Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish
Our Parish Patroness-
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
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Icon, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, written by New Guild Studio, Pittsburgh, and blessed in July 2021.
Prayer - Flos Carmeli (Latin for Flower of Carmel)
“O Beautiful Flower of Carmel, most fruitful vine, splendor of heaven, holy and singular, who brought forth the Son of God, still ever remaining a pure virgin, assist us in our necessity. O Star of the Sea, help and protect us. Show us that you are our Mother. Amen.”
Written by St Simon Stock, Carmelite, O.Carm. (thirteenth century)Our Lady of Mount Carmel was chosen as our parish name and as our patroness when the parish was officially formed on July 1, 2020. Her feast day on the liturgical calendar is July 16th.
Other important feast days for Mary include:- Immaculate Conception of Mary (12/8)
- Birth of Mary (9/8)
- Annunciation (3/25, Conception of Jesus)
- Nativity (12/25, Christmas - Birth of Jesus)
- Mary, Mother of God (1/1)
The Virgin Mary is known by many beautiful titles recognizing her various roles, apparitions and pleas for intercession.
Her title as Our Lady of Mount Carmel began with a group of hermits who settled on the famous Mount Carmel in the 6th century A.D., located in the north west corner of Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. They were devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mount Carmel is the site where Elijah challenged and defeated the false prophets of Baal around 900 B.C. Mount Carmel was recognized as a holy mountain for hundreds of years even before Elijah. Egyptian historical records note Mount Carmel as a holy mountain dating back to the 16th century B.C.
The hermits continued in the following centuries becoming known as the ‘Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel’, or for short the Carmelites (OCarm.). Of course, their Patroness was the Virgin Mary under the title of ‘Our Lady of Mount Carmel’.
The image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is typically shown holding the infant Jesus and the Brown Scapular. Tradition holds that St. Simon Stock, OCarm. received a vision from the Virgin Mary on July 16, 1251. In the vision she was holding the brown scapular asking him to promote devotion to the scapular.
For more information about Our Lady of Mount Carmel and The Brown Scapular please reference the following links:
