Our Lady of Mount Carmel
HISTORY OF OUR PATRON
Mount Carmel is a biblical place where the prophet Elijah dwelt. It rises 1,742 feet above sea level and towers above Israel’s Mediterranean coastline. It was here where Elijah prayed to God for the salvation of Israel, which was suffering a terrible drought at the time. He continued to pray and sent his servant up the mountain several times to look for rain. On the seventh try, Elijah’s servant returned with good news. “Behold a little cloud arose out of the sea like a man’s foot” (1 Kings 1:44). Soon thereafter, torrential rains fell upon the parched land and the people of Israel were saved.
Elijah saw the cloud as a symbol of the Virgin mentioned in the prophecies of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14). The hermits who lived on Mount Carmel followed Elijah’s example and prayed for the advent of the much-awaited Virgin, who would become the mother of the Messiah.
In the 13th century, during the Crusades, St. Simon Stock joined a group of hermits on Mount Carmel during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In 1247, he was elected the 6th superior-general of the Carmelites at the first chapter held in Aylesford, England. However, the order had difficulty gaining general acceptance and suffered much persecution and oppression from secular clergy and other orders which prompted the monks to have recourse to the Blessed Virgin in the year 1251.
On July 16th, 1251, as Simon Stock knelt in prayer, Our Lady appeared to him, holding the Child Jesus in one arm and the Brown Scapular in the other. She uttered the following words: “Hoc erit tibi et cunctis Carmelitis privilegium, in hoc habitu moriens salvabitur”.
The scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, also known as the Brown Scapular, is one of the most popular and celebrated of Roman Catholic devotions. The sacramental (as the lay faithful commonly use it) is a miniature derivative of the actual brown scapular used by the Carmelites – the sleeveless outer garment falling from the shoulders which is worn as a sign of their vocation and devotion.
Our Lady gave St. Simon a scapular for the Carmelites with the following promise, saying, “Receive, My beloved son, this habit of thy order: this shall be to thee and to all Carmelites a privilege, that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire…It shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace.”
It is evident that the Virgin Mary wants to reveal the scapular to us in a special way. Lucia a visionary from Fatima, Sister Mary of the Immaculate Heart reports that in the last apparition (October, 1917, day of the miracle of the sun), the Virgin appeared dressed in the Carmelite habit and with a scapular in her hand; she wanted to remind us, that her true children would wear it with reverence. She also asked that those who are consecrated to her would wear it as a symbol of this consecration.
The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16th gives us the opportunity to demonstrate our gratitude for Mary’s continued guidance and protection for all of us who are consecrated to her by means of the holy Scapular. Mary promises to ensure our salvation if we have devotion to her and one of the best ways of showing our love and devotion to Mary is by the wearing of the brown Scapular
Prayer to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Oh Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of sinners, special protector of those who wear your sacred scapular, His Divine Majesty exalted you, choosing you as His Mother, I beg you to obtain for me from your beloved Son, the forgiveness of my sins, the grace to amend my life, the salvation of my soul, the remedy to my needs, consolation in my afflictions and the special grace that I ask for in this novena, if it is for His greater honor and glory and good for my soul; my Lady, to obtain it I rely on your powerful intercession. I desire to have the spirit of the angels, saints, and righteous ones in order to praise you worthily and uniting my voice with their affections, I greet you now and forever saying: Three Hail Mary’s.
Blessed Virgin of Mt. Carmel, I desire that all, without exceptions would take refuge in the protective shadow of your Holy Scapular and that all would be united to you my Mother.
Oh, Beauty of Carmel! Look at us kneeling reverently before your holy image and grant us your loving protection. I commend to you the needs of our Holy Father the Pope, of the Catholic Church our Mother, and the needs of my nation and all nations in the world, my own needs and that of all my relatives and friends. Look with eyes of mercy on so many poor sinners, heretics and schematics, how they offend your Divine Son and so many unfaithful how they moan in the darkness of paganism. That all may convert and love you, my Mother, as I desire to love you, now and for all eternity. Amen.