Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is a title given to Mary as patron of the Carmelite religious community of contemplative monks, nuns, and priests.

The original Carmelites were hermits living on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land in the late 12th century. They chose Mt. Carmel because it is the place where the Old Testament prophet Elijah defended the purity of Israel’s faith. The monks built a chapel on the mount and dedicated it to “Our Lady of the place.”

The Carmelites celebrated a special feast on July 16 to mark the day that Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock and gave him the scapular. By the 1700s, this July 16 feast was being celebrated everywhere in the Church.

St. Simon Stock was an early Carmelite who received a vision of Mary on this date in 1251 in which she gave him the brown scapular. The scapular comes from a two-sided apron that monks wear while they work—a skinny poncho of sorts. In the vision, Mary handed Simon a scapular and told him that she would protect whoever wore it. The garment became part of the Carmelite habit and appears in many other religious habits as well.

Many people wear a small version of the scapular under their shirts, which looks like two brown, square pieces of cloth that hang on the breast and back, connected by strings around one’s neck. It is worn as a devotional practice—as a way to call to mind Mary’s motherly protection and to ask for her prayerful assistance.

Some of the Church’s greatest saints were Carmelites, including St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Therese of Lisieux, all of whom are doctors of the Church.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, you gave us the scapular, and you protect and care for us as a mother—pray for us!

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Image Credit: Image by Notre Dame alumnus Matthew Alderman, who holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of his art. Used here with permission.