The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is literally one of the most ancient sacramentals of Holy Church, given by Our Lady to St. Simon Stock over 7 centuries ago, around the same time that she gave St. Dominic the Holy Rosary. St. Louis de Montfort places both the Rosary and the Scapular as the marks of the second degree of devotion to Our Lady.
According to the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship, the Brown Scapular is “an external sign of the filial relationship established between the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and Queen of Mount Carmel, and the faithful who entrust themselves totally to her protection, who have recourse to her maternal intercession, who are mindful of the primacy of the spiritual life and the need for prayer.”
The Scapular can be worn, but the faithful is supposed to be
invested in it with a special rite which can now be given by any priest, and is usually done on July 16, day of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
You can find out more
here,
here, and
here (just a few useful links) as well as on the forum,
here.
Also here is a quote from an official source (
link):
The Rosary and the Scapular have received papal endorsements through the centuries. Pope Leo XIII dedicated the human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, all the while promulgating Marian devotions via ten encyclicals on the Rosary and instituting the Catholic custom of daily rosary prayer during the month of October.
Pope Pius XII wrote:
Pope John Paul II
wrote on the Scapular as follows:
It is also a well-known fact that before entering surgery after the attempt to his life, John Paul II had everything taken off, including the Fisherman’s Ring, but he personally insisted that the Scapular not be removed.
St. Theresa of Avila, St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. John of the Cross were all Carmelites and wore the monastic Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. St. Louis de Montfort, who in the 18th century was but an unknown young priest, is widely known for his promotion of the Rosary and for writing books that would become classics of Marian spirituality. Saint Claude de la Colombière, the confessor of Saint Margaret-Marie Alacoque, had a strong devotion to the Brown Scapular St. Alphonsus Liguori of the Redemptorists and St. John Bosco of the Salesians had a very special devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and were both buried wearing their Brown Scapulars.
The Scapular of blessed Pope Gregory X (1210-1276) found intact after 600 years and is still intact to this very day in a museum in Arezzo. The Brown Scapular of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787), a great devout of Our Lady and founder of the Redemptorists, was found intact after many years, and in fact is still intact to this very day in Rome, over 2 centuries after his death. St. John Bosco, founder of the Salesians, who died in 1888 was buried in his Scapular. When his body was exhumed in 1929 the scapular was found intact, and is still preserved in Torino.
. Its not a short “little” prayer. It also depends on which version you say. Unless you are a cleric or religious and if you select an older version, in latin, which I do, then the Office is comprised of eight separate sets of prayers (hours). Religious and clerics must recite their office with the approved versions. Some Orders allow for the older versions. The laity can recite any version they so choose. Some folks say the Divine Office. This can get rather confusing with all the choices.