“Whoever dies clothed in this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.”                                           -          Mary’s promise to St. Simon Stock, July 16, 1251

“Wear it devoutly and perseveringly", she says to each soul,

“it is my garment.  To be clothed in it means you are continually thinking of me, and I, in turn, am always thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life.”

Brown Scapular Devotion

The brown scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the most popular devotion involving wearing of a scapular in the Catholic Church today. In the Middle Ages, a scapular was a full-length garment (an apron) worn over other clothing by monks and nuns, the color signifying the particular religious order. The brown scapular was revealed to St. Simon Stock, the Prior General of the Carmelite order in 1247. The Virgin Mary appeared to him and gave him the scapular and associated promises as a result of his pledge of complete loyalty to her.  [See APPARITIONS: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel]  The smaller version of the scapular is worn by lay associates.

Saints and popes throughout the ages have worn and encouraged wearing of the brown scapular.  And, many miraculous events have attested to the value of the sacramental (the scapular worn by Blessed Pope Gregory X, who died in 1276, was found intact in 1830).

Practices
1. Wear the Brown Scapular (or scapular medal) after enrollment*
2. Observe chastity according to your state in life
3. Recite the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary or five decades of the Rosary daily (usual requirements)

Promises/Benefits
1. "...whosoever dies wearing this (the brown scapular) shall not suffer eternal fire" (Virgin Mary's promise to St. Simon)

2. Sabbatine Privilege: release from purgatory on the first Saturday after death (revelation by the Virgin to Pope John XXII in 1322)

3. Partial indulgence granted by Pope Benedict XV to those who devoutly kiss the scapular

Enrollment involves a priest blessing the first brown scapular with this prayer:
"Receive this blessed habit; praying the most holy Virgin, that by Her merits thou may wear it without stain; and that She may guard thee from all evil and bring thee to life everlasting. Amen. By the power granted me, I admit thee to the participation of all the spiritual good works, which through the gracious help of Jesus Christ are performed by the religious of Mount Carmel. In the name of the Father, and the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

May the Creator of Heaven and earth, Almighty God, bless + thee; Who has deigned to unite thee to the confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. We beseech Her, in the hour of thy death, to crush the head of the old serpent.  So, that thou may in the end win the everlasting palm and crown of the heavenly inheritance. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."

After enrollment in the Confraternity of the Scapular, the scapular may be replaced by a Carmelite scapular medal worn around the neck. The enrollment is for a lifetime and need not be repeated, and new scapulars do not need to be blessed again but scapular medals do.