St. Simon Stock

St. Simon Stock was born around the year 1165 in Aylesford, County Kent, England. Little is known of his early life. Legend says that at age twelve he began to live as a hermit in a hollow oak tree; the name Stock is believed derived from the old English for tree trunk. He joined the Carmelite Order soon after its arrival in England.

He lived and studied for several years in Rome and on Mount Carmel. He was elected sixth general of the Carmelites in 1247 around age 82, and helped the Order spread through England, and through southern and western Europe.

Tradition says that the Virgin Mary appeared to Simon bringing him the brown scapular of the Carmelites. "This shall be the privilege for you and for all the Carmelites," she told him, "that anyone dying in this habit shall be saved."

St. Simon died on May 16, 1265, in the Carmelite monastery at Bordeaux, France. His skull was transferred to the Carmelite friary in Aylesford, England in 1951. His Feast Day is May 16.