Our Lady of Mt. Carmel & The Brown Scapular

Optional Memorial (1969 Calendar): July 16
Greater Double (1955 Calendar): July 16

Commemoration (1962 Calendar): July 16

The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel commemorates when Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, the superior general of the Carmelites, in Cambridge, England, on Sunday, July 16, 1251. The Carmelite Order was founded in the 1100s on Mount Carmel, the same place in the Holy Land mentioned in the Bible in 1 Kings 18:16-40. It was there that the prophet Elijah took his stand against the pagan prophets of Baal and Asherah by the power of God.

St. Simon Stock had appealed to Mary through prayer to help the new Carmelite order to overcome oppression. She appeared with the Brown Scapular and said to him:

"Take, beloved son, this scapular of the order as a badge of my confraternity and for you and all Carmelites a special sign of grace; whoever dies in this garment, will not suffer everlasting fire. It is the sign of salvation, a safeguard in dangers, a pledge of peace and of the covenant"

Later that day, St. Simon Stock was called promptly by Lord Peter of Linton: "Come quickly, Father, my brother is dying in despair!" St. Simon Stock placed his large Scapular over the dying man and prayed that Mary would keep her promise. The man instantly repented of his sins and died in a state of grace. Blessed Pope Gregory X was buried wearing the Scapular, only 25 years after the vision. When his tomb was opened over 600 years later, the wool scapular remained perfectly intact and had not degraded in the least.

The Church keeps the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16th. And to show just how important the Scapular is, she sanctions and encourages the promises of the Scapular. The Blessed Mother promised that whoever dies clothed in the Scapular will not suffer eternal fire. This promise though requires a few conditions on our part. It is not just a piece of magic where we seek to bend the will of God to us. Catholics do not believe in magic. But we do believe in the Scapular as a Sacramental through which we can receive God’s through if we have the right dispositions.

Requirements of the Brown Scapular:

• The Scapular must hang over the shoulders with one side hanging in the front and the other side hanging in the back
• The Scapular must be made of 100% wool and be either square or rectangular 
• One must be properly enrolled in the Brown Scapular. Any priest may say the prayers of enrollment in the Brown Scapular. But wearing the Scapular without the enrollment does not permit the wearer to receive the benefits of the Brown Scapular.
• One must wear the Scapular at all times. It may of course be taken off to bathe and swim. But the Brown Scapular is not just a devotion we pull out from time to time. It must, with only certain exceptions, be worn at all times.

Sometimes confusion arises on these requirements. Please refer to the website of the Sisters of Carmel for answers to common questions concerning the Scapular.

There is also a promise called the Sabbatine Privilege that is also concerning the Brown Scapular. 

It is piously believed that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave to Pope John XXII in a vision, that She will deliver Her faithful children who have worn the Scapular devoutly from purgatory soon after their death, notably the first Saturday after death. Her words to Pope John XXII: “As a tender Mother, I will descend into purgatory on the Saturday after their death, and will deliver them into the heavenly mansions of life everlasting.”  This Sabbatine Privilege was promulgated and taught through the famous Bull Sacratissimo Uti Culmine (Sabbatine Bull) of Pope John XXII in 1322 and given definitive ratification in 1908 by the Holy See.

Requirements for the Sabbatine Privilege:

• Wear the Brown Scapular Continuously (as mentioned above)
• To observe chastity according to one’s state in life
• Lastly, the daily recitation of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary or to abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays or with the permission of a priest say 5 decades of the Holy Rosary.

Such promises are serious. And God has blessed the Scapular with many miracles, as if to indicate the blessing of the Scapular and the promises attached to them.

In May of 1957, a Carmelite priest in Germany published the unusual story of how the Scapular saved a home from fire. An entire row of homes had caught fire in Westboden, Germany. The pious inhabitants of a 2-family home, seeing the fire, immediately fastened a Scapular to the main door of the house. Sparks flew over it and around it, but the house remained unharmed. Within 5 hours, 22 homes had been reduced to ashes. The one structure which had the Scapular attached to its door. The hundreds of people who came to see the place Our lady had saved are eye-witnesses to the power of the Scapular and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Another Scapular story that bears repeating took place in 1845. In the late summer of that year, the English ship, "king of the Ocean" found itself in the middle of a wild hurricane. As wind and sea mercilessly lashed the ship, a Protestant minister, together with his wife and children and other passengers, struggled to the deck to pray for forgiveness and mercy, as the end seemed at hand. Among the crew was a young Irishman, John McAuliffe. On seeing the urgency of the situation, the youth opened his shirt took off his Scapular, and, making The sign of the Cross with it over the raging waves tossed it into the ocean. At that very moment, the wind calmed. Only one more wave washed the deck, bringing with it the Scapular which came to rest at the boy's feet. All the while the minister; a Mr. Fisher, had been carefully observing McAuliffe's actions and the miraculous effect of those actions. Upon questioning the young man, they were told about the Holy Virgin and Her Scapular. Mr. Fisher and his family were so impressed that they were determined to enter the Catholic Church as soon as possible, and thereby enjoy the same protection of Our Lady's Scapular.

One of the most extraordinary of all Scapular incidents took place right here in the United States. It happened around the turn of the century in the town of Ashtabula, Ohio, that a man was cut in two but a train; he was wearing the Scapular. Instead of dying instantly, as would be expected he remained alive and conscious for 45 minutes -- just enough time until a priest could arrive to administer the Last Sacraments. These, and other such incidents, tell us that Our Blessed Mother will take personal care of us in the hour of our death. So great and powerful a Mother is Mary that She will never fail to keep the Scapular contract, i.e. to see that we die in God's grace.

These are just some of the many miracles attributed to the Blessed Mother. There are many, many others attributed to the Brown Scapular.

"One Day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, I will save the world” (Words of our Lady to St. Dominic)

In wearing the Scapular at all times we make silent petition for the Blessed Mother’s continual assistance. We share in all the prayers and good works of the Carmelite Scapular Confraternity throughout the world. Pope Pius XII often spoke of the Scapular. On the 700th anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady to St. Simon Stock, Pope Pius XII referred to the Scapular as “the sign of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary”. The Scapular also represents the sweet yoke of Jesus Christ, which Mary helps us to bear. And finally, the pope continued, the Scapular marks us as one of Mary’s chosen children, and becomes for us (as the Germans call it) a “Garment of Grace”. St. Claude tells us, “Of all the pious practices which have inspired the faithful to honor the Mother of God, there is none so sure as that of the Scapular.

No other devotion has been confirmed by so many and such extraordinary miracles.” As we mentioned above, during the Scapular Anniversary celebration in Rome in 1951, Pope Pius XII told a very large audience to wear the Brown Scapular as a sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our Lady asked for this consecration in the last apparition at Fatima, when She appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, holding the Brown Scapular out to the whole world. It was Her last moving appeal to souls to wear Her Scapular as a sign of consecration to Her Immaculate Heart.

Are there any friends who need to know about the scapular? Share this with them. Do you need to encourage any Catholics who were never enrolled to be enrolled? Do you know any Catholics who were enrolled long ago and no longer wear the Scapular. Consider buying them a Scapular. Even if they are not overly religious, they will likely never refuse a gift.

Click here to browse various affordable Scapulars for sale.

Also, it’s important to realize that the Brown Scapular is only one of 17 different approved Scapulars. All of the other Scapulars have various requirements and promises. You would need to be enrolled in each of them as all have different prayers of enrollment.

Prayer:

O God, Who hast honored the Order of Carmel with the special title of Thy most Blessed Mother Mary, ever Virgin: mercifully grant, that we who celebrate her memory this day with solemn office, may be shielded by her protection and deserve to come to everlasting joys: Who livest and reignest.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

11. BLESSING AND INVESTITURE WITH SCAPULAR OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL (1962 Rituale Romanum)

(Formerly reserved to the Order of Discalced Carmelites)

The person who is to receive the scapular is kneeling. The priest vested in surplice and white stole, says:

The antiphon, versicles, and the prayer "May Christ," etc., for all of which see below. Then he adds the following versicles and oration:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

P: Blessed be the name of the Lord.

All: Both now and forevermore.

P: Lord, heed my prayer.

All: And let my cry be heard by you.

P: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Almighty God and everlasting Father, who willed that your only- begotten Son be clothed in our mortal nature, we humbly beg you in your boundless goodness to let your blessing flow out on this garment, which our holy fathers have sanctioned to be worn by those who renounce the world, in token of innocence and lowliness. Let it please you to endow it with such blessing, that he (she), who is to wear it, may likewise put on our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

All: Amen.

Then he says the prayer "We earnestly beg you," etc., see below; after which he sprinkles the habit with holy water. If only the habit is to be blessed, the blessing begins with the versicle Our help etc. (see above) and concludes with the aforementioned prayer "We earnestly beg you," etc.

As he invests the person with the habit he says: "Take, dear brother," etc. (see below); after which he adds:

Lord, hear our humble entreaties, and help this servant of yours, whom we enroll in the holy sodality of the Carmelites, to be ever constant and true to his (her) proposal, and to serve you in all holiness. Protect your servant, Lord, with the saving grace of peace; and as he (she) confides himself (herself) to the patronage of blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, let him (her) be safe from all adversaries.

Then he blesses the new member with the sign of the cross, using the prayer "May almighty God," etc., below.

He sprinkles the person with holy water; after which he adds:

By the delegated power which I enjoy, I receive you into the confraternity of the holy order of Carmelites, and enroll you as a partaker of all the spiritual benefits of this order; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.

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Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary began as an abridged version of the Common of the Blessed Virgin in the Divine Office. In the 10th century, it became widespread as a votive office, and in the 11th century was reorganized by St. Peter Damian. By the 12th century it was used throughout Europe and obligatory for all clergy. It was also popular among the laity. The obligation was lifted by St. Pius V in 1568. At the Council of Trent, the Little Office was de-emphasized in favor of the Divine Office (The Liturgy of the Hours), the prayer of the Church.

After Trent, the Little Office became a devotional office, prayed by nonclerical religious. It was revised in 1952, with the addition of many new texts.

The traditional version of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is available on Amazon.com.

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Pray for our Separated Brethren

In the past few days, a growing number of Protestants have visited my blog. First and foremost, I have nothing against the people but rather the theology of Protestant denominations.

Two of the greatest problems I have with Protestants is their belief in "Faith-alone" and "Scripture-alone". These are wrong - period. In addition to all of their Sacraments except Baptism and marriage in some cases being invalid, Martin Luther abolished the Mass, refused to believe in Purgatory, and denied the power of the saints' intercession for us, et cetera. Several Protestant comments were posted on my posts: What's wrong with Martin Luther, Gay Marriage Defeated, & Will All Catholic be saved.

Please pray that all Protestants will reunite with the Catholic Church so that we "might be one" as Our Lord prayed (John 17:21).

Image Source: Pope Pius XII

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Daily Offering to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the Dying

O Lord Jesus Christ, in union with that Divine intention with which Thou, whilst on earth, didst give praise to God through Thy most Sacred Heart, and which Thou dost still everywhere offer to Him in the Holy Eucharist, even to the consummation of the world, I, in imitation of the most sacred heart of the ever immaculate Virgin Mary, do most cheerfully offer Thee, during this entire day, all my thoughts and intentions, all my affections and desires, my words, and all my works, for those who are dying this day and have no one to pray for them. Amen

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Persecuting the Church is Persecuting Jesus

Image Source: Body of Pope Benedict XV

Those people who claim to approach Christ whilst leaving his Church to one side, and even causing her harm, may one day get the same surprise as Saint Paul did when he was on his way to Damascus: I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:5) And, the Venerable Bede reflects that He does not say "why are you persecuting my members, but why are you persecuting me?" For He is still affronted in his Body, which is the Church. Paul did not know until that moment that to persecute the Church was to persecute Jesus himself. When he speaks about the Church later on, he does so in words that describe her as the Body of Christ; (1 Cor 12:27) and he describes the faithful as members of Christ's Body. (1 Cor 2:27) It is not possible to love, follow or listen to Christ, without loving, following, or listening to the Church, because she is the presence, at once sacramental and mysterious, of Our Lord, who prolongs his saving mission in the world to the very end of time."

Source: In Conversation With God Vol 4 by Francis Fernandez

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Contact your Senators: Stem Cell Research vote on Tuesday!

This coming Tuesday, July 18, 2006, the United States Senate will be voting on three very important life bills - two of which are pro-life. Cardinal William Keeler is urging the Senate to reject HR 810 while supporting the other two bills. Please email your US Senators immediately.

Most importantly, ask your United States Senators to vote against HR 810, which would use taxpayer funds to pay for embryonic stem cell research. According to today's LifeNews report, it is very likely that HR 810 will pass; however, President George W. Bush has promised to veto this bill! That is excellent. And if he does veto it, it is very unlikely that a 2/3 majority will pass the bill in the House of Representatives (1) It would be his first veto as President.

At the same time ask your Senators to vote in support of Brownback-Santorum bill to ban "fetal farming" and the Santorum-Specter bill to fund alternative methods of producing genetically controlled, pluripotent stem cells -- the same kind of stem cells we would get from cloning, but without the embryo destruction. Congress can support stem cell research without destroying life! (2)

Please contact your represenatives. You can quickly find addresses, phone numbers, and email contact information for your two senators by going to the official website of the United States Senate. Since the vote is just this coming next Tuesday, I recommend sending them an email. After you contact them, please pass this along to others through your blogs and email. We need to get the word out as soon as possible.

Myths and Facts on Embryonic Stem Cell Research:
Myth: Embryonic stem cell research is curing patients and doing a better job than the use of adult stem cells.

Fact: Embryonic stem cell research has not only yet to cure a single human patient, but it has never been tried on humans because of failures in animal testing. On the other hand, adult stem cells have already produced 70 cures or treatments for various conditions including various cancers such as breast cancer, lymphomas, leukemia, arthritis, heart damage, Parkinson’s, Sickle Cell Anemia and other disorders. (See http://www.stemcellresearch.org/facts/treatments.htm).


Myth: Embryonic stem cell research has the potential to cure Alzheimer's patients like President Ronald Reagan.

Fact: Leading researchers say stem cell research will not likely yield cures for Alzheimer's. "Alzheimer's is a more global disease, with an effect on numerous kinds of cells," Steve Stice, a stem cell researcher at the University of Georgia, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. "That makes it much more difficult for a cell therapy to be effective." Marilyn Albert, a Johns Hopkins University researcher, adds, "I just think everybody feels there are higher priorities for seeking effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease and for identifying preventive strategies."


Myth: An overwhelming majority of Americans want to spend federal funds on embryonic stem cell research.

Fact: The most recent poll on the subject, conducted by International Communications Research in mid-May, finds 48% of Americans oppose federal funding of stem cell research that requires destroying human embryos. Just 39% support such funding and another 12 percent had no position. The ICR survey found 57% favored funding only the research avenues that do not harm the donor. Just 24% favored funding all stem cell research, including the type that involves destroying human embryos.

(Received the Myth/Fact sheet in an email)

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Words of Inspiration: July 13, 2006

"Even if you give somebody a glass of water, you do it to Jesus" (Blessed Mother Teresa)

Image Source: Unknown, Believed to be in the Public Domain

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Will All Catholics Be Saved?

No! It is not enough to be a Catholic to get to Heaven. One has to be a good Catholic. "Many Catholics will be lost, because they are only nominal, not practical, Catholics, and because they reject some doctrines of the Catholic Church, especially such as oppose their inclinations and passions. Remember, he who rejects even one doctrine proposed to our Faith by the Church will certainly be lost (James 2:10), even though he should lead a good life." (From THE PULPIT ORATOR, Volume VI.)

Our Lord said, "He who believes shall be saved" (Mark 16:16)~ But God said many other things as well:

"If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15); and "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matt. 19:17).

"He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die" (Lev. 24:16).

"Keep you my Sabbath: for it is holy unto you. He that shall profane it, shall be put to death. Everyone that shall do any work on this day shall die" (Exodus 3l:1-15).

"Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither idolaters, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9-10).

"A thief is better than a man that is always lying: but both of them shall inherit destruction" (Ecclus. 20:27).

"Neither fornicators nor adulterers . . . shall possess the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9). "You have heard that it was said to the Ancients, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' But I say to you that anyone who so much as looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matt. 5:27-28). "Keep thyself chaste" (1 Tim. 5:22). "Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8).

"There is not a more wicked thing than to love money, for such a one setteth even his own soul at stake."(Ecclus. 10:10).

"If anyone lie with a man as with a woman, both have committed an abomination. Let them be put to death" (Lev. 20:13).

"Hear me, and I will show thee who they are, over whom the devil can prevail. For they who in such manner receive matrimony, as to shut out God from themselves, and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust, as the horse and mule, which have not understanding, over them the devil has power" (Book of Tobias, 6:1&22).

And Christ's Mystical Body on earth, His Church ("He who hears you, hears Me" - Luke 10:16), says:

"Each act of marriage must be left open to conception" (Pope Pius Xl's Encyclical "Casti Connubi", December 31, 1930).

"If anyone says that the commandments of God are, even for one that is justified and constituted in grace, impossible to observe, let him be anathema" (Council of Trent, Canon 18 on Justification).

"If anyone says that a man who is justified and however perfect is not bound to observe the commandments of God and the Church, but only to believe, as though the Gospel were a bare and absolute promise of eternal life without the condition of obeying the commandments, let him be anathema" (Council of Trent, Canon 20 on Justification).

Therefore, although it is true that Catholics alone profess the true faith "without which," as St. Paul assures us, "it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6); nevertheless, as St. James concludes: "Faith, without good works, is dead" (James 1:22:27).

"Sometimes people say 'It is better to be a good Protestant than a bad Catholic.' That is not true. That would mean at bottom that one could be saved without the true Faith. No, a bad Catholic remains a child of the family - although a prodigal; and however great a sinner he may be, he still has the right to mercy. Through his faith, a bad Catholic is nearer to God than a Protestant is, for he is a member of the household, whereas the Protestant is not. And how hard it is to make him become one!" (St. Peter Julian Eymard, 1811-1868).

Source: Open Letter to Non-Catholics

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Miracle attributed to Venerable Margaret Sinclair?

Church officials are looking into reports that a deceased nun helped a premature baby from Scotland to live after doctors gave up hope for the infant’s life. The baby's family was given permission to place the relic of Venerable Margaret Sinclair in the incubator of the infant, who weighed just one pound when born. Today he is four months old and healthy.

"Pope John Paul II told me when we were discussing the cause of Margaret Sinclair to ask the people to pray for a miracle and this has been happening,” said Edinburgh Archbishop, Cardinal Keith O'Brien. He also said that we must be cautious. The doctors and nurses are being asked to send medicals statements to Church officials.

Sr. Margaret died in 1925. Pope Paul VI declared her a Servant of God in February 1978. If this is declared a miracle, she will be beatified. If declared a saint, she will be only the second canonized, Scottish saint.

Source: Catholic News Agency

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The Primacy of St. Peter

 Writing on this topic, Fr. John Laux writes in "Catholic Apologetics Book IV":

The protest contention [that the powers bestowed on St. Peter by Christ in Matthew 16 were personal and not permanent] is manifestly wrong; for it is clear from the words with which Our Lord conferred the Primacy on Peter that it was not a personal privilege, such as the power of working miracles or the gift of tongues, but a permanent institution, necessary for the very existence of the Church. 

The Church which Christ founded is to endure till the end of time, and Peter, according to the promise of Christ, is to be the rock foundation of that Church, giving it unity and strength, and securing it against the gates of hell. But the foundation must last as long as the ediface lasts which is built upon it. Hence the power and authority that made Peter the Rock of the Church must remain intact for all time; his Primacy must be perpetuated in the only possible way, that is, by transmission through a continuous line of successors.

Fr. Laux continues:

The Bishops of Rome have always claimed to be the successors of St. Peter, the heirs of his Primacy. No other See in Christendom ever made such a claim. St. Peter ruled the Church of Antioch before he went to Rome, yet Antioch never disputed the right of Rome to the unique dignity of Apostolic Primacy. Ephesus and Smyrna and the other Churches of Asia Minor over which St. John, the Beloved Disciple, presided long after Peter's death never contested the claim of Rome.

This is further shown through a study of history. St. Clement of Rome, the third Successor of St. Peter, governed the Church and exercised the Primacy of the Papal Office for the first recorded time in 96 AD when he dispatched a powerful letter to the Corinthians. This fact of his intervention and jurisdiction is remarkable since the Apostle St. John was himself still alive and presiding over the Church in Ephesus. 

Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”   Matthew 10:1-7

We notice St. Peter is always listed first in every list of the apostles in the Gospels - Judas Iscariot is always listed last. This is one point showing the Primacy of Peter - he is higher than all of the other disciples. Peter's name is mentioned 155 times. All of the other eleven disciples combined are listed only 130 times.

Furthermore, we see in John 21:15-19, the discourse between Peter and Jesus. In this discourse, Jesus says, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these [the other disciples]?" Peter says "yes". In that conversation, Peter professes his faith in Christ three times to make up for the three times he denied our Lord during His Passion. Unlike Judas, who lost his soul because he refused to ask God's mercy for his actions, Peter is forgiven because he seeks forgiveness.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter is the spokesmen and always speaks for the group. People would lay in the streets just wanting Peter's shadow to fall on them (Acts 5:15). We see that St. Peter was given a higher authority than the other disciples. St. Peter was the first pope - the one that Christ founded His Church upon (Matthew 16:18-20).

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