SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

From the Ten Books on the Way of Life and Great Deeds of the Carmelites (including the Book of the First Monks) A medieval history of the Carmelites written c. 1385 by Felip Ribot, O. Carm. Edited and translated by Richard Copsey, O. Carm.

The members of this Order were mindful, therefore, that God had especially revealed to their predecessors through the above vision that a certain baby girl would be born, who from her mother's womb would be free from all stain of sin, who like them would embrace voluntary virginity, and from her, though a virgin, the God-man would be born. Pondering all these things after they had been fulfilled, and the human race--through this virgin--had received from the Son of God the rain which they desired (that is the gift of grace), they undertook to serve this virgin with diligent devotion, long ago revealed to and awaited by their predecessors, and later beheld by themselves. and they strove to choose this virgin as their particular patroness because they knew that she alone was uniquely like them in being the first to embrace voluntary virginity.

For, as vowing voluntary virginity to God was first inaugurated by the early members of this Order and thus introduced among men, so the same virginity for God was afterwards first introduced and inaugurated among women by the Mother of God, as we have noted above.

Thus, as the Carmelites were the first among men to undertake voluntary virginity, so was the blessed Mary the first among women to vow virginity. This unique conformity from the beginning between the Mother of God and the Carmelites over the voluntary virginity, prophesied long ago and afterwards fulfilled, was the reason why the Carmelites, already in the time of the apostles, called the Virgin Mary their sister, and following this unique conformity, they called themselves the brothers of the blessed Virgin Mary.


Prayer to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel:

O beautiful Flower of Carmel, most fruitful vine, splendor of heaven, holy and singular, who brought forth the Son of  God, still every 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!








Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds