Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
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Today is the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
a. In the thirteenth century Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock with a multitude of angels, holding in her hands the Scapular of the Order. She said, “This will be for you and for all Carmelites the privilege, that he who dies in this will not suffer eternal fire.”
b. Then in the fourteenth century Mary appeared to Pope John XXII with the message that all the faithful who wear a brown scapular while striving to live a life of faith and virtue will gain their purification from purgatory by her merits and intercession on the Saturday after their death.
c. This feast, the Scapular, and what Mary offers us in it is a powerful reminder that she is our spiritual mother who brings Jesus to us and forms him within us.
d. It’s also a reminder that we too have a part to play. As she specified in her apparition to Pope John XXII, “All the faithful who wear a brown scapular while striving to live a life of faith and virtue will gain their purification.”
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It’s also important to remember that Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of the Pillar, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Our Lady Of Częstochowa, though under separate titles, are all still the same Woman with the same message. In fact, at the last apparition of Fatima on October 13, 1917, Mary appeared as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel holding in her hand the brown scapular. But it’s not a matter of wearing either the Scapular or the Miraculous Medal, but which qualities you need to be reminded of. Above all else, she is our spiritual mother and we are consecrated to her, we belong to her so that she can form Jesus in us.
a. Mary offers us the brown scapular as a symbol of her mantle, it is a pledge of Mary’s protection, her counsel and all of her care.
b. That is why today we’re to reflect on her mantle, her protection, and her aid, rather than the object that represents them.
c. Devotion to Mary means to live in Imitation of Jesus relationship with Mary, so that the Holy Spirit and Mary may form Jesus in us. Consecration to Mary has three essential elements: To consecrate oneself entirely to Mary as Jesus did in the Incarnation; To live a personal relationship with Mary, moment to moment, day after day, in imitation of Jesus’ relationship with her as he grew up under the direction and care of Mary in Nazareth
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The Scapular is a sign of Mary placing us under her mantle of protection, but her physical mantle has also produced great victories.
a. Almost all of the Apostles were present for the assumption of Mary but once again Thomas was late. She later appeared to him and gave him her cloak as a sign of her affection. Before he left for India, it was entrusted to the Church and kept in Constantinople.
b. By 638 A.D. Islam had become master of the middle east. In 718, Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine-Catholic world, was surrounded by Muslim forces intent on destroying Christianity. However, the Church of Blacherne in Constantinople possessed a very important relic, the Mantle of Mary, which had been brought to Constantinople from Jerusalem in the 400s.
c. In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant gave the Israelites protection and victory in battle. Recall how when the Israelites were outmanned and outgunned at Jericho when they were trying to enter the Promised Land (I realize they did not have guns back then but it’s a good phrase) they marched around the outside of the walls of Jericho seven times carrying in the Ark of the Covenant. The walls fell down and the Israelites gained the victory and the Promised Land.
d. Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant, and her mantle offered Constantinople the same kind of protection. On August 15, 718, The Patriarch of Constantinople and the people marched around the inside of the city walls carrying the Mantle of Mary, the New Ark of the Covenant, while they chanted the Akathist hymn to Mary. With no explanation, the Muslim invaders fled and were destroyed by natural disasters in their retreat.
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The Protection of the Mother of God
a. This victory of Mary prevented the Muslim forces from advancing in the East for more than 700 years. This Victory of Mary is celebrated each year on the first day of October. It’s called the Feast of Pokrov – The Protection of the Mother of God. Today, we are still under the protection of Mary. So, we must entrust everything to her that seems impossible, seems hopeless and is out of our control! At any given moment I have no idea where my five kids are and I certainly cannot control what is going on in their lives. That is why the first thing I do when I arise each morning and the last thing I do before I go to sleep each night is to entrust myself, my wife and my kids to Mary by placing them under her Mantle of Protection!
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In 1830 Mary came in the Apparition of the Miraculous Medal. She appeared standing on the globe, crushing the head of a serpent under her heel, with her arms outstretched with many graces flowing from her hands signifying once again Mary is Our Spiritual Mother and the Mediatrix of All Grace. She then said, “Have a medal struck after this image. Those who wear this medal around their neck will receive great graces.”
a. In both the apparitions of Our Lady of Mt Carmel and the Miraculous Medal it is the same woman and the same message. Whether we wear a brown cloth, or medal or the miraculous medal the message and the promise are the same.
b. Every time I take the medal off and put it back on it is a reminder of my identity: I am the son of Mary, She is my Spiritual Mother, I belong entirely to her. I can rely on her for everything just as Jesus did when he was a small boy growing up under her care and influence. It is a reminder to me that I am not alone and I don’t have to go it alone. God the Most Holy Trinity, Mary my Mother, the angels and the saints are with me. I can surrender myself to them and they are there to inspire and help me and make straight my crooked lines. This frees me from the paralysis of fear and frustration to make decisions, take action and move forward in the responsibilities of my life with freedom, power and joy.
Above all, it is neither the Scapular nor the Miraculous Medal that will save us. Mary summarizes the true solution herself.
“Give me your hearts, that I may put my son in them.”