Our Lady of Mount Carmel Hand Colored Print by L. Turgis

It is thought during the Crusades of the 12th century a group of hermits began to inhabit the caves of Mount Carmel.  They dedicated a Chapel to the Virgin Mary and became known as the Carmelite Order.  In the 14th century a Carmelite named Simon Stock had a vision of Mary in which she gave him a brown scapular.  A scapular is a cloth worn by Christians as a symbol of their faith.  Mary promised those who wore the brown scapular that they would be saved after death.  

In 1322 a papul bull associated with Pope John XXII describes the Sabbatine Privilege in which Mary would descend into purgatory on the first Saturday to liberate the Carmelites in purgatory.  The papal bull lists conditions in which members must abide in order to be considered for early liberation from purgatory.   However, not everyone agreed with the Sabbatine Privilege.  Books and art mentioning Sabbatine Privilege along with the depiction of Mary descending into purgatory were banned.   You will often see imagery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel without the depiction of purgatory.

This lithograph shows Mary holding two scapulars with baby Jesus on her lap.  She is shown liberating souls from a fiery purgatory.  This lithograph was printed by L. Turgis, a famous French printer, in the mid 1800s.  It is exquisitely hand colored and beautifully matted in an antique frame.