The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel or Carmelites. Those of you loving the books of famous Alexandre Dumas, père remember well that the gorgeous Constance Bonacieux from The Three Musketeers was hiding from the cruel Milady de Winter at the #TheCarmeliteConventAtBéthune
today we touched the history that goes back to 12th century. It is a Roman Catholic religious order founded on Mount Carmel (Palestine) in the Crusader States, hence the name Carmelites . However, historical records about its origin remain very uncertain few clear records of early Carmelite history have survived. There are no certain records of hermits on this mountain before the 1190s and the history might go further back to Israel. As Wikipedia states: "y this date a group of men had gathered at the well of Elijah on Mount Carmel. These men, who had gone to Palestine from Europe either as pilgrims or as crusaders, chose Mount Carmel in part because it was the traditional home of Elijah.[5] The foundation is believed to have been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. (The Carmelites were forced to leave the site, and the Holy Land, in 1291. " Their original conventual buildings were destroyed several times, but members of the order were able to return in the nineteenth century under the Ottoman Empire. The Order grew quickly after reaching Europe. By the end of the thirteenth century, the order had around 150 houses in Europe, divided into twelve provinces throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.
My guess is that Dumas did not mention the monastery without a higher purpose as you all know many royalties and children from their families were raised with the help of convent nuns. The convents were in their order supported by the high society as they were hiding lots of secrets that were not supposed to be surfaces due to the nature of their origins (mainly the sins of those from the high society).
The Carmelite Monastery in Melbourne is the home of Contemplative Nuns living by the Primitive Rule for the Carmelites as it was incorporated by St Teresa of Avila in her Reform for the Discalced Carmelites. What I really liked that it produces the #MONASTIQUE range of perfumes and skin care products that people can walk in, buy and support the order. http://www.carmelitemonasterymelbourne.com.au/monastique.ht… I really loved the idea, the history and our little trip and wanted to share the information with our readers.
what else touched us: the atmosphere of love and tranquility , the abundance of beautiful flowers, manicured gardens, the colors inside the church, stunning mosaic works, live flowers - mainly lilies with the sweet smell that could bewitch and calm you, window glass color-boards, artworks and that something that you can not pronounce and understand but just feel its essence everywhere...