Roman Catholics, led by Marian devotees celebrate Friday, July 16, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, marking the 769th anniversary of the popular devotion to Our Lady’s brown scapular.
At the Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Quezon City, Bishop Honesto F. Ongtioco was expected to celebrate a high mass at 7:30 a.m. A Holy Mass will also be held at 6 p.m. Around 200 persons or 50 percent of its capacity will be allowed inside the church.
At the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in New Manila, Quezon City, Bishop Ongtioco will celebrate a high mass at 6:15 p.m. which will be streamed live. Around 200 persons will be allowed inside the church. A motorcade procession will be held at 7:30 a.m. and at 4:45 p.m.
The image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in New Manila, Q.C. was canonically crowned on August 15, 2020 coinciding with the Feast of the Assumption.
In 2018, the observance of the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel coincided with the 400th anniversary of the arrival of its revered image from Mexico in 1618 as a gift from the Discalced Carmelites Nuns of Acapulco.
Church leaders said, “The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel serves to remind the faithful of the Blessed Mother’s promise of special protection and heavenly graces to all those who wear the brown scapular, a sign of salvation and a safeguard in danger. The Holy Mother promised that whoever dies wearing the brown scapular will not suffer everlasting fire.”
The Blessed Mother appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Lourdes, France in1858 and on her last apparition in Fatima, Portugal on Oct. 13, 1917.
Mount Carmel is a holy place in northern Israel that was mentioned about 30 times in the Old Testament. It was the first place dedicated to the Virgin Mary as early as the 12th century.