Within the order, as you may know, this Optional Memorial is a Solemnity. It commemorates the day on which, according to tradition, St. Simon Stock received from the hand of the Blessed Virgin herself the Brown Scapular which so many people wear. If properly enrolled in the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular, all of these are said to be members of the Carmelite family, sharing in some part the spirituality of the Order.
This is from the Preface to the Eucharistic prayer for the Liturgy of the Solemnity:
Your Word filled her heart and inspired all her actions, making her constant in prayer with the Apostles, and, through her share in our salvation, constituting her the spiritual mother of all mankind. She watches unceasingly with a mother’s loving care over the brethren of her Son, and lights us along our pilgrim way to the Mount of your Glory, our beacon of comfort, and the embodiment of all our hopes as members of the Church.
Fifteen years ago, more or less, I had a student give me a Our Lady of Mount Carmel prayer card at a time when my mother almost died. I was not yet Catholic, but this card was the start of my firm decision to become catholic, and I like to say it was the intervention of Mary as Our Lady of Mount Carmel that started me on the walk I am on now.
O most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel,
rose without compare,
dew-kissed with tears like pearls
tears of love,
tears of concern,
tears of sorrow,
thank you for your care.
Fruitful vine,
bearer of our Lord,
mother of all who call him Master,
gentle guardian who longs
to bring us all safely
to the foot of the cross,
where we will find love
and forgiveness
and healing,
thank you for your unendling labor
for us,
the poor sorrowful children of Eve.
Splendor of Heaven
whose unfailing yes
shook the walls of sin and death
built by the refusal of Eve,
You who offer us hope
in the simple words,
"Do whatever he tells you,"
thank you for your example.
O Star of the Sea,
be always our beacon,
to lead us home across the dark waters,
our comfort,
our sign,
O Virgin who gave birth
to God with Us,
O Flos Carmeli,
Pray for us
now and at the hour of our death, Amen.