Scapular question...

[sowinskija]

I got a Brown and Green Scapular for Christmas! Can I wear it immediately or do I have to be invested first?

 

[JimR-OCDS]

I got a Brown and Green Scapular for Christmas! Can I wear it immediately or do I have to be invested first?

Yes, you can begin wearing it immediately.

Generally, I say a Hail Mary as I put it on.

Jim

 

[exquisitor]

You will need to be enrolled in the Brown Scapular to gain the promises attached to it

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Remember, it’s about following the devotion to Our Blessed Mother, over wearing the scapular or enrolling.

Too many people treat wearing the scapular as as some sort of free ticket to heaven.

Jim

 

[exquisitor]

Brown Scapular

“Take this scapular, it shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger and a pledge of peace. Whosoever dies wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” {The promise of our Lady to Saint Simon Stock july 16 1251}

 

[R_C]

Remember, it’s about following the devotion to Our Blessed Mother, over wearing the scapular or enrolling.

Excellent post! In fact, according to the “Catechesis and Ritual for the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel”:

whoever receives the scapular becomes a member of the order and pledges him/herself to live according to its spirituality in accordance with the characteristics of his/her state in life.

This is especially true for those who not just wear the Scapular but are invested in it, thus becoming members of the Confraternity. This is what pope John Paul II once wrote:

The Scapular is essentially a “habit”. Those who receive it are associated more or less closely with the Order of Carmel and dedicate themselves to the service of Our Lady for the good of the whole Church.

Those who wear the Scapular are thus brought into the land of Carmel, so that they may “eat its fruits and its good things” (cf. Jer 2: 7), and experience the loving and motherly presence of Mary in their daily commitment to be clothed in Jesus Christ and to manifest him in their life for the good of the Church and the whole of humanity.

Carmelite spirituality is a great treasures of the Church. Just to mention a few names, we have the writings of great mystics and Doctors of the Church, such as st. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Therese of Lisieux. To read these works and to try to follow this spirituality is for many a great path towards holiness, and all souls can hear God’s voice in different ways, from the strict mortification of the senses of St. John of the Cross to the “little way” of small sacrifices in ordinary life of St. Therese of Lisieux, to the complete renunciation summarized in the words of St. Teresa of Avila: “God alone suffices.”

The Scapular as a mere object has no “power” whatsoever - that would be superstition. It is, in a sense, like the mud that the good Lord employed to give the gift of sight to the blind man. The Lord has granted His dear Mother Mary the authority to give a shower of graces through her blessed Scapular, and she does so even to those who just wear it, moving them often to conversion and repentance. However, for those of us who already are healthy members of the Body of Christ, we are expected to take a step further and to actually live the Carmelite spirituality within our ordinary life. To me, Carmelite spirituality means to aspire with my whole heart (despite my great sinfulness) to one day be able to say the words of the Carmelite st. Teresa de Los Andes:

My life is a continuous prayer, because everything I do I do it out of love for my Jesus