Torches

Mount Carmel was a solitary mountain where the prophet Elijah lived a retired and solitary life. There on Mount Carmel he lived in the continual presence of God, truly recollected, and contemplating divine things. Carmelites look to the prophet Elijah for their identity.  

If the world ought to be renewed, as indeed it ought to be, it is through Carmel. We, as Carmelites, ought to be as torches - scripture says so...

“And Elias the prophet stood up, as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch.” (Ecclesiasticus 48:1, Douay-Rheims Translation) 

This is as carmelite as it can be!

The torch is the image of the Carmelite life. In the Carmelite crest the arm holding the flaming torch represents light and love. As the torch illuminates the night, so too, we as Carmelites are to illuminate the darkness.

The love and light of God ought to be in our souls.