The Brown Scapular

scap2.jpg - 8.0 K The Brown Scapular

"Whosoever dies wearing it shall not suffer eternal fire."

"I promise you all, when you wear My Brown Scapular, you shall not be condemned to hell. I repeat: if you pass on over the veil and are wearing the Brown Scapular, you shall not see the fires of hell."
- Our Lady of the Roses, September 14, 1985

The Brown Scapular
A gift of love so powerful that it is a major instrument used in God's mercy to deliver souls—even ones with just a shadow of faith—from the fires of hell. A gift of love that Our Lady, herself, says is "a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace." This gift of Our Lady's love, the Brown Scapular, she gave to St. Simon Stock and the world on July 16, 1251, contains the beautiful promise, "Whosoever dies clothed in this habit shall not suffer the fires of hell."

It has been said, "Satan perceived what a great multitude of souls the Scapular was going to snatch from him, he groaned with rage and swore to avenge himself on this recent, other most terrible blow that the Immaculate had just given him. In his fury he declared war to the death on this sacred Habit, especially attacking the unusual privilege which it is endowed..." Such must have been the case when the devils once cried out to Francis de Yepes, brother of St. John of the Cross, "Take off that habit which snatches so many souls from us. All those clothed in it die piously and escape us." Holy men as St. Robert Bellarmine and Pope Benedict XIV confirm Our Lady's promise to be truly so. They explain this promise to mean that anyone dying in Mary's family will receive from Her, at the hour of death, either the grace of perseverance in the state of grace or the grace of final contrition. Pope Benedict XV asserts that the Scapular is a gift that goes into eternity. Addressing the seminarians of Rome one July 16th, Pope Benedict XV said: "Let all of you have a common language and a common armor: the language, the sentences of the Gospel; the common armor, the Scapular of the Virgin of Carmel, which you all ought to wear and which enjoys the singular privilege of protection even after death."

It is also said that the devil will raise up a cloud of doubt about Our Lady's Scapular. By saying such things as it is only two pieces of wool attached to a cord, how can such a thing have any significance in this modern world? The devil and his agents seek to take away this gift from you. To this, it can be said when the Church makes use of Her authority, through it's intercessory prayers, and invokes the benediction of Almighty God, Scapulars become sacred objects of divine favors. Further, these prayers of the Church have great strength, for they are united to the prayers of Our Lord Jesus Christ and of all the saints. Holy Mother Church by Her authority, declares this to be so.

But the devil doesn't stop there, he then attacks the authority of Holy Mother Church Herself. No matter what he may whisper in one's ear, the Church is sanctioned by Almighty God to impart it graces on sacramentals. Our Lord, Himself, our teacher, gave us examples to follow. Using clay to anoint a man's eyes, saliva to cure a man's eyes, and blessing loaves and fishes, and young children as well. He gave this power to the Apostles as casting out demons and all kinds of evil. Furthermore, these practices of God working through and giving his blessings through objects goes back to the Old Testament where the Jewish priests blessed the people every day. "Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed." (Ps. 1-7.)

By piously wearing the Scapular, we are continually thinking of Mary, at least intention, thus it becomes our prayer, and we are truly her children. Pope Pius XII stated, "The Scapular is a sign of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary." Blessed Claude de la Colombiere said, Because all the forms of our love for the Blessed Virgin, all its various modes of expression cannot be equally pleasing to Her, and therefore do not assist us in the same degree to Heaven, I say without a moment's hesitation that the Brown Scapular is the most favored of all."

As Holy Mother Church states, the Brown wool Scapular brings upon the wearer quite a heavenly shower of graces.

The pious wearing of the Brown Scapular:

brings the promise of eternal salvation
is a constant reminder in times of danger and temptation that Mary is watching over you and cares very much about you and what might happen to you.
helps teach one about the truths of religion.
excites good thoughts and increases devotion.
obtains favors from God through the prayers of the Church offered for those who make use of them, and through the devotion they inspire.
brings many actual graces upon the wearer.
helps bring forgiveness of venial sins, by being a true aid to true contrition. Exciting good thoughts and inspiring devotion and greater love of God as well as greater sorrow for sin, this devotion and sorrow bring grace, and grace forgiveness of venial sins.
helps bring remission of temporal punishment.
helps bring health of body and material blessings.
does not confer sanctifying grace immediately, but helps dispose one to its reception.
brings protection from evil spirits. We can wear the habit of Our Lady with great hope that it will preserve us from evil, it will provide protection against the devil, who goes about seeking souls to devour. The Scapular really is a badge of courage, protection against the evil one.

By wearing the Scapular piously we dedicate our lives to Jesus through Mary. She is the mediatrix of all graces bringing us always ever closer to Jesus. The Scapular is Our Lady's compass guiding us in the right direction. For a man in the middle of a jungle, does well to have a compass; so we Our Lady's children in this sometimes all too crazy world of ours—do well to have the Scapular to clothe us with direction in life. The Scapular is a heavenly life preserver. For a man in the middle of the ocean amongst all the crashing of the waves, the fierce tempest, the severe elements, would be foolish and put himself in great danger, not to have a life preserver. So, we, too, children of Mary, would seem foolish to go against the crashing waves of this world, the flow of this age of error, the whirlpool of evil influences, and the raging tempest of the devil, without Heaven's life preserve, the Brown Scapular.

In closing, we recall the words of Pope Leo XI who on the occasion of his papal investiture when the Scapular was accidentally removed from him said: "Leave me Mary, lest Mary leave me!"

Scapular to be 100% wool
The Scapular consists of two small pieces of brown wool connected by string and worn over the shoulders. The Scapular must be brown, rectangular in shape and made of 100 percent lamb's wool (symbolic of Jesus, the Lamb of God).

s2.gif (63760 bytes)

"My child, do not be stopped in your efforts to give out these Scapulars. I directed you well, My children, in several instances throughout your lifetime. Think back, My child and My children, think back to the days when you were enrolled in the Brown Scapular.
"I tell you now that should you wish to be enrolled, I can only suggest—though the outcomes may not be as you wish—I could only suggest that you approach a Franciscan priest, a Carmelite priest, or a Dominican priest. The others have fallen away to a certainty, and your chances of meeting up with success would be very little. My child, among the others." - Our Lady of the Roses, September 14, 1985

Directives from Heaven...

D80 - The Brown Scapular PDF

External link...

Rite for the Blessing and Investiture Of the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel