Saint of the Day: Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The story

+ This title of Mary refers to the origins of the ancient Carmelite Order, whose first members lived as hermits on Mount Carmel in Palestine. 

+ The hermits’ first chapel on Mount Carmel was dedicated to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In time, the hermits left Mount Carmel and became itinerant beggars, spreading their way of life and spirituality throughout Europe.

+ According to legend, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Saint Simon Stock, a Carmelite priest, in England on July 16, 1251, presenting him with the brown Carmelite scapular. In time, devotion to “Our Lady of Mount Carmel” and the brown scapular spread throughout the world. 

+ Although this is the patronal feast of the Carmelite Order, the Church’s liturgy on this day focuses more broadly on Mary’s role as intercessor and protector of Christians. 

For prayer and reflection

“When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption.”—Galatians 4:4-5 

Spiritual bonus

On this day we also remember Blessed Irmengard. A descendent of the emperor Charlemagne, she be a Benedictine nun and served as abbess of the celebrated monastery in Chiemsee, Germany. Blessed Irmengard died on July 16, 1866, and devotion to this holy woman was approved by the Holy See in 1929.  

Prayer

May the venerable intercession of the glorious Virgin Mary
come to our aid, we pray, O Lord,
so that, fortified by her protection,
we may reach the mountain which is Christ.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Fr. Silas Henderson, S.D.S.