Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. July 16

In the late 12th century, there was a group of hermits living on Mt. Carmel. The built a chapel there dedicated to "Our Lady of the Place", and the Carmelites were created.By the 13th Century they had expanded to England. One of the Carmelites, Saint Simon Stock, was visited by Mary who gave him a brown scapular with a promise that those who die wearing one would be saved.

Mount Carmel in Israel

Is that true? It could be but there is precious little to document it - it was 800 years ago, for cryin' out loud! But devotion to the sacramental brown scapular lives on. Pope John Paul told the Carmelites, " "Over time this rich Marian heritage of Carmel has become, through the spread of the Holy Scapular devotion, a treasure for the whole Church."

 

 

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is Patroness of Chile