Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the title given to the
Blessed Virgin MaryThe Blessed Virgin Mary, sometimes shortened to the Blessed Virgin or the Virgin Mary, is a traditional title used by most Christians and most specifically used by liturgical Christians such as Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics, and some others to...
, in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on
Mount CarmelMount Carmel is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
in the
Holy LandThe Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land...
during the late 12th and early to mid 13th centuries. They built a
chapelThe Stella Maris Monastery in Haifa is a 19th-century Carmelite monastery located on the slopes of Mount Carmel, Israel.- History :In the 12th century, during the Crusader occupation of the region, groups of religious hermits began to inhabit the caves of this area in imitation of Elijah the Prophet...
in the midst of their hermitages which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, whom they conceived of in chivalric terms as the "Lady of the place."
Since the 16th century, popular devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel has centered on the
Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel“Our Lady of Mount Carmel″ is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, and the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel , is the habit of that Order...
also known as the Brown Scapular, a
sacramentalSacramental may refer to:* Sacramental, as an adjective means of or pertaining to sacraments* Sacramentals, in Anglicanism and Roman Catholicism, objects whose supernatural effects, unlike those of a sacrament, depend on the belief of the recipient...
associated with promises of Mary's special aid for the salvation of the devoted wearer. Traditionally, Mary is said to have given the Scapular to an early Carmelite named Saint
Simon StockSaint Simon Stock, an Englishman who lived in the 13th century, was an early prior general of the Carmelite religious order. Little is known about his life with any historical certainty. The Blessed Virgin Mary is traditionally said to have appeared to him and given him the Carmelite habit, the...
. The liturgical feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is celebrated on 16 July.
The Feast Day
The solemn liturgical feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was probably first celebrated in England in the later part of the 14th century. Its object was thanksgiving to
MaryThe Blessed Virgin Mary, sometimes shortened to the Blessed Virgin or the Virgin Mary, is a traditional title used by most Christians and most specifically used by liturgical Christians such as Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics, and some others to...
, the patroness of the Carmelite Order, for the benefits she had accorded to it through its rocky early existence. The institution of the feast may have come in the wake of the vindication of their title "Brothers of the
Blessed Virgin MaryThe Blessed Virgin Mary, sometimes shortened to the Blessed Virgin or the Virgin Mary, is a traditional title used by most Christians and most specifically used by liturgical Christians such as Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics, and some others to...
" at Cambridge, England in 1374. The date chosen was July 17th; on the European mainland this date conflicted with the feast of St. Alexis, necessitating a shift to July 16th, which remains the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel throughout the Catholic Church. The
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
poem
Flos CarmeliThe Flos Carmeli is a Roman Catholic Marian prayer. Flos Carmeli literally means "flower of Carmel".-The prayer in English:The Flos Carmeli is a Roman Catholic Marian prayer. Flos Carmeli literally means "flower of Carmel".-The prayer in English:...
(meaning "Flower of Carmel") first appears as the sequence for this
MassThe Mass is the Eucharistic celebration in the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church. The term is used also of similar celebrations in Old Catholic Churches, in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, in many Lutheran Churches, and in a small amount of High Church Methodist parishes...
.
The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is known to many Catholic faithful as the "scapular feast," associated with the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a devotional
sacramentalSacramentals are material objects, things or actions set apart or blessed by the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Churches, and Old Catholic Churches to manifest the respect due to the Sacraments, and so to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these...
signifiying the wearer's consecration to Mary and affiliation with the Carmelite Order. A tradition first attested to in the late 1300s says that Saint
Simon StockSaint Simon Stock, an Englishman who lived in the 13th century, was an early prior general of the Carmelite religious order. Little is known about his life with any historical certainty. The Blessed Virgin Mary is traditionally said to have appeared to him and given him the Carmelite habit, the...
, an early prior general of the Carmelite Order, had a vision of the
Blessed Virgin MaryThe Blessed Virgin Mary, sometimes shortened to the Blessed Virgin or the Virgin Mary, is a traditional title used by most Christians and most specifically used by liturgical Christians such as Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics, and some others to...
in which she gave him the Brown Scapular which formed part of the Carmelite habit, promising that those who died wearing the scapular would be saved.
That there should be a connection in people's minds between the scapular, the widely popular devotion originating with the
CarmelitesThe Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence the order receives its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
, and this central Carmelite feast day, is surely not unnatural or unreasonable. But the liturgical feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel did not originally have a specific association with the Brown Scapular or the tradition of a vision of the
Blessed Virgin MaryThe Blessed Virgin Mary, sometimes shortened to the Blessed Virgin or the Virgin Mary, is a traditional title used by most Christians and most specifically used by liturgical Christians such as Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics, and some others to...
. In 1653, a Carmelite named Fr. John Cheron, responding to scholarly criticism that Saint
Simon StockSaint Simon Stock, an Englishman who lived in the 13th century, was an early prior general of the Carmelite religious order. Little is known about his life with any historical certainty. The Blessed Virgin Mary is traditionally said to have appeared to him and given him the Carmelite habit, the...
's vision may not have historically occurred (these doubts are echoed by historians today ), published a document which he said was a letter written in the 13th century by Saint Simon Stock's secretary, "Peter Swanington". Historians conclude that this letter was forged, likely by Cheron himself. It was nevertheless uncritically embraced by many promoters of the scapular devotion. The forged document's claim of July 16, 1251 as the date of the vision (July 16 being the date of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel) subsequently led to a strong association between this feast day, and the scapular devotion, and in the intervening years until the late 1970's, this association with the scapular was also reflected in the liturgy for that day. The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel as well as that of Saint Simon Stock came under scrutiny after Vatican II due to historical uncertainties, and today neither of these liturgies, even in the Carmelite proper, make reference to the scapular.
Carmelite Devotion to Mary
The
CarmelitesThe Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence the order receives its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
see in the Blessed Virgin Mary a perfect model of the interior life of
prayerPrayer is the act of addressing a god or spirit for the purpose of worship or petition. Specific forms of this may include praise, requesting guidance or assistance, confessing sins, as an act of reparation or an expression of one's thoughts and emotions...
and
contemplationThe word Contemplation comes from the Latin root templum , and means to separate something from its environment, and to enclose it in a sector. Contemplation is the Latin translation of Greek 'theory'...
to which Carmelites aspire, a model of virtue, as well as the person who was closest in life to Jesus Christ. She is seen as the one who points Christians most surely to Christ, saying to all what she says to the servants at the wedding at Cana, "Do whatever he (Jesus) tells you." Carmelites look to Mary as spiritually their mother and sister. The
Stella Maris MonasteryThe Stella Maris Monastery in Haifa is a 19th-century Carmelite monastery located on the slopes of Mount Carmel, Israel.- History :In the 12th century, during the Crusader occupation of the region, groups of religious hermits began to inhabit the caves of this area in imitation of Elijah the Prophet...
on
Mount CarmelMount Carmel is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
, named after a traditional title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is considered the spiritual headquarters of the order.
Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, OCD, a revered authority on Carmelite spirituality, wrote that devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel means:
- a special call to the interior life, which is preeminently a Marian life. Our Lady wants us to resemble her not only in our outward vesture but, far more, in heart and spirit. If we gaze into Mary's soul, we shall see that grace in her has flowered into a spiritual life of incalcuable wealth: a life of recollection, prayer, uninterrupted oblation to God, continual contact, and intimate union with him. Mary's soul is a sanctuary reserved for God alone, where no human creature has ever left its trace, where love and zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of mankind reign supreme. [...] Those who want to live their devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to the full must follow Mary into the depths of her interior life. Carmel is the symbol of the contemplative life, the life wholly dedicated to the quest for God, wholly orientated towards intimacy with God; and the one who has best realized this highest of ideals is Our Lady herself, 'Queen and Splendor of Carmel'."
Church Teaching
A 1996 doctrinal statement approved by the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the SacramentsThe Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is the congregation of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Catholic Church as distinct from the Eastern Catholic Churches and also some technical matters relating to the...
states that "Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is bound to the history and spiritual values of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and is expressed through the
scapular“Our Lady of Mount Carmel″ is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, and the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel , is the habit of that Order...
. Thus, whoever receives the scapular becomes a member of the order and pledges him/herself to live according to its spirituality in accordance with the characteristics of his/her state in life."
According to the ways in which the Church has intervened at various times to clarify the meaning and privileges of the Brown Scapular: "The scapular is a Marian habit or garment. It is both a sign and pledge. A sign of belonging to Mary; a pledge of her motherly protection, not only in this life but after death. As a sign, it is a conventional sign signifying three elements strictly joined: first, belonging to a religious family particularly devoted to Mary, especially dear to Mary, the Carmelite Order; second, consecration to Mary, devotion to and trust in her Immaculate Heart; third an incitement to become like Mary by imitating her virtues, above all her humility, chastity, and spirit of prayer."
Gallery of statues
Statues of Our Lady of Mount Carmel usually depict her with a Brown scapular.
In some cases she is accompanied with angels. In some cases souls in
PurgatoryPurgatory is the condition or process of purification in which the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven. This is an idea that has ancient roots and is well-attested in early Christian literature, while the conception of purgatory as a geographically situated place is...
are depicted, pleading for her mediation, implying her role as
MediatrixMediatrix in Roman Catholic Mariology refers to the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a mediator in the salvation process. It is a separate concept from Co-Redemptrix....
, though in 1613 the Church forbade for statues to be made .
See also
- Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
“Our Lady of Mount Carmel″ is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, and the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel , is the habit of that Order...
- Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence the order receives its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
- Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
- Byzantine Discalced Carmelites
The Byzantine Discalced Carmelites are a community of cloistered nuns of the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Church living committed to a life of prayer, according to the eremitic tradition and lifestyle of the Discalced Carmelites....
External links
Brown Scapular: a "Silent Devotion" – 2008 article via Zenit news service by Fr. Kieran Kavenaugh, OCD discusses devotion to the Brown Scapular, the existence of historical problems, and pastoral practice
The Virgin Mary in Our Life – Article about Marian devotion in the Carmelite tradition
Representetions of Our Lady of Mount Carmel