The Brown Scapular of our Order

The Scapular is a habit known to all branches of the Carmelite Order. The Brothers and Sisters of the Order wear it in its true form, and large dimensions. The Tertiaries wear it in its true form, but in moderate proportions, and finally, the members of the Confraternity wear a sort of representation of it, so that the form and dimensions are much reduced in size, but according to concessions of the Sovereign Pontiff, all enjoy the privileges and spiritual favors attached to this holy garment.

According to the etymology of the word, the Scapular is a long, narrow garment, which simply covers the shoulders and falls equally before and behind nearly to the feet. The use of this garment is of the greatest antiquity in Carmel. John 44th, who lived about the year 400, in the work entitled, The Institution of the First Monks, gives a description of a garment almost identical in form with the present Scapular, which he calls superhumerale, and which was worn by the Solitaries of the Old Testament. The Abbot Dorotheus speaks also of a garment like it, in use amongst the Monks of Syria and Palestine, which he calls in Greek analabe.

Some ancient authors have thought that the Scapular was primitively a working garment, worn for labor, and when heavy burdens were to be carried on the shoulders, but Father Theopile Raynaud, S.J., in his work on the Scapular shows that this working garment, although it was also called Scapular, was entirely different in form from that worn by the Religious of Carmel, and that in consequence it could not be confounded with it. It appears beyond doubt, that in the Order of Carmel, as with the Monks of Syria and Palestine, the Scapular was an integral part of the religious costume, and that it had even then a mystical signification. John of Jerusalem, already cited, says that the Scapular or superhumerale in use among the Religious of Carmel, signified to them the sacred yoke of obedience, to which they voluntarily submitted for the love of God, on the day when they solemnly made the vow in the hands of the Superior or Abbot of the Monastery This habit, which they wore always, kept them in continual remembrance of their holy engagement. This mystical signification of the holy Scapular is faithfully perpetuated in the Order of Carmel even to the present day, for in the prayers of the Manual for the ceremony of Profession, it is appointed that the Superior should place the Scapular over the neck of the novice, kneeling to pronounce her vows, saying, “Receive the sweet yoke of Christ, and His light burden in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”

The Abbot Dorotheus, speaking of the Scapular of the Monks of Palestine and Syria, says, “We have an analabe, that is to say, a scapular, which we wear upon our shoulders, and which represents to us the Cross of the Lord. We wear this garment always, to recall without ceasing the word of Jesus Christ: 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me.’”St. Ephrem, speaking of the Scapular worn by the monks of his time, says that it had the power to put demons to flight, and that it inspired much terror to them, because it represented the Cross of the Saviour, and he gives an example of St. Julien, a monk, who escaped miraculously from the power of the demons, by means of the Scapular. St. Ephrem forthwith exhorts the monks never to go out of their cells without this holy garment. As the Scapular had been , from time immemorial the most sacred part of the monastic habit, and as it had already a symbolic meaning for the Religious of the Order, it is in harmony with Christian piety to understand the choice of the Most Holy Virgin when she preferred it to any other sign, as the distinctive mark of the privileged children of her heart, and the pledge of promises by which she wished to testify her love. It is as though she said, “this is the sweet yoke of your obedience to the law of God; this is the sign of your good will — it represents to you the light burden of the Cross of my Son that you must carry after Him; while you wear it you are my most dear children,I will be to you a mother, and I shall plead for you so earnestly that the grace of my Son shall not fail you in the hour of death.” The Gospel for the Feast of our Lady of Mt. Carmel is the Gospel of Calvary where Jesus said “Woman, behold thy son — son behold thy mother.” The Feast of Carmel may be called the Feast of the Motherhood of Mary; and the Scapular is a pledge of that love greater than all loves which she, the best of all mothers, has for her children. The Confraternity of Mt. Carmel is surely the oldest of Confraternities, as there are indulgences extant which were accorded to it by Pope Leo IV in 847. It was established in the West by the hermits when they were driven from Palestine by the persecution of the Saracens, but it received new luster and a marvelous increase after the gift which was the fruit of the prayers of St. Simon Stock.

Simon Stock of a noble family of England, was ‘born in 1164 at the Château of Hereford, in the County Kent, of which his father was Governor. From his youth he was favored with such extraordinary grace that he felt drawn to solitude, and at the age of twelve years, retired to a dense forest where he gave himself up to the most incredible austerities. He lived on herbs and roots, a fountain furnished him with water; for bed, oratory and cell, he had the trunk of a tree, where he could hardly stand upright. Here prayer was his only occupation, and his soul, by this holy exercise, acquired such perfect purity that it became like the angels. The Mother of God visited him nearly every day, and his communications with our Lord were so frequent, that his happiness seemed like the felicity of the Saints. He lived in this way nearly twenty years, when the Religious of Mt. Carmel came to establish themselves in England; he had been warned of their arrival by a particular revelation, and the Blessed Virgin told him to join them. He did so and then went to the Holy Land to imbibe the spirit of Elias. He remained there six years and his life was a continual ecstasy. The Blessed Virgin fed him with food from Heaven that seemed like manna. Afterwards he went to England and was elected General of the Order. Soon terrible trials came to the Order and St. Simon, full of confidence in Mary, placed all his difficulties in her hands. After some years of vows, prayers, sighs and tears, he had the consolation of being heard in a most astonishing manner. His prayer, like that of Elias, opened the heavens and brought down the Virgin Mother of God with rich treasures of grace to the needy and suffering world. Father Peter Swanington, companion, secretary and confessor of the Saint, writes of him, that he was broken with age and weakened by the austerities of his penitential life and that he often passed nights in prayer, sighing over the afflictions of his brethren. One day while at prayer he was filled with heavenly consolation, which he related to the Community as follows:

“My Very Dear Brothers: Blessed be God, who has not abandoned those who put their confidence in Him and who has not despised the prayers of His servants. Blessed be the Most Holy Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ! She hath remembered the ancient days and the tribulations which on all sides surround you, who do not reflect that those who live piously in Jesus Christ shall suffer persecution, and she addresses you this word, which you will receive with the joy of the Holy Spirit: I pray this Spirit to guide my tongue that I may properly communicate it to you. When I was pouring out my soul in the presence of the Lord, dust and ashes that I am, I prayed with all confidence to the Holy Virgin, my Sovereign, that as she had been pleased to name us her Brethren, she would also have the goodness to let us see that she was our Mother, by delivering us from our afflictions and procuring us consideration and esteem, by some sensible sign of her protection before those who persecuted us. Then I said, with tender sighs: Flower of Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven, Virgin Mother of the Son of God. Amiable Mother, ever Virgin, give to thy children of Carmel the Privilege of thy Protection, Star of the Sea, when she appeared to me with her heavenly court, and holding in her hand the habit [scapular] of the Order, she said: “This will be the sign of the privilege that I have obtained for thee and for the children of Carmel; whoever dies [piously] clothed with this habit will be preserved from eternal flames;” and as the glorious presence of the Holy Virgin rejoiced me beyond all I can express and as I could not, miserable wretch that I am, bear the sight of her majesty, she said to me as she disappeared, that I had only to send a deputation to his holiness Innocent, the Vicar of her Son, and that he would not fail to grant a remedy for all our troubles. While preserving, my Brethren, this word in your heart, endeavor to make sure your election by good works and strive never to sin. Watch, and offer thanksgiving for so great a favor, pray without ceasing, that the word communicated to me, may be verified to the glory of the Holy Trinity. Blessed forever be the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Virgin Mary.”

Father Swanington, under the date July 16, 1251, wrote this same account at the dictation of the Saint, with a letter of consolation to the Brethren elsewhere. The first miracle of the Scapular was worked on the very day that St. Simon received it from the hands of the Holy Virgin. Father Swanington wrote the account in Latin and it is translated as follows:

“The 16th of July, while the blessed Simon Stock was going with me to Winchester, to obtain from the Bishop of that city some letters to the Sovereign Pontiff, Innocent IV, we saw coming to meet us Dom Peter of Lington, dean of the Church of Winchester, who implored the blessed Simon Stock to hasten to the aid of his brother who was dying in despair. This man’s name was Walter ; he was petulant, haughty, quarrelsome and given to practicing magic; he despised the Sacraments and tormented all his neighbors. In a quarrel with a nobleman he had been mortally wounded, and seeing himself near the tribunal of God; in the horrors of remorse caused by the remembrance of his crimes recalled to him by the demon, he would not hear of God or the Sacraments, but cried out and blasphemed: ‘I am damned! It is to thee, O devil, I leave the care of avenging my murder!'

“We entered the house and he foamed with rage, ground his teeth and rolled his eyes like a furious animal. St. Simon Stock, seeing that he was about to expire, and had already lost the use of his senses, made the sign of the cross and laid upon him the holy Scapular of Carmel; then lifting his eyes to Heaven he prayed to God to give time for repentance, that a soul bought with the price of the blood of Jesus Christ might not become the prey of the demon. All at once the sick man regained his strength, recovered the use of his senses, and making the sign of the cross, cried against the demon, saying with tears : ‘Alas, wretch that I am, how terrible is the fear of my damnation! My sins are more numerous than the sands of the sea! O my God, Thy mercy is above Thy justice, have pity on me, and, you, my Father, help me.'

“At these words I went off to one side, with Dom Peter, who told me that, seeing his brother obstinate in his impenitence, he knelt down to pray for him, and he heard a voice saying : ‘Rise, Peter, seek my servant Simon, who is now on a journey and make him come here.’ He looked about to see who had spoken, but saw no one, and three times he heard the same voice. So thinking it a voice from Heaven, he mounted a horse and set out in search of the Venerable Simon Stock and gave thanks to the Lord that he had found him so soon. Walter, after his confession, renounced publicly all his engagements with the devil, received the Sacraments and gave signs of true repentance. He made his will, and obliged his brother under oath to restore all property that he had taken unjustly and to repair all the injuries he had committed; then, about eight o’clock that night he expired. Some time after he appeared to his brother, telling him he was in the mansions of peace and that by the aid of the most holy Queen of Angels, and by the Scapular of the blessed Simon Stock, he had escaped the snares Of the devil. The noise of this event spread through the city. Dom Peter wrote the account to the Bishop of Winchester. The Bishop assembled an Episcopal Council, where he resolved to question the blessed Simon Stock on the virtue of his habit. The latter obeyed the invitation, and replied to all inquiries and his deposition was duly registered. After this miracle of the Holy Virgin, Dom Peter offered the Carmelites a home in Winchester and built for them a beautiful Monastery.” Father Swanington continues: “ The renown of this prodigy spread rapidly throughout England and even beyond; a great number of cities offered monasteries to the Religious, and many noblemen came to beg the favor to being affiliated to our holy Order, so that dying in our habit, they might obtain, through the merits of the glorious Virgin Mary, a happy death.” The prodigies worked through the Scapular have continued to the present day, and their recital would fill a library. It is safe to say, that there is not a city or town of any importance that cannot relate its miracles of the Scapular.

Historians of the Order declare that its extraordinary expansion throughout Europe at this time, the “Golden age of Carmel,” so called, in a manner almost miraculous, was due to the fame of this vision, and the prodigies of grace that ensued. One instance alone may he cited. Blessed Jeanne of Toulouse, as will be seen later, was the spiritual daughter of Simon Stock. She learned of the vision from his own lips, and her influence and entire life were given to the spread of this devotion. Toulouse in her day counted an active membership of 5000, and that was only fifteen years after the apparition. Benedict XIII, in the 18th Century extended the Feast to the entire Church, in order to consecrate officially the universality of the fact that the cultus of Our Lady under the title of Queen of Carmel had conquered the entire world.

The significance of the Scapular, and its august history should be especially recalled in these times when the Scapular medal has so largely superseded the Old Scapular which, as we have explained, was an abbreviated habit, worn “over the shoulder” — “super humerale.” The history of the medal is as follows:

A Missionary among the savages in Africa found it very difficult to supply the native converts with Scapulars, for, as they lived under primitive conditions, their Scapular was unprotected by clothing, and soon became soiled. He thought, therefore, a medal on a string around the neck would be more cleanly, would last longer, and be more easily supplied.

After due consideration, he sent a petition to the Sovereign Pontiff, St. Pius X of blessed memory, explaining conditions, and the permission sought was granted, provided the medal suitably express devotion to Our Lady and recall the meaning of the Scapular. Such a medal was designed and sent to the Missions. Others heard of the privilege, and sought it for themselves, and the Church, a tender Mother, lending herself to the desires of her children, extended the permission for their ease and convenience. The Decree of the Supreme Congregation of the Holy Office given at Rome, December 16, 1910, reads in part as follows:

“The Sacred objects named Scapulars, are of very great assistance for increasing the devotion of the faithful and exciting them to resolutions of a more holy life. This is a thing well known. As the custom of receiving them is extending more and more, our Holy Father, Pius X, while most desirous that the faithful continue to wear them as in the past, nevertheless, has willed in response to the petitions that have been made to him by many, and after having taken counsel with eminent Cardinals, to grant the following decree.” Then follows at length the permission for the medal; the rubrics for enrollment, the privileges to be obtained, and so on.

In consequence, the venerable Scapular has been practically superseded, and whereas in former times it was well-nigh impossible for the Monasteries to supply the demand for Scapulars, now there is little or no call for them. Moreover, the idea has been commercialized, and pins, brooches, bracelets, every imaginable kind of ornament is made with the medal included or affixed, and the significance, the ancient garment, the livery of Our Lady, is gone. This certainly does not accord with the mind of the Sovereign Pontiff, or with the text of the Decree which permits the “medal to be worn about the neck or otherwise, but always reverently.”

Carmel deplores the necessity of the change, but realizes that authority is ever divinely inspired, and that it is far better to wear a Scapular medal than no badge of Our Lady, as would surely be the case in these days but for the benignity of the Holy Father. Let those who are willing to endure the slight inconvenience, wear the Scapular of wool, “as in the past,” according to the expressed desire of St. Pius X. Let those who are not willing, wear the medal, as they are permitted to do, but let them wear it prominently and appropriately, not as a piece of jewelry that may be lost or unperceived in case of accident or sudden death, — for it may mean the last absolution — it may mean Christian burial, if seen and recognized as the insignia of the Catholic, the pledge of the mercy of Our Lady.

Taken from the book “Carmel, Its History, Spirit, and Saints” (NEW YORK: P.J. KENNEDY & SONS, 1927), pp 218-226.