Simon Stock joined the Carmelite Order, which had recently arrived in England from Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. He dedicated himself to the Carmelite way of life, and his leadership qualities soon became apparent. He was elected Prior General of the Carmelite Order in 1247 at the age of 82. One day in Cambridge, England, while praying for his Order facing tribulations, Our Lady of Mount Carmel appeared to him. She held a brown scapular and revealed its significance: "Receive, my beloved son, this scapular of thy Order; it is the special sign of my favor, which I have obtained for thee and for thy children of Mount Carmel. He who dies clothed with this habit shall be preserved from eternal fire." This vision began the Brown Scapular devotion, a symbol of Marian protection and spiritual affiliation with the Carmelites.