July 16, 2024, Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Holy Rosary (Sorrowful Mysteries)

Today, July 16th, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known as the feast of the Brown Scapular.

Mount Carmel is a mountain in Galilee where the prophet Elijah defended the purity of Israel’s faith in the living God.

In the 13th century, hermits and monks began living and praying on the mountain.

They later founded the Carmelite order devoted to the contemplative life under the patronage of Mary, the holy Mother of God.

They venerated the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, from which the name Carmelite was derived.

On July 16, 1251, the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Simon Stock, an Englishman who was the order’s superior. Mary gave him the brown scapular and promised her protection to all those who wore the brown habit. The scapular was the special mark of her maternal love.

Pope Pius X decreed in the early 20th century that the Blessed Virgin’s blessing would extend to all who wear the Our Lady of Mount Carmel scapular.

The scapular is common to many religious Orders, but it is a special feature of the Carmelites.

It’s important to note that the Brown Scapular is a sacramental approved by the Church as a sign of one’s decision to follow Jesus, as did Mary, the perfect model of all the disciples of Christ. It’s not an automatic guarantee of salvation nor a magical charm. Sacramentals prepare us to receive grace if we are in the right disposition.

Pope John Paul II has worn the scapular for a long time. He said:

“Therefore two truths are evoked by the sign of the Scapular: on the one hand, the constant protection of the Blessed Virgin, not only on life’s journey, but also at the moment of passing into the fullness of eternal glory; on the other, the awareness that devotion to her cannot be limited to prayers and tributes in her honor on certain occasions, but must become a “habit”, that is, a permanent orientation of one’s own Christian conduct, woven of prayer and interior life, through frequent reception of the sacraments and the concrete practice of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. In this way the Scapular becomes a sign of the “covenant” and reciprocal communion between Mary and the faithful: indeed, it concretely translates the gift of his Mother, which Jesus gave on the Cross to John and, through him, to all of us, and the entrustment of the beloved Apostle and of us to her, who became our spiritual Mother.”