Born in England in 1165, he felt called to a singular journey with The Lord as a very young man. At the age of just twelve, Simon went off to live alone as a hermit, finding refuge in the trunk of a tree which is where he gets the name “Stock”. 

After making a pilgrimage to The Holy Land he joined The Carmelites in the early 1200s and became their Prior General. 

Simon expanded the Order dramatically, establishing many new houses across England and Europe including Oxford, Paris, and Bologna. But these were difficult days for Carmelites in England, and all Catholics really, they were being suppressed. 

On July 16th, 1251, the Blessed Mother appeared to Simon holding a brown scapular and told him, “Receive, my beloved son, the scapular of thy order, it is a special sign of my favor which I have obtained for Thee, and for Thy children of Mt. Carmel. 

He who dies clothed with this habit shall be preserved from eternal fire. It is the badge of Salvation, a shield in a time of danger, and a pledge of special peace and protection.” 

He died on this day in Bordeaux in 1265. 

St. Simon Stock, please pray for us.