He entered the Order in 1212 and was elected its general in 1245. In 1251, while residing at Cambridge, he had a vision in which the Blessed Virgin is said to have promised him: “Behold the privilege that I grant to you and to all the sons of your Order. Whoever dies clothed in the Carmelite habit shall be saved” (B. Zimmermann, *Monumenta historica carmelitana*, Lérins 1907, p. 339). The privilege soon came to be extended to all who wore the scapular of Carmel. The promise did not accord well with Catholic doctrine, according to which eternal salvation is linked to the practice of Christian virtues and the observance of the Church’s precepts. For this reason, in 1642 Launoi contested the authenticity of that famous vision (Opera, II, 11, Lyon 1731, pp. 379–403). After the 17th century the question remained controversial. Among its principal opponents were A. Boudinhon (*Revue du clergé français*, 36 [1903], pp. 634–37) and L. Salet (*Le prétendu Pierre Swanyngton*, in *Bulletin de littérature ecclésiastique de Toulouse*, 1911, pp. 24, 85, 120; Swanyngton, confessor of the Saint, would have drawn up, at his dictation, a letter attesting the reality of the vision). Fr X. Xiberta assembled numerous documents in favour of its authenticity (*De visione Simonis S.*, Rome 1950). It should nonetheless be noted that the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, confirming on 4 June 1908 the favours granted by the Holy See to the wearers
SIMONE STOCK, SANTO
