OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL
PRAY FOR US!
What does Mary, the Mother of God have to do with Carmel and why a feast day? Good question. When Jesus saw his mother* and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son, Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” John 19:17 From all eternity God chose Mary as the means to bring Christ into the world. Through the maternal care of Mary, her children grow in love and the zeal for the salvation of souls. Love is the “heart” of Carmel.
Eve, through her disobedience, brought sin into the world. Mary, through her obedience brought salvation. On July 16, 1251, Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, Prior of the Carmelite order. St. Simon Stock had prayed fervently to the Blessed Mother for assistance as the Order of Carmel was enduring difficulties. Our Lady appeared to him, holding the Brown Scapular in her hands, saying to him,, “This will be the sign of the privilege that I have obtained for thee and for the children of Carmel; whoever dies clothed with this habit will be preserved from the eternal flames”
BACKGROUND
Mt. Carmel is located in Palestine between Tyre and Caesarea about 20 miles from Nazareth, home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The prophet Elijah witnessed God’s triumph over the pagan gods of Ba’aal. In the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, it was the Prophet Elijah and the lawmaker, Moses who appeared with Jesus who is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. Carmel is the place where not only prophets, Elijah and Elisha, lived and prayed but many hermits after them lived lives of prayer and sacrifice.
MOUNT CARMEL
ELIJAH
In the Old Testament Elijah is first mentioned in 1 Kings 17:1 and is last seen in 2 Kings 2:13 when he is taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot. Elijah was the prophet and instrument of God to preserve the true religion of Israel. Elijah preached conversion and repentance and turning away from pagan gods.
The people of Israel had apparently become comfortable worshiping both the pagan god Baal and the Lord, perhaps assigning mutually exclusive spheres of influence to each. By claiming authority over the rain 1 Kings 17:1; 18:1, the Lord was challenging Baal’s power in Baal’s own domain. The entire drought story becomes explicit in 18:21–40 This is a struggle between the Lord and Baal for the loyalties of the people of Israel.
Ahab summoned all the Israelites and had the prophets 0f Baal together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. So Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the LORD, and there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal.
Elijah prayed to the Lord
Answer me, LORD! that this people may know that you, LORD, are God and that you have turned their hearts back to you.”The LORD’s fire came down and devoured the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust, and lapped up the water in the trench. Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, “The LORD is God! The LORD is God! Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Let none of them escape!
SEIZE PROPHETS OF BAAL
1 KINGS 18-20
Elijah is the founder patriarch of the Order of Carmel. His charism reveals a singular devotion and love for Our Lord, zeal for the salvation of souls and a deep life of prayer. St. John the Baptist bridged the Old to the New Testament, as he lived the spirit of Carmel in the desert as a hermit.
In silence and solitude, John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord. The Spirit of Carmel allows the love of God to increase in us, so that like St. John the Baptist, we too can say, “He must increase, I must decrease” John 3:30
CARMELITE SPIRITUALITY
Humility and dependence on God is central to Carmelite Spirituality. The first rule of the Carmelites was written by St. Albert Avogadro between the years 1206 – 1214. In the 16th century, St. Teresa of Jesus (Avila) and St. John of the Cross (both from Spain) inaugurated a reform of the Carmelite Order, aimed at returning to the original observance of the primitive Carmelite rule established by St. Albert.
. “Then the LORD said to Elijah: Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD;* the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.”
I Kings:19: 11-13
Both Sts. Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross teach us that God, the Blessed Trinity, dwells within the human person. Hence, one need not go out of self in search for God but enter progressively ever deeper within oneself to be with God who dwells at the very center of our being. Carmelite spirituality proposes silence and solitude as necessary pre-requisites for prayer and contemplation. Silence refers not only to external noise but also to the stilling of one’s internal noises. Silence is the condition for listening attentively to the still small voice of God
REFLECTIONS
In order to approach God more intimately, we must humbly approach Him, detached from other attachments that act as a barrier to God filling us with Himself.
What barriers do we have standing in the way of God?
Silence and special places can assist us in our prayer time to deepen our relationship with Jesus and His Father.
Do we have that silent place reserved for God and me?
Carmelite Spirituality also focuses on austerity as a means of freeing one-self from the tyranny of self-will, simplifying one’s life, and preserving all of one’s energy for journeying to God. Not my will but thy will be done! Luke 22:42
How am I imitating Jesus with his father at Gethsemane?
Carmelite spirituality is not just about self-salvation but the salvation of others as their prayers include all of us that all may be one in the Spirit and homeward bound.
I am called to evangelize. How am I doing?
God must increase and I must decrease.
How is that happening?
Listen to that small quiet voice of the Spirit and pray for discernment.
What is that voice really telling me? It may not be what I wanted to hear or expected. Sometimes it even says wait awhile.
Mary is our maternal mother. Mary gave us the brown scapular that we might be clothed with Jesus as we were at our Baptisms.
Have I looked into obtaining a brown scapular?