Garment of Grace
Why Do We Wear The Scapular
If you wear Mary's Brown Scapular, you should be introduced to St. Simon Stock. You may already know him from his picture (along with Our Lady's) on your Scapular. Actually, St. Simon is an old friend, for it was to him that our Blessed Mother gave the Scapular promise in 1251, saying, "Whosoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire."
One of the great mysteries of
our time is that the majority of Catholics either ignore, or have entirely
forgotten this Heavenly promise of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Lady further
says: "Wear the Scapular devoutly and perserveringly. It is my garment. To be
clothed in it means you are continually thinking of Me, and I in turn am always
thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life."
St. Claude de la Colombiere, the
renowned Jesuit and spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary, gives a point which
is enlightening. He said, "Because all the forms of our love for the Blessed
Virgin and all its various modes of expression cannot be equally pleasing to
her, and therefore do not assist us in the same degree to reach heaven, I say,
without a moment's hesitation, that the BROWN SCAPULAR IS THE MOST FAVORED OF
ALL! He also adds, "No devotion has been confirmed by more numerous miracles
that the Brown Scapular". Old Testament
History Devotion to Our Lady of Mount
Carmel (the Madonna of the Scapular) goes back far before the time of St. Simon
Stock - even before the time of Our Blessed Lord; it goes back all the way to
the 8th century B.C. It was then that the great prophet Elias ascended the holy
mountain of Carmel in Palestine, and began there a long tradition of
comtemplative life and prayer. It is amazing to realize that centuries before
Christ was born, Holy Elias and his followers had mystically dedicated
themselves to God's Mother-To-Come, Mary, Queen of Mount Carmel. Nearly three
thousand years later, that tradition of prayer, contemplation and devotion to
Mary continues to live and prevail in the Catholic Church. In the fullnes of time, God
became the God-Man Jesus. We know of our Lord's life, deth, resurrection and
ascension from the four Gospels of the New Testament, and we know that Jesus
bequethed to the world the Holy Catholic Church to teach, to govern and to
sanctify in His Name. On the feast of Pentacost, the
birthday of the Church, the spiritual descendants of Elias and his followers
came down from Mount Carmel. Fittingly, they were the first that day to accept
the message of Christianity and to be baptized by the Apostles. When, at last,
they were presented to Our Lady, and heard the sweet words from her lips, they
were overcome with a sense of majesty and sanctity which they never forgot.
Returning to their holy mountain, they erected the first Chapel ever built in
honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From that time, devotion to God's Mother was
handed down by the hermits on Mount Carmel as a treasured spiritual
legacy. Our Lady Appears
to St. Simon In the year 1241, the Baron de
Grey of England was returning home from the Crusades in Palestine: he brought
back with him a group of religious from the holy mountain of Carmel. Upon
arrival, the baron generously presented the monks with a manor house in the town
of Aylesford. Ten years later, in the very place, there occured the now famous
apparation of Our Lady to Saint Simon Stock. As the Holy Virgin handed St. Simon
the brown woolen Scapular, she spoke these words: "This shall be the privelege
for you and all Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit shall not suffer
eternal fire." In time, the Church extended this magnificent privilege to all
the laity who are willing to be invested in the Brown Scapular of the
Carmelites, and who perpetually wear it. Many Catholics are invested in
the Brown Scapular at the time of their First Holy Communion; in the case of
converts the vesting concurs with their profession of Faith. When a person is
enrolled in the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular and vested in that time
habit of brown wool, the priest says to him: "Receive this blessed Scapular and
ask the most holy Virgin that, by Her merits, it may be worn with no stain of
sin and may protect you from all harm and bring you into everlasting life." The
following true stories will give a brief idea of how our Blessed Mother keeps
her promise.
Miracle of
Grace A priest relates that one day in
a town near Chicago he was called to the bedside of a man who had been away from
the Sacraments for many years. "The man did not want to see me: he would not
talk. Then I asked him to look at the little Scapular I was holding. 'Will you
wear this if I put it on you? I ask nothing more.' He agreed to wear it and
within the hour he wanted to go to Confession and make his peace with God. This
did not surprise me, because for over 700 years Our Lady has been working in
this way through her Scapular. On the very day that Our Lady
gave the Scapular to St. Simon Stock, he was hurriedly called by Lord Peter of
Linton. "Come quickly Father, my brother is dying in despair!" St. Simon Stock
left at once for the bedside of this dying man. Upon arrival he placed his large
Scapular over the man, asking our Blessed Mother to keep her promise.
Immediately the man repented and died in the grace and friendship of God. That
night the dead man appeared to his brother and said, "I have been saved through
the most powerful Queen and the habit of that man as a shield."
St. Alphonsus tells us: "Modern
heretics make a mockery of wearing the Scapular. They decry it as so much
trifling nonsense." Yet we know that many of the Popes have approved and
recommended it. It is remarkable that just 25 years after the Scapular vision,
Blessed Pope Gregory X was buried wearing the Scapular. When his tomb was opened
600 years after his death, his Scapular was found intact. Two great founders of Religious
Orders, St. Alphonsus, of the Redemptorists and St. John Bosco of the Salesians
had a very special devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and both wore Her Brown
Scapular. When they died, each was buried in his priestly vestments and
Scapular. Many years later, their graves were opened, the bodies and sacred
vestments in which they were buried were decayed-dust! BUT THE BROWN SCAPULAR
WHICH EACH WAS WEARING WAS PERFECTLY INTACT. The Scapular of St. Alphonsus
is on exhibit in his Monastary in Rome. Protection Against
the Devil You will understand why the
devil works against those who promote the Scapular when you hear the story of
Venerable Francis Ypes. One day his Scapular fell off. As he replaced it, the
devil howled, "Take off the habit which snatches so many souls from us!" Then
and there Francis made the devil admit that there are three things which the
demons are most afraid of: The Holy Name of Jesus, the Holy Name of Mary, and
the Scapular of Carmel. To that list we could add: the Holy Rosary. The great St. Peter Claver was
another of God's heroes who used the Scapular to good advantage. Every month a
shipment of 1,000 slaves would arrive at Cartagena, Colombia, South America. St.
Peter used to insure the salvation of his converts. First he organized
catechists to give the instructions. Then he saw to it that they were baptized
and clothed with the Scapular. Some ecclesiastics accused the Saint of
indiscreet zeal, but St. Peter was confident that Mary would watch over each of
his more that 300,000 converts! Our Lady Protects
a Missionary One day in 1944, a Carmelite
missionary in the Holy Land was called to an internment camp in order to give
the Last Rites. The Arab bus driver made the priest get off the bus four miles
from the camp because the road was dangerously muddy. After two miles, the
missionary found his feet sinking deeper and deeper into the mire. Trying to get
solid footing, he slipped into a muddy pool. Sinking to his death in this
desolate place, he thought of Our Lady and Her Scapular. He kissed his great
Scapular - for he was wearing the full habit - looked toward the holy mountain
of Carmel, the birthplace of devotion to God's Mother. He cried out, "Holy
Mother of Carmel! Help me! Save me!" A moment later, he found himself on solid
ground. Later he said, "I know I was saved by the Blessed Virgin through Her
Brown Scapular. My shoes were lost in the mud, and I was covered with it, but I
walked the remaining two miles praising Mary."
Saved from the
Sea Another Scapular story that
bears repeating took place in 1845. In the late summer of that year, the English
ship, "King of the Ocean" found itself in the middle of a wild hurricane. As
wind and sea mercilessly lashed the ship, a Protestant minister, together with
his wife and children and other passengers, struggled to the deck to pray for
mercy and forgiveness, as the end seemed at hand. Among the crew was a young
Irishman, John McCauliffe. On seeing the urgency of the situation, the youth
opened his shirt, took off his Scapular, and making the Sign of the Cross with
it over the raging waves, tossed it into the ocean. At that very moment, the
wind calmed. Only one more wave washed the deck, bringing with it the Scapular
which came to rest at the boy's feet. All the while the minister (a Mr. Fisher)
had been carefully observing McAuliff's actions and the miraculous effect of
those actions. Upon questioning the young man, they were told about the Holy
Virgin and Her Scapular. Mr. Fisher and his family were so impressed that they
were determined to enter the Catholic Church as soon as possible, and thereby
enjoy the same protection of Our Lady's Scapular. A Home Saved from
Fire Nearer out own times, in May of
1957, a Carmelite priest in Germany published the unusual story of how the
Scapular saved a home from fire. An entire row of homes had caught fire in
Westboden, Germany. The pious inhabitants of a two family home, seeing the fire,
immediately fastended a Scapular to the main door of the house. Sparks flew over
it, but the house remained unharmed. Within five hours, twenty-two houses had
been reduced to ashes. The one structure which stood undamaged amidst the
destruction was that which had the Scapular attached to its door. The hundreds
of people who came to see the place Our Lady saved are eyewitnesses to the power
of the Scapular and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A Train
Accident One of the most extraordinary of
all Scapular incidents took place right here in the United States. It happened
around the turn of the century in the town of Ashtabula, Ohio, that a man was
cut in two by a train; he was wearing the Scapular. Instead of dying instantly,
as is usual, he remained alive A Priest's Life Is
Saved Still another Scapular miracle
concerns a French priest who had gone on a pilgrimage. On the way to say Mass,
he remembered that he had forgotten his Scapular. He knew he would be late if he
went back to retrieve it, but he could not envision offering Mas at Or Lady's
altar without her Scapular. Later, as he was offering the Holy Sacrifice, a
young man approached the altar, pulled out a gun, and shot the priest in the
back. To the amazement of all, the priest continued to say the prayers of the
Mass as though nothing had occured. It was at first presumed that the bullet had
miraculously missed its target. However, upon examination, the bullet was found
ADHERING TO THE LITTLE BROWN SCAPULAR which the priest had so obstinately
refused to be without. Conversions We should even give the Scapular
to non-Catholics for Our Lady will bring conversions to those who will wear it
and say one Hail Mary each day, as the following true story will show. An old
man was rushed to the hospital in New York City, unconcious and dying. The
nurse, seeing the Brown Scapular on the patient, called the priest. As the
prayers were being said for the dying man, he bacame concious and spoke up:
"Father, I am not a Catholic." The why are you wearing the Brown Scapular?"
asked the priest. "I promised my friends to wear it," the patient explained.
"and say one Hail Mary a day." "You are dying," the priest told him. "Do you
want to become a Catholic?" "All my life, I wanted to be one," the dying man
replied. He was baptized, received the Last Rites, and died in peace. Our Lady
took another soul under her mantle through her Scapular. A Call to
Fervor
In October of 1952 an Air Force
officer in Texas wrote the following: "Six months ago, shortly after I started
wearing the Scapular, I experienced a remarkable change in my life. Almost at
once, I started going to Mass every day. After a short time, I started going to
receive Holy Communion daily. I kept Lent with a fervor that I had never
experienced before. I was introduced to the practice of meditation and found
myself making feeble attempts on the way to perfection. I have been trying to
live with God. I credit Mary's Scapular. Necessity of
Wearing the Scapular During the Spanish civil war in
the 1930's seven Communists were sentenced to death because of their crimes. A
Carmelite priest tried to prepare the men for death; they refused. As a last
resort, he brought the men cigarettes, food and wine, assuring them that he
would not talk religion. In a short while, they were all friendly, so he asked
them for one small favor: "Will you permit me to place a Scapular on each of
you?" Six agreed, one refused. Soon all Scapular wearers went to confession. The
seventh continued to refuse. Only to please them, he put on a Scapular, he would
do nothing more. Morning came, and as the moment of execution drew near, the
seventh man made it clear that he was not going to ask for the priest. Although
wearing the Scapular, he was determined to go to his death an enemy of God.
Finally, the command was given, the firing squad did its deadly work, and seven
lifeless bodies lay sprawled in the dust. Mysteriously, a Scapular was found
approximately 50 paces from the bodies. Six men died WITH Mary's
Scapular, the seventh died WITHOUT the Scapular. Saint Claude gives us
the solution to the mystery of the missing Scapular: "You ask, what if I desire
to die in my sins?" I answer, "Then you will die in your sins, BUT YOU WILL
NOT DIE IN YOUR SCAPULAR." Saint Claude tells the story of a man who tried
to drown himself three times. He was rescued against his will. At last he
realized that he was wearing his Scapular. Determined to take his life, he tore
the Scapular from his neck and leaped into the water. Without Mary's protective
garment he accomplished his wish, and died in his sins.
Further
Miracles A Jesuit missionary in Guatamala
tells of an incident of Our Lady's Scapular protection. In November of 1955 a
plane carrying 27 passengers crashed. All died except one yound lady. When this
girl saw that the plane was going down, she took hold of her Scapular, and
called on Mary for help. She suffered burns, her clothing was reduced to ashes,
but her Scapular was not touched by the flames. In the same year of 1955, a
similar miracle occured in the Midwest. A 3rd grader stopped in a gasoline
station to put air in his bicycle tires, and at that very moment an explosion
occured. The boy's clothing was burned off, but his Brown Scapular remained
unaffected, a symbol of Mary's protection. Today, although he still bears a few
scars from the explosion, this young man has special reason to remember the
Blessed Mother's protection in times of danger. The story below is true. It was
originally published in a German periodical under the title of 'Seine Mutter
Meine Mutter' by A.M. Weigl and translated by Anna C. Pertsch. It is reprinted
with the kind courtesy and permission of the Reparation Society of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary The Scapular that
saved two lives My battalion was a member of the
Irene Brigade. We were just about to advance. After we passed Eindhofen, our
trucks and tanks went through Uden. In the evening we encamped on an old farm
near Nigmegen. Behind the house there was an old wooden pump surrounded by
bricks. This offered a fine opportunity for a soldier to wash away the sweat and
dust of hours of fighting. You can well imagine that we made good use of this
opportunity. I was one of the group and so I tossed my jacket on the ground and
hung my Scapular on the pump while I washed. An hour later we received orders to
proceed about a mile and a half further and to occupy a trench there. We were
looking forward to being able to get a peacful night's sleep in that trench. I
was about to lie down and was unbutonning my collar when to my horror I realized
that I no longer had my Scapular. It had been a gift from my mother. I had had
it all during the war and now that we were approaching the lion's den was Ii to
be deprived of it? To go fetch it was unthinkable, so I tried not to think about
it any more and to go to sleep. I pitched and tossed from my left side to my
right, but I couldn't get to sleep. All around me my buddies were sleeping like
logs even though from time to time shells fell dangerously close. Finally I was
overcome by the desire to get my Scapular back and I crept out among my sleeping
companions. It wasn't so easy to get past the sentry but I managed to do it and
ran back the way we had come. It was pitch dark, but nevertheless I had good
luck and in a short time I was back on the farm and at the pump. My hands glided
searchingly all over the pump but the Scapular was gone. I was just about to
strike a match when there was the sound of a dreadful explosion. What was I to
do? Was that the sign of an enemy attack? As fast as I could I ran back to our
trench. Maybe I could do something for my buddies there. Near the trench I saw
the engineers busily at work hurriedly removing piles of dirt and barbed wire.
At the very spot where my companions had been sleeping there yawned a gigantic
shell-hole. Before they had vacated this trench the enemy had placed a time-bomb
in it and it had exploded during my absence. Nobody survived the explosion. If I
had not set out to fetch my Scapular, I would have been buried under that rubble
too. On the following morning I went
to the field kitchen and met a buddy there. He looked at me with astonishment.
"I thought you were in that trench!" "And I thought you were buried there!" My
friend continued, "I was lying in the trench but before I went to sleep I went
looking for you. But I couldn't find you. The corporal saw me hunting around and
asked me what I wanted. When I told him what I was doing there he said, "Be
sensible! Instead go to that inn nearby and get me a bottle of water." And while
I was on this errand, the explosion occurred." "Well, I escaped it by a hair's
breadth too," I replied, "but why on earth were you looking for me so late at
night?" "To give you this," he replied, and handed me by Scapular which he had
taken from the old pump. A Shield In Time
Of Battle Mr. Sisto Mosco of North
Providence, Rhode Island, is a veteran of World War II, who survived unscathed,
the invasion of Normandy, and later, the 7th Fleet War with the Japanese Fleet,
the taking of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and other bloody battles in the South
Pacific. Sisto affirms that his miraculous escape is another perfect example of
the powerful protection of Our Blessed Mother of Mount Carmel, through her Brown
Scapular. (I always wore my Scapular because I was brought up close to the
Church, and I kept it on me all through the war.)" The ship was loaded with
dynamite. A suicide plane hit the deck, real close to where I was positioned.
The blast blew open the bolted steel door of the compartment. I alone was left
uninjured after the explosion. The rest were dead or seriously mangled. I was
the only one untouched and I attribute it to the wearing of my Scapular." Mr
Mosco later received a commendation from the Admiral of the Fleet for bravery,
but in his heart he firmly believes that the credit goes to Our Lady, the Virgin
most powerful, who works such wonders through Her Habit of Salvation. Vatican
Approval In wearing the Scapular at all
times we make silent petition for the Blessed Mother's continual assistance. We
share in all the prayers and good works of the Carmelite Scapular Confraternity
throughout the world. Pope Pius Xii often spoke of the Scapular. On the 700th
anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady to St. Simon Stock, Pope Pius XII
referred to the Scapular as "The Sign of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary." The Scapular also represents the sweet yoke of Jesus Christ which Mary
helps us to bear. And finally, the Pope continued, the Scapular marks us as one
of Mary's chosen children, and becomes for us (as the Germans call it) a
"Garment of Grace". As we mentioned above, during the Scapular Anniversary
celebration in Rome in 1951, Pope Pius XII told a very large audience to wear
the Brown Scapular as a sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Our Lady asked for this consecration in the last apparation at Fatima, when she
appeared as our Lady of Mount Carmel, holding the Brown Scapular out to the
whole world. It was Her last moving appeal to souls to wear Her Scapular as a
sign of consecration to Her Immaculate Heart. A Brief
Summary The Scapular is a Habit - Our
Lady's Habit. The Scapular must be worn over the shoulders in such a manner that
one part hangs in front of the body and the other in back. Worn in any other
way, it carries no indulgence or promise. It is not necessary to wear the
Scapular next to the skin. Many Catholics may not know it is the wish of the
Holy Father, the Pope, that the Scapular Medal should not be worn in place of
the Cloth Scapular without sufficient reason. Mary cannot be pleased with anyone
who substitutes the medal out of vanity, or out of fear of making an open
profession of faith. Such persons run the risk of not receiving the Promise. The
medal has never been noted for any of the miraculous preservations attributed to
the Brown Scapular. May a non-Catholic wear the
Brown Scapular? Yes, and in so doing, a non-Catholic will receive many graces
and blessings with this special sign of devotion to the Mother of God. Although
baptized Catholics are the only ones who can be officially enrolled in the
Confraternatiy and share in the special Scapular privileges, non-Catholics are
warmly encouraged to avail themselves of this special way of honoring Jesus'
Mother. By wearing the Scapular, we are dedicated to Our Blessed Mother in a
special way and have a strong claim upon Her protection and
intercession. In
Conclusion Q. What is the Scapular? A. The Scapular is a small replica of the religious habit consisting of
two pieces of wool connected by ribbons and worn under one's clothes so that one
piece hangs in front and the other in back. Along with the Rosary and the
miraculous medal, the Scapular is one of the chief Marian sacramentals. Q. And what is a Sacramental? A. A Sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to
excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of
the heart, to remit venial sin. Q. Is it the sacramental itself that gives grace? A. No, it is not the sacramental itself that gives grace, but the
devotion, the love of God, or sorrow for sin that it inspires. In using the
sacramentals, the more devotion we have, the more grace we receive. Q. What is the difference between sacraments and sacrementals? A. The difference between the sacraments and the sacramentals is: 1st
the sacraments were instituted by the Church; 2nd, the sacraments give grace of
themselves when we place no obstacle in the way; the sacramentals excite in us
pious dispositions, by means of which we may obtain grace. Q. What are some of the other sacramentals besides the Scapular? A. The Sign of the Cross is the chief sacramental used in the Church,
besides which we have holy water, blessed candles, ashes, palms, crucifixes, and
images of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints, the Rosary, and the Miraculous
Medal. Q. Why do we call it the Scapular? A. The word "Scapular" comes from the latin word "scapulae" meaning
"shoulders". The Scapular is actually a miniature form of a monk's habit by the
same same which is a sleeveless outer garment falling from the shoulders to the
feet. Q. Why do we wear the Scapular? A. We wear the Scapular to indicate that we place ourselves under the
special protection of the Blessed Virgin. We can tell to what army or nation a
soldier belongs by the uniform he wears; so we can consider the Scapular as the
particular uniform of those who desire to serve the Blessed Virgin in some
special manner. Q. May a non-Catholic wear the Scapular? A. By all means - non-Catholics may wear the Scapular, and by so doing,
will draw down upon their souls much actual grace from Heaven. Our Lady, as a
good Mother will bring conversions to those who honor Her by wearing Her
Scapular. Q. Must the Scapular be blessed befor wearing it? A. The first Scapular to be worn must be blessed and imposed by a
Priest using the formula contained in the Roman ritual for reception into the
Confraternity of the Scapular. Q. What are the words used by the Priest when enrolling a person in the
confraternity of the Scapular? A. The words used by the priest when enrolling a person in the
Confraternity of the Scapular are as follows: "Receive this blessed habit;
praying the most Holy Virgin, that by Her merit thou mayest wear it without
stain; and that She may guard thee from all evil and bring thee to live
everlasting. R. Amen. By the power granted me, I admit thee to the partipation
of all the spiritual good works, which through the gracious help of Jesus Christ
are performed by the religious of Mount Carmel. In the Name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. R. Amen. May the creator of Heaven and Earth,
Almighty God, bless+thee; who hath deigned to unite thee to the Confraternity of
the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. We beseech Her,in the hour of thy
death, to crush the head of the old serpent; so that thou mayest in the end win
the everlasting palm and crown of the heavenly inheritance. Through Christ Our
Lord. R. Amen. Q. Would there be a sin if one ceased to wear the Scapular after having
received it? A. No, it would not be a sin, but by so doing, one would lose all the
benefits promised. If, having ceased to wear the Scapular, even for several
years, one should decide to wear it once again, no new ceremony of imposition is
necessary. Q. After having received the initial Scapular from a priest do
subsequent Scapulars need to be blessed? A. No, subsequent Scapulars need not be blessed as the blessing and
imposition are attached to the wearer for life. Q. What should be done with the Scapular when it it worn out? A. The Scapular, being a sacred object, when it becomes worn out must
be either buried or burned. It should not be disposed of in the regular
garbage. Q. What is the Sabbatine Privelege? A. The Sabbatine Privilege consists essentially in the early liberation
from Purgatory through the special intercession of Mary, which she graciously
exercises in favor of Her devoted servants...on the day consecrated to Her,
Saturday. Q. What are the requirements for the gaining of the Sabbatine
Privilege? A. There are three conditions for the gaining of the Sabbatine
Privilege. They are: (1)We must WEAR THE SCAPULAR (2)OBSERVE CHASTITYaccording to our state in
life. (3)RECITE THE LITTLE OFFICE OF OUR BLESSED
MOTHER(The Rosary or some other pious work can be substituted for the Office
of Our Lady. The faculty to sanction this change was granted to ALL
CONFESSORS The Promise of Our
Lady Our Lady Herself has said, "Take this
Scapular. Whosoever dies wearing it shall not suffer eternal fire. It shall be a
sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace." Holy Virgin
of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of the Scapular, Pray for
Us!
