Day 8 of the Novena to Our Lady of Mt Carmel
Plus more to check out below...
Day 8 of our Novena to Our Lady of Mt Carmel which will conclude on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Mt Carmel on July 16th. We are offering up our intentions for the protection and growth of the Traditional Roman Rite all over the world.
O most beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendour of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity.
(Mention your intentions here)
O Star of the Sea, help me and show me in this that thou art my Mother. O holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth, I humbly beseech thee, from the bottom of my heart, to help me in this necessity; there are none that can withstand thy power. O show me in this that thou art my Mother!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Sweet Mother, I place this cause in thy hands.
Sweet Mother, I place this cause in thy hands.
Sweet Mother, I place this cause in thy hands.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be three times in Thanksgiving…
The statue above is from Our Lady of Mt Carmel Shrine in East Harlem, NY. There are only three images of the Blessed Virgin that have been coronated by Pontifical Authority: the above Our of Lady of Mount Carmel on 115th Street in New York, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.
Around 1880, East Harlem was the center of immigration from southern Italy. These poor people left family, language and culture behind them. But they did carry their religious fervor with them. They longed for some comfort from home. Gradually a group of men, remembering the festivals formerly celebrated in the southern Italian Kingdom of Two Sicilies, formed themselves into the Mount Carmel Society, to hold a religious “Festa” or Feast to Our Lady. This was hoped to become similar to the ones they had known. In a very humble setting, the men and their families venerated a painting of Our Lady, and prayed a Rosary in Her honor. They had no priests available for Mass, and thusly they celebrated the Lady. Gradually word of the devotion began to attract pilgrims. The Society felt enabled to replace the painting with a Statue of Our Lady, the one enshrined in our church today. Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York, realized the need for a church for this community and invited the Italian, German and English speaking Pallottine Fathers to construct such. The Pallottines sent the very able Father Kirner, who raised the money, bought the land and supervised the construction. The Statue was eventually purchased from the Society for an exorbitant-for the times- $100.00! The area selected for construction was surrounded by the East Harlem “Little Italy” then the largest in the US, with some earlier Germans who had moved north from Yorkville. One must also remember, Italians were not always welcome in other Catholic churches. In fact, they often had to worship in the basements of established Catholic churches, as they were “too rough”, or “unclean”, or unable to “understand” the preaching at main Masses. Many times, these basements did not provide chairs or kneelers for the congregants. Mt Carmel, as a parish, was born to attend to their spiritual needs. Our Lady of Mount Carmel, was declared the original Italian National Shrine Parish for the United States and the Americas. It long has provided spiritual comfort, and a sense of home for the Italian Community. The church was built at night during 1884 by Italian men, who had finished a hard day’s work. The women, so devoted to the Blessed Mother, prepared food, carried bricks and even helped push the wheel barrows. Each had a private reason, some asked for a favor, some worked in Thanksgiving: All saw their work as prayer. Unfortunately, dear Father Kirner, so devoted to our Shrine lost his life, during the construction of the first parish school, when an unfinished wall collapsed upon him. It is important to remember that Mt. Carmel became the center of Italians in New York City. Gradually, celebrations of the many towns of Southern Italy, the Madonna Incoronata, Madonna Addolorata, Saints Cosmo and Damiano, San Felice, St. Joseph, St. Anthony, Santa Elena di Laurino, etc. were added to the yearly celebrations held at the Shrine. In the current years, devotions of other ethnics, such as the Virgin of the Cloud from Ecuador, Our Lady of Providence from Puerto Rico, Our Lady of Guadalupe from Mexico, and Santa Nino and the Black Nazarene from the Philippines have become at home here. Today, increasing numbers of Haitians, Filipinos, Asians and Latinos have joined in the yearly celebrations in honor of Our Lady. The Shrine remain a house of devotion and prayer.
1880-1881 Beginnings of Festa in New York by Private Mount Carmel Society
1883 Statue ordered from Italy to replace paper painted image
1884 Church built by Pallottine Fathers (Father Kirner) during the night by local residents, ownership of statue transferred to church. Statue enshrined in lower church.
1902-1903 Due to immense devotion, and favors granted at Shrine, Canons of St. Peter’s Basilica, at behest of Leo XIII, conduct investigation and declare Image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, be formally incoronated (crowned with a golden crown). Leo orders it done, but dies before finalization. Pope St. Pius X reviews decree and publishes it under his name. To truly show his support for the coronation, he sends two emeralds from the Vatican to be fitted into the crown.
1904 Image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is crowned on July 10th, making it the third formal incoronation outside of Europe. Shrine is ranked in the incoronation decree as a Sanctuary to Our Lady
1906 Pius X grants plenary indulgence in perpetuity from July 6th -23rd.
1923-24 Pius XI approves transfer of the Sanctuary to upper church, affirming the status of Sanctuary (major Marian Shrine)
1953 Pope Pius XII declares high altar of the Sanctuary a privileged major Marian altar.
2004 Special 100th anniversary public reenactment of the coronation 2015 Complete artistic and physical restoration of the Crowned Madonna, including Statue, dress and hair.1
This year marks the 140th anniversary celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel in East Harlem, NY!
The month of July is very special to Carmelite religious and lay alike with the upcoming Feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel and Feast of St Elias! Over the next few days we will share reflections from the Sisters of Carmel on this incredibly important month for their community and our Faith.
We continue with their reflections on the life of St. Elias.
Can we not recognize in these compelling reflections today’s society and also ourselves? St. Pius X said of his own day, just 100 years ago, “All the strength of Satan’s rein is due to the easy going weakness of Catholics.” Could we not say the same today? Could we not say that the reason Satan has made such inroads is because he is often only met with a half-hearted resistance? How much we need the spirit of St. Elias! His unswerving fidelity, his clear, unclouded faith and untainted orthodoxy, both bold and uncompromising, in upholding the rights of God – oh, that they could always be ours! Today’s society, in every possible way, teaches that compromise is a virtue – the only virtue. To condemn error is the only sin. The “live and let live” attitude rules to such a degree that we must not only tolerate, but we must give sanction to the errors around us, if not explicitly by word and deed, then at least by our silence. Everyone must have the absolute right to do, or be, or demand whatever he wants… except God, or those who speak on God’s behalf.
St. Elias was given an inconceivable mission, to stand as God’s faithful and true servant in a society that was crumbling into paganism and sin; and to call the fallen Israelites back to the true worship of God. Certainly, the same can be said of the true Christian’s mission in today’s world. There are many Achabs to be confronted – in personal life, in government, even within the ranks of the Church. There are many false priests to be challenged, who would have us follow a path away from the true God and towards the false gods of today. The errors are the same. The enemies are the same. The challenge is the same. And the prayerful, faithful fight and victory must be the same.
We must pray in the spirit of Elias, who stood in God’s presence with fear and reverence, always ready to combat His adversaries, learning trust through his failures, and finally hearing God’s voice in “the gentle air” and the “still, soft voice” – the affirmation that nothing is out of God’s holy will and power to accomplish for good. (3 Kings 14:10) When Elias returns in the last days (Mal. 4:5-6), may it not be his sorry duty to rebuke Christians who live then – whether they be Carmelites or not – with the words “How long halt ye between two sides?” But rather may we be able to say with him the words which have become enthroned as the motto of all Carmelites: “With zeal I have been zealous, for the Lord God of hosts.”
Through Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
Your Carmelite Sisters2
“O great Saint Elias, who was raised up by God to restore the worship of the one true God among His people, look down upon poor suffering humanity; convert those estranged from God; restore the one true Church of Christ among all nations, that by thy prayer the just chastisement due to our sins and ingratitude may be averted, and that peace and God’s justice may reign everywhere.”
- Excerpt from Prayer to St. Elias
https://www.olmtc.org/about-us
https://newsletter.sistersofcarmel.com/2024/07/09/prophet-of-carmel/