Brown Scapular

The Brown Scapular, that scapular which has saved so many souls from going to hell, came to us through the Carmelite order. This religious order (its full title being “The Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel”) obviously has its roots in the Holy Land on Mt. Carmel. These roots not only take us to Mt. Carmel but also back to the Old Testament. It was here on this mountain that the prophet Elijah gathered together a community of men. These men lived in caves on the mount, spending their days in solitude and prayer. They prayed to God and studied the Scriptures. From this seed that the prophet Elijah planted on Mt. Carmel grew the Carmelite order. The order itself considers its founder to be the prophet Elijah, and this has been confirmed by many popes throughout the centuries.

From the time that Elijah settled on Mt. Carmel onward, there continued to be hermits and/or monks living there. However, in the 1200’s, outbreaks of violence from the Moslems against the Catholics of the Holy Land caused problems for the monks living on Mt. Carmel. As the hostility grew, small bands of monks were forced to flee Carmel to other lands. Groups of them went to Cyprus, Sicily, France, Spain, and England. At the first chapter meeting of the order St. Simon Stock was elected general of the order. This means that St. Simon Stock was now in charge of all of the Carmelites in the world, which at the present time were not that many. This soon changed, for the order began to flourish, receiving many new members.

Soon, however, people started disliking the Carmelites. They began telling other people not to join them; and they also said that the Carmelites should not be permitted to exist. “We already have enough religious orders” they would say. Things then went from bad to worse. St. Simon Stock, being the head of the Order, turned to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and asked her for help. She was the patroness of the order; would she protect her order in its time of need? While St. Simon was praying about all this, Our Lady herself appeared to him. She told him not to worry; he was to “appeal fearlessly to Pope Innocent” to save their order from oppression and extinction. After Our Lady had told St. Simon this, she told him that she had something else for the Carmelite Order. She had appeared to him holding in her hands a Brown Scapular.

Now, before I continue I have a few things to say. Some people, after hearing Mary’s Brown Scapular promise, say to themselves, “Oh good. All I have to do is wear the scapular and I can live whatever way I want; Mary has promised that I’ll go to Heaven if I wear her scapular.” It doesn’t work like that at all. The scapular is a uniform; it reminds those who are wearing it that they are specially devoted to Our Lady, and should try the best that they can to live in a way that would please her. This would be done by trying to live a life that is in line with the laws and precepts that God has given us through His Catholic Church throughout the centuries. Anyone who thinks that all they have to do is put on Mary’s scapular, and like some magical charm, it will keep them from going to hell is certain to die without it on. There are many astounding but true stories of people who have died without the scapular because they were abusing the promise that Mary gave it. In some cases, the scapular was quite miraculously taken off of the person and found some distance away from them. So, remember that while we should certainly wear the scapular, it is important that we live in a way that would please her who gave us the scapular.

After the remarkable vision, St. Simon did just as Our Lady told him. He added the scapular to the habit of the Carmelites, and he appealed to the pope to save their Order from persecution and destruction. The pope upon receiving this appeal from St. Simon, issued a decree that protected the Carmelites, and it told others to stop oppressing and rejecting the Order. Mary had saved her Order, just as she promised that she would.

As people started receiving the Carmelites kindly again, they began realizing what a wonderful treasure the Brown Scapular was. Many people who were not religious soon wanted to be able to wear the Brown Scapular and enjoy the protection that Mary promised to those who wear it. A confraternity was organized, and people who joined it then became part of the Carmelites in a way. Those who had enrolled in the confraternity were then able to wear the Brown Scapular. However, since most of those joining the confraternity were people living in the world, a problem arose. These people all had certain things they had to do for a living; the sheer size of the scapular was getting in the way of doing their everyday work. So, it was then that a smaller scapular was regulated. It is the scapular that we lay people wear today. It generally consists of two small pieces of brown cloth, joined together by two strings or ribbons. This also slips on over the head, and fits nicely under most people’s clothes.

Thus concludes the history of the Brown Scapular. It is quite a powerful protection; everyone should make use of it’s benefits. Do you wear the Brown Scapular? You should. You can start wearing a Brown Scapular as soon as you can get one; but if it is the first one that you’re wearing, there is an important step that you must complete as soon as you can. In order to really share in the promise of the scapular, you must be enrolled in the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular. If you (or anyone else that you know) needs to be enrolled in the Brown Scapular, ask a priest to help you. Any priest can do the enrollment for you or any one that needs it done.

Now, a scapular was something that some other religious orders had been wearing as part of their habit. It is a long piece of cloth with a hole cut in the center so that you can slip it on over your head. It then hangs down to the ankles in the front and in the back. Mary then told St. Simon that she wished for him to take the Brown Scapular and add it to the habit of the Carmelites. She told him that the Brown Scapular would be an outward sign to them and all people that the Carmelite Order was especially dedicated to Jesus through her. She also included a promise with the scapular - she said, “Take this as the scapular of your order. This shall be a sign to you and all Carmelites: whosoever dies wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” What does that mean? It means that Mary herself promised to St. Simon that whoever dies wearing a Brown Scapular shall not lose their soul and go to hell.

So please, don’t hesitate to wear the Brown Scapular. It is a scapular that is very dear to Our Lady; we read about this in the lives of many Saints. Brown Scapulars have been found whole and intact in the tombs of Saints on more than one occasion. God has caused this to happen to show us how dear this devotion is to Our Lady. She has told us herself that she wishes us to do it. And why wouldn’t we? Everyone wants to go to Heaven; and the Brown Scapular is one of the many ways that we can be assured of getting there. Our Lady has promised that those who wear the Brown Scapular and try to live a Catholic life can be assured of going to Heaven. So let’s wear the Brown Scapular, for Mary ALWAYS keeps her promises.