Madonna And Child With A Scapular, France 18th century

Madonna and Child with a Scapular or Our Lady of Mount Carmel. White marble. France, 18th century (traces of polychromy, probably later) very good condition Height: 78cm Related works Virgin and Child with scapular Lignières; Parish Church Limestone: painted, polychrome 17th century Virgin and Child with a scapular Épineuil; Notre-Dame church, currently Saint-Etienne Pierre polychrome 18th century Delivery of the scapular to Saint Simon Stock, baroque painting, late 17th century - early 18th century NOTRE-DAME du MONT-CARMEL and the Saint Scapular. The Carmelite Order gives itself an origin as ancient as it is glorious; it is believed, not without serious reasons, that this Order is only the continuation of the school of prophets established on Mount Carmel by the prophet Elijah. The disciples of this school were at the forefront of the converts to nascent Christianity, and Carmel became the cradle of monastic life since Jesus Christ. After the dispersion of the Apostles in the year 38, they built a chapel in honor of Mary and dedicated themselves especially to celebrating Her praises. Later, they suffered greatly from the Saracens and the Muslims, when France, together with the whole of Europe, undertook those magnificent, but disastrous Crusades which aimed to wrest the Holy Places from the infidels. It was on the occasion of these trials undergone by the Order of Carmel that the Carmelites came to France with King Saint Louis. They established several houses there and even went to England, where they had the good fortune to see Saint Simon Stock embrace their Institute. This great Saint became, in 1245, Superior General of the Carmelites, and forgot nothing to rekindle devotion to Mary in his Order. The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel aims to recall a special grace granted by Mary to the Order of Carmel and by him to the whole Church. On the night of July 16, Simon Stock asked with special fervor for the protection of the Blessed Virgin over her Institute. At dawn, Mary appeared to him, accompanied by a multitude of angels, surrounded by light and dressed in the habit of Carmel. His face was smiling; in Her hands She held the scapular of the Order. Before the Holy One She clothed Herself in it, saying: "This is a privilege for you and for all Carmelites. Whoever dies wearing this garment will not suffer the eternal fire." The Saint performed miracles to confirm the reality of this vision. This was the origin of the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, for Christians who, not being able to embrace the Rule, want to draw upon themselves the blessings promised to the scapular. The most considerable privilege granted to the brotherhood of Mount Carmel after that which Mary made known to Saint Simon Stock, is that which was revealed to Pope John XXII: the deliverance from purgatory, the Saturday after their death, of the confreres of Mount- Carmel who will have been faithful to the spirit and the rules of the Brotherhood. Besides these two privileges, there are many indulgences attached to the scapular. Abbot L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'Ayr, Tours, Mame, 1950. This commemoration was instituted by the Carmelites around 1380. Sixtus V approved the feast for the entire Carmelite order in 1578. It spread to the Spanish, Austrian and Portuguese states in the 17th century. Benedict XIII entered it in the Roman calendar in 1726 as a double major. John XXIII reduced it to the rank of simple commemoration in 1960.