History about Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Intro

Before coming into Europe, the Carmelites were hermits living on Mount Carmel in Palestine. They believed themselves to be the spiritual sons of Elijah. They led a life of contemplation, modeled after the prophet.Mount Carmel is on the northwestern coast of Palestine. The Hebrew word for Carmel means "Beautiful Garden Land'. Truly that is what Our Lady is, the beautiful garden that brought forth Jesus Christ, Our Savior.

New Testament

The Origin of Carmel goes back to about 860 B.C. to the time of the prophet Elijah and his victory over the pagan prophets and their god, Baal. The account of this event is given in 1 Kings 18:19-40. The Jewish people had taken to worshipping false gods, especially the god Baal. Their evil King Ahab had married the gentile, Jezebel, who worshipped Baal. 

The king built a temple to this pagan deity. When the prophets denounced him for this, he had them killed. Elijah stood firm and challengeBefore coming into Europe, the Carmelites were hermits living on Mount Carmel in Palestine.

They believed themselves to be the spiritual sons of Elijah. They led a life of contemplation,

modeled after the prophet.d the prophets of Baal to gather on Mount Carmel to determine which God, Baal or the Lord was the true God. Each built a stone altar with firewood and a sacrificial bull upon it. The "God" who would send fire from Heaven upon the altar would be accepted as the true God.

The prophets of Baal prayed and danced and chanted all day to no avail. Elijah, though before beginning his prayer poured gallons of water over his sacrifice, making it humanly impossible to light the fire. Elijah called upon the Lord and immediately a bolt of lightning came down from heaven consuming the sacrifice and the stones of the altar.

The pagan prophets were killed and Elijah went into hiding on Mount Carmel. Later a community of prophets joined him. They dwelt in caves, praying to God, living in peace.

New Testament

At the base of this holy mountain; in the little village of Nazareth, the Incarnation was accomplished. The Blessed Virgin Mary, there in the shadow of Mount Carmel, uttered her sublime “fiat” thus enabling the second Person of the Blessed Trinity to become Man for our salvation. To the wondrous delight of the hermits, Our Lady with Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus visited Mount Carmel upon returning from their two years of exile in Egypt. As a result of this visit the contemplatives of Carmel professed their unqualified belief in Jesus as the long awaited Messiah, the Saviour of the World.

Medieval Era

Many of the holy Carmelites were forced to leave Palestine because of the Saracen invasion. St. Louis IX of France conducted them to Europe. As they were leaving they sang the Salve Regina. Our Lady appeared to them and promised to be their Star of the Sea.

Saint King Louis IX

Saint Simon Stock's Vision 

Saint Simon Stock is an English Carmelite Monk who introduce the Brown Scapulir of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Our Lady appears to St Simon Stock on July 16, 1251 to Saint Simon Stock. While praying, Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, giving him the Brown Scapular and making this promise:

"Take this Scapular, it shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger and a pledge of peace. Whosoever dies wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire."

One of the great mysteries of our time is that the majority of Catholics either ignores, or has

entirely forgotten this Heavenly promise of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Lady further says:

“Wear the Scapular devoutly and perseveringly. It is my garment. To be clothed in it means you are continually thinking of me, and I in turn, am always thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life.”

In the beginning only the Carmelites wore the scapular. But by the 14th century the privilege of wearing the scapular extended outside the order. Lay groups and third orders were formed. In 1321, St. Peter Thomas was told by Our Heavenly Mother that 'the Order of Carmel is destined to exist until the end of the world'.

Refrence:

http://freebrownscapular.com/