'Any anxiety, any difficulty, makes me turn at once to the Blessed Virgin; and you could not have a more loving Mother to see you through.'
~ St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face
The Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel is the most important celebration of the Carmelite Order. The first chapel built by the earliest hermits on Mt. Carmel was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Order has always considered itself to be under her special maternal protection.
'Flos Carmeli', the sequence for the proper Mass of the day, is the oldest and most famous hymn to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel:
Latin:
Flos Carmeli, vitis florigera, splendor caeli, Virgo puerpera singularis;
Mater mitis, sed viri nescia, Carmelitis esto propitia, Stella maris.
| English Translation:
Flower of Carmel, Vine blossom laden, Splendour of heaven, Child bearing, yet maiden, None equals thee.
Mother so tender, Whom no man didst know, On all Carmel’s children Thy favours bestow. Star of the sea.
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"The Discalced Carmelite nuns are, by calling, part of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. They belong to a family consecrated in a special way to loving and venerating the Holy Mother of God; and they seek to attain evangelical perfection in union with her.
Mary’s presence among her daughters and sisters pervades the entire Carmelite vocation. It imparts a special Marian tone to their contemplation, sisterhood, evangelical self-denial, and apostolic spirit."
"St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross ... present Mary as a model of prayer and self-denial in faith’s pilgrimage. She humbly and wisely welcomed the Lord's word and pondered it in her heart. She was wholly responsive to the impulses of the Holy Spirit. She is the valiant woman who follows Christ faithfully and shares in the joys and sorrows of his paschal mystery."
"In Our Lady we contemplate the ideal of the Order lived to perfection. Her example inspires us to follow in her footsteps. She takes the lead among the Lord’s poor and little ones. She best exemplifies contemplative life in the Church.
Every sister will find in Mary a mother and teacher in the ways of the Spirit who will conform her to Christ and lead her to the heights of holiness.
Because of their profession, the sisters belong to the Virgin Mary in a special way. They wear her scapular to show that they are members of her Order and are determined to clothe themselves with her virtues."
~ From Our Constitutions, Nos. 53 - 55
In the Carmel of the Magnificat we celebrate this great feast with a day of public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in our chapel. The sisters and our friends outside in the chapel join with Our Lady to pray especially for vocations to the priesthood and religious life in our Archdiocese, from after Holy Mass at 9.00 am until Vespers and Benediction at 4.30 pm.
Prayer:
Lord God,
you willed that the Order of Carmel
should be named in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of your Son.
Through her prayers, as we honour her today,
bring us to your holy Mountain, Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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