Our Lady of Mount Carmel
One
Today, July 16 is the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
Sometime between the years 1247 and 1265, St. Simon Stock, the head of the Carmelites, prayed to Mary, asking her to grant a special privilege for his religious order. Mary appeared to him 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.” Whoever dies clothed in the brown scapular will be saved.
The scapular (from the Latin word for shoulders) is a garment worn by monks and nuns that goes over the head and covers the front and back but has no sleeves.
Sometime before 1322, 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.
Pope St. Pius X extended the same promise to those who wear the scapular medal.
After this apparition, the Feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel was extended to the universal Church and all were encouraged to wear the scapular faithfully. 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.
Two
There is nothing magical about wearing a brown scapular.
Mary offers us the brown scapular which is a symbol of her mantle, the cloak she wore as a sign of two things: first that she is our Spiritual Mother and the Mediatrix of All Grace. The Holy Spirit is the source of the divine life of Jesus, the source of grace. It is the Holy Spirit and Mary who form the life of Jesus in us. Because of her relationship with the Spirit, Mary will form Jesus in our souls. It doesn’t end there. Mary promises to take care of us just as she took care of Jesus. The scapular is a pledge of Mary’s protection, her counsel, and all of her care.
From our part, the scapular is a sign and a reminder that we are consecrated to Mary.
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; finally, to Sit in the School of Mary each day in the Rosary. These three practices keep us close to Mary, through whom the Holy Spirit will form Jesus in us. Those who do this will be saved. It is not about wearing this or that scapular or medal. It is about a deep personal and lived relationship with Mary and Jesus. Am I living a personal relationship with Mary, my Spiritual Mother in such a way that it causes me to be more virtuous, more pure, more courageous and more charitable? In a word – more like Jesus Christ. If not, why not?
Three
I wear the Miraculous Medal rather than the Brown Scapular.
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.”
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.
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.
Four
It is not by coincidence that Mary appeared to the head of the Carmelites.
The Carmelite Order is famous for being known for their life of deep prayer. The three greatest doctors of the Church on Prayer, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and Therese the Little Flower were Carmelites.
It makes perfect sense that Mary appears to Carmelites because the one thing Our Lady never stops calling us to is a greater commitment to prayer.
Prayer is the way we can have immediate contact with God. You don’t have to become a good person or a better person to pray. Prayer is what will make us better. In fact, without the grace that comes from prayer it is impossible to get better.
Remember the Miraculous Medal – God wants to pour out upon us an ocean of grace, an ocean of His divine life through Mary. We can receive that outpouring simply by prayer.
All Our Lady asks is that we begin with simple small steps.
When I first began to pray I thought 5 minutes would kill me. But I experienced the peace and joy, protection and help from prayer which lit a fire in me to desire more time in prayer. Just begin and persevere and the same will happen for you.
Five
Benjamin, a Palestinian Catholic friend of mine in his 70s who lives in Bethlehem has had Polio for most of his life.
He has had many corrective and painful surgeries and long stints of physical therapy so that he can move around a little. I asked him how he keeps going when it is difficult or seemingly impossible. He said, I simply turn to Mary and say “Ya Adhra” which is Arabic for “The Virgin” and she helps me to go forward when it is impossible. For she was the one who took the words of the Angel to heart “Nothing is Impossible for God.” She believed God and the Holy Spirit work powerfully through her to help us. So every time you are frustrated, angry, overcome with fear or despairing – turn to Mary and say “Ya Adhra” Mary – and she will gain for you the grace to do what you could not do on your own!