Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Scapular: Clothing to Help Us to Heaven
Next week we celebrate and commemorate the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. So a very happy early feast day to you!
This feast day is a big one as it is the day to commemorate the approval of the Carmelite order and with that, we can’t help but look immediately to the scapular given by Our Blessed Mother to the Carmelite monk, St. Simon Stock, in the year 1251.
St. Simon Stock received a private revelation where Mary appeared to him with the scapular and said, “This will be a privilege for you and for all Carmelites that he who dies in this will not suffer eternal fire.”
Just the other day, I was sent this video by a friend about purgatory and WOW, it’s a potent message and highly worth a listen.
After seeing this video, you can see why any help we can get from the grace of God here on Earth is certainly WELCOMED 🤗😂.
The scapular is an excellent stream of grace to achieve this because Mary said, “I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whoever I shall find in purgatory I shall set free so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting.” You can read all about the Sabbatine Privilege here.
It is important to note that the full promise of the scapular comes with the intent of living a life of charity, and following directions/rubrics of the rule, which include either certain fasting days or specific prayers, like the Divine Office or the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in order to fulfill its promise (which you can learn about here).
This is to say that it can’t be worn as a lucky charm, or as a way of putting all your eggs in one basket, without including the proper intention.
So shopping scapulars can get a bit tricky over which one to choose. Some are too big; some don’t work with summer clothing, and some are quite scratchy (hey, we’re not suffering in purgatory yet! 😂).
The important thing to remember is that they ARE made of wool. Now, you may find MANY that claim to be scapulars that are made out of metal (I know, I know… they look cute!) and those I’d recommend to avoid.
So here below are a few of my suggested choices for you to shop!
This first one below is an EXCELLENT source - not itchy, comes in different lengths, available to children, and comes with clarity to all the perfect information.🤗
This one is great, as it’s a mini size however the durable cord length you can choose (amazing!) so you can tuck it into your neckline and it won’t flop around.
From Le Barroux in France, I recommend checking out their other items if you buy from here to bulk up your shipment!