St. Ignatius of Loyola & Our Lady

Many recognize St. Ignatius for his incredible contribution to discernment of God's will and spiritual retreats, however, many do not know that he had a quite spectacular encounter with Our Lady that allowed him to become the saint that we know him to be.  

Read and meditate on what is written in his Autobiography:

"The vain thoughts were gradually lessened by means of these desires—desires that were not a little

strengthened by the following vision. While watching one night he plainly saw the image of the Blessed

Mother of God with the Infant Jesus, at the sight of which, for a considerable time, he received abundant

consolation, and felt such contrition for his past life that he thought of nothing else. From that time until

August, 1555, when this was written, he never felt the least motion of concupiscence. This privilege we may suppose from this fact to have been a divine gift, although we dare not state it, nor say anything except

confirm what has been already said. His brother and all in the house recognized from what appeared

externally how great a change had taken place in his soul."

We must understand that he had already had his initial conversion after his injury from battle and he had already begun to experience and formulate what would later become the Spiritual Exercises.  Prior to this apparition, he had entered a period of reparation for his past sins, which included fasting and scourging himself.  These would have been considered quite normal for any ascetic at the time.  What we can understand from this experience of St. Ignatius is the importance of Chastity and Our Lady's role in bringing us to that point.  The Scriptures are quite clear when the Psalms say "Who can climb the mountain of the Lord? The man with clean hands and a pure heart..." (Psalm 24)

Notice that this was not given to him simply as the result of his effort; his effort merely laid the groundwork for this incredible and free gift that was given to him by God through Our Lady.  Just as Our Lady's Immaculate Conception was the foundation for her mission in her life, so too was this gift of chastity essential for St. Ignatius establishing the Jesuits as well as giving us the Spiritual Exercises.  Is this any surprise, since our God is a God of Love and love is above all things pure and chaste.

In every major religion of the world, we see a great desire to commune with the Divine and to climb that difficult mountain.  The gift of Chastity is the most difficult obstacle for every human to overcome since it is ultimately the work of God to overcome our lusts and sinful desires.  The only thing that we can do is prepare the groundwork to receive this gift from the hands of Our Lady.

Let us imitate the example of St. Ignatius, atone for our sins and lay the groundwork for God to give us this magnificent gift of chastity through the most pure and holy hands of Our Blessed Mother.

Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The Scapular and the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel give us something very important to think about.  First of all, we begin with Mt. Carmel, a mountain in Jerusalem near Mt. Tabor or the place where Jesus was transfigured.  Ever since the prophet Elijah, this has been a place of prayer for hermits and other ascetics.  Somewhere in the 1200s, St. Simon Stock received an apparition of our Lady where she promised to release from Purgatory on the Saturday after their death, those that were part of his religious community and were faithful to chastity. 

Over time, this developed in the Scapular for Lay People since they wanted to have the same benefits that was given to the Carmelites.  This devotion, therefore, is very old and gives us a very important grace from God.  What does it involve?  Simply wear a blessed scapular, live chastity according to your state in life whether married or not, and offer Our Lady some prayer (Hail Marys or the Salve Regina). 

For those that are more aware of the demand of holiness from our God, they realized quickly that this is a very easy way for us to avoid the necessary purifying of Purgatory once we die.  You see, nothing imperfect can enter Heaven, and so if we die in a state of grace (no mortal sin) and yet still have some venial sins or impoerfections on our soul, then God will purify through the fires of Purgatory.  Let me put it this way, the last time you tried to remove an imperfection or flaw from your behavior, did if feel good?  NO WAY.  Imagine how it will feel in Purgatory!!!! So this is a very generous mercy that God gives us to through our Lady. 

Some people might respond that this sounds a bit too mechanical, superstitious, or presuming an overly severe God.  I would respond quite the opposite!  God is merciful, but his mercy takes on concrete forms: such as the brown scapular that we are here mentioning.  His mercy becomes tangible through these sacramentals and prayers that we can offer up on a daily basis.  And mechanical? No WAY! You try living a chaste life and tell ME if it is mechanical!! It is a life that is filled with God's love and driven by the Holy Spirit.  Let us take up with renewed faith this beautiful and ancient devotion to Our Lady!