Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Today I have a prayer to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel some information on the brown scapular.

This prayer is called 

Flos Carmeli

It is the prayer of St. Simon Stock. On July 16th 1251 Mary appeared to him holding the baby Jesus and gave him the brown scapular and the promise that "whosoever dies wearing this shall be preserved from eternal flames." 

O Most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendor of Heaven,

Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin,

assist me in this my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me 

and show me herein you are my Mother.

O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly

beseech you from the bottom of my heart, to help me

in this necessity; there are none that can withstand your power.

O, Show me herein you are my Mother, O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us

who have recourse to thee.

(Say 3 times)

Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands.

(Say 3 times)

Information about the brown Scapular

What is the Scapular?

It is a two small pieces of brown wool connected by ribbons and worn under one's clothes with one piece of wool in the front and the other in the back. It is like a small replica of a religious habit. It is also one of the chief Marian Sacramentals.

A Sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart, to remit venial sin.

It is not the sacramental that gives grace, but the devotion, love of God, or sorrow for sin that it inspires. So the more devotion we have, the more grace we receive.

It is called a Scapular because it comes from the latin word "scapulae" meaning "shoulders" and that is where it is worn.

Why wear the Scapular? We wear the Scapular to indicate that we place ourselves under the special protection of the Blessed Virgin. It is like wearing a uniform to show that you desire to serve the Blessed Virgin in some special manner.

You do not have to be Catholic to wear a Scapular. Our Lady, as a good Mother will bring conversions to anyone who honors Her by wearing Her Scapular.

The first Scapular one wears should be blessed and imposed by a priest using the formula contained in the Roman ritual for reception into the Confraternity of the Scapular.

The words used by the priest when enrolling a person in the Confraternity of the Scapular are as follows: "Receive this blessed Scapular and beseech the Blessed Virgin that through Her merits, you may  wear it without stain. May it defend you against all adversity and accompany you to eternal life. Amen. AFTER THE INVESTITURE THE PRIEST CONTINUES WITH THE PRAYERS:
I, by the power vested in me, admit you to participate in all the spiritual benefits obtained through the mercy of Jesus Christ by the Religious Order of Mount Carmel.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
May God Almighty, the Creator of Heaven and earth, bless you, He who has deigned to join you to the confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Of Mount Carmel; we beseech Her to crush the head of the ancient serpent so that you my enter into possession of your eternal heritage, through Christ our Lord."

There is no sin if one stops wearing the Scapular after having received it, but the benefits promised would be lost. If one wanted to wear it again after not doing so for a period of time, no new ceremony is necessary.

 

After you receive the initial Scapular from a priest, you do not need to have new ones blessed because the blessing received is attached to the wearer of the Scapular for life. 

When a Scapular is worn out or broken, it should not be thrown in the trash, but buried or burned because it is a sacred object.

The Promise of Our Lady

Our Lady Herself has said, "Take this Scapular. Whosoever dies wearing it shall not suffer eternal fire. It shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace." Holy Virgin of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of the Scapular, pray for us!

  

Now, since I've been sick and getting behind again, here is one more prayer for our mothers this weekend.

  Prayer to Mary for Mothers

Mary, on this day when we honor all mothers, we turn to you. We thank the Lord whom you serve for the great gift of motherhood. Never has it been known that anyone who sought your intercession was left unaided by grace. Dear Mother, thank you for your “Yes” to the invitation of the angel which brought heaven to earth and changed human history. You opened yourself to God’s word and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Dear mother, intercede for all of our mothers. Ask your Divine Son to give them the grace of surrendered love so that they could join with you in giving their own “Fiat.” May they find daily strength to say yes to the call to the sacrificial love- the very heart of the vocation of motherhood. May their love and witness be a source of great inspiration for all of us called to follow your Son.

On this Mothers day, Mother of the Word Incarnate, pray for us who have recourse to you…

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

My Prayer

Dear Mother, Mary,

Thank you for your prayers!

Thank you for always thinking of me 

and bringing my prayers 

before your son, Jesus.

Please teach me to be a

good wife and mother

and to always trust in God.

Hide me always in the folds

of your mantle.

Amen.

Our Lady of This House and Mary, Mother of Jesus

Getting a little behind again so here is a prayer for today and yesterday. :)

Here is one I found in my moms kitchen...

 Our Lady Of This House

O sweet and gentle Lady, Immaculate Mother of God, 

we choose thee this day as the Mistress and Lady of this house.

Guard it, dear Mother from pestilence, fire, lightning and tempest, 

from schisms and heresies, and from the malice of enemies.

Protect its inmates, sweet Mother, watch over their going out

and their coming in and preserve them from sudden death. 

Keep from us all sin and harm and pray to God for us that we may 

live in His service and depart this life in His grace. 

Amen.

And here is a nice little one that reminds me of Blessed Mother Teresa. . .

Mary, Mother of Jesus

Mary, Mother of Jesus,
give me your heart
so beautiful, so pure,
so immaculate,
that I may be able to receive
Jesus in the Bread of Life,
love Him as you loved Him,
and serve Him as you served Him
in the distressing disguise
of the poorest of the poor.
Amen.

Consecration To Our Blessed Mother and Prayer to Her Pure Heart

Here are two prayers to Mary since I wasn't able to get to posting a prayer for yesterday. . .

A patch from my old shop.

Consecration to Our Blessed Mother

My Queen, My Mother, 

I give myself entirely to thee,

and to show my devotion to thee,

I consecrate to you this day

my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart,

my whole body without reserve.

Wherefore good Mother, as I am thine own,

keep me and guard me

as your property 

and possession.

A painting from my new shop.

PRAYER TO THE MOST PURE HEART OF MARY

O Heart most pure of the blessed Virgin Mary,

obtain for me from Jesus a pure and humble heart.

Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation.

Blessed Virgin, who didst keep in thy heart the 

precious treasure of the words of Jesus thy Son and,

pondering over the sublime mysteries therein contained,

couldst only live for God, how I am confounded by the 

coldness of my heart! Ah, dear Mother, obtain for me the

grace of meditating always on the holy law of God and of

seeking to follow thine example in the fervent practice

of all the Christian virtues.

Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation.

Say Our Father once and Hail Mary seven times.

Sub Tuum Praesidium Prayer

Sub Tuum Praesidium Prayer

We Turn to you for protection,

holy Mother of God.

Listen to our prayers and help us in our needs.

Save us from every danger,

Glorious and blessed Virgin.

This is the oldest known prayer to the Virgin Mary. It was found in a Greek papyrus and dated to about 300. It is called the Sub Tuum Praesidium, which is translated, "We Turn To You For Protection" or "We fly to thy patronage" or something close to that. I found the translation of the prayer above, in a Marian book my mother gave me, but found a few slightly different translations online. Here it is in Latin:

Sub tuum praesidium confugimus,
sancta Dei Genitrix:
nostras deprecationes
ne despicias in necessitatibus:
sed a periculis cunctis
libera nos semper,
Virgo gloriosa et benedicta.

Using my Sherlock Holms skills, I noticed that beginning of the Latin translation is where the name for the English prayer comes from. :)

Ave Maria

Hail Mary, full of grace, 

the Lord is with thee;

blessed art thou among women.  

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

For my second prayer, I have chosen the Hail Mary. It is one of my favorite prayers, right up there with the Our Father and Glory Be. :) I find myself saying this prayer more and more these days and it always seems to help me in one way or another. It is a beautiful prayer and comes, for the most part, right from the bible. The part at the end that says, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death." is the part that is not in the bible. It is one of the main prayers of the Rosary and is very powerful. I have heard several different times that if you want to deepen your relationship with God and start praying daily, you should start simply by saying one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory be. Doing this has helped me with my daily prayers a lot. I would always try to start by doing something like a daily rosary or other devotion and since it was not something I already had a habit of doing, it was far too easy for me to just forget about it or not do it. But once I started trying to say just these three little prayers everyday, it seemed to become easier to build up to doing other prayers and devotions. Something my husband says is, "It's a process." which is kind of like saying, you have to walk the road to get where you want to be. Once I get it in my head to do something I want to get it done as soon as possible, but there are always things that need to be done to prepare before I can get the results I want. I am still learning that God works in the best time. He knows best what I need and when I am ready to receive it.
I am still working on being consistent with my daily prayers and being open to where God is leading me. I am sorry to say I get in the way too often. So, Mary our Mother, Pray for me!

Here is the Hail Mary in a couple different languages. (I like how beautiful it sounds in other languages too. :)

Latin 

Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum,
benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui Iesus.
Sancta Maria mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen

French

Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâce.
Le Seigneur est avec vous.
Vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes,
et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni.
Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu,
Priez pour nous, pauvres pécheurs,maintenant et à l'heure de notre mort.
Amen

Spanish

Dios te salve, María, llena eres de gracia,
el Señor es contigo.
Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres,
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros, pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
Amen

Italian

Ave Maria, piena di grazia,
il Signore è con te.
Tu sei benedetta fra le donne
e benedetto è il frutto del tuo seno, Gesú.
Santa Maria, Madre di Dio,
prega per noi peccatori,
adesso e nell'ora della nostra morte.
Amen

Flowers For Mary

O Mary, we crown thee with Blessings today,

Queen of the angels and Queen of May!

Happy May day everyone!! The month of Mary is upon us and I am happy to be starting some daily devotions to her. Here is the first prayer to our Blessed Mother for the month:

                                                Hail, holy Lady,

                                                Most Holy Queen,

                                                          Mary, Mother of God,

                                                          Ever Virgin;

                                                   Chosen by the most holy Father in heaven,

                                                         Consecrated by him, 

                                                        With his most holy beloved Son

                                                             And the Holy Spirit, the comforter.

                                            On you descended and in you still remains

                                                         All the fullness of grace

                                                         And every good.

                                                   Hail, his Palace.

                                                   Hail, his Tabernacle.

                                                   Hail, his Robe.

                                                   Hail, his Handmaid.

                                                   Hail, his Mother.

                                                   And hail, all holy virtues,

                                                           Who, by the Grace

                                                           And inspiration of the Holy Spirit,

                                                           Are poured into the hearts of the faithful

                                                    So that, faithless no longer,

                                                    They may be made faithful servants of God

                                                         through you.

                                                                                                 Saint Francis of Assisi

Congratulations to, Dara, the winner of my giveaway for the patch and prayer card of Jesus and His Sacred heart!!