Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
Saint Simon Stock, Saint Angelus of Jerusalem,
Saint Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi, Saint Teresa of Avila.
Date: 1641.
Collection: Museo Diocesano di Palermo
Source/Photographer:
(Wikimedia Commons)
Prayer To Our Lady Of Mount Carmel.
Thou, who, with special mercy,
look upon those clothed in thy beloved Habit,
cast a glance of pity upon me.
Fortify my weakness with thy strength;
enlighten the darkness
of my mind with thy wisdom;
increase my Faith, Hope and Charity.
Assist me during life,
console me by thy presence at my death,
and present me to The August Trinity
as thy devoted child,
that I may Bless thee
for all Eternity in Paradise.
Amen.
The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.
Commemoration: The Blessed Virgin Mary Of Mount Carmel.
Feast Day 16 July.
Greater-Double.
White Vestments.
They were called: Brethren of Blessed Mary of Mount Carmel (Collect). These Religious came to Europe in the 13th-Century and, in 1245, Pope Innocent IV gave his approbation to their Rule under the Generalship of Simon Stock, an English Saint.
On 16 July 1251, Mary appeared to this fervent servant [Simon Stock] and placed in his hands the Habit which was to be their distinctive sign. Pope Innocent IV blessed this Habit and attached to it many privileges, not only for The Members of The Order, but also for those who entered The Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
By wearing the Scapular, which is in smaller form than that of The Carmelite Fathers, they participate in all their merits and may hope to obtain through The Virgin a prompt delivery from Purgatory, if they have Faithfully observed Abstinence, Chastity (according to their state), and said the Prayers prescribed by Pope John XXII, in The Sabbatine Bull, published on 3 March 1322.
The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, at first Celebrated only in the Churches of the Order, was extended to all Christendom by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726.
Mass: Gaudeámus omnes.
Creed: Is said.
Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin Mary. “Et te in Commemoratióne”.
The long, mysterious, and storied history of Mt Carmel and its special devotion to Our Lady and the brown scapular of the hermit monks of Mt Carmel has filled many voluminous books. As Zephyrinus notes, the Order traces its origins to the Prophet Elias on the holy mountain of Carmel, and that a group of Our Lord’s disciples removed themselves to the mountain after the Resurrection to contemplate Our Lady and prepare for Our Lord’s return. (Part I, cont)
ReplyDelete(Part II) The “modern” history of the Carmelite Order and its unique Marian devotion picks up after the Fall of Jerusalem in 1187 to Saladin and the Muslim armies, when the surviving members of Carmel
ReplyDeletewere evacuated in waves throughout the 12th and 13th C. to England with the remnants of the Crusader forces. As Zephyrinus knows, a hermit Carmelite named Simon Stock who is believed to have lived in a forested area of Aylesford in Kent sometime around 1247, received a vision and, in that vision, the scapular promise from Our Lady, sometimes called the Sabbatine Privilege. Although in later years, there was subsequent controversy about P. John XXII’s approval of the promise, that pious devotion was solemnly reaffirmed by Clement VII (1530), St. Pius V (1566), and Gregory XIII (1577), to name only a few of the papal approbations.
There is no doubt that the Carmelite order, and its uniquely dedicated devotion to Our Lady, and its long tradition of mystical prayer and contemplation while awaiting Our Lord’s return, has, despite its relatively small size, been one of the most influential and also one of “the most martyred” Orders of the Catholic Church (In the Spanish Civil War alone, for example , at least 25 Carmelites were executed by Communist forces in Barcelona; many dozen more in Toledo; and dozens of Carmelite nuns throughout Spain). That witness in blood is a significant testimony to the devotion of Our Lady of Mt Carmel and its orders. -Comment by Dante P
One will always notice, of course, the virulent hatred, vexation, and pure evil, that certain people, organisations, or beliefs, throw constantly against Our Blessed Lady.
DeleteThis course of action can only come from one source — The Evil One, who screams in terror at the mention of Our Lady's Name.
But . . . even after all the above-mentioned evil, putrification, and hatred, one still sees the triumph of Our Blessed Mother over such abominations.
“ . . . I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head . . .” [Genesis 3].