Stella Maris Lighthouse on navy base today

On a recent trip to Israel, our guide took us to what he said was the pinnacle of Mount Carmel where in the Bible (1 Kings 18), God’s prophet Elijah had a confrontation with the prophets of Baal. The guide told us we were on the highest point of the mountain. But looking to my right, I saw an elevated area with a building on it, so I determined to know what the building was. As we were leaving the area, I saw a sign that read Stella Maris Monastery. Further research uncovered more interesting facts about the monastery, leading to my discovery of a lighthouse.

As it turned out, the area had been a Catholic monastery in the 13th century dedicated to the Virgin Mary, also known as Stella Maris, translated “Star of the Sea,” due to its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea. Here on Mount Carmel, the monks were known as Carmelites. When the Crusaders were run out of Jerusalem, the Carmelites also left, spreading across Europe. In 1631, the monks returned and built another monastery near a lighthouse in that location. But in 1761, Zahir al-Umar, an Arab ruler of Galilee, ordered the monastery vacated and destroyed.

Stella Maris monastery at end of 19th century

 

The Carmelites then moved to the present location on the mountain, which is directly above the grotto where the prophet Elijah is said to have lived. Here they built a large church and new monastery, first clearing the site of the ruins of a medieval Greek church, known as “the Abbey of St. Margaret” and a chapel, thought to date back to the time of the Byzantine Empire.

 

 

 

Summer residence of Abdulla Pasha showing lighthouse, 19th century

 

 

The new church was heavily damaged during Napoleon’s campaign in 1799, and in 1821, Abdullah Pasha of Acre ordered the monastery to be totally destroyed. He then used the masonry from the church to build a summer palace and a lighthouse on the nearby Mediterranean Sea. In 1836, the property was sold back to the Carmelite order who once again built a monastery on Mt. Carmel.

 

 

 

Stella Maris Monastery today

 

 

The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1928, and the property was rented from the Carmelites by the British until the end of the British Mandate in 1948. The property has been occupied by the Israeli Navy ever since, and the Stella Maris Lighthouse on its grounds is still an active aid to navigation.

 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5