation of Haifa, meeting with the ecclesial and religious communities there. In particular, he visited the Latin Parish of St. Joseph which is under the care of Carmelites of the Lebanese Province and Carmel School where around 700 boys and girls are taught. The Cardinal also met and prayed with the various Religious Orders in Haifa, including our Carmelite Nuns and the Friars of Stella Maris Monastery. On Friday 14 June, the Feast of St. Elijah, the Cardinal presided at the morning Mass in the Grotto of St. Elijah. On 16 June, the annual procession in honour of Our Lady of Mount Carmel took place. Cardinal Pizzabella led the procession and was joined by a large crowd coming from all the surrounding region and by numerous Bishops and Priests.
It is interesting that the origin of this procession dates back to the end of the First World War in 1918. Earlier in that conflict the Ottoman authorities ordered the Carmelite Fathers to evacuate the Stella Maris Monastery within three hours, as it was to be taken over by the Ottoman army. The faithful inhabitants of Haifa then asked the Superior of Stella Maris if they could bring the Monastery’s statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel to their Parish of St. Joseph, so that Our Blessed Lady would protect them from the incessant bombardments of the French and British ships in the Bay of Haifa. At the conclusion of the War, the population of Haifa returned the statue of the Madonna to Stella Maris in a first procession, accompanied with hymns of thanksgiving.
