Our Lady of Mount Carmel & Devotion to Brown Scapular

  •   Fri, Jul 16 2021
  •   By Br John Malvino Alfonso OCD

July 16, 2021

The Mother Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 16 July every year.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the patroness of the Carmelite Order. For the Carmelites, this feast is of great importance. The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was instituted in thankfulness to Mother Mary around the year 1386. She had bestowed many favours and blessings on the Carmelites, whom she had helped survive through many storms.

The Carmelites had been greatly threatened during an ecumenical council held in 1274. Some of the Council Fathers wanted to suppress the Order of Our Lady because there were already too many religious orders, and there was no need for so many. The Carmelites were fortunately not suppressed, but were asked to give some reasons for their existence. This feast was gradually adopted throughout the Order as an occasion of thanksgiving for the countless blessings which our Lady had bestowed on the Carmelite family. This is the day of thanksgiving rather than mere external celebrations.

The devotion attached to this feast is the devotion to the Brown Scapular. When we speak of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we cannot leave out the Scapular. It has a rich Biblical meaning attached to clothing. A great deal is said in the Bible about clothing and the spiritual symbolism of Clothing. This latter can be summarized in the words of Henry Cardinal Vaughan in a Pastoral Letter.

“The Holy Scriptures themselves show us that from the earliest times the bestowal of a garment has been used as an indication of love and favour. The Patriarch Jacob gave his favourite son Joseph, a many-coloured tunic as a sign of special love. Jonathan stripped himself of the coat with which he was clothed and gave it to David because he loved him as his soul. Elias ascending to heaven bestowed his cloak upon Eliseus as a sign of the descent upon him of his own prophetic spirit.”

We learn of Mary in the New Testament, wrapping Her Son in swaddling clothes, and of Paul asking the believers ‘to put on Christ.’ Even in one of the parables using a wedding garment, which seems to refer to the garment of salvation.

We need signs and symbols to help us to understand what is happening at present, or what happened before, or to give us an awareness of who we are as individuals and as groups. In Baptism we are given a new white robe to symbolize the new life we are beginning in Christ. To be clothed with the Scapular would imply our desire and endeavour to practice the virtues and so adorn ourselves (like a bride) with the virtues of Mary. The wearing of the Brown Scapular has become popular among the Catholic faithful.

According to Fr Kavanaugh, who translated the works of Carmelite saints, the Church’s official position regarding the Brown Scapular is that it is a garment that we wear as both a sign of our belonging to Mary and pledge of her maternal protection in this life and the next.

It is also a sign of three entwined elements: a) belonging to the Carmelite ‘family, b) consecration to and trust in Mary, and c) an incentive to imitate Our Lady’s virtues, especially her humility, chastity, and prayerfulness. The Church has made no official pronouncements regarding St. Simon Stock’s vision, or any other particular rules and rewards attached to wearing the Scapular.

We wear this scapular as a sign of devotion to Mary, under her title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It is a sign approved by the Church and accepted by the Carmelite Order as an external sign of love for Mary, of the trust her children have in her, and of commitment to live like her.

However, it should not be used as a magical charm. It is not an automatic guarantee of salvation. An excuse for not living up to the demands of the Christian life. It stands for the decision to follow Jesus like Mary, to be open to God and to his will. It is to discover God present in all that happens around us.

We have many popular devotions in the church. There is nothing wrong in having devotions to any saints or Mother Mary. We need to understand the real meaning of these devotions. Every devotion should lead us to Jesus. The devotion which we have should help us to imbibe the virtues of the saint and thus help us to strengthen our relationship with Jesus.

 

 

 

 
By Br John Malvino Alfonso OCD
Br John Malvino Alfonso OCD is a member of the Karnataka-Goa Province of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, based at Carmelite Monastery, Margao-Goa
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

Comment on this article

  • Elsie Cardoza & Fly, Balkunje/Belman/Mumbai

    Mon, Jul 19 2021

    Thank you so much Br John Malvino Alfonso OCD for your detailed and clear explanation. My entire family celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel with prayer. May God bless you always for your great service and may our Heavenly Mother protect you from all the harm. Thanks

  • Ben D'Souza Prabhu, Mangalore, Bombay Bandra now in Canada

    Fri, Jul 16 2021

    Very many thanks to you our dear Br John Malvino Alfonso for your great Service as well as Contribution to an appropriate Cause. May Our Everloving Eternal Father Bless you " Hundred Folds " for your Charitable Excercise. THANK YOU !


Leave a Comment

Title: Our Lady of Mount Carmel & Devotion to Brown Scapular



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.