May 16 - S Simon Anglius

Otherwise, St Simon the Englishman or St Simon Stock.

The picture is of Aylesford Priory, St Simon's home in Carmel for many years. It was a victim of the greed of Thomas Cromwell in the 16th century but found its way back into the hands of the Order in the 1950's.

From The Inn a few years ago:

Precanti ei divam Virginem, ut ordinem iam confirmatum (qui sacro titulo eius gaudet singulari) aliquo privilegio a ceteris discerneret, apparuit ipsa Virgo benedicta, Angelorum multitudine comitata, tenens præ manibus scapulare ordinis, dicens: "Hoc erit signum tibi et cunctis Carmelitis privilegium, quod in hoc pie moriens, æternum non patietur incendium."
-from the proper office of St Simon Stock in the old Breviarium Carmelitarum

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 prædestinationis æternæ munera consequatur. Per Dominum. Amen.

O Lord, Thy people dedicated to the Virgin Mother rejoice in the solemnity of Blessed Simon whom Thou didst give to them as guide and father; may they receive the eternally predestined reward the sign of which protection was received through him. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thus the collect for today's feast day of St Simon Stock taken from the old Discalced Carmelite proper. An account of his life can be found here in the old Catholic Encyclopædia. A little more on St Simon and the Scapular can be found here .

The current propers for St Simon are very spare. There is a proper second reading for the Office of Readings - taken from Fr Nicholas's "Flaming Arrow" - a proper collect and antiphons for the Benedictus and the Magnificat. The old Discalced propers were even more lean: only the collect quoted above (accompanied here by my own wobbly translation) was proper. The rest was taken from the common for a confessor not a bishop.

But the Ancient Observance Carmelites had a beautiful office for St Simon with a first vespers and three nocturns at matins, including an extensive vita for the second, from which [the first paragraph of this post was taken].

Here is the Magnificat antiphon for second vespers and the proper collect from the old Jerusalem rite of the Calced Carmelites:

Magnificavit Dominus Sanctum suum, et replevit eum spiritu intelligentiæ ad dandam scientiam salutis Ecclesiæ suæ. [The Lord has magnified His saint and filled him with the spirit of wisdom for giving knowledge of salvation to His Church.}

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 prayers and merits of blessed Simon Thy confessor, didst beautify the Order of Mount Carmel with a singular privilege through the hands of the Mother of Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ, grant that by her intervention, we may be enabled to arrive at the glory Thou didst prepare for them that love Thee. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.]