+
JMJ
Consideration: The Scapular - The Badge of Christian Victory the Secret of Which is Being Subject to Our Blessed Mother Through Total Consecration to Her Immaculate Heart
The Scapular is a miniature habit - that is, it is the habit or garb of the Friars and Nuns of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel reduced to a form that can be worn in the daily life of the faithful who desire to unite themselves to the "Order of the Virgin" (Our Lord in His colloquy with St. Teresa of Jesus - reformer of Carmel and foundress of the Discalced Carmelites, also known as the Teresian Carmelites), to partake of our Teresian Carmelite spirit and thereby becoming sharers as well of our spiritual treasures.
Now "all our perfection consists in being conformed, united, and consecrated to Jesus Christ" (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary) and Him Curicified (1 Corinthians 2.2): I know... the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death (Philippians 3.10). If we look at the emblem of Teresian Carmel, we see Mount Carmel surmounted by the Cross of Our Lord - being the Order instituted by Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother as the school par excellence of Christian perfection the summit of which is crowned by charity: that love of God manifested by the Crucified. And when one is granted the privilege to enter, much less to just take a peek, into the cell of a Discalced Carmelite Friar or Nun, he will see a big Cross hanging on the wall without the 'corpus' or the body of the Crucified. But why a 'corpus'-less Cross in Teresian Carmel? In the fourth Station of the Cross according to the method of St. Francis of Assisi, the Saint reflects on Our Sorrowful Mother meeting His Beloved: "How earnestly did She desire to die in place of Jesus..." A Teresian Carmelite must own such sentiment of the Immaculate Heart of Our Blessed Mother and thus is he exhorted: "Be ready to take the place of your Beloved !" for the most perfect of all devotion is, without any doubt, that which the most perfectly conforms, unites, and consecrates us to Jesus Christ Crucified. Jesus, our greatest friend, has given Himself to us without reserve, body and soul, virtues, graces, and merits. "He has bought the whole of me by whole of Himself," says St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Is it not, then, a simple matter of justice and of gratitude that we should Him all that we can give Him? He has been the first to be liberal towards us; let us, at least, be the second... "With the liberal He will be liberal."
"Whenever someone begins a new stage of life, it does not happen automatically, but rather by means of a decision and an intentional act. For example, a man decides on a career and signs a contract with his employer. Or he chooses his state in life and seals this decision with a wedding ceremony, priestly ordination, or religious profession..." (Rev. Fr. Karl Stehling, SSPX, "The Immaculata Our Ideal," p. 100). In a similar manner, those who enter also the Teresian Carmelite Family of Our Blessed Mother through the Scapular Confraternity seals their decision but through Total Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and its cause of which the Scapular is its sign.
It is therefore of great importance in the acquiring of perfection (Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect ), which it must be remembered is only acquired by union with Our Lord and Him Crucified, to empty ourselves of everything that is not Him. In order to empty ourselves of ourselves, we must die to ourselves daily (1 Corinthians 15.31) by our conformity to God's will just as the Mother of God had said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to thy word. Here we hand over our whole life to Our Lord by the hand of Our Blessed Mother: all the powers of our soul, that is, our understanding, our will, and our memory, along with all the powers of the body, namely, all the senses and energies, health and sickness of our whole life we commend to her with all its pleasant, unpleasant and indifferent incidents . If we die not to ourselves, and if our holiest devotions do not incline us to this necessary and useful death, we shall bring forth no fruit worth anything, and our devotions will become useless.
Often we come to know Our Blessed Mother's wishes through inner promptings, but we can almost never be sure whether these come from her or from our self-love or even from the devil. Satan in the form of an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11.14) is sometimes able to deceive us with the holiest things, which could perhaps be good for someone else, but which God does not want of us. Even if we were to have a vision and thought that the Mother of God was appearing to us and assigning us the most exalted task, how do we know for sure that it is really She and not a deception or a diabolical snare? "The best test is obedience to one's superiors" (St. Maximilian Kolbe, Militia Immaculatae). "One carries out a command," continues the Saint, "not because it is pleasant, reasonable, wise, or holy in itself, but rather because the command is the will of the superior and accordingly the will of Our Immaculate Mother, and therefore ultimately God's will. Without this attitude one is not an instrument in the hand of Our Blessed Mother, but rather - I declare it openly - an instrument in Satan's hand, however many spiritual books one may read, however many Rosaries one may pray, however many great deeds one accomplishes." The living Teresian Carmel, and the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel attached to it, in practice, consists of this 'holy' obedience (that is, grounded on the truths of the Faith for we walk by faith, 2 Corinthians 5.7).
Opening Prayer
Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and
kindle in them the fire of Thine love. Send forth Thy
Spirit, and they shall be created; and Thou shall renew the
face of the earth.
O God, you instructed the hearts of the faithful by the
light of the Holy Spirit. Grant us by the same Spirit to be
truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Novena Prayer
“Flos Carmeli” by St. Simon Stock
Flos Carmeli Flower of Carmel
Vitis florigera Vine blossom-laden
Splendor Coeli Splendor of Heaven
Virgo puerpera Child-bearing Virgin
Singularis! None equals thee
Mater mitis Mother benign
Sed viri nescia Who no man didst know
Carmelitis On Carmel’s children
Da privilegia Thy favors bestow
Stella Maris! Star of the Sea
(Mention your petitions here.)
Concluding Prayers
Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity.
Show us herein that you are our Mother.
Sweet Mother, I place this cause into you hands.
There are none that can withstand Your power.
O Most Holy Mother of Mount Carmel, when asked by a saint to grant privileges to the family of Carmel, you rather granted an assurance of salvation to the whole world. Behold us your children, kneeling at your feet. We glory, dearest Mother, in wearing your holy habit, that habit which makes us members of your family of Carmel, that habit through which we shall have your powerful protection in life, at death and even after death. Look down with love, O Gate of Heaven, on all those now in their last agony! Look down graciously, O Virgin, Flower of Carmel, on all those in need of help! Look down mercifully, O Mother of our Saviour, on all those who do not know that they are numbered among your children.Look down tenderly, O Queen of All Saints, on the poor souls!
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Our Father..., Hail Mary..., Glory be...
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us.
The Litany of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world...
God the Holy Ghost...
Holy Trinity, One God...
Holy Mary, pray for us sinners.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Queen of heaven...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Vanquisher of Satan...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Dutiful Daughter...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Pure Virgin...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Devoted Spouse...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Tender Mother...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Perfect Model of Virtue...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Sure Anchor of Hope...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Refuge in affliction...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Dispensatrix of God's gifts...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Tower of strength against our foes...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our aid in danger...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Road leading to Jesus...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our light in darkness...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our consolation at the hour of death...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Advocate of the most abandoned sinners...
For those hardened in vice,
with confidence we come to thee O Lady of Mount Carmel.
For those who grieve thy Son...
For those who neglect to pray...
For those who are in their agony...
For those who delay their conversion...
For those suffering in Purgatory...
For those who know thee not...
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Hope of the Despairing
Intercede for us with thy Divine Son.
(Let Us Pray)
O God, who has honored the Order of Carmel with the
special title of thy Blessed Mother Mary, ever Virgin,
grant in thy mercy that we who keep her memory this day
may be shielded by her protection and be found worthy
to attain unto joy eternal. Who livest and reignest with
God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God,
world without end. Amen.
Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our Mother, penetrated with the most lively
confidence in your all-powerful and never failing
intercession, manifested so often through the Scapular, we
your loving and trustful children implore you to obtain
for us the graces and favors we ask during this Novena, if
they be beneficial to our immortal soul, and the souls
which we pray.
You know, O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, our Immaculate Mother
and Queen of Carmel, how often our souls have been the
sanctuaries of your Son Who disdains iniquity. Obtain for
us then a deep hatred of sin and that purity of heart which
will attach us to God alone so that our every thought,
word, and deed, may tend to his greater glory.
Obtain for us also a spirit of prayer and self-denial that we
may recover by penance what we have lost by sin and at
length attain to that blessed abode where you are Queen of
angels and of people. Amen.
The Scapular is a miniature habit - that is, it is the habit or garb of the Friars and Nuns of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel reduced to a form that can be worn in the daily life of the faithful who desire to unite themselves to the "Order of the Virgin" (Our Lord in His colloquy with St. Teresa of Jesus - reformer of Carmel and foundress of the Discalced Carmelites, also known as the Teresian Carmelites), to partake of our Teresian Carmelite spirit and thereby becoming sharers as well of our spiritual treasures.
Now "all our perfection consists in being conformed, united, and consecrated to Jesus Christ" (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary) and Him Curicified (1 Corinthians 2.2): I know... the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death (Philippians 3.10). If we look at the emblem of Teresian Carmel, we see Mount Carmel surmounted by the Cross of Our Lord - being the Order instituted by Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother as the school par excellence of Christian perfection the summit of which is crowned by charity: that love of God manifested by the Crucified. And when one is granted the privilege to enter, much less to just take a peek, into the cell of a Discalced Carmelite Friar or Nun, he will see a big Cross hanging on the wall without the 'corpus' or the body of the Crucified. But why a 'corpus'-less Cross in Teresian Carmel? In the fourth Station of the Cross according to the method of St. Francis of Assisi, the Saint reflects on Our Sorrowful Mother meeting His Beloved: "How earnestly did She desire to die in place of Jesus..." A Teresian Carmelite must own such sentiment of the Immaculate Heart of Our Blessed Mother and thus is he exhorted: "Be ready to take the place of your Beloved !" for the most perfect of all devotion is, without any doubt, that which the most perfectly conforms, unites, and consecrates us to Jesus Christ Crucified. Jesus, our greatest friend, has given Himself to us without reserve, body and soul, virtues, graces, and merits. "He has bought the whole of me by whole of Himself," says St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Is it not, then, a simple matter of justice and of gratitude that we should Him all that we can give Him? He has been the first to be liberal towards us; let us, at least, be the second... "With the liberal He will be liberal."
"Whenever someone begins a new stage of life, it does not happen automatically, but rather by means of a decision and an intentional act. For example, a man decides on a career and signs a contract with his employer. Or he chooses his state in life and seals this decision with a wedding ceremony, priestly ordination, or religious profession..." (Rev. Fr. Karl Stehling, SSPX, "The Immaculata Our Ideal," p. 100). In a similar manner, those who enter also the Teresian Carmelite Family of Our Blessed Mother through the Scapular Confraternity seals their decision but through Total Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and its cause of which the Scapular is its sign.
It is therefore of great importance in the acquiring of perfection (Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect ), which it must be remembered is only acquired by union with Our Lord and Him Crucified, to empty ourselves of everything that is not Him. In order to empty ourselves of ourselves, we must die to ourselves daily (1 Corinthians 15.31) by our conformity to God's will just as the Mother of God had said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to thy word. Here we hand over our whole life to Our Lord by the hand of Our Blessed Mother: all the powers of our soul, that is, our understanding, our will, and our memory, along with all the powers of the body, namely, all the senses and energies, health and sickness of our whole life we commend to her with all its pleasant, unpleasant and indifferent incidents . If we die not to ourselves, and if our holiest devotions do not incline us to this necessary and useful death, we shall bring forth no fruit worth anything, and our devotions will become useless.
Often we come to know Our Blessed Mother's wishes through inner promptings, but we can almost never be sure whether these come from her or from our self-love or even from the devil. Satan in the form of an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11.14) is sometimes able to deceive us with the holiest things, which could perhaps be good for someone else, but which God does not want of us. Even if we were to have a vision and thought that the Mother of God was appearing to us and assigning us the most exalted task, how do we know for sure that it is really She and not a deception or a diabolical snare? "The best test is obedience to one's superiors" (St. Maximilian Kolbe, Militia Immaculatae). "One carries out a command," continues the Saint, "not because it is pleasant, reasonable, wise, or holy in itself, but rather because the command is the will of the superior and accordingly the will of Our Immaculate Mother, and therefore ultimately God's will. Without this attitude one is not an instrument in the hand of Our Blessed Mother, but rather - I declare it openly - an instrument in Satan's hand, however many spiritual books one may read, however many Rosaries one may pray, however many great deeds one accomplishes." The living Teresian Carmel, and the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel attached to it, in practice, consists of this 'holy' obedience (that is, grounded on the truths of the Faith for we walk by faith, 2 Corinthians 5.7).
Opening Prayer
Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and
kindle in them the fire of Thine love. Send forth Thy
Spirit, and they shall be created; and Thou shall renew the
face of the earth.
O God, you instructed the hearts of the faithful by the
light of the Holy Spirit. Grant us by the same Spirit to be
truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Novena Prayer
“Flos Carmeli” by St. Simon Stock
Flos Carmeli Flower of Carmel
Vitis florigera Vine blossom-laden
Splendor Coeli Splendor of Heaven
Virgo puerpera Child-bearing Virgin
Singularis! None equals thee
Mater mitis Mother benign
Sed viri nescia Who no man didst know
Carmelitis On Carmel’s children
Da privilegia Thy favors bestow
Stella Maris! Star of the Sea
(Mention your petitions here.)
Concluding Prayers
Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity.
Show us herein that you are our Mother.
Sweet Mother, I place this cause into you hands.
There are none that can withstand Your power.
O Most Holy Mother of Mount Carmel, when asked by a saint to grant privileges to the family of Carmel, you rather granted an assurance of salvation to the whole world. Behold us your children, kneeling at your feet. We glory, dearest Mother, in wearing your holy habit, that habit which makes us members of your family of Carmel, that habit through which we shall have your powerful protection in life, at death and even after death. Look down with love, O Gate of Heaven, on all those now in their last agony! Look down graciously, O Virgin, Flower of Carmel, on all those in need of help! Look down mercifully, O Mother of our Saviour, on all those who do not know that they are numbered among your children.Look down tenderly, O Queen of All Saints, on the poor souls!
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Our Father..., Hail Mary..., Glory be...
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us.
The Litany of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world...
God the Holy Ghost...
Holy Trinity, One God...
Holy Mary, pray for us sinners.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Queen of heaven...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Vanquisher of Satan...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Dutiful Daughter...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Pure Virgin...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Devoted Spouse...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Tender Mother...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Perfect Model of Virtue...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Sure Anchor of Hope...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Refuge in affliction...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Dispensatrix of God's gifts...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Tower of strength against our foes...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our aid in danger...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Road leading to Jesus...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our light in darkness...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our consolation at the hour of death...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Advocate of the most abandoned sinners...
For those hardened in vice,
with confidence we come to thee O Lady of Mount Carmel.
For those who grieve thy Son...
For those who neglect to pray...
For those who are in their agony...
For those who delay their conversion...
For those suffering in Purgatory...
For those who know thee not...
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Hope of the Despairing
Intercede for us with thy Divine Son.
(Let Us Pray)
O God, who has honored the Order of Carmel with the
special title of thy Blessed Mother Mary, ever Virgin,
grant in thy mercy that we who keep her memory this day
may be shielded by her protection and be found worthy
to attain unto joy eternal. Who livest and reignest with
God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God,
world without end. Amen.
Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our Mother, penetrated with the most lively
confidence in your all-powerful and never failing
intercession, manifested so often through the Scapular, we
your loving and trustful children implore you to obtain
for us the graces and favors we ask during this Novena, if
they be beneficial to our immortal soul, and the souls
which we pray.
You know, O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, our Immaculate Mother
and Queen of Carmel, how often our souls have been the
sanctuaries of your Son Who disdains iniquity. Obtain for
us then a deep hatred of sin and that purity of heart which
will attach us to God alone so that our every thought,
word, and deed, may tend to his greater glory.
Obtain for us also a spirit of prayer and self-denial that we
may recover by penance what we have lost by sin and at
length attain to that blessed abode where you are Queen of
angels and of people. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment