The Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The first two things I do every morning upon hearing the alarm clock is to offer my day to Jesus though Mary by praying my morning offering. All that I have and do, I give to Jesus though the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Then spontaneously I kiss my Scapular and bless my forehead, eyes, ears, lips and heart with the Brown Scapular that I have worn for decades.
A GREAT START. By faithfulness to these two simple but fervent gestures I have a great start to a new day that through Mary’s most powerful intercession will be filled with many blessings—many trials and crosses also, but these too can be blessings from God.
THE SCAPULAR, WHAT AND WHY OF THIS DEVOTION? In the 13th century, Our Lady of Mount Carmel appeared to an English Carmelite, his name Simon Stock, now Saint Simon Stock. Her appearance concluded with insisting that this English monk and priest wear the Brown Scapular, and insist that the other Carmelites also wear it. The brown scapular that Mary wore and she asked Simon Stock to wear was a long brown cloth worn over his shoulders front and back, over his brown habit. In that time of the 13th century, the Carmelite Order was in such a serious decline that it was in danger of extinction. Father Simon humbly submitted to the requests of the Lady. Not long after Simon began wearing the Scapular and convinced his brother Carmelites to also wear it and things changed for the better. The Order that was languishing to the point of disappearing revived. Vocations came; there was a new and revitalized vigor and zeal in the order. Was this all a chance event or was there some reason for this radical and almost immediate transformation?
THE REASON FOR THE TRANSFORMATION, REVITALIZATION AND RENEWAL. In a Catholic milieu where Mary is lacking, the environment becomes sterile, insipid and lackluster. A garden becomes a desert; clouds become vaporized and water less; life becomes sad and depressed. But when Mary is introduced to the scene there is true renewal, revival and resurrection. For that reason, when we pray that beautiful prayer at the end of the Holy Rosary, the Hail Holy Queen, we invoke Mary as “Our life, our sweetness and our hope.”
This being said, let us delve into this beautiful devotion to Mary, that of wearing her garment, that is to say, wearing proudly and confidently the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The garment in our case being the small scapular we wear over our heart and back, surrounding us with her protection.
IDEAS TO MOTIVATE THE WEARING OF THE SCAPULAR OF CARMEL.
1. LITURGICAL CELEBRATION. Every year the Church honors Our Lady under the title Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the middle of July and summertime—July 16th! There are beautiful statues and paintings depicting Our Lady of Mount Carmel stretching out the brown Scapular to Saint Simon Stock.
2. BLESSING FROM HOLY MOTHER CHURCH. The Church has recommended and blessed the Scapular and its wearing for many centuries. Many miracles have been attributed to the faithful wearing of the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Those who are enrolled in the Brown Scapular Confraternity receive the merits and blessings of the Carmelite Order. This is a simple ceremony which can be performed by any priest who is familiar with the ritual. Indeed, what a beautiful Parochial practice it is to enroll First Communion children in the Confraternity of the Scapular—Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
3. KISSING REVERENTLY THE SCAPULAR. The simple gesture of kissing the Scapular accrues with it a blessing from the Church that we call an indulgence. Yes, that’s true! Upon giving a reverential kiss to the Scapular the Church gives a Partial indulgence, which is remission of temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven but still in need of reparation. This can be applied to oneself or to the souls in Purgatory. Of course the kiss is a universal symbol expressing our love for a person. In sum, by kissing the Scapular we are saying that we love Mary our heavenly Mother.
4. SIGN OF OUR BELONGING. Soldiers have their uniforms that distinguish them as defenders of their country. Sailors have their specific identity in their uniforms. Professional Baseball players have their own uniforms, the Yankees are known for their pinstripes. Business executives traditionally donned a white shirt, tie and suit coat. With respect to belonging to Mary it could not be more simple—wearing the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This is the garment, the exterior sign that we belong to Jesus through Mary.
5. VARIETY OF SYMBOLIC MEANINGS OF WEARING THE SCAPULAR. First and foremost, by wearing the Scapular we are saying that we truly desire to belong to Jesus and Mary, His Mother. We no longer belong to ourselves, but to Jesus through Mary. We are in good hands! We are not spiritual orphans wandering in no man’s land. We have both destiny and purpose.
6. HEART OF MARY. The Scapular is worn very close to our heart. What more can we say except that we want our heart to beat in unison with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Even more, we want to find two secure places of refuge in our lives: the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
7. SCHOOL OF MARY. One of the titles Pope Saint John XXIII gave to the Church is that of Mater et Magistra—meaning Mother and Teacher. Often there is a symbolic parallel between the Church and Mary and their similar roles. As the Church is both Mother and Teacher, so also Mary is both Mother and Teacher. Father Robert Fox, an expert on Our Lady of Fatima, asserted that when Our Lady came from heaven to visit her children on earth she came as Teacher—to teach us how to know and love God so as to arrive safely in heaven. Mary as teacher always points us to Jesus who is the greatest of all teachers. Her last recorded words in Sacred Scripture in the context of the Wedding in Cana were: “Do whatever He tells you.” (Jn. 2:5) Mary as teacher points us to Jesus, the greatest teacher.
8. ARMY OF MARY. In Mexico, one of the many titles given to Mary is that she is the General of the Army. Our life on earth is a constant battle. Once confirmed we become soldiers of Christ. Two of the weapons that we must wield in our battle against the flesh, the world and the devil are the most Holy Rosary and the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The Rosary is our spiritual slingshot—parallel to David defeating Goliath with his slingshot. In the words of Saint Paul let us run the good race and fight the good fight and win the merited prize that awaits us in heaven (cf. 2 Tim 4:7-8). How? The weapon of the Rosary and the protective shield of the Scapular!
9. SCAPULAR: OUR SHIELD AND DEFENSE. In the small booklet on the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Garment of Grace, the author explains succinctly the history of the Scapular and gives a catechesis of the Scapular. However, the essence of the pamphlet is the many miracles that have occurred by the faithful sons and daughters of Mary who have worn the Scapular. The Scapular is undoubtedly a powerful shield against the onslaught of the enemy!
10. SAINT ALPHONSUS AND THE SCAPULAR. It is recorded that the great St. Alphonsus, who wrote one of the greatest books on Mary “The Glories of Mary”, was saved by Mary and the powerful shield of the Scapular. While at Mass, an enemy shot him and the piercing bullet should have killed him! It never happened! The bullet cut through his chasuble, then his alb, then his habit, and then his black shirt. But he did not die. Afterwards it was found that the bullet aiming straight toward his heart was embedded in his Brown Scapular and it never touched his body. This was the hand of Mary working through the Scapular to protect and defend her son Alphonsus from his mortal enemies. How may enemies surround us, both physical, spiritual and moral and how many times can Our Lady protect us? Limitless times!
11. CONSECRATION TO MARY. As a priest I have presided over many ceremonies of Consecration to Jesus through Mary, most often in the context of Holy Mass. Usually hundreds of people are present for this magnificent celebration. After all have prayed the consecration prayer, usually the one written by Saint Louis de Montfort in “True Devotion to Mary”, then there are lines of people ready to receive their brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This Scapular is a constant reminder of the day of our Consecration and our obligation to live out on a daily basis our Consecration to Mary.
12. NEVER ALONE, BUT UNDER MARY’S GAZE, SHADOW AND HEART. By confidently wearing the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel we come to a keen awareness that we are never alone. In a world in which way too many people suffer a crushing loneliness, to the point of not even wanting to live, the Scapular serves to bring to our mind that we are really never alone. Our Lady, Our Heavenly Mother is truly with us every step along the way to Heaven. Saint Ignatius’ Virgin or Madonna was La Madonna de la Strada—Our Lady of the Street. The famous Spanish song in honor of Mary is “Santa Maria del Camino”—Our Lady of the Way. By wearing the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, may we renew our love for Mary as our Mother, our Teacher, Our Guide, Our Protector, Our powerful shield, and most assuredly Our Life, Our Sweetness and Our Hope!
