The Crusader's shield is adorned with three stars: the lower star represents the Virgin Mother, the Star of the Sea; the upper stars represent the Carmelites leaders, Elias and Eliseus, the Old Testament prophets. The stars are six pointed in recognition that the Carmelite leaders were both Jews living in the time before Christ and that the hermits of Mount Carmel followed the approved custom of the Church; which for them was the Patriarchal Church of Jerusalem.

St. Elias (aka Elijah) the prophet from the Old Testament was believed by the early Carmelite Monks to have founded the Order. Elias was the first one to pray and await the coming of Our Lady on Mount Carmel. Eliseus was the one who succeeded Elias in this devotion. After Elias, and with the encouragement of Eliseus, hermits established themselves on Mount Carmel, continuing to pray for the coming of Our Lady and the Messiah.

This is the origin of the Carmelite Order, which is the first Religious Order in the Catholic Church. We are the graduates of a Carmelite institution that has evolved and has a unique history. That the Crusades from the middle ages may have at times had a colorful history does not negate the efforts of the Carmelite priests and brothers on behalf of Catholic education in Los Angeles.

The Carmelite origins hail from those monks who lived on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land (think of it as the Palos Verdes of Haifa) and even today Christians, Jews and Muslims all look to Elias as a great prophet. Mount Carmel graduates identify with the intonations of our alma mater that "Crusaders sons are we"; possibly a bit rough around the edges but for sure a band of brothers. That is who we are!