Inside the shield is the Mount of Carmel. The Cross distinguishes this shield as being that of the Discalced Carmelites, the new branch of the illustrious Order of Carmel founded by St. Teresa of Jesus in 1562 with the foundation of the Monastery of St. Joseph in Avila, Spain. She simply wanted to repair the outrages that were being committed against the Sacred Heart of Jesus by living a life of total devotedness to Him.
The twelve stars above the shield signify devotion to the Mother of God to whom the Order of Carmel has always been singularly devoted. The woman of the Apocolypse with the moon beneath her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head was the woman Our Father St. Elias saw in the foot shaped cloudlet rising out of the stormy sea. The Prophet Elias gathered together his disciples to honor the Virgin who was to bring forth the Messias and the Order which he founded was modeled upon her virtues. The virtues of the humble maiden at Nazareth as well as in the Cenacle are the virtues which the Carmelite is called to imitate in order to be of service to the Church and in the salvation of souls. The twelve stars also symbolize the twelve points of the Rule of Carmel.