Saint Simon Stock received Our Lady of Mount Carmel after praying fervently for his struggling order in the year 1251.
The Manifestation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is profoundly identifiable with her deep brown interior robe and an exterior blue or white garment, depending on the artist who paints her. Upon her head is placed a tall, shining and golden crown. The baby Jesus is in her left hand and both of them are surrounded in profound light. Many of the images of Our Lady of Mount Carmel also appear with the crown of twelve stars around the high heavenly crown.
Our Blessed Lady appeared to Simon Stock carrying what has commonly become known to the world today as a Scapular, but this saint was the first to receive it. It has two square pieces one on each end of a middle double string.
One of the squares contains an image of St. Simon Stock bowing before Our Lady of Mount Carmel and says, “Behold the Sign of Salvation, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”
The other square states, “Behold the sign of Salvation: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
It is believed that scapulars originated with the Benedictine Order which began as a simple piece of cloth representing consecration to the Lord but then evolved into many kinds of religious garments and habits.
But the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is by far the most widely known and worn around the world by Catholics for its special promises given by the Blessed Lady.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is also sometimes associated with the Carmelite order, and the great mystical writers such as St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Therese of Lisieux.
The Message of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Our Blessed Lady instructed St. Simon Stock that those who would wear her scapular and pray certain prayers would never suffer the eternal fire or hell. They would be protected, especially by the Blessed Virgin Mary at the moment of their death.
Handing St. Simon Stock the scapular, her exact words were these: “Take, beloved son, this scapular of thine order as a badge of my confraternity and for thee and all Carmelites a special sign of grace; whoever dies in this garment will not suffer everlasting fire, it is the sign of salvation, a safeguard in dangers, a pledge of peace and of the covenant.”
More recent apparitions include the apparitions of Our Lady of Medjugorje and Our Lady of Pellevoisin.
Sources:
- Those who Saw Her: Apparitions of Mary, by Catherine M. Odell.
- Catherine Laboure and the Modern Apparitions of Our Lady, by Abbe Omer Englebert.
- Miraculous Images: Photographs Containing God's Fingerprints, by Marilynn Hughes.
- Medjugorje: Light for the World, by Pietro Jacopini.
- Our Lady Comes to Garabandal, by Joseph A. Pelletier, A.A.
- The Wonder of Guadalupe, by Francis Johnston.
- The Glories of Czestochowa and Jasna, To the Priests Our Lady's Beloved Sons. by Marian Movement of Priests.
- Our Lady of America, by Sister Mildred Mary Neuzil.
- The Thunder of Justice, by Ted and Maureen Flynn.
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