The Brown Scapular--discernment

  • Thread starter Thread starter iwillrisenow
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I

iwillrisenow

Guest
So I am discerning whether to wear the brown scapular…as it seems to be coming up a lot in my life lately (along with the Miraculous Medal), perhaps because of the upcoming Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on July 16th. I remember feeling drawn to Carmelite spirituality when I first learned about it (the silence, prayer before the Blessed Sacrament).

Is anyone else discerning it? Or if you wear it, how did you discern it? Did you talk to a spiritual director first?
 
iwillrisenow said:
So I am discerning whether to wear the brown scapular…as it seems to be coming up a lot in my life lately (along with the Miraculous Medal), perhaps because of the upcoming Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on July 16th. I remember feeling drawn to Carmelite spirituality when I first learned about it (the silence, prayer before the Blessed Sacrament).

Is anyone else discerning it? Or if you wear it, how did you discern it? Did you talk to a spiritual director first?
Click to expand...
On Saturday July 16 my parish will have a ceremony celebrating that feast day at the end of Mass . I purchased my Brown Scapular on this past Sunday from our gift shop and I had it blessed by the priest. Bless:o
 
I have also been weighing it a lot lately, especially vs the miraculous medal or another scapular.

In my case, my devotion to Our Lady is strongly influenced by the Servite order, rather than the Carmelite. (Although I do have many points of affinity with the Carmelites too, but it’s not ‘deep down’ the spirituality I identify with most. So I would rather wear the black scapular of the seven sorrows, but it is difficult to find (as are servite parishes, sadly). So I’ve sort of put the whole thing on hold. I may get a new miraculous medal to wear in the meantime, as I’ll probably have occasion to visit the chapel in Paris in the not too disrant future.

So, that’s how I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t know if that’s of any use to you. Clearly the brown scapular has the big advantage of being most widespread, and easiest to get into. I think if you feel like this devotion is a way you want to honour Our Lady, then by all means go for it. In my case the hesitation is only because I’m hoping I’ll find another way to do the same thing, associated with the order I feel closest to.

(Tied into that is the fact that I view being enrolled in a scapular as a first step towards joining a Third Order, even thoigh it doesn’t have to be. So maybe I’m investing the choice with a great deal more significance than most people do.)
 
My priest at the parish I belong to gave me a brown scapular. I wear it at all times. Except when i take a shower.

It has helped me with some sins I have trouble repeating. Mainly sexual sins. Though I still fall, it has helped me resist falling more.

I would recommend wearing it 🙂
 
I have also been considering taking up the Brown Scapular devotion for a while now. I recently ordered a brown scapular made by Carmelite nuns and am planning on making an appointment with my priest to be invested on July 16. Hopefully he’ll be able to perform the investment on that date, but if not I still intend to be invested.

I was wary initially since I worried about being able to live up to the obligations of the brown scapular, etc. But then I realized, with the help of others, that one does not wait till the battle is over before putting on armor. Likewise we should not delay putting on our spiritual armor. Also, I have long had a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother and so this is another way for me to show my love for the woman who, with the help of the Holy Spirit, brought Christ into the world.
 
I discerned wearing the Brown Scapular through lots and lots of prayer. I wasn’t able to find a spiritual director at the time, so didn’t ask him. I did have a devotion to St. Therese then (and now). I also felt a strong pull toward Carmelite spirituality.

I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to fulfill the obligations that went with it, however Our Mother has seen to that.
 
Thank you…it seems like something that shouldn’t be rushed into, but, at the same time, should not be delayed too much either. As a new convert (just over a year), I still have my uncertainties, especially since it seems like having a devotion to Our Lady should precede taking up the scapular and I am not quite there yet (though it seems to be increasing a lot lately). I know it’s not something to be taken lightly as it is a lifelong enrollment. Also, I am discerning whether or not this is actually a prompting to give it to someone else in my life right now who is facing a lot of serious temptations.
 
When discerning whether or not to be enrolled into the Brown Scapular, one should consider what the expectations are according to the Carmelites. The following information is taken from The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Catechesis and Ritual which was prepared under the direction of the North American Provincials of the Carmelite Orders (printed by the Community of Teresian Carmelites, Worcester, MA., 2000).

“The spirituality of the Carmelite Order is one of the preeminent spiritual traditions of the Catholic Church. It is difficult to reduce this spirituality to a few sentences. One who wears the scapular should certainly reflect upon the teachings of the great Carmelite saints, three of whom are doctors of the Church.”

“A few basic introductory principles of Carmelite spirituality would be:
  1. frequent participation in the Mass and reception of Holy Communion;
  2. frequent reading of and meditation on the Word of God in Sacred Scripture;
  3. the regular praying of at least a part of the Liturgy of the Hours;
  4. imitation of and devotion to Mary, the woman of faith who hears the Word of God and puts it into practice;
  5. the practice of the virtues, notably charity, chastity (according to one’s state in life), and obedience to the will of God.” (pg. 3-4)
In terms of #3, praying a part of the Liturgy of the Hours (a.k.a., the Divine Office) can be done with any of the following:

The four-volume Liturgy of the Hours (this is not “user friendly” and one usually needs a priest, deacon or religious for instructions on how to use it).

Christian Prayer, which contains the same information and prayers in the four-volume LOTH, minus the Office of Readings.

Shorter Christian Prayer, which is a very abbreviated version of the four-volume LOTH. It contains Morning, Evening and Night Prayer, but does not contain Daytime Prayer or the Office of Reading. It also lacks many of the feast days.

Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This book is taken from the Common of Mary of the old Roman Breviary, and therefore it can be considered part of the Liturgy of the Hours.
 
It is true that one may choose to replace the Liturgy of the Hours/Little Office, etc. with saying the Rosary, with the priest’s permission.
 
Brigid34 said:
It is true that one may choose to replace the Liturgy of the Hours/Little Office, etc. with saying the Rosary, with the priest’s permission.
Click to expand...
Here are a couple of websites that specifically mention this:

Sisters of Carmel

Spirit of Carmel

But in each case the context involves the requirements for gaining the benefits of the Sabbatine Privilege, which many Carmelite communities do not teach, or do so within a more general understanding of Marian devotion (for example, see this brief catechism on the Brown Scapular).

In light of all this, the first two websites I linked seem to embrace the older concept of the Sabbatine Privilege, and they say that a person can substitute the Rosary for the Liturgy of the Hours and still receive the benefits of the privilege. However, the book I cited in my last post (The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Catechesis and Ritual) speaks of the Sabbatine Privilege in the same manner that the brief catechism I linked does. In other words, this book does not teach the requirements for gaining the privilege, but rather simply teaches what a person invested in the scapular ought to be doing in general. When detailing the devotional expectations the Carmelites have for those invested in the Brown Scapular, it states the requirement to regularly pray “at least a part of the Liturgy of the Hours” but mentions no substitutes for this (the Rosary or otherwise).
 
After becoming vested in the Brown Scapular, I did a little research and found out the immeasurable benefits to wearing the Brown Scapular, particularly, the Sabbatine Promise! It was a no-brainer.

FYI: You can receive permission from a priest to substitute the Rosary for the Little Office. I say the Rosary daily, so I was very happy to find that out.
 
RosaryFan said:
After becoming vested in the Brown Scapular, I did a little research and found out the immeasurable benefits to wearing the Brown Scapular, particularly, the Sabbatine Promise! It was a no-brainer.

FYI: You can receive permission from a priest to substitute the Rosary for the Little Office. I say the Rosary daily, so I was very happy to find that out.
Click to expand...
That’s how I felt, however sometimes I do still say the Little Office - I like it.
 
To be quite honest…I am concerned about even saying the rosary daily, as I do not do this now and have tried, off and on, to take it up without much success. Then I noticed this, under the third condition on the Sisters of Carmel website posted (sistersofcarmel.com/brown-scapular-information.php):
**
Recite daily the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin OR Observe the fasts of the Church together with abstaining from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays OR With permission of a priest, say five decades of Our Lady’s Most Holy Rosary OR With permission of a priest, substitute some other good work.
**
So is it possible to meet the conditions of enrollment by abstaining from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays or substituting some other good work? It seems that the Little Office and the rosary are most common and I’d never heard about the other conditions.
 
iwillrisenow said:
, I still have my uncertainties, especially since it seems like having a devotion to Our Lady should precede taking up the scapular and I am not quite there yet (though it seems to be increasing a lot lately). I know it’s not something to be taken lightly as it is a lifelong enrollment.
Click to expand...
For your case, if you haven’t already, I would recommend trying it for a bit, without being enrolled, to see how you experience it. Many people wear the brown scapular without being properly enrolled (in most cases I suspect because they are unaware), and the Carmelites say that, albeit to a lesser extent, these people also share in the spirit of the order and this devotion.

I say this particularly because if you are still exploring what form your devotion to Our Lady should take, then exploring different options can be a part of that process. I know in my own case nothing ever truly ‘clicked’ until I tried the Servite Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, and to this day I feel closer to Mary through this prayer than any other. If the brown scapular is for you, maybe once you try it a bit it will ‘click’ with you in the same way, and your doubts will disappear. Or perhaps it won’t click, and you will find some other way to love Our Lady, and can do so without feeling guilty that you aren’t living up to your scapular enrollment.
 
Many people wear the brown scapular without being properly enrolled (in most cases I suspect because they are unaware), and the Carmelites say that, albeit to a lesser extent, these people also share in the spirit of the order and this devotion.
Click to expand...
I was one of the group. Had mine blessed, but not enrolled. But once I got enrolled it’s been non stooped. I got my priest to substitute the Rosary for the Little Office. Pray the Rosary every day, just as I have since Ash Wednesday this year. I’ve given away 10 Brown Scapulars so far. It’s been a great life changer for me. I went from 15 to 20 minutes a night praying to close to an hour and twenty to thirty minutes.

I think people are scared to take the first step. All that you have to loose is HELL!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top