The origin of the procession dates to 1914 (during the First World War). During the month of November, the Ottoman authorities appeared in the Stella Maris monastery (Mount Carmel), notifying the religious men that in three hours they had to leave the monastery, because it was going to be taken up by the Ottoman army. The Carmelites took to safety the cult items.
Meanwhile, the Haifa inhabitants asked the Superior to allow them to take the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel from Stella Maris to Saint Joseph parish, in the Haifa Bay because, facing the continuous bombardments of the French and English ships, they hope to have refuge and protection from Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
After the war, the Haifa population, spontaneously and as thanksgiving, brought back – this time by means of a procession, accompanied by prayers and thanksgiving songs – the statue in its sanctuary in Stella Maris. Since 1919, fifteen days after the Easter (3rd Easter Sunday) this procession is repeated every year. At the very beginning, it was a local procession (in Haifa), some time after, it became regional (the whole Galilea), and nowadays it is celebrated all around Holy Land, being the second most important procession, after the Jerusalem Procession of the Palms.
The annual procession of our Lady of Mount Carmel that takes place usually two weeks after Easter (the third Sunday of Easter, liturgically speaking), it has been postponed because the war raging in the region from October 7, 2024. The procession this year, God willing, would take place on June 16, 2024.
It seems, according to tradition, that 60 years ago the procession was postponed too. That year they began the procession at 17:00. One hour later than the ordinary timing that is 16:00 p m. Any way the sun on June is already strong. Too much for a walking of three hours from the low city of Haifa till the promontory of Mount Carmel, where the Basilica of our Lady of Mount Carmel stands.
