Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!

Today, the Church celebrates the memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a day very special to the Order of Carmelites and for all those who confide themselves to the heart of Mary. I love Marian feast days!
I woke up this morning and read my Magnificat as I ate breakfast, and was so grateful for a day dedicated to Our Lady. I just love how the Church makes these days so a part of our lives. If today were not a feast day dedicated in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I would not be so renewed with fervor today to love our Lady! The Church in all her wisdom and love sets these beautiful days to commemorate beautiful saints, so that as one Church, we may celebrate them together. There is just something about these days that draw us evermore closely to the heart of Mary. What could be said about Mary, the mother of God, the cause of our joy, the queen of heaven? Well I must say that she surely is the queen of my heart.
I have always desired a devotion to our Blessed Mother. Throughout the years loving the faith, I always knew that Mary was important and that we should imitate her fiat. I always wanted to have a close relationship with her, but never made a great effort to other than praying the holy rosary. I suppose Mary was drawing me ever near to her heart while in Rome, when I spent almost everyday running to the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for Mass and adoration spent with the One who swept my heart away. It wasn’t until I entered the convent in Nashville that the desire to belong completely to Mary grew with great fervor. I learned that loving Mary was a very Dominican thing, so I was on the right track! Remember, Our Lady gave the rosary to Saint Dominic!
After seeing the true love and devotion particular sisters had for Mary, I knew I wanted one too. There was Sister Marie Laboure, the beautiful and sanguine Cajun from South Louisiana, who took her name after Saint Catherine Laboure who received the Miraculous Medal from Our Lady. Of course, in the spirit of Saint Catherine Laboure, she too passed out Miraculous Medals right and left, spreading the love of Mary to all. There was also Sister Katherine, one of my postulant sisters who deeply, deeply loved Mary. She encouraged me to make a Total Consecration to Mary through St. Louis de Montfort’s (3rd Order Dominican) book and so I did. I too desired to belong completely to Mary. I made the prayers and reflected on the readings pretty half-asleep for a month and a half each morning during meditations. I did not realize at the moment while preparing to consecrate myself to Our Lady how many graces were flowing from the Lord. I made my consecration on October 1, 2007 the feast day of Saint Therese of Lisieux, who is one of the greatest little saints in my heart. Most people make their consecrations on Marian feast days or even on St. Louis de Montfort’s feast day, but I wanted to give myself to our Lady through the prayers of Saint Therese who also loved Mary as queen and mother of her heart.
I just remember that after I made my consecration everything changed in my heart. The desire to belong to Mary and love her increased! I wanted to love her more and more as my dearest mother. When I was having a bad day, I would just look up at her statue just in front of my chapel stall and her prayers would lift me up to Jesus. Loving Mary was never an end for me. Loving her has only made me love Jesus more and more, He who is our ultimate end. She truly is the cause of my joy.
What I initially wanted to write about concerning Mary, has to do with today’s beautiful feast, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Today we remember the brown scapular that was given to Simon Stock by Our Lady. The scapular I’ve learned is a sign that you belong to Mary. How grateful I am to bear such a beautiful sign! If I had continued religious life in Nashville, I would be preparing to receive the holy habit of St. Dominic in 11 days. The long white scapular is usually a sisters’ favorite piece of the habit, along with the veil. I was so excited to bear such a visible sign of inward consecration to our Lady, but the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord! I still bear the sign of complete belonging to Mary through my little brown scapular and more deeply, my entire heart bears the love of Mary. What more could I ask for? Blessed be the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel!