In the late twelfth century, several Christian hermits living in the Holy Land gathered together and decided to build a common chapel, which they dedicated to the Blessed Mother under the title “Lady of the Place.” By the fifteenth century, after St. Simon Stock received a vision of Our Lady demonstrating the spiritual benefits of the Brown Scapular, the Carmelite order officially adopted her as their patroness as Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

The Blessed Mother, of course, is a perfect role model for any religious community, but to the Carmelites, she is the epitome of prayer and contemplation. St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross both wrote different detailed accounts of the contemplative pathway – St. Teresa through the interior castle, comprised of steps or ladders toward perfect union, and St. John by way of the Purgative, Illuminative, and ultimately Unitive Ways.

Devotees and those formally part of the Carmelite spirituality and order begin deepening their spiritual journeys at the beginning – the Purgative Way. Because of the devotion to the Brown Scapular, Carmelites view Our Lady of Mount Carmel as an imperative companion to those in need of purification, particularly in Purgatory.

Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi wrote a beautiful explanation of how Carmelites view Our Lady of Mount Carmel:

If we gaze into Mary’s soul, we shall see that grace in her has flowered into a spiritual life of incalculable wealth: a life of recollection, prayer, uninterrupted oblation to God, continual contact, and intimate union with him. Mary’s soul is a sanctuary reserved for God alone, where no human creature has ever left its trace, where love and zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of mankind reign supreme. […] Those who want to live their devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to the full must follow Mary into the depths of her interior life. Carmel is the symbol of the contemplative life, the life wholly dedicated to the quest for God, wholly orientated towards intimacy with God; and the one who has best realized this highest of ideals is Our Lady herself, “Queen and Splendor of Carmel”.

NOVENA PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

O most beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein that you are my Mother.

O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart, to succor me in this my necessity. There are none that can withstand your power. O show me herein that you are my Mother.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us that have recourse to thee. (Repeat three times)

Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands. (Repeat three times)

We celebrate the Feast of Our lady of Mount Carmel on July 16.

 

And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
— Luke 1: 46-55

Most people choose a hymn like “Hail Mary, Gentle Woman” for the presentation of a flower to Our Lady during their Nuptial Mass. Ben and I chose “Holy Is His Name,” which is a variation of the Magnificat prayer sung to a Celtic tune. There has always been something cherished, beloved about imagining Mary’s humility and depth of pondering in this prayer.

It is about mercy, hope, strength, remembrance, and promises – all of which encompass graces upon which we draw from God throughout the tumult and triumphs of life. Here is a brief meditation on certain excerpts that have meant the most to me, and I pray they are a comfort to you, as well.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (46-47).

There are times, Lord, I forget my littleness and Your grandeur. I get stuck in the mundane tasks of everyday life in this modern culture, and prayer becomes a shadow, a specter, some distant thing I do rather than breathe in. Yet there are moments each day, moments I least expect, when You open up space and time for me to enter into the sanctuary of my heart and listen. There is silence, however brief.

And I ponder, alongside Mary, the vast truth of Your greatness – that You hold everything in Your hand. All of my pain, every doubt or temptation, my sins, my weaknesses, the noise in our house – You hold it all. And You have redeemed it all. What You ask of me in those moments is to simply let go of pretense and enter into the grace of Your mercy, drawing upon its wellspring. For this, I am eternally grateful.

“His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him” (50).

A lot of people cringe when they read the words “fear him” in the Bible. Fear is not a friend to us; for many in this day, it conjures up memories of trauma, tragedy, and uncertainty. But the kind of fear to which we are called is a holy fear, or rather, not fear at all. It is a simultaneous acknowledgment of Your greatness and our lowliness.

In that recognition, my soul is compelled to honor You, to thank You, to praise You. My heart understands the truth that this is not a fear that draws me away, but toward You. It is an awesome wonder at how You give me chance after chance each day to return to You with my whole heart. That is the essence of Your mercy.

“He has filled the hungry with good things; the rich he has sent away empty” (53).

There is so much injustice, so much inequality in the world. Heavenly Father, You know this and You lament it. What breaks my heart also breaks Yours. I think so often of those who do not share my privilege of a fine home, healthy food, clean water, and new clothing. There are so many who lack what I take for granted every day. 

I remember Your promise to care for all of Your people here – sometimes, often times, through me and the gifts You have given me to share. I don’t want to squander all that I have, but instead to be open to the ways in which You are asking me to give away more and more, that I might know of the true interior riches that await a heart that is poor in spirit.

The devotion to the first five Saturdays, also known as the Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, originated from a Benedictine monk simply known as Alcuin in the early ninth century and was made popular as a request of Our Lady in a Spanish apparition. Pope Pius X approved this devotion in 1905 and granted specific indulgences to devotees who honored the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the first five consecutive Saturdays in a given twelve-month period.

When Sister Lucia Santos, one of the Fatima seers, received an apparition from Our Lady in 1925, she was a postulant with the Sisters of St. Dorothy in Tui, Spain. She explained that Mary wanted an act of reparation for the graves sins of modern humanity by telling Lucia: “Look, my daughter, at my Heart encircled by these thorns with which men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, strive to console me, and so I announce: I promise to assist at the hour of death with the grace necessary for salvation all those who, with the intention of making reparation to me, will, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the beads, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.”

Those who follow the Fatima prophecies believe that honoring Mary through Confession, receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, and praying the Rosary consoles the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, who grieve for the suffering of the world caused by sin and apathy.

The three requirements are:
Sacramental Confession: Eight days before or after the first Saturday of the month, a penitent may make his or her confession but is not required to disclose the reason for the Sacrament as part of the First Saturday devotion. As with any confession, the penitent should approach the Sacrament with a sincere and contrite heart, intending to amend his or her life of sin and in making an entire confession without delay.

Receiving Holy Communion: In addition to Confession, a devotee should also receive Holy Communion within twenty-four hours of the actual first Saturday of the month – and should be done in a state of grace. Again, the intention does not have to be spoken aloud but should be a conscious and intentional act at least made as mental prayer to Our Lady and Jesus. Also, it is of note that the communicant does not have to receive as part of Mass, especially if conditions prevent him or her from doing so (a disability, inclement weather, no Mass offered, etc.). In the latter case, the recipient will need to explain to a priest who gives him or her Holy Communion the reason for receiving on that particular day as related to the First Saturday Devotion.

Reciting at least Five Decades of the Holy Rosary: When one offers up his or her Rosary on the first Saturday of each month, it should be for the intention of reparation of sin against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In addition to the recitation of the Rosary, a fifteen-minute meditation on the Rosary is recommended for devotees, which can be done privately or in a group of others who share in this devotion. Because of the sins against Our Lady, such as blasphemous images or mockeries of her name and purity, the Act of Reparation is a gift one can bring to her through this meditation and by cleansing one’s soul of sin.

The Blessed Mother promised Sr. Lucia that the person practicing this devotion would receive many powerful graces, particularly at the hour of death and for one’s salvation.