Our Blessed Mother told St. Simon: “This shall be a privilege for you and all Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit shall not suffer eternal fire.”
The Brown Scapular thus became privilege that the Church eventually extended to those willing to be invested in the Brown Scapular and who perpetually wear it. But some caveat.
On television, it is wonderful to see talk show host Boy Abunda wear a version of the Brown Scapular, but rather wrongly.
Meanwhile, those who spread devotion to the sacramental are too eager to declare that those who die wearing it would never go to hell.
Something amiss, something to be clarified.
Take this from the Carmelite fathers of the Brown Scapular: “To be eligible for the scapular promise, one must be enrolled in the Brown Scapular Confraternity. This is a simple ceremony which can be performed by any priest. The members of the Confraternity have the added benefit of sharing in all the spiritual benefits of the Carmelite Order.”
“Every priest now has the right to invest the faithful in the Brown Scapular and to substitute the rosary in lieu of the Little Office,” the fathers have stressed. I advise the reader to Google the “Little Office” which is some kind of a prayer formula. It’s called little, but not necessarily short.
Now as far as Boy Abunda’s scapular is concerned, notice he has been wearing a plastic version, with two flaps joined together in front.
Again, caveat. That’s not the official prescription. The fathers say: “The scapular must be 100 percent wool without plastic casing and should not be pinned or affixed to clothing. It is worn over the head, under one’s clothes, with one square of wool hanging on the chest and the other on the back.”
You’ll be surprised by this one note from the fathers: “Pictures are not necessary.”
Now, it would be wrong to think that the Brown Scapular is panacea to licentiousness. Go on with reckless life for as long as the scapular is worn, because the Blessed Mother would take you to Heaven on the first Saturday after your death. Very wrong.
Our Blessed Mother had asked for other conditions, and the fathers cited the following:
“Wear the Brown Scapular continuously. Observe chastity according to one’s state in life. Recite daily the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin or observe the fasts of the Church together with abstaining from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays or, with permission of a priest, say five decades of Our Lady’s Most Holy Rosary or, again with permission of a priest, substitute some other good work.”
Still, being a true devotee of the Brown Scapular is worth it. The fathers said that “a prayer offered while holding the Scapular is as perfect as a prayer can be. It is especially in time of temptation that we need the powerful intercession of God’s Mother. The evil spirit is utterly powerless when the wearer of a scapular faces temptation, calling upon the Holy Virgin in this silent devotion.”
The fathers stressed that “the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel has promised to save those who wear the scapular from the fires of hell; she will also shorten their stay in purgatory if they should pass from this world still owing some debt of punishment.”
This promise is found in a Bull of Pope John XXII. The Blessed Virgin appeared to him and, speaking of those who wear the Brown Scapular, said, “I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in purgatory I shall free so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting.”
Pope Benedict XV, the celebrated World War I Pontiff, granted 500 days indulgence for devoutly kissing your scapular.
Pope Paul VI, speaking of Marian devotions, especially of the Scapular, once said: “Let the faithful hold in high esteem the practices and devotions to the Blessed Virgin approved by the teaching authority of the Church. It is our conviction that the Rosary of Mary and the Scapular of Carmel are among these recommended practices. The Scapular is a practice of piety, which by its very simplicity is suited to everyone.”
Anyone interested can ask any priest to enroll him or her in the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular and even provide the priest with the following prayers for the investiture:
Priest – Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy.
Respondent – And grant us Thy salvation.
P – Lord, hear my prayer.
R – And let my cry come unto Thee.
P – The Lord be with you.
R – And with your Spirit.
P – Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, sanctify + by Thy power these scapulars, which for love of Thee and for love of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Thy servants will wear devoutly, so that through the intercession ofthe same Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and protected against the evil spirit, they persevere until death in Thy grace. Thou who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.
THE PRIEST SPRINKLES WITH HOLY WATER THE SCAPULAR AND THE PERSON(S) BEING ENROLLED. HE THEN INVESTS HIM (THEM), SAYING:
P – Receive this blessed scapular and beseech the Blessed Virgin that through Her merits, you may wear it without stain.
May it defend you against all adversity and accompany you to eternal life. Amen.
AFTER INVESTITURE THE PRIEST CONTINUES WITH THE PRAYERS:
P – I, by the power vested in me, admit you to participate in all the spiritual benefits obtained through the mercy of Jesus Christ by the Religious Order of Mount Carmel. In the name of the Father + and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. + Amen.
May God Almighty, the Creator of Heaven and earth, bless + you, He who has deigned to join you to the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel; we beseech her to crush the head of the ancient serpent so that you may enter into possession of your eternal heritage through Christ our Lord.
R – Amen.
The priest then should sprinkle holy water on the enrollee.
