The Carmelites are named after Mt. Carmel, the same place where the prophet Elijah had his contest with the priests of Ba’al and lived as a hermit. The first record we have of the Carmelites is from the 12th century, when hermits began living on the mountain in imitation of Elijah and with a strong devotion to Mary.
The Carmelites consider Elijah to be the spiritual father of the order, and some even believe that Elijah himself founded the Order and that it existed in some form from his own lifetime. (Church Fathers have interpreted the cloud that Elijah saw rising from the sea after his contest with the priests of Ba’al to be a sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary).
Because of conditions in Palestine, they began moving to Europe from the Holy Land in the 13th century and in 1242 a group of Carmelites moved to England.
St. Simon was made General of the entire order in 1247.
(St. Simon's prayer and the words of Our Lady's promise can be found in Mary in Her Scapular Promise by John Mathias Haffert).