Dear Friend,

Since I was a young boy, I’ve worn the Brown Scapular of Our Lady. Over the years, my appreciation has continued to grow for the hope and the consolation the promises this beautiful Marian devotion holds.

Before we reflect on this timeless devotion, please note that as we approach the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel tomorrow, you may still submit your intentions for the Feast Day Holy Mass. Let us contemplate the graces and benefits that are bestowed upon us, when we wear the Scapular:

A Timeless Devotion: Our Lady’s Brown Scapular

In Aylesford (Kent), England there stands an unassuming Carmelite monastery that you wouldn’t know had been graced by a visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary close to 800 years ago. 

A long-standing tradition tells us that Our Lady appeared there in 1251 to the Prior General of the Carmelite Order, St. Simon Stock, soon after the Order migrated from the Holy Land to establish itself in England. Mary is reputed to have handed St. Simon a brown garment called the Scapular and said that the soul of anyone who wears the scapular would not suffer eternal loss. 

From the Carmelites this beautiful Marian devotion spread to the faithful. Members of the Order wear the scapular (a term meaning a garment worn “over the shoulder blades”) as the outer garment of their religious habit to indicate their total consecration to the Virgin Mary. 

In other words, they clothe themselves in her mantle, which is not just a sign of personal dedication but, in a way, is also a symbol of Christ clothing Himself in Our Lady’s human nature. Such rich symbolism!

The faithful often voluntarily take up this devotion by wearing a smaller version of the scapular inside their clothes to indicate their devotion to Our Lady and/or their union with the spiritual mission of the Carmelites. The brown scapular consists of two small squares of cloth joined by light strings and is also worn over the shoulders as a sort of mantle covering and consecrating them to Our Lady. 

When people want to identify themselves with a sports team or a celebrity they often wear some piece of clothing that proclaims to the world that they are a loyal fan. Well, the Virgin Mary mastered that dynamic centuries ago! Since the Middle Ages, even to the modern age, church leaders have highly recommended the scapular devotion to the faithful, knowing that it profoundly identifies the wearer as belonging to Our Lady.

Although the scapular is a devotional item, it has enormous power to open our hearts and minds to the working of God’s grace. Those who wish to wear the scapular should take it upon themselves through a formal consecration by a Carmelite priest and enrollment into the lay confraternity of the Carmelite Order. 

However, these elements are not fully necessary to receive the graces of this Marian devotion. The most important part of any sacramental devotion is the faith of the believer, which provides the necessary internal element that gives all external signs such as the scapular their meaning and power. 

It is also not surprising that when Our Lady appeared to the three shepherd children at Fatima in 1917, her final apparition was in the guise of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. She appeared with St. Joseph and the Child Jesus while holding out the Scapular to the visionaries, signaling the essential meaning of Fatima: that consecration to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart is nothing less than consecration to Christ Himself. 

Such is the message of the Scapular devotion and the miraculous events of Fatima. As with all Marian devotions, the vision reminds us of the essence of her mission: ad Jesum per Mariam (“to Jesus through Mary”). She is the surest and safest pathway to the Savior. 

On July 16th every year we are privileged to celebrate the great feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Let us do so this year with great fervor and love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, who clothes in the garment of her holiness all who are devoted to Christ through her Immaculate Heart. 

May you and your family be enriched by the graces of Our Lady and her Son, Jesus Christ, 

Thomas J McKenna