The Sabbitine Privelage question

[Vinny213]

I have a question with regards with this privelage. What is the current status of it in the church? Is it still approved and believed? I heard it is based on a forgery.

 

[ServusHumilis]

Of course it’s still believed and practiced by the Church. Ever hear of the Carmelite order?

 

[porthos11]

Of course it’s still believed and practiced by the Church. Ever hear of the Carmelite order?

The Carmelites effectively have played it down. They rather cautiously exhort the wearer of the Scapular to practice the spirituality of the Scapular, entrust themselves to Mary’s maternal care.

The full, current Carmelite catechesis is here: carmelitanacollection.com/catechesis.html. It’s a very sound and orthodox catechesis which instructs the faithful on the proper dispositions on wearing the Scapular. This is what carries the day with regards to the Brown Scapular, more than anything else floating around the Internet these days.

 

[cornbread_r2]

This appears to be the official Catechesis on the Brown Scapular from the Carmelite Order. From that catechesis:

The story of the vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Pope John XXII at Avignon conferring the Sabbatine Privilege of her promise to deliver from purgatory on the Saturday following death the souls of any who died in the scapular has been shown by scholars to be based on an inauthentic papal bull forged in Sicily in the first half of the fifteenth century. Thus the Sabbatine Vision and Privilege too are without any historical foundation. Moreover, in 1603 a book containing the privileges of the Carmelite Order, including the Sabbatine privilege, was condemned by the Portuguese Inquisition. Six years later all books mentioning the Sabbatine privilege were put on the Index of Forbidden Books in Portugal. An appeal to Rome ended when the Roman authorities supported the Inquisition’s ban. The Carmelites were forbidden to preach the Sabbatine privilege—a prohibition they did not always honor—although the faithful were to be allowed to believe, with certain conditions, “that the Blessed Virgin by her continuous intercession, merciful prayers, merits and special protection will assist the souls of deceased brothers and members of the confraternity (of the Scapular), especially on Saturday, the day which the church dedicates to the Blessed Virgin.”