Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

"The Aylesford Scapular: Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Simon Stock"

Aylesford, Kent (England) (1251)

En Aylesfordin the English county of Kent, the memory of one of the most loved scenes of Carmelite spirituality is preserved. According to tradition, in the 13th century the Order of Carmen was experiencing great difficulties when it settled in Western Europe, and its Prior General, san Simón StockHe begged the Virgin for help. The Pious tradition narra que el 16 July 1251 la Virgin of Carmen He appeared surrounded by angels, carrying in his hands the scapular of the Order.

Las palabras que la tradición resume son entrañables: «Este debe ser un signo y privilegio para ti y para todos los carmelitas: He who dies carrying this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.«. El escapulario era, en origen, una pieza del hábito que cae por delante y por detrás desde los hombros (de scapulae, hombros); la devoción lo fue «miniaturizando» para los fieles laicos en dos piezas de tela unidas por cordones, como signo de consagración a María.

It is appropriate to distinguish with honesty. It's historically attested that St. Simon Stock was Prior General Carmelite in the 13th century and is relevant in the consolidation of the Order, even though contemporary documents are scarce. Instead, no document of the 13th century to record the apparition of 1251 or the exact words of the Virgin: the clear written testimonies are very later, so the serious historiography speaks of tradition or pious legend. Los mismos Papas que la han mencionado, como Pío XII, lo hacen «según la tradición». En cuanto al célebre «privilegio sabatino» —la liberación del Purgatorio el sábado siguiente a la muerte—, la propia Orden del Carmen aclara hoy que no as official doctrine and rejects any superstitious interpretation.

On Rosary, no consta No revelation that formally links it to the scapular or to St. Simon Stock. But there is a beautiful pastoral association: cofradies and parishes of Carmen usually promote both the scapular and the Rosary as two ways of consecration to Mary and of meditation of the mysteries of Christ. After the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, the Carmelites returned to Aylesford in the 20th century, recovering it as a Marian sanctuary.