5 Sat. 9 Friday, brown scapulars?

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Can somebody clarify why we do certain practices.

I know that if one wears a brown scapular and follows the certain stipulations attatched then one is promised not to see the eternal fires of hell; and we also have the 5 Satuday promises told to St. Faustina and the 9 Friday promises told to St. Margaret Mary…Well, the scapular in itself holds no power because obviously we don’t believe in magic or anything like that so my question is if one lives a good life, follows the laws of the church, has faith, etc. then wouldn’t they already obtain the same promises that are mentioned as the one’s above? Why do we do them and do we need to keep doing them over and over or is once enough?
 
2Bcatholic said:
Can somebody clarify why we do certain practices.

I know that if one wears a brown scapular and follows the certain stipulations attatched then one is promised not to see the eternal fires of hell; and we also have the 5 Satuday promises told to St. Faustina and the 9 Friday promises told to St. Margaret Mary…Well, the scapular in itself holds no power because obviously we don’t believe in magic or anything like that so my question is if one lives a good life, follows the laws of the church, has faith, etc. then wouldn’t they already obtain the same promises that are mentioned as the one’s above? Why do we do them and do we need to keep doing them over and over or is once enough?
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The Brown Scapular, or the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the miniature habit of the Carmelite Order. All the sacramentals given to us are there to help lead us to the Lord. Because I am a Lay Carmelite, I stay close to our Blessed Mother, and her Scapular is a reminder to me that she has her arms around me.

A sacramental is not to be superstitious, but it is something tangible that can remind us of what we should be doing. It can become a habit to use sacramentals and not pay attention to them. For instance: Blessing ourselves with holy water. The priest, by the power of the Word, has blessed the water. When we use it, it should remind us of our Baptism. If we haven’t been doing this, then we should start.

Making the 9 first Fridays in a heartfelt way is beneficial to us. It is a discipline for us to make the effort to go to 9 first Fridays.

The purpose of all prayer is to lead us to union with Our Lord Jesus Christ. Different personalities choose different sacramentals, tangible items, that mean a lot to us.

I can choose to not wear the Scapular, but I benefit so much by wearing it that I will not stop.
 
Dorothy said:
The Brown Scapular, or the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the miniature habit of the Carmelite Order. All the sacramentals given to us are there to help lead us to the Lord. Because I am a Lay Carmelite, I stay close to our Blessed Mother, and her Scapular is a reminder to me that she has her arms around me.

A sacramental is not to be superstitious, but it is something tangible that can remind us of what we should be doing. It can become a habit to use sacramentals and not pay attention to them. For instance: Blessing ourselves with holy water. The priest, by the power of the Word, has blessed the water. When we use it, it should remind us of our Baptism. If we haven’t been doing this, then we should start.

Making the 9 first Fridays in a heartfelt way is beneficial to us. It is a discipline for us to make the effort to go to 9 first Fridays.

The purpose of all prayer is to lead us to union with Our Lord Jesus Christ. Different personalities choose different sacramentals, tangible items, that mean a lot to us.

I can choose to not wear the Scapular, but I benefit so much by wearing it that I will not stop.
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Superb explanation, Dorothy. Thank you so much. God bless.
 
Dorothy:

Thank you for your explanation. I needed clarification!

Okay, now I have another question for you…What does one do as a lay carmelite?
 
2Bcatholic said:
Dorothy:

Thank you for your explanation. I needed clarification!

Okay, now I have another question for you…What does one do as a lay carmelite?
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That is one of my favorite things to talk about!

Members come from all walks of life, married, single, widows, widowers. The youngest member that started was 20 at the time.

The charism of the Carmelites is prayer. Contemplative prayer is the goal. We also grow as a community - we meet once a month for Mass, Morning Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours, about a 1/2 hour business meeting, then 1/2 Lectio Divina as a community.
Then there is service according to our particular talents, and time available. We also have an entire group spiritual study where we break up into groups and discuss the study questions in a book of the Carmelite tradition. Right now we are reading at home, and discussing at the meeting St. Teresa of Avila’s “The Way of Perfection.” It is all about prayer and the attitude we should have.
The discussions are for an hour and a half, and the sharing that takes place is helpful for us.

The meeting ends for the Professed Carmelites after that, and Candidates, and Novices meet for another two hours for their Instruction, given by a Professed Carmelite. Discussions take place there as well.

For every day we say, at least, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. We are to devote 1/2 hour a day to some kind of mental prayer. I like private Lectio Divina and/or just talking to the Lord and being silent before Him.

Since this is Our Blessed Mother’s Order, we are also devoted to the Rosary.

I have been in the Third Order Lay Carmelites since 1975, and it is a treasure to me.

Feel free to ask more questions if you want to. 🙂
 
Dorothy or anybody else that doesn’t mind answering:

I feel like a 5 year old with all of my Why and What questions so I apologize in advance but even though I was born a Catholic I didn’t really learn any of the teachings of the Church and now that I am older I’m trying to learn as much as possible…Can you explain to me what the Liturgy of the Hours and Lectio Divina is?

I have a copy of the catechism and have even attended RCIA but I still feel unknowledge about the faith.
 
Also, (continued from above post) I see a lot of references to the GIRM and canon law and I have no clue as to what people are talking about, the RCIA program I was apart of was very liberal and I’m learning very flawed!

Does anybody have any good reading for being a good Catholic?
 
2Bcatholic said:
Dorothy or anybody else that doesn’t mind answering:

I feel like a 5 year old with all of my Why and What questions so I apologize in advance but even though I was born a Catholic I didn’t really learn any of the teachings of the Church and now that I am older I’m trying to learn as much as possible…Can you explain to me what the Liturgy of the Hours and Lectio Divina is?

I have a copy of the catechism and have even attended RCIA but I still feel unknowledge about the faith.
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It is very good that you are asking questions as that shows the interest you have! I have been to all public schools through high school, and have learned about my faith mostly through priests and CCD in my youth, and from then on by reading, and last but not least when I got online on a computer 11 years ago! It’s been quite an exciting journey, and I know there is more to learn and be inspired by!

Our Church has such treasures and there are always more inspiring things to learn about. 🙂

Here is a site to learn about the Liturgy of the Hours. It is the official prayer of the Church. You can browse on this site and learn more. Priests say it, it is also called the Breviary, or the Divine Office as well. More and more lay people are learning how to do this and profiting much from it. It is not required, as it is for those in religious orders and third orders, but some are led to use it.

The priests and other religious use the four-volume Breviary which has different readings for each day, and more for the entire Liturgical Calendar.

Christian Prayer is one volume and is on a four-week cycle. It contains many readings of the early fathers of the Church, and it has Morning, Evening, and Night Prayer. It also has prayers for Mid-morning, Mid-day, and Mid-afternoon. It also has the Office of Readings which includes the readings of the early fathers.

Shorter Christian Prayer is on a four-week cycle, and contains the same Morning, Evenining, and Night Prayer, without the extra items I mentioned above.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will post another message about Lectio Divina, which means “Divine Reading”. It is a method of reading and praying with a few verses of Scripture that was developed in the Benedictine Monasteries, I believe. Maybe some others here can tell you about Lectio as well.
 
Dorothy,

I am so glad to have found this thread! I am up too late, but want to connect with others who wear the brown scapular. I rec’d it at my 1st communion (7 yo) and just kept it in my jewelry box until just last week (it’s been in there a l-o-n-g time 😊 ).

I have been wearing it every day for a week. It seems the Carmelites keep popping up more and more in my life ever since I prayed a novena last yr for a dear friend’s mother who was dying. Her funeral was on Oct 1, and you know whose feast day that is! I rec’d a Rosary of roses!

Have you ever been to the National Shrine in IL? (Darien, I recall.)

I’ll check back, or feel free to email or pm me.

G’night, and God bless,
Mimi

PS I even drink Mystic Monk coffee…👍
 
Mimi said:
Dorothy,

I am so glad to have found this thread! I am up too late, but want to connect with others who wear the brown scapular. I rec’d it at my 1st communion (7 yo) and just kept it in my jewelry box until just last week (it’s been in there a l-o-n-g time 😊 ).

I have been wearing it every day for a week. It seems the Carmelites keep popping up more and more in my life ever since I prayed a novena last yr for a dear friend’s mother who was dying. Her funeral was on Oct 1, and you know whose feast day that is! I rec’d a Rosary of roses!

Have you ever been to the National Shrine in IL? (Darien, I recall.)

I’ll check back, or feel free to email or pm me.

G’night, and God bless,
Mimi

PS I even drink Mystic Monk coffee…👍
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Hi Mimi,

I too was enrolled in the Scapular at my First Holy Communion. No instruction was given about it by the priest, teachers, or my parents. Perhaps each thought the other was going to do it?
Anyway, it wasn’t until I was about 16 that I learned more about it and the Rosary as well.

The Carmelites of both branches have, in the past few years, collaborated and given us a new catechesis and ritual for the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This booklet explains it much better than it was in the past. The Lay Carmelite order I am now in are planning to study it and inform priests in our Diocese about it.

Before the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel a couple of weeks ago, the parents of a 9 year old boy requested of a priest at the Cathedral that their son be enrolled. He contacted the former Director of our Order, and she gave him the new ritual. So, it was performed on July 16, Our Lady’s Feast day, after Mass.

It was so beautifully done, prayers said slowly and meaningfully, with the altar candles lit and several Lay Carmelite members present wearing their 6" x 8" Ceremonial Scapulars. After that we congratulated the little boy and one of us gave him a small framed picture of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

To me this was a “green light” that we need to go ahead pray, study, and present this wherever we can.

I have not been to the National Shrine in Darien yet, but hopefully at some future time I will go. Last year I did go to the Carmelite Convocation in Chicago, and that was very special. There were almost 1,000 Lay Carmelites present from all over the United States; it lasted about four days with very special events scheduled.

Enjoy the coffee! I have seen it on one of the Carmelite sites recently.

Peace,

Dot
 
Dot,

Thank you for your kind and prompt reply.

I’m just assuming I’m enrolled since I was given the brown scapular. I wonder if there is a way to check?

I will look into getting a booklet. I rec’v mailings from the Society of the Little Flower and will check there.
littleflower.org/learn/littleflower.asp

Web site of the National Shrine:
saint-therese.org/

I also intend to read her writings this year.

God bless,
Mimi
 
Mimi said:
Dot,

Thank you for your kind and prompt reply.

I’m just assuming I’m enrolled since I was given the brown scapular. I wonder if there is a way to check?

I will look into getting a booklet. I rec’v mailings from the Society of the Little Flower and will check there.
littleflower.org/learn/littleflower.asp

Web site of the National Shrine:
saint-therese.org/

I also intend to read her writings this year.

God bless,
Mimi
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Hi Mimi,

I don’t know if there is a way to check about the enrollment. I believe if it was put on you at First Communion time that was an enrollment. You can always ask a priest.

I too get information from the Society of the Little Flower.

Her autobiography is called “Story of a Soul”. She wrote it in obedience to a request from her Mother Superior. I don’t think she would have written it if she wasn’t asked to. It is great! I’m so happy they finally call her a Doctor of the Church. I know so many Carmelite priests who can expound on her spirituality with such joy, as they are so devoted to her and call her a religious genius.

Peace, Dorothy
 
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