The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel and its history are inseparably bound up with the mighty calling of the prophet Elijah, of whom the first volume of the Speculum Carmelitanum of 1680 says: Elijah, a most holy prophet, a high priest, the first monk and founder of monasticism; herald, venerator and imitator of the Mother of God; Christ’s future forerunner, apostle and martyr.

At the beginning of his mission stands the word of the Lord, who commands him: Depart from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith … (1 Kgs 17,2-3) Elijah first had to reap, in purifying solitude, with the sickle of prayer and penance, that seed which he was later to scatter, through his fiery preaching, into the hearts of the straying people.

Here a deep spiritual reality opens up to us: through every contact with God in prayer, and in the conscious union of our will with His divine Will, we reap heavenly seed, which bears abundant fruit not only in the field of our own soul but also in the field of the souls of all the people whom God has entrusted to us.

¹ The “Depart from here” and the “hide yourself” are meant to point to the person who must detach himself from the transitory world in order, with the help of grace, to practice the virtues through which he attains purity of heart. The “turn eastward” calls us to battle against the natural concupiscence of the flesh, and the “hide yourself by the brook Cherith” means turning away from the bustle of men and freeing oneself from sin through the practice of love. Thus man can drink from the “brook” of his heart, by becoming able to taste the presence of God in his innermost being. For whoever – according to the word of Jesus – first seeks the kingdom of God (cf. Lk 12,31), God sends the ravens of bodily and spiritual benefactors, who provide him with the bread he needs for body and soul. Cf. Der Karmel im Heiligen Land, ed. by Silvano Giordano OCD, Wien 2025, p. 38.

To this very hour Elijah is a special model for all who lead a consecrated life in hiddenness, as well as for all priests and bishops who are called by God to strengthen and defend the Church through their fearless witness to the true Catholic faith.

Upon such a sacrifice of courageous profession divine favor rests, and it draws down abundant blessing from heaven.

In the following Elijah scene of the “judgment by fire” on Carmel, this is brought before our eyes in a moving way.

In the time of King Ahab of Israel (ca. 874 B.C.) great confusion reigned among the people through the mixing of different religions. This calamity was brought about above all by Jezebel, the willful and power-hungry wife of the king. She ran after the Baals and had the prophets of the Lord put to death, whereby faith in the LORD collapsed more and more. In this great distress God sent the prophet Elijah to lead the Israelites back to a genuine relationship with God and to fidelity to the covenant.

The Book of Sirach says of the prophet Elijah that he arose like a fire, (Sir 48,1) and his name indicates his mission, for Elijah means: “My God is truly the Lord.” At the word of the Lord he gathered all the people on Mount Carmel in order, in the exalted name of the LORD, to expose the false idols in their nothingness. Like the holy Archangel Michael, this courageous man of God raised his voice, crying out: How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. (1 Kgs 18,21)

The fearless prophet stood all alone before the 450 priests of Baal and proposed to them that an altar be built for the LORD and an altar for Baal. Then the LORD and Baal were to be called upon in turn. The God who answers by fire, he is God. (1 Kgs 18,24) From morning until noon the prophets of Baal now called upon their worthless idol and grew ever more frenzied, for there was no voice, and no one answered. (1 Kgs 18,26)

Then Elijah began to prepare the sacrificial altar for the LORD. After a short and essential invocation the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. (1 Kgs 18,38) Now the truth had prevailed, and those standing around were forced to admit the blindness of their hearts and the folly of their conduct. They fell on their faces and cried: The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God. (1 Kgs 18,39) The prophet had the priests of Baal brought down to the brook Kishon and put to death there.²

² As Elijah, in the presence of King Ahab and the people of Israel, slew his adversaries, so also our Redeemer fought against the prince of this world and his followers and overcame them through His Passion and Cross. And He consecrates the altar of the Lord that had been torn down, that is, the hearts of the faithful, whom He cleanses from the filth of sin, into a place of sacrifice for God. (Albert Ohlmeyer, Elias Fürst der Propheten, Imprimatur: Freiburg im Breisgau, December 20, 1962)

In the 12th century hermits withdrew to Mount Carmel and founded the Carmelite Order in order to lead a life of contemplation under the protection of the Mother of God. On account of the severe persecutions and tribulations that broke over the Order, St. Simon Stock, who led the Carmelites as their 6th Prior General, implored the Mother of God unceasingly to take the Order under her care and to grant it a special pledge of her protection.

The testimonies confirmed by the Church report on this as follows:

Often (Simon Stock) besought the Mother of God, the glorious Virgin Mary, the patroness of the Order, to grant a privilege to the brothers who bear her name. Every day he said in his fervent prayers: Flower of Carmel, tall vine blossom-laden, splendor of heaven, childbearing yet maiden, none equals you. Mother most tender, whom no man did know, on Carmel’s children your favors bestow, Star of the Sea.

And one day, while he was devoutly saying this prayer, the Mother of God, the glorious Virgin Mary, appeared to him, accompanied by a great host of angels and with the scapular of the Order in her hands. And she said to him: Take, my beloved son, this scapular of your Order. It is the special sign of grace that I have obtained for you and for the children of Mount Carmel. Whoever dies clothed in this garment will not suffer eternal fire. It is a sign of salvation, a safeguard in dangers, a pledge of peace and of an everlasting covenant.⁵

In remembrance of this wonderful apparition of the Mother of God, which took place on July 16, 1251, the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (the “Feast of the Scapular”) on this day.

⁵ Ibid. as well as Das Kleid vom Himmel.

The scapular is the “miniature edition” of the habit of a Carmelite and thus also a sign of fraternity, since through it one is received into the family of Carmel. In this family one receives – together with the brothers and sisters with whom one is still journeying here on earth – a share in the spiritual treasure of all the saints of Carmel, whether they are canonized or not.

Likewise, with the investiture with the scapular one also becomes a member of the Scapular Confraternity and receives a share in the many prayers, good works and merits of the millions of Confraternity members throughout the world.

In order to obtain the special promises that are attached to wearing the scapular, one must be invested with the blessed scapular by a priest and wear it day and night around the neck, so that one part lies on the chest and the other on the back.⁸

In preparation for receiving the Brown Scapular it is advisable to make a sincere confession and to form the firm resolution to venerate the Mother of God with heartfelt devotion, especially through praying the Rosary.

⁸ The scapular must consist of two square pieces of woolen cloth, which are joined at both ends by two cords or bands. If someone cannot wear the cloth scapular for good reason, there is the possibility of wearing a scapular medal that has been blessed accordingly. This was permitted by Pope Pius X in 1910 on account of the climatic conditions in the mission territories, which were in part difficult. However, it should be borne in mind that the Mother of God expressly spoke of the “garment” and that Pope Benedict XV attached an indulgence of 500 days to the kissing of the cloth scapular, in order to point scapular wearers to the importance of the cloth scapular. If the scapular has to be replaced, it does not need to be invested again by a priest.

About 70 years after the promises of the Mother of God to St. Simon Stock, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary revealed to Pope John XXII the so-called Sabbatine Privilege, of which she spoke to him in an apparition: Whoever enters this Order and devotes himself with dedication to this way of life will be saved forever and freed from the pain of his guilt. And if they (the brothers of the Order) come to Purgatory on the day of their passing, I, the Mother of Grace, will descend there on the Saturday after their death and free those whom I find there and lead them to the holy mountain and to eternal life.

Pope John XXII published this grace by means of a bull, drawn up in his own hand, dated March 3, 1322, at Avignon. Because of the liberation assured for Saturday, this bull is called the “Sabbatine Bull,” and it was confirmed by several popes.

Nothing is small when one, like the Virgin Mary, lives with His heart in the presence of God and listens to His holy will for our life. Every event, every encounter bears fruit for eternity. St. Francis de Sales loved to say that every moment conveys to us a command of God and returns to eternity with what we have made of it.

On our poor human paths we can accomplish, for ourselves and for others, things that have eternal value. What is eternal in us is what comes from God – the life of God, the life of the children of God, which is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. And so Mary teaches us, when she places the scapular upon us, that genuine love must always express itself in the small actions of everyday life: a smile, a small sacrifice or an inconvenience borne out of love for God, an act of patience, of humility … There are so many ways to speak our “yes,” our “Fiat,” in answer to God’s call.

In his book The Secret of Mary, St. Louis Mary Grignion de Montfort writes: One must do all one’s actions for Mary (…) and often repeat in the depths of the heart: ‘O my dear Lady, it is for you that I go here or there, that I do this or that, that I bear this or that adversity or offense!’

And in the Counsels and Reminiscences of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, her sister Céline tells us how deeply Thérèse had entered into the spirit and the intentions of Mary: One afternoon, at three o’clock, I noticed that she was praying, and I asked what she was saying: I am saying a Hail Mary to offer my work to the Blessed Virgin. I have gotten into the habit of acting this way every time I begin a task.¹²

¹² Das Geheimnis des Karmel.

Since heaven knows of our human forgetfulness, Providence has ordained that the two great Marian apparitions of the 19th and 20th centuries – Lourdes and Fatima – each came to its conclusion under the sign of the scapular.

Indeed, it was on July 16, 1858, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, that Mary appeared for the last time at the grotto of Massabielle. On that day, as Bernadette reports to us, the Virgin remained silent, yet at the same time showed herself more beautiful than ever. Mary, the Queen and Ornament of Carmel, crowns the series of eighteen apparitions with the remembrance of her presence in the Carmelite Order.

In quite a similar way Mary also wished to show herself to the shepherd children at Fatima – when she appeared to them for the last time on October 13, 1917 – as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, clothed with the scapular.

With the help of the scapular, with which we, as it were, put on Jesus and Mary, we place ourselves in the stream of love that unites these two most holy Hearts. Thus we are introduced into intimacy with the triune God, so that in the heart of the Church, our Mother, we may be love, and our little life may lend new grace and strength to her mystical Body.

But what does it mean for us concretely to “put on” Jesus and Mary? It means entering into their life, making their feeling, willing and acting, their love and mercy our own. We must therefore clothe our heart with the mind of Jesus and Mary and divest ourselves of the rags of our past sins and disordered passions. Likewise we must let fall all our masks, all hypocritical and mendacious disguises, so as to wear only the garment of the truth of Christ. And when, in our human weakness, we stumble and fall again and again, the scapular can become for us a true “mantle of mercy.”¹⁶

The Virgin Mary presses her broken children to her Immaculate Heart and reconciles them with her divine Son.¹⁷ But we ourselves, too, are to let this merciful love, which we may receive anew each day, flow on to all the people whom God has entrusted to us, especially to those who are most in need of His mercy. And when we press the scapular to our heart and kiss the image of Mary again and again, we can also do this vicariously for others, in order thereby to wrap them in the mantle of mercy, by clothing them spiritually with the scapular.

¹⁶ Cf. Das Geheimnis des Karmel, p. 113.

¹⁷ Following the sacrament of Penance, the scapular can be understood as a firm resolution of fidelity: it stands for the new garment, the new habits, with which one wishes to clothe oneself from now on. The mere presence of this piece of cloth will recall this desire to one, and it will be a constant invitation to trust in Mary’s intercession.