THE SCAPULAR AND THE DAY OF OUR LADY OF CARMEN (JULY 16)

THE SCAPULAR OF CARMEN

A. HISTORY AND PRIVILEGES

1. Promise of Salvation:

Whoever dies with the scapular will be saved.

Saint Simon Stock was the sixth Superior General of the Carmelite Order during the years 1245-1265. Faced with serious difficulties in the Order, Saint Simon daily implored Mary's protection. His prayer was answered, and "the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, accompanied by a multitude of Angels, holding in her blessed hands the scapular of the Order and saying these words: This will be a privilege for you and all Carmelites; whoever dies with it will not suffer eternal fire, that is, whoever dies with it will be saved."  (Catalog of Saints of the Order

Another very old version reads as follows: "Saint Simon, an Englishman, a man of great holiness and devotion, in his prayer continually begged the Virgin to favor his Order with some singular privilege. The Virgin appeared to him holding the Scapular, saying: This is the privilege for you and yours; whoever dies wearing it will be saved" (Brussels Saints' Calendar). That is, he will avoid hell. He will go to heaven after a stay in purgatory.

The date and place of the apparition are not known with certainty. London is mentioned, on July 16, 1251. This was still within the generalate of Saint Simon and before 1252, since on January 13 of that year, Pope Innocent IV issued the Bull "Ex parte dilectorum" in which he defended the Carmelites on this issue.

2. Sabbath Privilege: And the first one will be freed from purgatory.  Saturday.

Sixty-two years later (1314), Our Lady appeared to Pope John XXII, who recorded her words in the Bull "Sacratissimo uti culmine," also called the Saturday Bull (3.3.1322): "If among the religious or confraternities of this order there are any who, upon dying, must purge their sins in the prison of purgatory, I, who am the Mother of mercy, will descend into purgatory on the first Saturday after their death, and I will free them to lead them to the Holy Mountain of Eternal Life."

3. Plenary Indulgences. - Those who wear the Scapular of Carmel join the Carmelite family and can gain a plenary indulgence on the day the scapular is imposed and on the following days (fulfilling the usual conditions, that is, receiving Communion—naturally without mortal sin—on that date and praying for papal intentions, usually a Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, and Gloria).  as well as confessing eight days before or after the date):

May 16 (Saint Simon Stock).

July 16 (Our Lady of Mount Carmel).

July 20 (Saint Elijah the Prophet).

October 1 (Saint Therese of Lisieux).

October 15 (Saint Teresa of Jesus).

November 14 (All Saints' Day of the Carmelites).

December 14 (Saint John of the Cross).

B. CONDITIONS

1. For the promise of salvation, the following are required:

Having the scapular imposed. (It is enough to do so once.)

Wearing it. It can be replaced with a medal. (We will discuss this.) Both the medal and the scapular must be blessed upon imposition.

Devotion to Mary; seeking to imitate her; desiring to be good children of hers. The scapular is two small pieces of cloth that symbolize a garment. And whoever wears Mary's habit must live like her, practicing the virtues.  Christians. So that the habit-dress is united to the habit-virtue.

2. For the Sabbath privilege. In addition to the above, the following are required:

Maintain the chastity proper to one's state. (Confession restores the lost status.)

Pray the Little Office of Our Lady. This prayer can be substituted for abstinence from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Other possible substitutions are also mentioned, provided they are authorized by a priest: the recitation of the Divine Office or the Rosary. For indulgences. The requirements proper to indulgences are required, plus the conditions of the scapular in the promise of salvation.

4. The medal. - Saint Pius X (Holy Office, 16.12.1910) decreed that the scapular, after its imposition, can be replaced by a metal medal bearing on one side an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and on the other an image of the Blessed Virgin (usually Our Lady of Mount Carmel).

C.  BLESSING AND IMPOSITION

There are several formulas for the blessing and imposition of the scapular. Some are approved for the different branches of Carmel, others are more general.

𝗔 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗗𝗼 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹

Almighty God, Creator and Sustainer of all, I come before You in humble adoration. Your wisdom surpasses all understanding, and Your love knows no bounds.

I praise You for Your infinite wisdom and boundless love. Thank You for Your constant presence in my life.

Lord, I surrender myself completely to You. Take my thoughts, my words, my actions, and my desires. Purify them, sanctify them, and align them with Your divine plan. May every breath I take be for Your greater glory.

Grant me the courage to say “yes” to Your will, as Mary did at the Annunciation. Like her, may I be Your humble servant, ready to accept whatever You ask of me.

In times of challenge, be my support. When I am weak, be my strength. When I am doubtful, be my certainty. When I am fearful, be my courage. When I am prideful, teach me humility. Grant me patience in times of waiting. Perseverance in times of trial. And gratitude in times of blessing.

Guide me in my daily walk with You. Help me to see Your hand in all things, to trust in Your infinite wisdom and love. May I find joy in serving You and others, knowing that in doing so, I fulfill Your holy will.

Guide me in my vocation and daily duties. May I be a faithful steward of the gifts You’ve given me, using them to build Your Kingdom on earth.

Lord, in my human frailty, when I stray from Your path, gently call me back. Forgive me for the times I’ve placed my will before Yours, and grant me the grace to begin anew each day.

In moments of decision, big or small, may I always ask, “What would You have me do?” Give me the wisdom to choose rightly, and the strength to follow through.

I pray not only for myself but for all Your children. May Your love and peace reign in every heart.

I offer this prayer to You, O God, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

THE FIRST DUTY

“The first duty that Christ has assigned to those who, like us, have been entrusted from on high with the task of shepherding the Lord’s flock is to guard with the greatest vigilance the deposit of the holy faith that has been entrusted to us; and this, both by rejecting profane novelties of language and the contradictions of a so-called science. And certainly there has never been a time in which this vigilance of the Supreme Shepherd has not been necessary, for there has never been a lack, at the instigation of the enemy of the human race, of men teaching perverse doctrines (1), charlatans of novelties and seducers (2), immersed in error and leading us astray (3). But it must be acknowledged that, in recent times, the number of enemies of the cross of Christ has increased enormously; all of them, with absolutely new and cunning techniques, strive to exhaust the vital energies of the Church and would even want to destroy the kingdom of Christ, if this were possible. Therefore, we cannot remain silent any longer.”  "Let us not give the impression of failing in the most sacred of our duties, and the understanding we have shown until now, hoping to see a rectification, be interpreted as a dereliction of our duty."

Saint Pius X, Encyclical Letter Pascendi, Introduction.

(1). Acts 20:30.
(2). Titus 1:10.
(3). 2 Tim 3:13.

LOSS OF THE SENSE OF SALVATION

 

DO YOU THINK YOU'VE LOST YOUR FAITH? READ THIS ARTICLE

Poor unbelievers! How sorry I am for them! Not all are equally guilty. I clearly distinguish two completely different kinds of unbelievers. There are tormented souls who feel they have lost their faith. They don't feel it, they don't savor it as before. They feel they have lost it completely. This very afternoon I received an anonymous letter; no one signs it. Through his words, however, a person of more than average culture shines through. He writes admirably well. And after telling me that he is listening to my lectures on Spanish National Radio, he tells me his story. He tells me that he has almost completely lost his faith, although he desires it with all his soul, because with it he felt happy, and now he feels a terrible emptiness in his spirit. And he begs me, if I know of any practical and effective means to return to his lost faith, to shout it out to him, to show him that goal of peace and happiness he longs for.

My poor friend! I'm going to open a parenthesis in my lecture to send you a few words of comfort. I will tell you with Christ: "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." From the moment you seek faith, you already have it. Saint Augustine says it beautifully: "You would not seek God if you did not already have him." From the moment you desire faith with all your soul, you already have it. God, in His inscrutable designs, has chosen to subject you to a test. He has withdrawn the feeling of faith from you, to see how you react in the darkness. If, despite all the darkness, you remain faithful, a day will come—I don't know if sooner or later, these are God's judgments—when He will restore the feeling of faith to you with a strength and intensity incomparably greater than before. What do you have to do in the meantime? Humble yourself before God. Humble yourself a little, which is the indispensable condition for receiving God's gifts.  Joy, enjoyment, and the savoring of faith are often the rewards of humility. God never resists humble tears. If you kneel before Him and say: “Lord, I have faith, but I wish I had more. Help my little faith.” If you fall on your knees and ask God to give you the innermost feeling of faith, He will give it to you infallibly, do not doubt it; and in the meantime, my poor brother, live in peace, because not only are you not far from the Kingdom of God, but, in reality, you are already within it.

Ah! But your case is completely different from that of true unbelievers. You are not an unbeliever, even if for the moment you lack the sweet and savory feeling of faith. True unbelievers are those who, without any foundation, without any argument to prevent them from believing, burst into foolish laughter and utterly disregard the truths of faith.  You have no argument against it, you cannot have one, gentlemen. The Catholic faith resists all kinds of arguments that may be put against it. There is not, and cannot be, a valid argument against it. It infinitely surpasses reason, but it never contradicts it. There can be no conflict between reason and faith, because both proceed from the same and only source of truth, which is the first Truth by essence, which is God himself, in whom there can be no contradiction. It is impossible to find a valid argument against the Catholic faith. It is impossible for there to be unbelievers in the head—as I told you the other day—but there are abundant ones at heart. He who leads an immoral conduct, he who has acquired a fortune through unjust means, he who has four or five girlfriends, he who is up to his neck in mire and mud—how can he calmly accept the Catholic faith that speaks to him of an eternal hell! It is more convenient for him to dispense with faith or to hurl at it the laughter of unbelief.  Fool! As if that laughter could alter the tremendous reality of things in any way! Laugh now! The laughter of a dwarf on a night in Chinatown. Laugh now! God's time will come! Things will change. Listen to Holy Scripture: "You rejected all my advice and did not obey my requests. I, too, will laugh at your ruin and mock when terror comes upon you." (Prov 1:25-26). Christ himself warns in the Gospel, quite clearly: "Woe to you who laugh now, for you will groan and weep!" (Lk 6:25). Are you mocking all this? Well, go on enjoying yourself and laughing peacefully. You are dancing with incredible madness on the edge of an abyss: it is the time of your laughter! The time of God's laughter will come for all eternity.

“THE MYSTERY OF THE BEYOND”

Antonio Royo Marín. O.P.

Father Pio dixit

 

How many souls will spend years and years in purgatory because of those ideas!

And we hear phrases like:

"Finally, he's resting with God."

"We now have a little angel in heaven."

"He was very good, he's at peace now."

No, my friends, only God knows in what state that soul arrived in His presence, but good wishes are not enough to save a soul, no matter how beloved it may be.

Therefore, let us not stop offering prayers, Masses, and sacrifices for the souls in purgatory; they may still need us greatly.

LET US NOT FORGET THEM.