"This great Lady is more desirous to grant us graces than we are desirous to receive them." (St. Bernardine de Bustis)
Having been raised in the Novus Ordo "Katholyc" church, I unfortunately only acquired partial Catholic truth while growing up. As is quite fitting for such an imitator church, it has worked its wiles to appear as the most holy Roman Catholic One. Of the many beautiful elements that was conveniently left out is Our Lady of Mount Carmel's gift of the brown scapular. In doing research into this sacramental, I share the following as a small portion of its history and priveleges:
"The Order of Mount Carmel, founded in the twelfth century by a Calabrian priest, rightly claims to be continuing a more ancient monastic tradition coming from Palestine. According to this, a number of men who walked in the footsteps of the holy Prophets, Elias and Eliseus, and whom [St.] John the Baptist had prepared for the advent of Jesus, embraced the Christian faith, and erected the first church to the Blessed Virgin on Mount Carmel, at the very spot where Elias had seen a cloud arise, a figure of the fecundity of the Mother of God. In 1245 [Pope] Innocent IV gave his approbation to the rule of the Carmelites under the generalship of Simon Stock, an English saint. In July, 1251, Our Blessed Lady appeared to the saint, and promised a special blessing to all, religious as well as others, who would wear the habit of the Order. Pope Innocent IV and [Pope] John XXII in his Sabbatine Bull, granted numerous privileges to those who would wear the scapular and belong to the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel."
"We have good reason to expect great blessings from the scapular. ...A special protection of the Mother of God, above all, against all enemies of our salvation, help in temptations, and the obtaining of many graces; also a special protection in bodily dangers, as experience teaches; the most tender protection at the hour of death, when Mary will not forsake her children, but will come to their succor with the angels and saints to guard them against the persecution of the devil, and will implore Jesus to save them from eternal ruin; at last in purgatory, where she will console them, and shorten their time of punishment, provided they have obtained, by fulfilling the required conditions, a claim to this blessed privilege. (Repertorium Oratoris Sacri)"
Learning of this gift of Our Mother as an adult, it was appalling to me why I wasn't given one as a child since I was under the impression I was Catholic. I proceeded to go to my parish office (a "Katholyc" one) and asked if I could hang a brown scapular from the hand of Our Blessed Mother's statue in the church (there was already a Rosary hanging from her other hand). My thought for requesting this was to prompt others to become aware of this forgotten sacramental and the promises attached to it. To my utter shock and dismay, however, I was sent an e-mail stating that the pastor had declined, claiming it might offend the statue's artist. What!?! Are you kidding me! In looking back, this was one of many signs that the current church operating out of Rome is an imposter "Katholyc" one!
For your edification, I have listed below the promises/advantages of wearing this remarkable sacramental for those who, with devotion, wear it as a sign of love and affection toward the Blessed Virgin Mary. (the four bullet points below, as well as the paragraph following are taken verbatim from drbo.org/scapular.htm):
* It is a safeguard and pledge of special protection in dangers of soul and body, which has been proved by many miracles.
* It is a sign of salvation, which means that a person wearing this scapular at the moment of death would be saved and would not go to hell. Thus for the just man on his death bed, Our Lady would obtain the grace of final perseverance; for a sinner, she would obtain the grace of conversion and the restoration of the state of grace, either by providing a priest to hear his confession, or by obtaining the grace to make an act of perfect contrition.
* We can be confident of a quick release from Purgatory, and
* We acquire the right to a participation in all the good works, penances and merits of the members of the Carmelite Order.
To claim the Sabbatine Privilege of being quickly released from Purgatory on the first Saturday, according to the Bulla Sabbatina, it is required that we should practice the virtue of chastity according to our state in life, and recite every day the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary (if not bound to the Divine Office), which may be replaced by observing abstinence on all Wednesdays and Saturdays, or by another pious work commuted by a duly authorized priest, such as (and most commonly) by the daily recitation of the holy Rosary.
CALL TO ACTION: Wear this treasure with great devotion to Our Lady.
Source of 2nd paragraph above: St. Andrew's Daily Missal, page 790; the E. M. Lohmann Co., St. Paul, Minnesota (copyright 1949); Nihil Obstat: J. Gerard Kealy, D.D., Cens. Theol. Deput.; Imprimatur: Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archrepiscopus Chicagiensis
Source of 3rd paragraph above: "The Fountain of Living Water," page 166; Fr. Pustet & Co. Publishers and Booksellers (copyright 1907); Nihil Obstat: Remigius Lafort, S.T.L., Censor; Imprimatur: John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Photo by Jonathan Dick