The Catholic Church devotes months to certain devotions; she devotes a theme to a liturgical year, like this year’s Jubilee Year of Hope.  If we could label centuries as well, the 13th Century would well be named after Our Blessed Mother. In 1208, she appeared to St. Dominic, giving him the mysteries of the rosary and urging him to “preach my Psalter” (Fr. Don Calloway, Champions of the Rosary, pg. 36). Half a century later in 1251, she appeared to St. Simon Stock in England. She gave him the brown scapular, which the Carmelite order has worn ever since.  

The Promise of the Brown Scapular

Our Lady gave this extraordinary promise associated with the brown scapular to St. Simon: “Whoever dies invested with this Scapular shall be preserved from the eternal flames. It is a sign of salvation, a sure safeguard in danger, a pledge of peace and of my special protection until the end of the ages.” It almost sounds too good to be true.  

Back when I was in high school, I wore the scapular but did not know much about the devotion.  A classmate saw it and asked a question about it; I explained what I could and left him confused.  He came back a day later with a Scripture verse, concerned that I believed in a get-out-of-jail-free card. Can we simply bypass the Scriptures with what sounded like a technicality?  

I didn’t have a good answer at the time. In a roundabout way, my classmate’s concern testified to the grandiose nature of the scapular promise. On one hand, God will not be mocked: wearing the brown scapular with the intention of rejecting God and His grace will likely have little benefit. On the other hand, making the gesture to wear the brown scapular is in itself a small act of faith. Regardless of what kind of act of faith, God can do extraordinary things with small offerings.   

Other potential benefits to the brown scapular include the Sabbatine Privilege. For those that wear the brown scapular continuously, observe chastity according to their state in life, and do one of three spiritual practices (daily recitation of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, fast from meat on Wednesdays & Fridays, or say five decades of the rosary daily), it is said that Our Lady will deliver that soul from purgatory on the Saturday after he/she dies.  

Notes about wearing the Brown Scapular

In order to share in the graces associated with this devotion, one must be invested by a priest. It doesn’t have to be a Carmelite priest, though that was an older practice. Any priest can perform the prayers of investiture. There should be a catechesis that accompanies the investiture as well. 

It’s a miniature Carmelite habit—a silent prayer, according to the Carmelite nuns. Hence the strictness of the wool, brown color, and how it’s worn. It’s not a necklace, and the requirements for its wearing and material come from the idea of a habit. The scapular can be substituted for the scapular medal in special cases. As it has the role as a simple habit, Carmelites caution us on using a medal out of vanity or simple convenience.    

Devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel dresses in brown, with a white mantle. In one hand, she holds baby Jesus, and with the other, she holds the brown scapular. St. John Paul II, himself a wearer of the brown scapular, had this reflection on the devotion: 

“Therefore two truths are evoked by the sign of the Scapular:  on the one hand, the constant protection of the Blessed Virgin, not only on life's journey, but also at the moment of passing into the fullness of eternal glory; on the other, the awareness that devotion to her cannot be limited to prayers and tributes in her honor on certain occasions, but must become a ‘habit’, that is, a permanent orientation of one's own Christian conduct, woven of prayer and interior life, through frequent reception of the sacraments and the concrete practice of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.  In this way the Scapular becomes a sign of the ‘covenant’ and reciprocal communion between Mary and the faithful:  indeed, it concretely translates the gift of his Mother, which Jesus gave on the Cross to John and, through him, to all of us, and the entrustment of the beloved Apostle and of us to her, who became our spiritual Mother.” –Message of John Paul II to the Carmelite Family, 3/26/2001

John Paul II makes a great connection to that imitation and the occasion of Mary being given to us at Calvary. An authentic Marian devotion—in a sense, incarnated by the brown scapular—certainly is not a get-out-of-jail-free card in light of the list John Paul II provides in the above quote. Devotion to Our Lady involves our daily conduct, prayer, participation in the sacraments, and lived charity.  

Stories of the Brown Scapular

St. John Bosco and St. Alphonsus Ligouri wore the scapular, and when their bodies were exhumed years after their death, their scapulars had not decomposed. St. Claude de la Colombiere, spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, also advocated for the wearing of the brown scapular. St. Peter Claver made it a standard part of his catechesis and instruction in his ministry to slaves.  

In May 1981, John Paul II was shot in St. Peter’s Square, he famously said afterward that one hand shot the bullet (the assassin) and one hand guided the bullet (Our Lady). Both the assassin and the doctors were stunned that John Paul II didn’t die on the spot. When the pope was rushed into surgery, as they were preparing to operate, the Holy Father told them to leave his scapular on.   

The date of the attempt on John Paul II’s life was the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, May 13th. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel was part of the incredible Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, on October 13, 1917. Out of all the ways she could have appeared—not in the white, queenly garb she had previously appeared at Fatima. Not in white and blue clothing common to other apparitions. She appeared specifically as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, holding and extending the brown scapular out to the world. When Lucia was asked about it, she replied that the Blessed Mother wanted the world to wear the scapular, as it was a sign of our consecration to the Immaculate Heart. 

A quick internet search uncovers miracle after miracle of the brown scapular. All these stories have a powerful lesson for a skeptical world: the spiritual world is real, and God does intervene in fantastic ways to show us His love. 

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us!