Graces of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
We are put in profound
harmony with Mary the Theotokos and become, like her, transmitters of divine
life.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
In Carmel... and in every soul moved by tender affection
for the Blessed Virgin and Mother, there has thrived a contemplation of her who
from the beginning knew how to open herself to hearing God's Word and to
obeying his will (Lk 2:19,51). For Mary, taught and formed by the Spirit (cf.
Lk 2:44-50), was able by faith to understand her own history (cf. Lk 1:46-55)
and, docile to the divine promptings, "advanced in her pilgrimage of
faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where
she stood, in keeping with the divine plan (cf. Jn 19:25), enduring with her
Only-begotten Son the intensity of his suffering and associating herself with
his sacrifice in her mother's heart" (Lumen Gentium, n. 58).
This intense Marian life, which is expressed in trusting
prayer, enthusiastic praise, and diligent imitation, enables us to understand
how the most genuine form of devotion to the Blessed Virgin, expressed by the
humble sign of the scapular, is consecration to her Immaculate Heart. In this
way, the heart grows in communion and familiarity with the Blessed Virgin, as a
new way of living for God and of continuing here on earth the love of Jesus the
Son for his Mother Mary. Thus, as the blessed Carmelite martyr Titus Brandsma
expressed it, we are put in profound harmony with Mary the Theotokos and
become, like her, transmitters of divine life: "The Lord also sends his
angel to us... we too must accept God in our hearts, carry him in our hearts,
nourish him and make him grow in us so that he is born of us and lives with us
as the God-with-us, Emmanuel."
Over time this rich Marian heritage of Carmel has become,
through the spread of the holy scapular devotion, a treasure for the whole
Church. By its simplicity, its anthropological value, and its relationship to
Mary's role in regard to the Church and humanity, this devotion was so deeply
and widely accepted by the People of God that it came to be expressed in the
memorial of July 16th on the liturgical calendar of the universal Church.