 History of the Marian Apparition, the Lady of Mt.

Carmel
Mount Carmel is a biblical location where Elijah the prophet lived. It stands 1,742 feet
above sea level, and rises above the Mediterranean coastline of Israel. It was here that Elijah
prayed to God for Israel's salvation which at the time was enduring a devastating drought. He
continued to pray, and many times sent his servant up the mountain to get relief. On the seventh
attempt the servant of Elijah came back with good news. "Behold, out of the sea arose a little
cloud, like the foot of a man" (1 Kings 1:44). Soon afterwards, torrential rains fell upon the
parched land and saved the people of Israel. Elijah had seen the cloud as a sign of the Virgin
mentioned in Isaiah 's prophecies (Isaiah 7:14). The hermits living on Mount Carmel followed
the example of Elijah and prayed for the birth of the much-awaited Virgin, who would become
the Messiah 's mother. The Carmelite Order's origins can be traced back to Elijah and his
hermited disciples.
 How and when did the devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel started in the
Philippines? Name a particular place here in the Philippines where Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel is venerated.
The devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
and her Brown Scapular began in the Philippines in 1618 when Padre Fray Rodrigo de San
Miguel of the Augustinian Recollecting Order brought with him the image of Nuestra Señora del
Carmen, which he received as a gift from the Discalced Carmelite nuns in the Monastery of San
Jose, Mexico. The Augustinian Recollect Community was inaugurated at San Sebastian de
Calumpang, Quiapo, Manila on May 5, 1621, and the image of the Virgen del Carmen was
permanently enshrined in the Church of San Sebastian. The San Sebastian Church was elevated
by Pope Leo XII on June 30, 1890 as a Minor Basilica attached to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome,
then on July 4, 1890 it was added to the St. John Lateran Basilica the following days. On 18
August 1991 the portrait of San Sebastian's Nuestra Señora del Carmen was canonically
crowned. The Recollect Friars would also introduce the devotion to their mission in Cebu years
later.
On February 9, 1665, the first known replica of the Virgen del Carmen of San Sebastian
was brought to Barrio Pulong Buhangin in Santa Maria, Bulacan for the veneration of the faithful
of the barrio as per the request of the Virgin to one the locals of the area. This image will receive
Episcopal Coronation on September 8, 2019. In 1859, the Augustinian Friars established a chapel
in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel that would later be known as the historic Barasoain
Church in Malolos, Bulacan. In 1896, the Dominicans also introduced the image and devotion to
Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Sison, Pangasinan and it gained a cult following in that area that
in 1996, the parish was declared as a Dicoesan Shrine.
Even with the absence of the Carmelite Order in the Philippines during the Spanish
period, the Recollect Fathers and the lay people propagated the devotion to the Virgin of Carmel
and her Brown Scapular in the islands and numerous miracles were attributed to her intercession.
The Mount Carmel Parish in New Manila, Quezon City was established by the pioneering
Discalced Carmelites missions to the Philippines, which started in 1923, with the arrival of four
French nuns from Hue, Vietnam, to the shores of Jaro, Iloilo. In 1954, the cornerstone was laid
for the new church and the consturctio began immediately.
On December 14, 2015 the church was elevated as a National Shrine by the CBCP and on
March 25 2019 the shrine was declared a Minor Basilica.
 Identify the missionaries who brought the devotion to some particular places
Philippines. What was their primary mission in the Philippines?
The Lay Vincentian Missionaries is the Vincentian family's youngest member and was
born in 1999 from the heart of the family. Its objective: "to promote, encourage, maintain and
organize the laity's missionary activity and work in the missions 'ad gentes' entrusted to or
animated by the Vincentian Family."
 Explain briefly the history of the church/es where these Holy images are venerated.
For its architectural and historical value, the National Park Service added Our Lady of
Mount Carmel Catholic Church (built in 1904) to
the National Register of Historic Places on April 3,
2017. The large brick church, dominated by twin
square towers with copper domes surmounted by
white crosses and identified by a larger-than - life
statue, or Our Lady of Mount Carmel, is "a fine
example of the (architectural) Romanesque style"
that swept the United States in the late 19th century.
In addition, historians write, Our Lady of Mount
Carmel "exhibits long-standing and ongoing
cultural significance to the Italian-American
community of the state, and especially to the Little
Italy of Denver, for its surviving, multi-generational traditions and heritage transplanted
directly from Italy.'

 Read the Gospel passage according to St. John 2:1-12 and make a short reflection.
The Gospel revealed the miracle of Jesus in wedding at Cana. Mary told the servants to
follow what Jesus said and see what will happen.