BEFORE CHRIST
Mount Carmel is a biblical place where the prophet Elijah dwelt. It rises 1,742 feet above sea
level and towers above Israel’s Mediterranean coastline. It was here where Elijah prayed to
God for the salvation of Israel, which was suffering a terrible drought at the time. He
continued to pray and sent his servant up the mountain several times to look for rain. On the
seventh try, Elijah’s servant returned with good news. “Behold a little cloud arose out of the
sea like a man’s foot” (1 Kings 1:44). Soon thereafter, torrential rains fell upon the parched
land and the people of Israel were saved.
Elijah saw the cloud as a symbol of the Virgin mentioned in the prophecies of Isaiah (Isaiah
7:14). The hermits who lived on Mount Carmel followed Elijah’s example and prayed for the
advent of the much-awaited Virgin, who would become the mother of the Messiah. The
origins of the Carmelite Order can be traced back to Elijah and his hermited disciples.
ST. SIMON STOCK
In the 13th century, during the Crusades, St. Simon Stock joined a group of hermits on Mount
Carmel during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In 1247, he was elected the 6th superior-
general of the Carmelites at the first chapter held in Aylesford, England. However, the order
had difficulty gaining general acceptance and suffered much persecution and oppression from
secular clergy and other orders which prompted the monks to have recourse to the Blessed
Virgin in the year 1251.
On Sunday July 16th, 1251, as Simon Stock knelt in prayer, Our Lady appeared to him,
holding the Child Jesus in one arm and the Brown Scapular in the other. She uttered the
following words: “Hoc erit tibi et cunctis Carmelitis privilegium, in hoc habitu moriens
salvabitur” (This shall be the privilege for you and for all the Carmelites, that anyone dying
in this habit shall be saved). On January 13, 1252, the order received a letter of protection
from Pope Innocent IV, defending them from harassment.
St. Simon Stock lived a holy life for 100 years and died in the Carmelite monastery at
Bordeaux, France on May 16, 1265.
THE BROWN SCAPULAR
The scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel,
also known as the Brown Scapular, is one
of the most popular and celebrated of
Roman Catholic devotions. The
sacramental (as the lay faithful commonly
use it) is a miniature derivative of the
actual brown scapular used by the Carmelites – the sleeveless outer garment falling from the
shoulders which is worn as a sign of their vocation and devotion.
Our Lady gave St. Simon a scapular for the Carmelites with the following promise, saying,
“Receive, My beloved son, this habit of thy order: this shall be to thee and to all Carmelites a
privilege, that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire…It shall be a sign
of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace.”
Attached to the wearing of the Brown Scapular is the Sabbatine Privilege. The
name, Sabbatine Privilege, originates from the apocryphal Bull “Sacratissimo uti
culmine” of John XXII, March 3, 1322.
According to Pope John XXII, the Blessed Virgin gave him the following message in a vision
related to those who wear the Brown Scapular: “I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the
Saturday (Sabbath) after their death and whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory, I shall free, so
that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting.”
Based on Church tradition, three conditions need to be fulfilled to obtain the benefits of this
Privilege and the Scapular:
1. Wear the Brown Scapular
2. Observe chastity according to one’s state in life
3. Pray the Rosary
In order to receive the spiritual blessings associated with the Scapular, it is necessary to be
formally enrolled in the Brown Scapular by either a priest or a lay person who has been given
this faculty. Once enrolled, no other Scapular need be blessed before wearing. The blessing
and imposition are attached to the wearer for life.
FEAST DAY
Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s Feast Day is July 16, the same day she appeared to St. Simon
Stock.
