Our Lady of Mount Carmel - My "Onomastico"

 

Santa Maria in Tranpontina

My final day in Rome was made extra special as there was an event to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This is my “Saint Day” or in Italian “Onomastico”. Traditionally in the Italian culture a feast day is commemorated with a special meal and perhaps even a small gift, similar to a birthday. Each calendar day has multiple saints assigned, as the Church has far more than 365 saints. The feast day can be selected based on the death of the saint, when that is unknown a day is selected by the Church, as is the case with St. John Paul. His feast day is observed on October 22, which is the day of his Papal Inauguration, rather than the day of his death, April 2, which can fall during the season of Lent.

Alter of Santa Maria in Tranpontina

Some saints will have a novena prayed in the nine days leading up to their feast day. This is the case for Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In preparation for the observance petitions are made to the saint asking them to place before God a personal request, the saints are our intercessors, and go before God on our behalf. There are no strict rules for praying a novena, some people will recite special prayers, pray a rosary, fast, attend daily mass, the customs can vary. Days might be missed when saying a novena, this does not invalidate the prayers or the request, you simply continue the next day. To celebrate the feast day there is a Mass, and then local customs are added such as special food, clothing, music or other traditions.

I stumbled across the feast day while taking a break after visiting the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity. The church is named Santa Maria in Tranpontina, and the celebration is titled the Solennita della Beata Vergine Maria del Monte Carmelo. This church is run by the Carmelites and is considered a “titular church”, meaning it is assigned to a cardinal.  The current cardinal is Marc Ouellet PSS. born in La Motte, Quebec, a Canadian connection. He doesn’t have any authority over the day-to-day events of the parish, it is a symbolic title  connecting the cardinal with the Diocese of Rome. As you can see from the poster each night leading up to the feast day  the rosary and novena prayers were recited at 5:00 pm followed by a Mass. For the celebration of the feast day there are numerous Masses to be presided by bishops as well as a recently appointed cardinal.  

Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Jesus

I was able to attend the Saturday evening Mass, and the procession that followed. The small church was full for the Mass and was attended by many Carmelites those of religious orders as well as lay persons. The lay Carmelites, both men and women,  wore special clothing as well as a large scapular on the outside of their robes. The procession that followed the Mass was an activity that is often not seen in our North American traditions, so I was excited to be able to participate. Once the Mass was complete everyone went outside, and the statue of the Madonna with baby Jesus were removed from the church. This was all done with people power, no equipment was used. The process was slow, it took almost an hour before the Madonna was out of the church and in procession behind, the cross, the Carmelite sisters, the lay Carmelites, the band, the Madonna and then the community members. As everyone walked together a microphone was used to recite the Joyful Mysteries, special prayers and songs. As we walked along the route, the Madonna was carried by a group of men who were guided by the ringing of bells, indicating when to get ready, lift and walk or stop and break. 

Unfortunately, being alone in Rome, I left the event at dusk. I expect that when the Madonna was carefully returned to the church, many people remained in prayer and to prepare for the celebration on Sunday. It was a wonderful experience to be able to participate in this occasion, another memory of my time in Rome to cherish. A beautiful example of how our universal Church is joined in remembering the lives of holy men and women who came before us, yet each culture celebrates in their own language, incorporating local traditions.

End of procession.