On the eve of the feast of the Virgen del Carmen, we bring you a review of the history of this devotion so revered in the world, and a novena that the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) published to pray to the Mother of Carmel.
ACN recalls that the Order of Carmelites emerged precisely in Carmel, “the mountain where numerous prophets worshiped God,” such as Elijah, his disciple Elisha and other “people who retired to the mountain caves to follow a hermitical life.” ”.
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“This form of prayer, penance and austerity was continued centuries later, specifically in the III and IV, by Christian men who followed the model of Jesus Christ,” he explains.
In the 13th century, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem “asked the hermits of Mount Carmel to order their lifestyle, which was achieved thanks to Popes Honorius III and Innocent IV”, so that the “Religious Order of the Carmelite Fathers, which spread throughout the world in both its male and female branches,” states the pontifical foundation.
“In the 16th century, Saint Teresa of Jesus, Doctor of the Church, is the reformer of Barefoot Carmel, reinvigorating the force of its original rule of prayer and cloister. And this is how it spreads to America,” she highlights.
ACN explains that after July 16, 1251, the Superior General of the Carmelite Fathers of the convent of Cambridge (England), Saint Simon Stock, received a visit from the Virgin Mary. Dressed in the Carmelite habit, she “carried the Child Jesus in her arms and in her hand the Scapular.”
“Receive, my son, this Scapular of your order, which from today on will be a sign of my brotherhood, a privilege for you and for all who wear it. Whoever dies with him will not suffer eternal fire. It is a sign of salvation, protection from the dangers of the body and soul, an alliance of peace and an everlasting pact,” the Virgin told the saint.
Furthermore, the ACN prayer book recalls that when the Carmelites were forced to abandon Mount Carmel due to the invasion of the Saracens, “the Virgin appeared to them while they were singing the Salve Regina, and she promised to be their Star of the Sea for them.” reason why this name is given to the Mother of God.
“After a long interruption of monastic life in the mountains, which gave occasion for the expansion of the Carmelite ideal throughout the West, the religious of Carmel returned to Mount Carmel, between the 16th and 17th centuries,” he adds.
Starting in the 16th century, the use of the Carmelite scapular spread throughout the Church. ACN indicates that “Pope John Paul II, who was a Carmelite tertiary, has recalled on various occasions that he wore with devotion, since he was a child, the scapular of Carmel.”
“The Virgin of Carmen, patron saint of seafarers, who trusts her life every day to the instability of the waves and the wind! From our position as helmsman of Pedro’s boat, when we feel the storm roar and see the fury of the waves jumping before our eyes, which would destroy our boat, we look up, serene and confident, to the Virgin of Carmen and we ask you not to abandon us. And although hell does not cease its assaults and the violence, audacity and fury of the forces of evil always increase, as long as we have its powerful patronage we will never doubt victory,” said Pope Pius XII on the occasion of the closing of the National Marian Congress of Colombia, July 16, 1946.
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This article was originally published on July 5, 2021. It has been updated for republication.
Harumi Suzuki
Harumi Suzuki is editor of ChurchPOP in Spanish. She has a bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Arts with a mention in Advertising from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). She is a graphic designer, writer and created the Catholic startup, Agnus Dei.