July 16, 2013 Tuesday: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is worldwide, and most Catholics
are familiar with the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known
as the Brown Scapular. Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock on July 16,
1251, and gave him the scapular with the following words, which are
preserved in a fourteenth century narrative: "This will be for you and
for all Carmelites the privilege, that he who dies in this will not
suffer eternal fire." The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was
instituted for the Carmelites in 1332, and extended to the whole Church
by Benedict XIII in 1726.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Today
is the principal feast day of the Carmelite Order. Through the efforts
of the crusader Berthold, a group of hermits living on Mount Carmel were
organized into an Order after the traditional Western type about the
year 1150. Oppressed by the Saracens, the monks slowly emigrated to
Europe. During the night preceding the sixteenth of July, 1225, the
Blessed Virgin is said to have commanded Pope Honorius III to approve
the foundation. Since the Carmelites were still under constant
harassment, the sixth General of the Order, St. Simon Stock, pleaded
with the Blessed Virgin for some special sign of her protection. On July
16, 1251, she designated the scapular as the special mark of her
maternal love. That is why the present feast is also known as the feast
of the Scapular. The scapular, as part of the habit, is common to many
religious Orders, but it is a special feature of the Carmelites. A
smaller form of the scapular is given to lay persons in order that they
may share in the great graces associated with it. Such a grace is the
"Sabbatine privilege." In the so-called Bulla Sabbatina John XXII
affirmed that wearers of the scapular are soon freed from the flames of
purgatory, at least by the Saturday after death. The confirmation of
the Bulla Sabbatina was promulgated by the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, July 4, 1908.
Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2013-07-16
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Today
is the principal feast day of the Carmelite Order. Through the efforts
of the crusader Berthold, a group of hermits living on Mount Carmel were
organized into an Order after the traditional Western type about the
year 1150. Oppressed by the Saracens, the monks slowly emigrated to
Europe. During the night preceding the sixteenth of July, 1225, the
Blessed Virgin is said to have commanded Pope Honorius III to approve
the foundation. Since the Carmelites were still under constant
harassment, the sixth General of the Order, St. Simon Stock, pleaded
with the Blessed Virgin for some special sign of her protection. On July
16, 1251, she designated the scapular as the special mark of her
maternal love. That is why the present feast is also known as the feast
of the Scapular. The scapular, as part of the habit, is common to many
religious Orders, but it is a special feature of the Carmelites. A
smaller form of the scapular is given to lay persons in order that they
may share in the great graces associated with it. Such a grace is the
"Sabbatine privilege." In the so-called Bulla Sabbatina John XXII
affirmed that wearers of the scapular are soon freed from the flames of
purgatory, at least by the Saturday after death. The confirmation of
the Bulla Sabbatina was promulgated by the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, July 4, 1908. Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2013-07-16
