Our Lady of Mount Carmel
| Isaiah 10: 5 - 7, 13 - 16 |
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| 5 | Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury! |
| 6 | Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. |
| 7 | But he does not so intend, and his mind does not so think; but it is in his mind to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few; |
| 13 | For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones. |
| 14 | My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.” |
| 15 | Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! |
| 16 | Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire. |
| Psalms 94: 5 - 10, 14 - 15 |
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| 5 | They crush thy people, O LORD, and afflict thy heritage. |
| 6 | They slay the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless; |
| 7 | and they say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.” |
| 8 | Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise? |
| 9 | He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? |
| 10 | He who chastens the nations, does he not chastise? He who teaches men knowledge, |
| 14 | For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; |
| 15 | for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. |
| Matthew 11: 25 - 27 |
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| 25 | At that time Jesus declared, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; |
| 26 | yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. |
| 27 | All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. |
Take caution to see priests only as the dispensers of the Blood of the humble, Immaculate Lamb and overlook the faults you may see in them. A priest is a man and therefore fallible and capable of making mistakes, but this does not prevent him from being the Annointed of the Lord, marked forever with the indelible sign and having the power to consecrate the Body of Christ and administer the sacraments and to preach to the people in the name of God.
— St. Catherine of Siena
Consegna dello Scapolare. Chiesa del Carmine. Santa Maria di Licodia (ct)
The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was first instituted in the late 14th century in commemoration of the approval of the rule of the Carmelite Order a hundred years earlier. According to legend, a religious community was established even before the time of Christ on Mount Carmel. This is the mountain overlooking the Mediterranean Sea on which the prophet Elijah successfully challenged the priests of Baal and won the people to the true God. The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel entered the Calendar of the universal Church in the early 18th century.
Although there is no historical evidence for the pre-Christian Carmelite community, references in the 12th century record a community of monks on the holy mountain. Despite continual difficulties, the community built a monastery and church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on Mount Carmel in 1263. Saint Louis, King of France, had visited Mount Carmel in 1254, and brought back six French hermits for whom he built a convent near Paris. Mount Carmel was taken by the Saracens in 1291, and the brothers were killed and the convent burned. The spread of the Carmelites in Europe is largely attributable to the work of Saint Simon Stock (1247-65). The Carmelite Order was formally approved in 1274 at the Council of Lyon.
Among the best known Carmelites today are two women: Saint Theresa of Jesus (Theresa of Avila - 1515-1582) who despite many difficulties reformed the Carmelite Order (the Discalced Carmelites); and Saint Edith Stein (Theresa Benedicta of the Cross - 1891-1942), a Jewish convert and philosophy professor, who was killed at Auschwitz, canonized in 1998, and proclaimed “co-patroness” of Europe in 1999.
