I will greatly rejoice in Our Lady, for she has clothed me with the garments of salvation
and with the robe of justice.
This little adaptation of the verse in Isaiah chapter 61 perfectly describes what Our Lady has done for us
during her apparition to St. Simon Stock in England in the year 1251.
That is, she has given us a garment of salvation that we all know as the brown scapular.
St. Simon Stock was having great difficulties as he was minister general of the Carmelite order during the 13th century.
And so he appealed to Our Lady for help.
And she, one day, appeared to him holding a brown scapular in her hand.
And she said,
Take, beloved son, this scapular of thine order as a badge of my confraternity,
and for thee 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.
Now this promise later on had been extended not only to the Carmelites who wore the full brown scapular,
but also to all of the faithful.
And those who even wore just the little patch to symbolize the scapular.
And again, the same promise that Our Lady made to St. Simon Stock is also extended to all of the faithful.
That is, those who, wearing this habit of the brown scapular, live a life honoring her,
that they will be preserved from eternal fire, from the fires of hell.
And so, the wearing of the brown scapular reminds us, or should remind us, of three things.
First, that we are children of Mary.
Second of all, that we need to work for Our Lady.
And finally, it should be a garment of humility and penance.
First, by the brown scapular, we profess ourselves to be children of Mary.
The scapular of Our Lady is a badge or a uniform, so to speak,
by which we profess to whom we belong and who we serve.
Likewise, Our Lady, in turn, by wearing the brown scapular,
she recognizes us as her children, as her special children.
And because of that, she consequently protects us and watches over us.
The brown scapular should also remind us that we need to work for Our Lady.
Because the scapular, which means shoulder garment, was originally that.
It was a garment worn by religious in order to protect their habit,
the religious habit that they wore on a day-to-day basis during those periods of work
to keep it from getting dirty, stained.
From ripping, et cetera.
And so, therefore, the scapular is a working garb.
And so, this should remind us that there's no room for lazy piety.
If we wear the brown scapular and we consider ourselves Our Lady's children,
there's no place for lazy piety.
But rather, we should fill our lives with good works.
The brown scapular should remind us,
The brown scapular should remind us,
the need to faithfully fulfill our daily duties
and to make another adaptation of Scripture
to labor as good soldiers of the Immaculate.
Finally, the third place,
the brown scapular is also a garment of humility and of penance.
So, in a spirit of penance,
we should accept all of the difficulties of our state of life
and all of the suffering that we have to face.
We should accept all of the sufferings
that Our Lady may want to send us.
And the scapular will give us the strength to do this.
In all of our difficulties,
we can always grab on to our brown scapular,
remind ourselves of Our Lady's protection,
her watchfulness, her presence,
and especially at the moment of death,
when we can call to mind Our Lady's promise of salvation.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
pray for us.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.