10th Wednesday - Mount Carmel

                               

In the first reading today, the prophet Elijah proves the gods of Baal are false gods and the God of the Hebrews is the only true God. The location of this event is Mount Carmel. Also at this site, Elijah would later be taken up to heaven in a whirlwind and his mantle would fall to the ground, and Elisha would use it to part the water to cross it. During the time of Elijah God destroyed by fire not only the sacrifice offered by the false prophets but also the stone altar. Centuries later, God showed His power to prevent people from being burned in the fires of hell, because God would use Mary to protect them from eternal fire by Her scapular.

Did you know a group of hermits before Jesus came lived there and met there to pray for the coming of the Mother of the Messiah?
Its believed Mary was brought to Mount Carmel by her parents Joachim and Anne. Its also believed Joseph stayed on Mount Carmel a short time after he was chosen to take Mary as his wife. The Holy Family fled into Egypt due to Herod who wanted to kill the Divine Child. On the way back from Egypt to Nazareth its believed the Holy Family stopped at Mount Carmel where the hermits saw for themselves the Mother of the Messiah and the Messiah as a little Boy. This is why the Carmelite order claims to be the oldest religious order in the Catholic Church. They take Elijah as their father and they prayed for the coming of the Mother of the Messiah and the Messiah and were the first to see Mary and Jesus, whom they had prayed would come.

In the 1200’s, on Mount Carmel, the Virgin Mary Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock after he requested Her protection for his community being harassed by secular clergy. When She appeared to Simon, She gave him the scapular and promised, “those who wear this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire”. Today, many Catholics wear the scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Just as Elijah turned the people away from false gods, so the Virgin Mary turns hearts toward the one true God and She protects them by Her mantle, the Scapular.

Today, let us resolve to daily wear our scapulars so as to allow the Virgin Mary to protect us from evil spirits, who want to draw us away from the one true God. And She promises, all who wear the Scapular and live a good Christian life, will go to heaven and be protected from the fires of hell. Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!