Our Lady of Mount Carmel

This weekend our parish is honoring its patroness, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, with Solemnity Masses. Our family kicked off the celebration with a new Our Lady of Mount Carmel doll and Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes (instructions and recipe below).

Tradition has it that Our Lady appeared to Saint Simon Stock of the Carmelite Order on July 16, 1251. On this day Our Lady gave Saint Simon a brown woolen scapular and said,

“This shall be a privilege for you and all Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit shall not suffer eternal fire" (Sisters of Carmel).

Over time this sacramental was extended to the laity who are willing to adopt the scapular and wear it perpetually.

Here are two questions that I often hear concerning the scapular:

1) Is the scapular a good luck charm? No, the scapular is a sacramental. It is an outward sign of the Blessed Mother's protection and the love of her son."The Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a reminder to its wearers of the saving grace which Christ gained upon the cross for all: All you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves in him (Galatians 3:27). There is no salvation for anyone other than that won by Christ. The Sacraments mediate this saving grace to the faithful. The sacramentals, including the scapular, do not mediate this saving grace but prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it" (Traditional Carmelite).

2) Does the scapular have to be made of brown wool? This is often disagreed upon even among the different Carmelite sources found online. Although it was tradition for the Carmelite habits - including their scapulars - to made of wool, it is not prevalent these days due to the cost and impracticality of wool. "The most authentic form for the scapular is simply two pieces of undecorated brown cloth joined by ribbons for over the shoulders. The scapular of the Carmelite Religious is either totally devoid of decoration or has only a very small cross embroidered in white or red" (Traditional Carmelite). It has become common place for the laity's scapulars to be adorned with embroidery or to be made of another material such as metal. Although this is acceptable, it is not reminiscent of the original brown scapular given to Saint Simon Stock.

If you are interested in learning more about the Carmelite Brown Scapular and basic spirituality, I recommend reading the book The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Catechesis and Ritual or you can read a portion of the text here at the Traditional Carmelite website.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcake Recipe: I am a semi-homemade kind of lady especially when time is limited - which is often. For this particular recipe I used the Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix and the homemade - from scratch - Salted Caramel Chocolate Frosting recipe from Baker by Nature. For the cupcakes I insert a little caramel into the center of each cupcake using the 230 Wilton cake decorating tip. I make the frosting according to Ashley's instructions, and frost each cupcake using the 2D Wilton cake decorating tip. Then I drizzle the tops with caramel and Himalayan pink salt flakes (which makes me think of the Blessed Mother's tears). The Wilton gold crown sprinkles are from Michael's.

Mary's new Our Lady of Mount Carmel Doll was made by the very talented Sanctus Stitches.

Happy Feast Day Celebrations! Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.