Ordination at St. Patrick's Cathedral

Ordination at St. Patrick's Cathedral
June 19, 2010

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

 


Today we commemorate the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a feast closely associated with the Carmelite Order. This feast and the Carmelite Order can trace its roots back to the 12th Century when a group of Hermits, dedicated to our Lady, formed a community on Mount Carmel in present day Israel. This is also the location long associated with the Old Testament prophet Elijah. It was there that Elijah, in a confrontation, with the false prophets of Baal, showed that there is but one God in Israel.

These 12th century hermits looked to Mary as their spiritual mother and patroness, and over time, the devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel spread throughout the Catholic world. This order also would develop into what we now know as the Carmelite Order. Thanks to the Carmelite Order, we have such saints as St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower.

These Hermits came to know that it was through Mary that they can come to know her Divine Son, Jesus Christ. It is through Mary, always pointing towards her Son, that they were able to come into a deeper relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior. I’m sure they meditated on the gospel of John often where Christ says to the apostle John, “This is your mother.” Then, as you recall, John, from that moment, made a place for Mary in his Home. These hermits also knew well the passage from St. Paul to the Galatians that “God sent his son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subject of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons.” It is through Mary bringing Christ into the world that we are adopted brothers and sisters in the eyes of God.

Further, we are called to take Mary, in a spiritual sense, into our homes. We are to allow Mary to reach into our hearts for us to follow more closely her Son, Jesus Christ.

It is also customary on the feast of Our Lady of Mont Carmel to be enrolled in the Brown Scapuar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. According to tradition, Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite friar, in the 13th century and gave him the scapular as a sign of her protection and intercession. The scapular has since become a widely recognized symbol of the Carmelite tradition and a popular sacramental among the faithful.

By wearing the Scapular, we are reminded of not only our devotion to Mary under the title of Mount Carmel, but to remember our baptismal promises to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. The scapular is not a lucky charm, but a reminder that we are followers of Jesus Christ and are called to live out our lives according to the teaching of the Catholic Church through the intercession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. These teachings of Christ, taught through the Catholic Church, are very clear: we are to love God with our whole mind, heart and soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Let us offer all our intentions and concerns to Mary on this feast to intercede for us. We are to give to Mary these intentions and concerns and ask her to bring them into the loving presence of Jesus to respond in a way that’s most beneficial to us and to those who we are praying for.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

2 comments:

  1. From Arlene B. Muller

    I wonder why this Feast day of Our Lady is only considered an "optional memorial" & my morning & evening prayer makes no reference to this Feast day??

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    Replies
    1. Good question. On the Carmelite calendar it’s a Solemnity. Using a breviary is always the best way to pray the Divine Office. It allows you more options than the monthly Liturgy of the Hours you may be getting in the mail.

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