Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The Madonna del Carmine takes her name from Mount Carmel, in Palestine, where in the twelfth century a group of hermits built her a church and placed themselves under her protection. That is where the Carmelite Order came from, and where the title came from. Linked to this devotion is the scapular: two pieces of cloth joined by a ribbon, worn over the shoulders under one’s clothes. According to tradition it was the Virgin herself who gave it to the prior Simon Stock, with a promise for whoever wore it. It is one of the most widespread signs of popular devotion in the world. In Naples, July 16 is no ordinary date. The Basilica of the Carmine Maggiore, in Piazza Mercato, keeps the Madonna Bruna — a very ancient icon that, the story goes, came from the East — and it has been the church of the people of that neighborhood for eight centuries. Conradin of Swabia is buried there, beheaded at sixteen in that very square; and it was there that Masaniello’s revolt began. And there is the bell tower, the tallest in the city. On the evening of July 16 it is set ablaze: a display of fireworks wraps it right to the top, and thousands watch from Piazza Mercato. It is the burning of the bell tower, and in Naples it has been done for centuries. The Smorfia puts the Madonna at number eight. If your name is Carmela or Carmine, today is your name day — and it is one of the most Neapolitan names there is.