St Simon Stock

Today is the feast of St Simon Stock in the Carmelite calendar. St Simon was an Englishman from Kent - he appears in some lists as Simon Anglus, or Simon the Englishman - but he doesn't seem to appear in any proper English calendars. There is a fair bit of controversy about him these days. Some of the modern folks who profess to know about these things say that he never existed. At least one other source claims he was two different people conflated into one. He is still in the calendar, though, and he has his own propers for the office. If I have some time later on, (I have to do a funeral shortly) I'll put up some of Fr McCaffrey's praise of St Simon. Fr McCaffrey, as I'm sure regular visitors to The Inn will have guessed, defends the old stories of St Simon.

In the meantime, his collect in the new rite:

Father, you called St Simon Stock to serve you in the brotherhood of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Through his prayers help us like him to live in your presence and to work for man's salvation. Through our Lord. Amen.

The old collect in the Carmelite liturgy of the Holy Sepulchre:

Deus, qui, precibus et meritis beati Simonis Confessoris tui, Carmeli montis Ordinem, per manus Genitricis Filii tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi, singulari privilegio decorasti: concede; ut, ipso interveniente, ad gloriam, quam diligentibus te præparasti, pervenire valeamus. Per eumdem Dominum. Amen.

O God, who by the merits and prayers of thy blessed confessor Simon didst so singularly honour the Order of Mount Carmel at the hands of the Mother of thy Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, grant that through his intercession we may attain to the glory thou has prepared for those who love thee: through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

The old collect in the Discalced Carmelite liturgy:

Plebs tibi, Domine, Virginique Matri dicata, beati Simonis, quem ei Rectorem et Patrem dedisti, solemnitate lætetur: et sicut per eum tantæ protectionis signum obtinuit; ita prædistinationis æternæ munera consequatur. Per Dominum. Amen.

May thy people dedicated to Thee and the Virgin and Mother, O Lord, always rejoice in the solemnity of Blessed Simon, whom Thou didst give to them as ruler and father; and as through him they received such a sign of protection, so they may enjoy the gift of eternal predistination. Through our Lord. Amen.

(That last translation is my own. Feel free to object, correct, or modify.)