Our Lady of Mount Carmel..

..is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid 13th centuries. They built a chapel in the midst of their hermitages which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, whom they conceived of in chivalric terms as the "Lady of the place." Though there is no documentary evidence to support it, Carmelite tradition suggests that a community of Jewish hermits had lived at the site from the time of Elijah until the Carmelites were founded there.

Mount Carmel is a coastal mountain range in Israel stretching from the Mediteranean sea to the SouthEast. Carmel (meaning God's vineyard or garden), is seen as a place of fruitfulness, refreshment and of solitary communion and intimacy with God.

In the First Book of Kings, Chapter 18 ff, Elijah challenges 450 prophets of the god Baal to a contest at the altar on Mount Carmel. Readers of the Bible of course know that Elijah and the True God of Israel won. Despite hours of praying, the priests of Baal were not rewarded with fire while after only a single earnest prayer from Elijah, Yahweh answered with fire.

The Book of Kings goes on to say that, after the fire consumed the sacrifice of Elijah, the rains came heralded by a little cloud rising out of the sea beneath Mount Carmel. The divine punishment of three and a half years of drought ended.

Fathers and Doctors of the church have interpreted the small cloud rising from the sea at the foot of Mount Carmel as a "symbol of the Immaculate rising pure out of the sea of human kind to bring forth the saviour of the world, crushing the head of the serpent beneath the heel and bringing the saving rain of grace"

The Carmelites see in the Blessed Virgin Mary a perfect model of the interior life of prayer and contemplation to which Carmelites aspire, a model of virtue, as well as the person who was closest in life to Jesus. She is seen as the one who points Christians to Christ, saying what she says to the servants at the wedding at Cana,"Do whatever he [Jesus] tells you." Carmelites look to Mary as spiritually their mother and sister.

By 1240 the Carmelites had moved across Europe and were in England, at Aylesford in Kent. By 1245 they were so numerous that they were able to hold their first general chapter at Aylesford, where St Simon Stock then eighty years of age, was chosen as Superior General. Little is known about the life of this Englishman with any historical certainty. The Blessed Virgin Mary is traditionally said to have appeared to him and given him the Carmelite habit, the brown scapular with a promise that those who die wearing it will be saved. Thus, popular devotion to Saint Simon Stock is usually associated with devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

In the 16th century, St. Teresa of Jesus began her work of reforming the Carmelite Order, along with St John of the Cross. She went back to the eremitical tradition of the Order looking to the prophet Elijah and Our Lady of Mount Carmel as models for the prophetic and contemplative charism of the Order.

Our Lady has always been integral to the life of the Carmelite Order. Some modern, 20th century Carmelites , include St. Therese of Lisieux, one of only three woman Doctors of the Church, so named because of her famous teaching on the "way of confidence and love" set forth in her best-selling memoir, "Story of a Soul"; Titus Brandsma a Dutch scholar and writer who was killed in Dachau Concentration Camp because of his stance against Nazism; and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (née Edith Stein), a Jewish convert to Catholicism who was also imprisoned and died at Auschwitz. The writings and teachings of Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, a Carmelite friar of the 17th century, continue as a spiritual classic under the title of the Practice of the Presence of God. Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity was a contemporary of St Therese of Lisieux in the Dijon Carmel, and the young Chilean St Teresa of the Andes was made Patronness of youth in that country less than ten years ago. We find many references to Our Lady of Mount Carmel as Mother and Queen in the writings of all these great Carmelite figures.

At Lourdes in 1858, the Virgin chose to make Her last apparition on July 16th, feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the day the Church commemorates Her apparition to Saint Simon Stock. And at Fatima on October 13, 1917, it is as Our Lady of Mount Carmel that Mary appeared when She said farewell to the three children. Sister Lúcia of Jesus, one of the Visionaries of Fatima, later became a Carmelite nun.– (March 22, 1907 – February 13, 2005)

Throughout the ages, the Queen of Carmel has always kept a faithful watch over all her children on earth. We celebrate her Feast day on 16th July.

FLOS CARMELI Prayer to Our Lady of Mount Carmel attributed to Saint Simon Stock

O Beautiful Flower of Carmel, most fruitful vine, splendour of heaven, holy and singular, who brought forth the Son of God, still ever remaining a pure virgin, assist us in our necessity! O Star of the Sea, help and protect us! Show us that you are our Mother! Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us! Amen

An extract from the Worksop Abbey Parish Magazine 1884 –

‘The Annual Choir Excursion – July 1884

It is with much pleasure that we publish in the Magazine the annual Choir Excursion. The pleasure arises from the fact that not only did we go as far as London, but stayed a night there and returned in safety.

The trip to London was run on Monday, 7 th July, but we were dismayed to find that it was a two-day trip. The difficulty was overcome by a bold resolution that we should go by that trip and stay the night. Everybody was enraptured except those who would have charge of the boys – viz: the Clergy and Organist. However, the Vicar kindly consented and away we went at 2.15 on Monday morning, 7 th July. One boy we are sorry to say was left behind through illness. Some would have preferred to take a little rest on the way, but the majority were too wide awake and noisy! We arrived safely at King's Cross a little after 7.00 a.m.

We entered the first Coffee Tavern we could find and had breakfast. The first meal was not a success as both coffee and buns were bad. This was not of much consequence to the juniors as they had been eating breakfast all the way from Retford. After our early meal we took the underground railway to Aldersgate Street Station and to walk down Fleet Street into the Strand to see the Griffin and the Law Courts.

At 9.30 a.m. we went to St Paul's and remained for Matins which were sung, at 10.00 a.m. We are glad to say it was the boys' own wish to be spent at this Service. There we met the Vicar at 11.00 o'clock and started to walk through the City for London Bridge Steam Boat Pier. We will not mention the difficulty of keeping 18 lads together in the London crowds, we will merely remark that difficulties occurred many times. The steam boat took us safely to Westminster Bridge and we walked to the Great Hall and through the corridors of Westminster Palace whence we passed to the Abbey.

There we were glad to find that Henry VII's Chapel is now thrown open to the public.

We had luncheon in the coffee room of the Westminster Palace Hotel, ordering such things as 18 meats and 20 breads, somewhat taxed our mental arithmetic. At 5.30 p.m. we came to the top of Regent Street and there procured an omnibus for the Zoological Gardens.

On the way back to the Langham, the only little mistake occurred – we lost a boy for more than an hour. When he found he was separated from us he acted very sensibly and was quickly restored to his cheerful companions.

They slept in a large dormitory, each in his own little bed, which was screened off from his neighbour's. We determined that the next day should be spent at the Crystal Palace and with this object we walked to Victoria Station and took the train. We saw most of the sights and heard the choruses from 5,000 voices accompanied by the Great Organ. On our return the crush was very great.

A ride on the top of an Omnibus to King's Cross gave us an opportunity of seeing London lit up with gas and in places with the electric light.

We started for home at midnight and made the best use of the opportunity of getting a little sleep. We arrived at Worksop at 5.15 on Wednesday morning too tired to appreciate two days trip to London.

Below we add a balance sheet:

RECEIPTS

June 22 nd Offertory in the Parish Church £20.10.10.l/2

Sent subsequently £ 2.11. 6

July 8 th Deficiency made up by the

Kindness of friends £ 2. 0. 0. .

Total £25. 2. 4.1/2

EXPENDITURE

July 5 th Cheque to Mr Clifton for all

The railway tickets and money

For Adult members of the choir £16. 2. 9

July 7 th Expenses of boys for two days

In London £ 8.19. 7.l/2

Total £25. 2. 4.l/2

N.B. The balance of a Guinea was given towards a testimonial to the late Organist, Mr Robert Pogson.'

I would like to thank Mrs Eileen Bennett for the information she passes on to me.

Frank Underwood