The Journey to Mount Carmel - Father Jeffrey Kirby STL

The Journey to Mount Carmel is a spiritual path. The Spiritual way can be long and arduous and one must face difficulties along the way. Carmel, or more properly Mount Carmel, has a special place in Christian contemplative Spirituality. The profit Elijah first went to this mountain to live in its caves, to get away from the exterior noise of the the outside world and begin to listen for God's voice from within an inner and private sanctum. 

Oh Elijiah's journey to Mount Carmel,

500 years before Christ offered the solitude of a hermitic life in service to God and from that silence God gifted his prophecy through a select few who went to the mountain to listen to Him.  

The term Carmelite takes its name from mount Carmel and at a moment when the church was again in need of contemplative force, Our Lady of Mount Carmel appeared to Saint Simon stock and gave him the instructions on the Brown Scapular. 

The Saints who've worn the Brown scapular are too many to name here. The Brown Scapular is worn by clergy and laity alike. Once invested in and having taken the vows of this sacred promise, one wears the scapular daily for life as a sign of love and devotion to Jesus and the His Mother. The promises of wearing the scapular are not primary the reason for wearing it, through many since can attest to the how accepting the scapular is life altering.

Wearing the brown scapular is part of the journey to mount carmel.

The ceremony is brief and beautiful, personal and permanent. It changes you. 

To help prepare for the investiture ceremony Fr. Jeffrey Kirby has written a wonderful volume with complete instructions and he joins us to talk about the process.  

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