Due to the persecutions of the Mohammedans against the Catholics in the Holy Land, the Order of Carmel went through enormous difficulties, especially after Saladin took Jerusalem in 1187.

Newsdesk (10/01/2024 18:35, Gaudium Press) Our Lady, Patroness of the Order of Carmel, raised up a man of the highest nobility in England who reinvigorated this institution, which was in serious danger of dying: St. Simon Stock.

He was born in 1164 in a castle in the county of Kent – south-east of London – ruled by his father. Fervent Catholics, his parents gave him an excellent religious education. As a child, he began to pray the Little Office to the Blessed Virgin and, by the age of six, he understood Latin.

He lived for twenty years in the trunk of a tree...

At the age of twelve, after reading a book on the Immaculate Conception, he took a vow of virginity and, in addition to his studies, intensified his prayers and penances, fleeing from all occasions that could tarnish his unblemished purity.

His older brother led a worldly life, despite his father’s severe reproaches. Out of envy for Simon, who was very well-liked, he began to lay snares for him to lose his chastity; then he began to slander and physically assault him.

In order to preserve his soul, inspired by the Blessed Virgin Mary, he decided to live in a forest near Oxford – north-west of London – where he found a gigantic tree with a hollow in the trunk, in which he placed a crucifix and an image of Our Lady and lived there. He fed on herbs, bitter roots and wild fruit.

After twenty years, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and revealed that he should join the Order of Carmel when it came to England from the Holy Land; he would face many contradictions, but She would comfort him in a special way.

He was ordained a priest and began to wait for the Carmelites to arrive, who did so only fifteen years later.

… and six years on Mount Carmel

In 1212, some friars from Mount Carmel in Israel settled in a wood near Aylesford, in the county of Kent. St. Simon went there and received the Carmelite habit. Out of obedience, he went to study at Oxford and obtained a Doctorate in Theology.

When a Carmelite hermitage was founded in Norwich – East England – he moved there. In 1215, St. Brocardo, Superior of the Carmelite Order, appointed him Vicar General for the whole of Europe, where the number of convents had multiplied.

Some time later, he travelled to Mount Carmel to take part in the General Chapter, which was meeting to deal with the extremely serious situation of the Order, which was being persecuted by the Mohammedans who were multiplying their attacks and had killed many Carmelite friars. It was decided that all the Carmelites in the Holy Land would emigrate to Europe.

While the monks were still at the Monastery of Mount Carmel, the Muslims raided the region, claiming the lives of a large number of Catholics. Together with some friars, St. Simon fled to the nearby port of St. Joan of Arc, which was controlled by the Catholics.

After the Mohammedans withdrew from those territories, the saint stayed for six years on Mount Carmel, leading a life of prayer and penance in the place where the Prophet Elijah, who lived in the 9th century BC, had observed the little cloud prefiguring Our Lady.

When the English Crusaders decided to return to England by ship, the Superior of the Carmelites, Blessed Alain, as well as St. Simon and other friars accompanied them and made their way to Aylesford.

Terrible persecutions against the Order of Carmel

In 1245, Blessed Alain resigned and St. Simon Stock, who was 80 years old, was unanimously elected Superior. Under his leadership, the number of Carmelites increased notably, especially in France where they obtained the support of King St Louis IX.

As Our Lady had said when She appeared to him in the woods near Oxford, the Carmelite Order underwent terrible persecutions aimed at its extinction. Immersed in great suffering of soul, but full of trust in the Mother of God, he composed the beautiful hymn Flos Carmeli – Flower of Carmel – in Her honour.

Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira comments:

“The Order of Carmel was transformed into wreckage floating on a rough sea, and was no longer a ship, with a cohesive and uniform juridical structure, capable of preserving a spirit, promoting it and passing it on to posterity.

“And it was in this situation that, praying to Our Lady with great devotion, he asked Her not to let the Order of Carmel die. At the height of this affliction in which the saint found himself, the Mother of God appeared to him and gave him the Carmelite Scapular.“

Scapular, sign of salvation

While he was in the Order’s convent in Aylesford, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him on July 16th, 1251, dressed in the habit of the Carmelites, crowned with shining stars and with the Child Jesus in Her arms. In Her virginal hands, She held a scapular and gave it to the Saint, speaking a few words.

That same day, St. Simon wrote and gave to his secretary and confessor a letter addressed to all his brothers in the habit, in which he mentioned the message that the Virgin Mary had given him:

“Receive, My beloved son, this scapular of your Order, as a distinctive sign and the mark of the favour which I have obtained for you and for all the sons of Carmel; it is a sign of salvation, a safeguard in danger and an assurance of peace and special protection until the end of the ages (…) Whoever dies clothed with this habit will be preserved from everlasting fire.”

The scapulars began to be distributed throughout Christendom and the Order of Carmel developed prodigiously. By the end of the 13th century, there were more than 7,000 monasteries and hermitages, with around 180,000 religious.

Despite his advanced age – over 90 – St. Simon Stock began to visit Carmelite monasteries in Scotland, Ireland and Belgium. When he arrived at the convent in Bordeaux – south-west France – he gave his holy soul to God, saying “Ave Maria“.

Various popes encouraged the use of the scapular. John XXII – who ruled the Church from 1316 to 1334 – granted the Sabbatine Privilege: whoever wears it piously, striving to fulfil the Commandments, will be assisted by Our Lady especially at the hour of death. If you go to Purgatory, on the Saturday after your death, She will take you out of that place of suffering and lead you to Heaven.

By Paulo Francisco Martos

Noções de História da Igreja

Compiled by Roberta MacEwan