Why Our Lady of Mount Carmel Gave Us the Brown Scapular| National Catholic Register
COMMENTARY: This Marian feast day offers important lessons on what it means to follow Jesus Christ.
As we celebrate the “scapular feast” of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we are invited to draw closer to the Lord Jesus through the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Brown Scapular is one of many sacramentals in the life of the Church that are meant to help us in the spiritual life.
In the early Church, Christian hermits followed the example of the Old Testament prophets and prayed and fasted on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land.
Mount Carmel, which is actually a full mountain range of multiple peaks, caves and springs, is revered for its significance in salvation history. The battle there between the prophet Elijah and the priests of Baal inspired many early believers to abandon all things and live the eremitical life in supplication for God’s people.
The group eventually came to be called Carmelites, and they later gave Mary the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel because of various mystical and supernatural phenomena that manifested her presence to them and affirmed her spiritual solidarity with them.
In the 13th century, the hermits of Carmel became mendicants. Along with the early Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustinians, the Carmelite friars lived radical poverty, traveled and begged for their livelihood, and preached the Gospel to all people.
For the Carmelite hermits-turned-friars, it was an opportunity to share the depth of their spirituality with the entire Church. The spirit of Carmel was one of waiting and listening to God. It was a message that was greatly needed in the 13th century. It is a message that is greatly needed in the 21st century.
One of the most famous Carmelite friars was an Englishman, St. Simon Stock. As a young man, the saint went to Mount Carmel, learned the way of life of the hermits, and then returned to Europe, bringing the Carmelite Order with him.
He was one of the leaders who sought to make the Carmelites less of an eremitical order and more of a community-based mendicant order. By 1251, they were undergoing great scrutiny over this transition, and so St. Simon Stock turned to the order’s patroness, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
While he was in prayer, Mary appeared to St. Simon, consoled him, and gave him the Brown Scapular.
The word “scapular” is taken from a Latin word meaning “shoulder.” As such, a scapular consists of two pieces of cloth that are worn front and back on a cord that rests on our shoulders.
A scapular is symbolic of a yoke placed upon a worker. In time, scapulars came to symbolize a consecration to God and his kingdom. A scapular meant we carried the yoke of the Lord Jesus, as he tells us in Matthew 11:28-30:
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The Brown Scapular that was given to St. Simon Stock affirmed his mission to spread the Carmelite spirituality throughout the Church. It was the encouragement he needed. St. Simon Stock preached the Gospel, taught the Carmelite spirituality, and presented the Brown Scapular as a help to us in faithfully carrying the yoke of the Lord Jesus.
As the Brown Scapular grew in popularity, it became one of the most revered and favored sacramentals of the Church.
The Church’s spiritual tradition contains many scapulars, such as the Red Scapular of Christ’s Passion, the Black Scapular of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, the Green Scapular of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and several others. But none of them are as old or as beloved as the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
All of the scapulars and various sacramentals and devotions of the Church are meant to express and serve our faith and commitment to Jesus Christ.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1667) teaches us:
Holy Mother Church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy.
The Brown Scapular and other sacramentals are gifts, but they must be approached with an understanding of their place in the spiritual life. The sacramentals are not good-luck charms or objects of superstition. They are not to be used for show or as objects of vanity.
The Lord Jesus called his disciples to discretion. He exhorts us to do things not to be seen, but to share our faith and to let our light shine before all people. This delicate balance of discretion and disclosure is played out in the use of sacramentals in our lives today.
The balance is found in the recesses of our hearts. The Brown Scapular and other sacramentals are meant to express our interior faith. No scapular or medal, however blessed and favored by the Church, can make up for what is lacking in the spiritual heart of the person. We have to make sure there is not more faith on us than in us.
When the Brown Scapular and the other sacramentals of the Church are worn and used in faith, they can become a compelling sign to others, not only of our dedication to God, but of God’s invitation for all people to come to him.
In a time of rapid secularism in the West, the Brown Scapular and other devotionals are a timely and much-needed help in showing the power and beauty of faith.
While so many are told that God does not exist, and that he is merely a cherished heirloom, psychological consolation or hereditary expectation, we can imitate St. Simon Stock. We can receive encouragement and consolation in the Brown Scapular (and the other devotions of the Church) and through them deepen in our faith and point society to the reality of God.
