A member of the Secret Information Club who I will codename Agent Mount Carmel writes:
Can you sometime share more on scapulars–the little brown ones for regular people to use?
I am an RCIA Candidate.
Happy to oblige!
I like to start by covering what the Church’s official teaching is regarding things, and despite the rich devotional tradition connected with scapulars, there isn’t as much official teaching as you might think, at least not in recent documents. One of the fullest recent statements came from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments a few years ago in their Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, which states:
The Brown Scapular and other Scapulars
205. The history of Marian piety also includes “devotion” to various scapulars, the most common of which is devotion to the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Its use is truly universal and, undoubtedly, its is one of those pious practices which the Council described as “recommended by the Magisterium throughout the centuries”.
The Scapular of Mount Carmel is a reduced form of the religious habit of the Order of the Friars of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel. Its use is very diffuse and often independent of the life and spirituality of the Carmelite family.
The Scapular is an external sign of the filial relationship established between the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and Queen of Mount Carmel, and the faithful who entrust themselves totally to her protection, who have recourse to her maternal intercession, who are mindful of the primacy of the spiritual life and the need for prayer.
The Scapular is imposed by a special rite of the Church which describes it as ” a reminder that in Baptism we have been clothed in Christ, with the assistance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, solicitous for our conformation to the Word Incarnate, to the praise of the Trinity, we may come to our heavenly home wearing our nuptial garb”.
The imposition of the Scapular should be celebrated with “the seriousness of its origins. It should not be improvised. The Scapular should be imposed following a period of preparation during which the faithful are made aware of the nature and ends of the association they are about to join and of the obligations they assume”.
Also on the Vatican level is this note from Pope Paul VI’s apostolic constitution on indulgences, Indulgentiarum Doctrina:
n.17—The faithful who use with devotion an object of piety (crucifix, cross, rosary, scapular or medal) properly blessed by any priest, can acquire a partial indulgence.
But if this object of piety is blessed by the Supreme Pontiff or any bishop, the faithful who use it devoutly can also acquire a plenary indulgence on the feast of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, provided they also make a profession of faith using any legitimate formula.
The plenary indulgence is, of course, on the usual conditions that apply to plenary indulgences in general (see n. 6-11 in Indulgentiarum Doctrina).
Concerning the brown scapular more particularly, I would recommend this message by Bl. John Paul II to the Carmelite community back in 2001, in which he deals with the subject in a profound but simple way. Among other things, he said:
Over time this rich Marian heritage of Carmel has become, through the spread of the Holy Scapular devotion, a treasure for the whole Church. By its simplicity, its anthropological value and its relationship to Mary’s role in regard to the Church and humanity, this devotion was so deeply and widely accepted by the People of God that it came to be expressed in the memorial of 16 July on the liturgical calendar of the universal Church.
5. The sign of the Scapular points to an effective synthesis of Marian spirituality, which nourishes the devotion of believers and makes them sensitive to the Virgin Mother’s loving presence in their lives. The Scapular is essentially a “habit”. Those who receive it are associated more or less closely with the Order of Carmel and dedicate themselves to the service of Our Lady for the good of the whole Church (cf. “Formula of Enrolment in the Scapular”, in the Rite of Blessing of and Enrolment in the Scapular, approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 5 January 1996). Those who wear the Scapular are thus brought into the land of Carmel, so that they may “eat its fruits and its good things” (cf. Jer 2: 7), and experience the loving and motherly presence of Mary in their daily commitment to be clothed in Jesus Christ and to manifest him in their life for the good of the Church and the whole of humanity (cf. “Formula of Enrolment in the Scapular”, cit.).
Therefore two truths are evoked by the sign of the Scapular: on the one hand, the constant protection of the Blessed Virgin, not only on life’s journey, but also at the moment of passing into the fullness of eternal glory; on the other, the awareness that devotion to her cannot be limited to prayers and tributes in her honour on certain occasions, but must become a “habit”, that is, a permanent orientation of one’s own Christian conduct, woven of prayer and interior life, through frequent reception of the sacraments and the concrete practice of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. In this way the Scapular becomes a sign of the “covenant” and reciprocal communion between Mary and the faithful: indeed, it concretely translates the gift of his Mother, which Jesus gave on the Cross to John and, through him, to all of us, and the entrustment of the beloved Apostle and of us to her, who became our spiritual Mother.
I should point out that there are several points connected with the brown scapular that are sources of some controversy, including:
- Whether the scapular was proposed in a private revelation to St. Simon Stock.
- What is meant by the claim (allegedly made by the Blessed Virgin to St. Simon Stock) that anyone who dies wearing the brown scapular will be saved.
- Whether, later on, Pope John XXII received a revelation from Mary that those who wore the scapular during life will be delivered from purgatory on the Saturday after their deaths, should certain conditions be fulfilled (this is called the “Sabbatine privilege”).
- The Catholic Encyclopedia article on Scapulars.
- The doctrinal portion of the “Rite of Blessing of and Enrollment in the Scapular of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel”
- This Carmelite catechesis on the brown scapular.
- Wikipedia’s article on the brown scapular.
It should also be noted that the Scapular, just like the Rosary, isn’t a priority – contrary to the erroneous teachings of souls who are over-devoted to Fatima, to the Virgin Mary, to the salvation of souls, etc.