Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Their story

Mount Carmel is a mountain range in the Holy Land, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea near the modern city of Haifa. In the Old Testament it was the place where the prophet Elijah prayed and called the people of Israel back to the one true God. Centuries later, in the late 1100s, a group of Christian hermits settled on Mount Carmel to live a life of prayer in the spirit of Elijah. They built a small chapel in honor of the Virgin Mary and came to be known as the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Carmelites. When Muslim armies retook the Holy Land, the Carmelites moved to Europe, where the order spread and grew. According to a cherished tradition, in 1251 the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, an English Carmelite leader, and gave him the brown scapular, a simple garment, as a sign of her protection for all who wear it faithfully. Over the centuries countless Catholics have worn a small version of the scapular as a sign of their consecration to Mary and their desire to live as her children. The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was first celebrated by the Carmelites and was extended to the whole Church in the 1700s. The great Carmelite saints, such as Teresa of Ávila, John of the Cross and Thérèse of Lisieux, all lived under Mary's patronage. The feast invites us to follow Mary in a life of prayer, listening to God and keeping His word in our hearts.