Isaiah 1:10-17 / Matthew 10:34 - 11:1
Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and in Singapore, there are the communities of the Carmelite Fathers at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, and the cloistered nuns at the monastery near the Church of St. Teresa.
The title of "Our Lady of Mount Carmel" is given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as the patroness of the Carmelite Order.
From the late 12th to the mid 13th century, there were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land and they were called the Carmelites, and they built a chapel there and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Since the 15th century, popular devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel has centered on the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel also known as the Brown Scapular.
Associated with the Brown Scapular are the promises of Mary's special help for the salvation of the one who wears it with devotion to our Lady.
The Brown Scapular is a miniature of the part of the habit that the Carmelites wear, which is a piece of long brown cloth that covers the front and the back right down to the feet.
It is said that the Scapular is given to the early Carmelite by Saint Simon Stock.
The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is known to many Catholic faithful as the "scapular feast," associated with the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
It symbolizes the wearer's consecration to Mary and affiliation with the Carmelite Order.
Certainly, Mary would be the model for one who wears the scapular and the spiritual values of the Carmelite Order would be the way of life.
But devotion to Mary and whatever spiritual disciplines would certainly have its foundations in the teachings of Jesus, in whom is the fullness of love and truth, and who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
May our devotions and our prayers lead us closer to Jesus and help us to worship God worthily in the Eucharist.