Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel (the Madonna of the Scapular) goes back far before the time of St. Simon
Stock -- even before the time of Our Blessed Lord it goes back all the way to the 8th century B.C. It was then that the
great prophet Elias ascended the holy mountain of Carmel in Palestine, and began there a long tradition of
contemplative life and prayer. It is amazing to realize that centuries before Christ was born, Holy Elias and his
followers had mystically dedicated themselves to God‟s Mother-to-come, Mary, Queen of Mount Carmel. Nearly
three thousand years later, that tradition of prayer, contemplation, and devotion to Mary continues to live and prevail
in the Catholic Church.
In the fullness of time, God became the God-Man, Jesus. We know of Our Lord's life, death, resurrection and
ascension from the four Gospels of the New Testament, and we know that Jesus bequeathed to the world the Holy
Catholic Church to teach, to govern, and to sanctify in His Name.
On the Feast of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, the spiritual descendants of Elias and his followers came
down from Mount Carmel. Fittingly, they were the first that day to accept the message of Christianity and to be
baptized by the Apostles. When, at last, they were presented to Our Lady, and heard the sweet words from Her lips,
they were overcome with a sense of majesty and sanctity which they never forgot. Returning to their holy mountain,
they erected the first chapel ever built in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From that time, devotion to God‟s Mother
was handed down by the hermits on Mount Carmel as a treasured spiritual legacy.