The third reflection about the paintings by Michele Bellanti at the Church of the Annunciation in Mdina

May the venerable intercession of the glorious Virgin Mary come to our aid, we pray, O Lord, so that, fortified by her protection, we may reach the mountain which is Christ. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

Roman Missal, Collect of the Mass in honour of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 16 July.

It is with this prayer that we begin to properly contemplate the two Michele Bellanti paintings at the Carmelite Church in Mdina. We shall consider first the one depicting St Simon Stock receiving the scapular from Our Lady, which is positioned above the side-altar to the left as you enter the church by the main door.

The painting represents the Blessed Virgin holding the infant Jesus in her left hand whilst offering the brown scapular to St Simon Stock with her other hand. St Simon Stock was born in England in the thirteenth century. He belonged to the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and for a time was even the Order’s Superior General.

Probably, the Carmelite Order had their origins as a Christian hermit community on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. With the enfeebling and fall of the Crusader Kingdoms and the resumption of Muslim rule, in the early 13th century the members moved to Europe where they became mendicant friars, establishing themselves in university cities in England, France and Italy. As St John Paul II comments:

In their journey towards the “mountain of God, Christ the Lord” (Roman Missal, Opening Prayer of the Mass in honour of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 16 July), the various generations of Carmel, from the beginning until today, have sought to model their lives on Mary’s example.

In Carmel therefore and in every soul moved by tender affection for the Blessed Virgin and Mother, there has thrived a contemplation of her, who from the beginning knew how to open herself to hearing God’s Word and to obeying his will (Lk 2:19, 51). For Mary, taught and formed by the Spirit (cf. Lk 2:44-50), was able by faith to understand her own history (cf. Lk 1:46-55) and, docile to the divine promptings, ‘advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan (cf. Jn 19:25), enduring with her Only-begotten Son the intensity of his suffering and associating herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s heart” (Lumen gentium, par. 58).

John Paul II, Message to the Carmelites (25 March 2001), par. 2.

In this light, John Paul II goes on to say, “this intense Marian life, which is expressed in trusting prayer, enthusiastic praise and diligent imitation, enables us to understand how the most genuine form of devotion to the Blessed Virgin, expressed by the humble sign of the Scapular, is consecration to her Immaculate Heart. In this way, the heart grows in communion and familiarity with the Blessed Virgin, as a new way of living for God and of continuing here on earth the love of Jesus the Son for his Mother Mary” (Ibid., par. 4).

Despite the emphasis on devotion to the Blessed Virgin, this Marian way is precisely the one that leads us to Christ himself, the summit of the true mountain. Becoming one with him is the fulfilment of Christian life. Which is the way you are currently trudging along? Know that you do not walk alone, and that regardless of the path you are on, if you trust the one who is accompanying you, if you allow her, she will take your hand and guide you along the road she travelled to attain eternal glory.