OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL
BACKGROUND
Mt. Carmel is an interesting place, Biblically speaking. In Greek, it is karmel and means “Garden of God.” It is located in Palestine between Tyre and Caesarea about 20 miles from Nazareth, home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The prophet Elijah witnessed our 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 Elijah and Elisha lived and prayed but many hermits after them lived lives of prayer and sacrifice. It is a place described as a place where one is alone with God.
ELIJAH
Before Elijah the prophet of Mount Carmel was a witness to the living God, he had first to become aware of his own weaknesses and helplessness.
Elijah cried out to God, “Yahweh, I have had enough. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors” (1 Kings 19:4). It is humility and acknowledgment of dependence that brings God fully on board.
In the New Testament, St. Paul begged to be free of “a thorn in his flesh” God told him, “my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Paul replied, “…I am content then in my weakness, for the sake of Christ, when I am weak, than I am strong” When we are aware of own weakness and emptiness we are ready to be filled by God.
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 is a prophet to point the way of the true religion of Israel verses the pagan gods. Elijah was the prophet and instrument of God to preserve the true religion of Israel. He preached conversion and repentance and turning away from pagan gods.
Perhaps the most exciting and dramatic event in the story of Elijah, the prophet is his confrontation with Ahab and Jezebel and the prophets of the pagan god, Ba’al on Mount Carmel. (I Kings, chapter 18) Elijah challenged Ahab’s prophets to a dueling sacrifice of bulls to see whose God was more powerful, “You shall call upon the name of your gods, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. The God who answers with fire is God.”
All the people answered, “We agree!” Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one young bull and prepare it first, for there are more of you. Call upon your gods, but do not start the fire,” The prophets of Ba’al called upon their god from morning until evening to no avail. Elijah, rebuilt the altar of the Lord with twelve stones, prepared a holocaust and even surrounded it with water.
He cried out to the Lord “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that thou, O Lord, art God, and that thou hast turned their hearts back.” 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!”
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, he 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 can say, “He must increase, I must decrease” (Jn 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. Sts. Teresa and John of the Cross, speak of prayer and contemplation as ‘friendship with God’ and ‘union with God’ respectively.
Both Sts. Teresa 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. to focus more attentively on the Beloved. Solitude is not primarily separation or isolation from others, but a place of privileged encounter with the Beloved.
Reminiscence of Elijah in I Kings:19: 11-13, “Then the LORD said: 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;12after 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.”
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. Detachment is a way of placing God first above all creatures. 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.
OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL
Now you may be asking yourself, what does Mary, the Mother of God have to do with Carmel and why a feast day. Good question. And I am prepared to answer it. From the cross, Jesus gave Mary to be our Mother. As our Mother she intercedes with her Son that He may gift us with all we need that we may be saved. Mary is a very important intercessor on our behalf. Next to Jesus, the best.
From all eternity God chose Mary as the means to bring Christ into the world. Christ could have entered into the world any number of ways. But God chose Mary as the vessel through which all grace would come
Eve, through her disobedience, brought sin into the world. Mary, through her obedience brought salvation. By Mary’s simple yes to God’s will, salvation entered the world. The gathering on Mount Carmel, “the Garden of God” in the Old Testament, points to the reality that today we must be united in this battle, under the mantle of Our Lady,” the woman who crushes the head of the serpent” (Gen 3:15).
On July 16, 1251, Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock who was Prior General of Carmel. 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”
Today, any priest has permission to enroll a lay person in the brown scapular. The conditions to receive the promises are very simple 1.to continually wear the scapular; 2. observe chastity according to your state in life; 3. say daily the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin OR say 5 decades of the rosary. The Brown Scapular is a sign of maternal relationship with the Mother of God. Those who are clothed with Scapular and entrust themselves to the Virgin Mary.
The Scapular garment is a reminder that through baptism we have been “clothed in Christ, with the assistance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who helps her children to conform our lives to the Word Incarnate that we may arrive in our heavenly homeland wearing our nuptial garb”
The Scapular speaks of the Blessed Mother’s victory over evil, as she promises that those who die wearing the Scapular will not suffer eternal fire. In other words, through the protection of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the soul will not be lost to Satan. As Mount Carmel symbolizes Our Lord’s triumph over evil, this will happen again through the maternal intercession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel who promises salvation to her children who strive to remain united to her and her Son.
The Gospel in the Liturgy on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, is the Gospel of Calvary, “‘Woman, behold, your Son!’…Then he said the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’” (Jn. 19:26-27). This Gospel reveals Mary’s participation in the offering of her Son, and her spiritual motherhood of all mankind. Through her Immaculate Heart and maternal care of Mary, her children grow in love and the zeal for the salvation of souls. Love is the “heart” of Carmel. It is her triumph of love in which she unites her children with Our Lord for eternity.
CONCLUSION
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. Silence and special places can assist us in our prayer time to deepen our relationship with Jesus and His Father. When we are aware of our own weakness that is when God is most likely to fill us and make us strong. God must increase and I must decrease.
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 too. Pray for her intercession. She intends to bring all souls to salvation. She gave us the brown scapular that we might be clothed with Jesus as we were at our Baptisms. Clothed in Jesus Christ we make our way to our heavenly home!
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