How blessed we are to begin our new year and end the Octave of Christmas honoring Our Lady, as the Mother of God, or the Theotokos ("God-bearer") as the Eastern Church refers to Her. The history of this Feast day is an interesting one and has changed over time. According to EWTN, "the solemnity of the Mother of God, which now coincides with the octave-day of Christmas and the beginning of the new year, was probably assigned this day because of the influence of the Byzantine Church, which celebrates the synapsis of the most holy Theotokos on December 26. This is in accordance with the Eastern practice of honoring secondary persons on the day after the feast of the principal personage (in this case, the birth of Christ). The Coptic Church celebrates this feast on January 16, but in the West, as early as the fifth century, the feast was celebrated on the Sunday before Christmas, although in France it was celebrated on January 18 and in Spain on December 18. Even before Pope Sergius introduced four Marian feasts in the seventh century (the Birth of Mary, the Annunciation, the Purification and the Assumption), the octave day of Christmas was celebrated in Rome in honor of the Maternity of Mary. Later, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the feast of the Circumcision was added, although it had been introduced into Spain and France at the end of the sixth century and was later included in the Missal of Pope St. Pius V. The recent liturgical reform has restored the original Roman practice, which replaced the pagan feast of the New Year, dedicated to the god Janus, with this feast honoring the Mother of God.
A popular movement began in Portugal in the eighteenth century for a feast honoring Mary's maternity, and in 1914 the date of the feast was fixed at October 11. It was extended to the entire Latin Church in 1931, the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus. The restoration of the feast to January 1, which falls in the Christmas season and has an ecumenical significance, coincides with other anniversaries; for example, the octave day of Christmas, the circumcision of the Infant Jesus (assigned to the first Sunday of January); the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (which dates back to 1721); and the day for peace, introduced by Pope Paul VI."
For Carmelites, we have always revered Our Lady as Mother. All Carmelite images depict Blessed Mother with Jesus in her arms. The order has always celebrated the special familial ties between Carmelite members and our heavenly mother. I found a fascinating website that shows the first images of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel under the title of 'La Bruna'. I am pasting this information and its artwork here for your enjoyment. Please note also the devotion to honor 'La Bruna' on Wednesdays by caring for those in special need. Perhaps this is something we can pray about doing as we begin the new year.
La Bruna: The Virgin of Tenderness
The first Image of the Virgin venerated by the Carmelite Order. The Virgin of Tenderness, or Eleousa in Greek, is the prototype said to have come from the hand of the Evangelist, St. Luke, who, according to tradition, was also an iconographer. Forced by the Islamic invasion of the Holy Land in the 13th century to leave their beautiful homeland, the Carmelites traveled for safety from Mt. Carmel to Europe, carrying with them the precious icon.
It was enshrined above the high altar of their church in Naples, and there, because of the dark skin tone of the Mother and Child, it came to be known as La Bruna. It remained in this place of honor for over 100 years, and many miracles took place until the icon was removed to a side altar by a royal decree. In the jubilee year of 1500, pious citizens of Naples carried the icon in procession to Rome. During the pilgrimage, people were again miraculously cured. Skeptical of these miracles, “King Frederic II of Naples conceived a plan to test the power of the Heavenly Mother. He ordered that all the sick and infirm [of the city] assemble before the image with written documentation of their maladies. High Mass was celebrated and special hymns were sung, and when the miraculous picture was unveiled, a ray of light fell upon the face of the Madonna, reflecting its brilliance on the assembled sick. The instantaneous healing of each person was authenticated” Summary and quotation from ~Joan Carroll Cruz Miraculous Images of Our Lady. Rockford: TAN, 1993.
Even though it was not until the 19th century that La Bruna was Crowned by the decree of the Vatican Council, 11 July 1875, these joyful 17th and 18th century engravings depict the return of the icon to its place of honor in the Church:
17th century engraving by V.G. Huberti (1619-1684)
the icon is jointly held by the iconographer, St. Luke the Evangelistand a priest clothed in the Carmelite habit. 
"The Church Once Again Has the Icon of Mary"
Prague Joh Pachmayer
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Pray for Us
K. van de Vyvere - Petyr Brugge
(retrieved from http://novenaprayertoourladyofmtcarmel.blogspot.com/2010/07/story-of-icon-of-virgin-of-carmel-la.html on 1/1/12)
See http://www.olmlaycarmelites.org/faqs/labruna/ for more information as well)
CARMELITE WEDNESDAYS:
A few Carmelites still observe a special day of devotion to "La Bruna" on Wednesday of each week with a liturgy, devotions, and the commitment to show Christian love towards those who are in need.
Illustrated here is a 20th. century Italian holy card with westernized depiction of the ancient icon; note added details of the the Scapular as revealed to St. Simon Stock in the 12th cent. and the 19th century crowning of the icon. How easily the past is rewritten and its true beauty all but forgotten.
Prague Joh Pachmayer
Notre Dame du Mont Carmel
Small original hand colored engraving. France 1700's.
Small original hand colored engraving. France 1700's.
K. van de Vyvere - Petyr Brugge
(retrieved from http://novenaprayertoourladyofmtcarmel.blogspot.com/2010/07/story-of-icon-of-virgin-of-carmel-la.html on 1/1/12)
See http://www.olmlaycarmelites.org/faqs/labruna/ for more information as well)
CARMELITE WEDNESDAYS:
A few Carmelites still observe a special day of devotion to "La Bruna" on Wednesday of each week with a liturgy, devotions, and the commitment to show Christian love towards those who are in need.
Illustrated here is a 20th. century Italian holy card with westernized depiction of the ancient icon; note added details of the the Scapular as revealed to St. Simon Stock in the 12th cent. and the 19th century crowning of the icon. How easily the past is rewritten and its true beauty all but forgotten.
