Monday, July 28, 2003 4:07 PM

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Fr. Richie Santos from the Philippines forwards this item: In two news items of Zenit News dated July 16, 2003, Pope John Paul II teaches us to deepen our Love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Lady of Mount Carmel. The True Life in God Messages mention nothing about the wearing of the Scapular of our Lady of Mount Carmel but there is a mention of the Feast of our Lady of Mount Carmel in the following message: NEW YORK, MEETING WITH CONCHITA OF GARABANDAL ALTOGETHER YOU ARE NOTHING July 18, 1991 Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel – 1.15am Meeting with Conchita of Garabandal My Lord, I thank You for all that You have done to me. I shall never be able to praise Your Holy Name enough! Love is near you. Love rests on you. Love shall accomplish one thing after the other in its own time. Do not fear – your Saviour is like a watchman, guarding you without cease. The Most High will not abandon you. Hear Me: long ago I prepared this; before you were even born I planned it and now I carry it out. See? I am sending you to My children so that you give them your news, and to encourage them thoroughly. Have faith in Me, trust Me. I know your hardships and your misery, but soon, very soon now I shall come and overturn the Rebel and reign in your hearts, generation. The Kingdom of God is soon with you. I bless My dear children of Garabandal. Learn that I Am is by your side. Our Holy Mother asked me to read to everybody 2 Corinthians 1:10-11. Later: Vassula, altogether you are nothing, but even a nothing give Me such delights to speak to you, to have Me as your Holy Companion gives Me so much happiness! I shall guard you and place you in My Heart. I Love you. Have My Peace.

Pope Says Our Lady of Mount Carmel Is Source of Hope Recalls a Church Feast Full of Memories of His Youth CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, JULY 16, 2003 – On a day the Church was celebrating the liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, John Paul II presented Mary as a reason for hope and consolation. After greeting the Carmelites who were among the 2,000 faithful gathered for today’s general audience at the papal summer residence here, the Pope highlighted the meaning of the day, which for him brought back memories. “Today is the liturgical memory of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel,” he said in Polish at the end of the audience. “This memory is especially dear to all those who are devoted to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.” “Even I, from my youngest days, have worn around my neck the scapular of Our Lady and I take refuge with trust under the mantle of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus,” the Pope said. He added: “I hope the scapular will be for everyone, especially the faithful who wear it, a help and defense in times of danger, a seal of peace and a sign of Mary’s care.” The Carmel scapular wasn’t the extent of Karol Wojtyla’s connection with its spirituality. He gave serious thought to entering the Carmel, after reading the works of St. John of the Cross. The Spanish saint’s mystical writings so moved the future Pope that he based his doctoral thesis in theology on them. Simon Stock, general superior of the Carmelite Order, received the scapular in 1251, during an apparition of the Virgin, when she promised special assistance in life and in death to all those who wear it with devotion. Commenting on the Holy Father’s words, theologian and Mariologist Father Stefano De Fiores explained on Vatican Radio: “When we think of the Virgin of Carmel today, we think first of all of the contemplation so necessary for the world of today which is too absorbed in activity and subjected to stress and anxiety.” “At the same time, in Mary we also see beauty,” said Father De Fiores, a Montfort Missionary. “This way of beauty today is particularly adapted to attract the hearts of men. According to Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky, beauty will save the world. However, not any beauty but redeemed beauty, as Pavel Evdokimov emphasizes.” With her beauty, Mary indicates to us “what we should be and, unfortunately, are not,” the theologian added.