Our Lady of Mount Carmel / French
WHOEVER DIES WEARING THIS GARMENT WILL BE PRESERVED FROM THE ETERNAL FLAMES.
The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a garment worn by members of the Carmelite Order and lay people. It is also known as the Carmelite Scapular or Brown Scapular. This garment has been worn by Carmelites since the late 13th century and was widely distributed by the Catholic Church as a sacramental from the 16th century onwards. The scapular is an outward sign of the filial relationship established between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the faithful who entrust themselves to her protection. It is also associated with intercession for the souls in purgatory.
"WHOEVER DIES WEARING THIS GARMENT WILL BE PRESERVED FROM ETERNAL FLAMES"
PROMISES THE VIRGIN MARY
by Dom Antoine-Marie, superior of Saint Joseph Abbey in Clairval (diocese of Dijon)
From May 13 to October 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared seven times to three young Portuguese shepherds
in Fatima. During her last apparition, the Mother of God held in her hand two squares of brown wool connected by cords: a scapular of Mount Carmel. In August 1950, Sister Lucia, one of the visionaries, who had become a Carmelite nun, explained: "It is because Our Lady wants us to wear the holy scapular." What is the origin of this "garment" presented by Mary?
The prophets sang of the beauty of Carmel, this mountain in Galilee jutting out like a promontory over the Mediterranean. The prophet Elijah illustrated this with his virtues and miracles in the 9th century BC, before the incarnation of the Son of God. Around the 1st century AD, Byzantine monasteries were built there, on the ruins of which, at the end of the 12th century, hermits from Europe gathered in Palestine during the great movement of the Crusades. These monks built a beautiful small church dedicated to Our Lady on Mount Carmel, where the Mother of God would be called "Princess and Mother of Carmel." This is the origin of the religious order of Our Lady of Carmel, or Carmelites, a name that was given to them later. But in the 13th century, driven out of the Holy Land by Muslim persecution, these Carmelites were forced to return to Europe.
