Flos Carmeli
Happy Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel!
For reasons that are obvious to most of you, today is a very special feast day for me. On this day, 29 years ago, I was baptised. Not only did I begin to share in the sonship of Christ as a beloved son of the Father, but I also became a son of Mary, in a special way under the patronage of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Furthermore, saints like Our Holy Father Elias (Elijah), St. Therese, St. Teresa, and St. John of the Cross have had a profound impact on my spiritual life. Inside a hermitage or no, I shall always remain a son of Carmel.
The surest sign of this devotion to Our Lady is of course the Brown Scapular. On this most holy of days, I encourage all of you to at least consider this devotion. I need not extol its virtue, as saints and Popes have throughout the centuries, but can at least testify to the innumerable graces provided by being clothed in Our Lady’s Habit. For that is what the scapular is, simply a smaller version of the scapular of the Carmelite habit, which was given to St. Simon Stock by our lady himself. What a beautiful gift Holy Mother Church has given us, that we might all share in the spiritual benefits of the Carmelite Order.
Anyway, for a special musical post today, I have the sequence appointed in the Carmelite Rite today: the incomparable Flos Carmeli: Flower of Carmel. I absolutely adore this chant. The text is attributed to St, Simon Stock himself, but this is only the first two verses. Indeed, only the first two verses are printed as the sequence to be recited in the Carmelite Missal, and the remaining verses were added later. The first verse also serves as a fitting antiphon in the Divine Office.
Notice what portions of the text the chant emphasises, drawing us ever heavenward, above earthly cares, to that eternal Carmel. Let us today throw ourselves under the patronage of Our Lady. Let us ascend the mountain with renewed disposition, even amidst thorns (inter spinas), we have Mary as the purest of lilies and the strongest of armour. A sweet mother, reigning as Queen and Beauty of Carmel, desires to open the gates of heaven to us if only we ask her. Oh Star of the Sea, sinless and beautiful, Queen of Carmel, pray for us sinners! Pray for me!
Flos Carmeli,
Vitis florigera,
Splendor caeli,
Virgo puerpera
Singularis:
Mater mitis,
Sed viri nescia,
Carmelitis
Da privilegia,
Stella maris.
Radix Jesse
germinans flosculum
Nos ad esse
tecum in saeculum
patiaris.
Inter spinas
quae crescis lilium
Serva puras
mentes fragiluim
tutelaris.
Armatura
Fortis Pugnantium
Furunt bella
tende praesidium
scapularis.
Per incerta
prudens consilium
Per adversa
juge solatium
largiaris.
Mater dulcis
Carmeli domina,
plebem tuam
reple laetitia
qua bearis.
Paradisi
clavis et janua,
fac nos duci
quo, Mater, gloria
coronaris.
Amen
Domina Nostra Monte Carmelo…ora pro nobis!
Sancta Caecilia…ora pro nobis!
Ps, here’s some bonus stuff sung by some Carmelites. Enjoy!