Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Who is she?

Our Lady of Mount Carmel is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, honored as the Mother and Sister of the Carmelite Order. This title takes its name from a real mountain in the Holy Land: Mount Carmel, which Vietnamese Catholics usually call Núi Cát Minh. The mountain is green and fertile, right beside the sea, near today’s city of Haifa.

Her story

Long ago, on Mount Carmel, the prophet Elijah prayed and showed the people that only the Lord is the true God (cf. 1 Kgs 18:20-46). Many centuries later, at the end of the 12th century, a group of hermits (people who live alone to pray) came to live on this mountain. They built a small chapel dedicated to Mary. From that group of hermits the Carmelite Order was born, and the friars called Mary the Mother of the Order.

Later, the Carmelites had to leave the Holy Land and live in Europe. According to tradition, Mary appeared to Saint Simon Stock, a superior of the Order in England, and gave him the scapular, a long piece of brown cloth worn over the shoulders, part of the Carmelite habit. This story was written down quite late, so historians cannot be certain of it, and we say “according to tradition.”

The small scapular many people wear today is two pieces of brown cloth joined by two strings, one piece on the chest and one on the back. It is the Carmelite scapular made small. Someone who wears the scapular wants to say: “I belong to you, Mary, and I want to live like you.” The scapular is not a lucky charm. It invites the person who wears it to pray, to keep the commandments, and to love as Mary does.

Why does the Church celebrate it?

The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel began to be celebrated in England in the 14th century, then spread throughout the Church. Today, 16 July is an optional memorial in the General Roman Calendar. The Church celebrates this feast to remind us that Mary is the model of someone who listens to God’s Word and keeps it in her heart. Many great saints lived in the Carmelite Order, such as Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint John of the Cross and Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

A lesson for you

• Jesus says that those who hear the word of God and keep it are blessed (cf. Lk 11:28). Spend a few minutes every day reading a verse of God’s Word, like Mary.
• If you wear the scapular, remember that it is a promise to live as a good child of Mary, not a piece of jewelry.
• Learn to pray in silence, like the hermits on Mount Carmel.