The Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel had their origins as a hermit community in Palestine; with the fall of the Crusader Kingdoms and the resumption of Muslim rule, in the early 13th century the members moved to Europe where they became mendicantfriars. Simon was born in England and was perhaps elected to be Prior General at a London chapter meeting in 1254.[1]
Historical evidence about Simon's life is very scarce; he is mentioned in two necrologies from the 14th century. They attest to his reputation for holiness and a trip made to Jerusalem. There is no evidence for him having lived for a time in a hollow tree.[1] He is believed to have lived at Aylesford in Kent, a place that hosted in 1247 the first general chapter of the Carmelite Order held outside the Holy Land, and where there is still a monastery of Carmelite friars.[2]
The earliest extant liturgical office in Simon Stock's honour was composed in Bordeaux in France, and dates from 1435.[3] Liturgies are first known to have been celebrated in Ireland and England in 1458, and throughout the Carmelite Order in 1564. His feast day, an optional memorial, is May 16. Simon Stock is the patron saint of the English province of Discalced Carmelites.[4]
Brown Scapular
Chiesa del Carmine, Milan. Simon Stock and an angel.
The earliest surviving accounts of Simon's life do not mention him having a vision. The first known reference dates from the late 14th century, over 100 years after 16 July, 1251, the date when tradition says the vision occurred. The Virgin was said to have appeared to him holding the Scapular in her hand, saying: "whoever dies clothed in this habit shall not suffer the fires of hell."[5] Beginning in the 16th century, the Carmelites began giving the Brown Scapular to lay people who wanted to be more closely affiliated with them. It soon became popular as a religious article.[6]
Scholarly investigation into historical sources has raised questions about whether Simon Stock's vision actually happened. Several religious orders in the Middle Ages told stories of Mary giving them their habit or promising protection.[7] The great Carmelite authors of the 14th century do not mention the scapular at all. Challenges to the historicity of the scapular vision (and passionate defenses of it) are not a new phenomenon; a notable challenge came in 1653, from a scholar at the University of Paris, Jean de Launoy. In response, a Carmelite named John Cheron published a fragment of a letter which he purported to be an account by Simon Stock's secretary Peter Swanington (or Swanyngton), giving details of Simon's life, and the scapular vision. It is a fabrication.[1]
Devotion to the Brown Scapular remains widespread and is recommended by the Catholic Church. The Carmelites continue to find meaning in the traditional story and use it as a spiritual means of deepening their filial relationship with Mary. When Pope John Paul II addressed the Carmelite family in 2001 on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the bestowal of the scapular, he said that this devotion was "a treasure for the whole Church," noting that the devotion was "so deeply and widely accepted by the People of God that it came to be expressed in the memorial of 16 July," the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.[8] The pope himself was known to wear the scapular.[9]
1 2 3 Staring, A. (2003). "Simon Stock, St.". In Catholic University of America (ed.). New Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.13 (2nded.). Detroit, New York, San Diego, Washington, D.C.: Thompson/Gale; Catholic University of America. p.134. ISBN978-0-7876-4004-0.
A list of all the congregations, notable members, priories, churches, and convents of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (Carmelites)
The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Historical records about its origin remain uncertain; it was probably founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel in what is now Israel.
Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13th centuries:
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Roman Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Roman Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the older monastic orders' allegiance to a single monastery formalized by their vow of stability. A friar may be in holy orders or be a non-ordained brother. The most significant orders of friars are the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, and Carmelites.
A scapular is a Western Christian garment suspended from the shoulders. There are two types of scapulars, the monastic and devotional scapular; both forms may simply be referred to as "scapular". As an object of popular piety, a scapular serves to remind wearers of their commitment to live a Christian life.
The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel belongs to the habit of both the Carmelite Order and the Discalced Carmelite Order, both of which have Our Lady of Mount Carmel as their patroness. In its small form, it is widely popular among Catholics. Today, it serves as the prototype of all devotional scapulars. The liturgical feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16, is popularly associated with the devotion of the Scapular.
Mendicant orders are, primarily, certain Catholic religious orders that have vowed for their male members a lifestyle of poverty, traveling, and living in urban areas for purposes of preaching, evangelization, and ministry, especially to the poor. At their foundation these orders rejected the previously established monastic model, which prescribed living in one stable, isolated community where members worked at a trade and owned property in common, including land, buildings and other wealth. By contrast, the mendicants avoided owning property at all, did not work at a trade, and embraced a poor, often itinerant lifestyle. They depended for their survival on the goodwill of the people to whom they preached. The members of these orders are not called monks but friars.
The Trinitarians, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives, is a mendicant order of the Catholic Church for men founded in Cerfroid, outside Paris, in the late 12th century. From the very outset, a special dedication to the mystery of the Holy Trinity has been a constitutive element of the order's life.
The Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known as the Lay Carmelites, is a third order of the Carmelite Order of the Ancient Observance, established in 1476 by a bull of Pope Sixtus IV. It is an association of people who choose to live the Gospel in the spirit of the Carmelite Order and under its guidance. Its members are mainly lay people.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated as patroness of the Carmelite Order.
The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel or the Order of Discalced Carmelites, is a Catholic mendicant order with roots in the eremitic tradition of the Desert Fathers. The order was established in the 16th century, pursuant to the reform of the Carmelite Order by two Spanish saints, Teresa of Ávila (foundress) and John of the Cross (co-founder). Discalced is derived from Latin, meaning "without shoes".
The Rite of the Holy Sepulchre, commonly called the Carmelite Rite, is the liturgical rite that was used by the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre, Hospitallers, Templars, Carmelites and the other orders founded within the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
In Roman Catholicism, the Sabbatine Privilege refers to a belief in the early liberation of souls from Purgatory, on the first Saturday after death, through the special intercession and petition of the Virgin Mary. The Privilege is based on an apocryphal Papal Bull Sacratissimo uti culmine, dated 3 March 1322 and attributed to Pope John XXII. The Bull is universally regarded by scholars as inauthentic.
The Fivefold Scapular, also known as Redemptorist Scapular, is a sacramental made up of five best-known of the early scapulars in the Catholic Church: the Brown Scapular of the Carmelites, the Blue Scapular of the Immaculate Conception, the Black Scapular of the Servites, the Red Scapular of the Passion, and the White Scapular of the Most Holy Trinity. There are 17 total officially approved scapulars of the Catholic Church.
Santa Maria della Scala is a titular church in Rome, Italy, located in the Trastevere rione. It is served by friars of the Discalced Carmelite Order. Cardinal Ernest Simoni took possession of the titular church on 11 February 2017.
The Carmelite Monks or Monks of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel are a public association within the Diocese of Cheyenne, dedicated to a humble life of prayer. The Wyoming Carmelites claim loyalty to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and to the Carmelite charism. Their life includes strict separation from the world and the living of the cloistered Carmelite spirituality and way of life established by John of the Cross and Teresa of Jesus. In accord with the Carmelite Rule, they engage in manual labor and the study of Carmelite spirituality in the solitude of the mountains, with the firm hope of attaining to Union with God.
A number of people have claimed to have had visions of Jesus Christ and personal conversations with him. Some people make similar claims regarding his mother, Mary. Discussions about the authenticity of these visions have often invited controversy. The Catholic Church endorses a fraction of these claims, and various visionaries it accepts have achieved beatification, or even sainthood.
The Constitutions of the Carmelite Order stand as an expression of the ideals and spirit of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Foundational sources for the Constitutions include the desert hermit vocation as exemplified in the life of the Prophet Elijah. For the Carmelite the contemplative vocation is exemplified par excellence in the life of the Virgin Mary, beloved to the Order under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Additionally, the Carmelite Rule of St. Albert and the Book of the First Monks comprise fundamental points of reference in the life and spirituality of the Order.
The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, formerly the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and of the Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Jesus, is a third order of Catholic lay persons and secular clergy associated with the Discalced Carmelites.
The Stella Maris Monastery is a Catholic Christian monastery for Discalced Carmelite monks, located on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel.
The exact origins of both the rosary and scapular are subject to debate among scholars. Pious tradition maintains that both the rosary and the brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel were given by the Virgin Mary to Dominic and Simon Stock respectively during the 13th century. Historical records document their growth during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe. By the early 20th century, they had gained such a strong following among Catholics worldwide that Josef Hilgers, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1914, stated: "Like the Rosary, the Brown scapular has become the badge of the devout Catholic."
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