According to tradition, the followers of Prophet Elias continued to lead a life of prayer and austerity on Mount Carmel. Some of them were believed to have been in Jerusalem during the Pentecost and were among the three thousand who were baptized by the Apostles. When they returned to their hermitage on Mount Carmel they called themselves Carmelites, dedicated a chapel to the Blessed Virgin Mary and adopted her as their Patroness.
Due to the relentless persecution unleashed by the Muslims, most of the Carmelites of Palestine were forced to take refuge in Europe. By 1245 their Head Quarters was shifted from Mount Carmel to England. In the meanwhile Simon Stock was elected the 6th General of the Carmelite Order. The challenges he faced were overwhelming – opposition from the secular clergy and from the existing religious Orders, and more importantly, internal dissension among the Carmelites themselves. While Simon Stock was praying before the image of Mary on July 16, 1251, the Mother of God appeared to him and handed over to him the Carmelite habit saying: “Receive, my beloved son, this habit of thy Order; this shall be to thee and to all the Carmelites a privilege – that whosoever dies with this shall never suffer eternal fire….Wear it devoutly, it is my garment.” The impact of the apparition was an astounding transformation of the Order. Internal turmoil disappeared, external opposition died down and Pope Innocent IV offered the Carmelites full protection in 1452. As a result the Carmelite Order and devotion to the brown Scapular spread rapidly in Southern and Western Europe, especially in England.
Reflection: To demonstrate that the Scapular continues to be a relevant and valuable sacramental in the Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary made her last apparition at Lourdes on July 16, 1858, feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In like manner, Mary showed herself to three children at Fatima for the last time on October 13, 1917, under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
When the clouds of temptation overshadow the day,
May the light of Mount Carmel shine down on my way;
When the long road is ending, may I go to rest,
With Mary’s brown Scapular on my breast.
