St. Simon Stock, the privileged one to whom Our Lady of Mt. Carmel announced the Great Promise, entered the Carmelite Order in Kent, England at the age of forty-seven.  He was sent to Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land where he led a life of prayer and penance until he and most of his brothers were forced to leave by the victorious infidels.  The group sailed for England.  At a Ceneral Chapter held in Aylesford (1245) Simon was unanimously elected Prior General.

THE GREAT PROMISE
    Due, no doubt, to the great devotion that St. Simon had for Our Blessed Lady, the Carmelite Order, under the Saint's guidance, began to prosper despite considerable opposition.  In answer to his appeal for help for his oppressed order, Mary appeared to him (1251) with a scapular in Her hand and said: "This shall be to you and all Carmelites a privilege, that anyone who dies clothed in this shall not suffer eternal fire: and if wearing it they die, they shall be saved." (Viridarium Ordinis B. Virginis Mariae de Monte Carmelo per Joannem Grossi; Analecta Ord. Carm., VIII, page 124.)
    Catholic theologians and authorities like Vermeesch, St. Robert Bellarmine, Beringer, Benedict XIV, etc., explain the promise to mean that anyone dying in Mary's family will receive from Her, at the hour death, either the Grace of perservance in the State of Grace or the Grace of final Contrition.
    Mary does not mean by Her promise that anyone dying in mortal sin will be saved.  Death in mortal sin and damnation are one and the same thing.  Mary's promise naturally rewords itself: "Whosoever dies clothed in this Habit shall not die in mortal sin." To make this clear, the Church often inserts the word "piously" into the promise: Quicumque in hoc "pie" moriens, aeternum non patietur incendium.
    Therefore, Our Lady's Promise does not mean a removal of God's sanction of the moral law, i.e., that regardless of what we do we shall not be eternally punished.  Saints and Pontiffs often warn of the foolhardiness of abusing Mary's Promise.  At the same time that he joyfully professed: "I learned to love the Scapular Virgin in the arms of my mother." Pope Pius XI warned all the faithful that "although it is very true that the Blessed Virgin loves all who love Her, nevertheless those who wish to have the Blessed Mother as a helper at the hour of death, must in life merit such a signal favor by abstaining from sin and laboring in Her honor."  One can take it as certain that if he continually sins because of Mary's Scapular Promise, he shall not die in the Scapular.  To lead a sinful life while trusting in the Scapular Promise is to commit a sin the horror of which borders on sacrilege; its punishment will not only be eternal but far worse than if one had led a sinful life without making the Mother of God an excuse for crucifying Her Son.

Mary's Masterpiece
    Mary's promise is the masterpiece of Her motherly love.  It was made to be a source of hope and confidence to us.  In the supreme moment of our lives -- the moment when we feel this earth slipping away with all that it has meant to us while a strange life yawns at our feet into eternity, we need a mother.  Probably it was at the foot of the Cross, the moment when Her Divine Son made Her our Mother in a jester of death-parting, that Mary thought to assure us of a Mother's love at our dying moment.  Soldier's cast lots over the earthly garments She had made for Her crucified Redeemer; She would make a heavenly garment for Her blood-purchased redeemed.
    "Whosoever dies clothed in the Scapular shall not suffer the fires of hell." . . . Savaria remarks that it is these words, so very extraordinary, that comprehend the full value of the Brown Scapular.  "One cannot descend too far into their depths," he says.  "It is only by penetrating beyond the sensible that one comes to know the spiritual treasures that this Heavenly Garment conceals.  Especially today, with the power of Satan threatening to shake the very foundations of the world, we need a rational knowledge of our devotions and above all of Her who crushes the head of the infernal serpent."

SCAPULAR and AUTHORITY
    The words taken from a Letter of His Holiness Pope Pius XII, written to the Generals of the Carmelite Order on the occasion of the seventh centenary of the Brown Scapular, clearly reveal the Supreme Pontiff's high opinion of the Scapular Devotion:
    "There is no one who is not aware how greatly a love for the Blessed Virgin Mother of God contributes to the enlivening of the Catholic Faith and to the raising of the moral standard.  These effects are especially secured by means of those devotions which more than others are seen to enlighten the mind with Celestial Doctrine and to excite souls to the practice of Christian life.  In the first rank of the most favored of these Devotions, that of the Holy Carmelite Scapular must be placed -- a devotion which adapted to the minds of all by its simplicity, has become so universally widespread among the faithful and has produced so many and such salutary fruits.
    "For not with a light or passing matter are We concerned but with the obtaining of eternal life itself which is the substance of that Promise of the Most Blessed Virgin which has been handed down to us.  We are concerned, namely, with that which is of supreme importance to all and with the manner of achieving it safely,  For the Holy Scapular, which may be called the Habit or Garment of Mary, is a sign and pledge of the protection of the Mother of God. . .   "And certainly this most tender Mother will not delay to open, as soon as possible, through Her intercession with God, the gates of Heaven for Her children who are expiating their faults in Purgatory -- a trust based on that Promise known as the Sabbatine Privilege."
    Many Saints, Popes and theologians have strongly declared their acceptance of the Scapular Devotion: St. Robert Bellarmine, Saint Peter Claver, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. John Vianney, St. John Bosco, Popes Gregory X, Leo XI, Leo XIII, St. Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI, and Pius XII.
    Pope Benedict XV, writing as a private theologian before his election, wrote: "Let no one ever dare to reject the Devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, which the Roman Pontiffs have enriched with so many and such great indulgences; for by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, God has worked so many miracles for the advantage of these who practice this devotion."
    We might sum up this aspect of the Brown Scapular with the words of Blessed Claude de Colombiere, S.J. (Confessor of St. Margaret Mary): "It does not seem likely that the Omnipotent and All-Wise God would have permitted that a devotion, so pleasing to Him -- as is evident from the fact that he made it famous with so wondrous miracles -- would have been founded on a myth."

SIGN of CONSECRATION
   The Scapular is a habit . . . Our Lady's habit.  She appeared in it to Saint Simon Stock, holding the Scapular in Her hand even as She was wearing it (full size) on Her person.  She appeared thus again, in 1917, at Fatima, Portugal, where She promised the conversion of Russia.  And we recall the words of Saint Dominic spoken over seven hundred years ago in prophecy: "One day, by the Rosary and the Scapular, She will save the world."  When we wear the Scapular, we are wearing a garment which was woven on the looms of Heaven and brought to earth by Our Lady, Herself, in Her own hands.  In wearing the Scapular we wear what Our Lady, Herself, was wearing when She made the promise . . . and when She appeared in the final vision of Fatima.  It may well be that in this Habit She will come to us at the hour of death to keep Her Scapular Promise. The Scapular is essentially a Religious Habit.
    In 1950 Pope Pius XII wrote the now famous words concerniing the Scapular.
   "Let it be your sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which We are particularly urging in these perilous times."
    And in 1950, Sister Lucia was asked why Our Lady held the Scapular in Her hands in the final vision at Fatima, and she answered: "Because she wants everyone to wear the Scapular."
    When pressed for a further explanation, Sister Lucia said: ". . . Because it is our sign of consecration to Her Immaculate Heart."

The Blue Army
    When question about the Blue Army's insistence on the Scapular was raised in France, a few years ago, it was the Bishop of Fatima himself who gave the answer.
    "The Blue Army was right in choosing the Brown Scapular of Mount Carmel -- and no other -- as the sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of mary."  The Bishop explained, as Lucia has done, that while Our Lady at Fatima did not actually mention the Scapular, She did require consecration to Her Immaculate Heart, and She did hold the Scapular in Her hands in the final Vision of Fatima.

   "It is urgent for us to establish in the world devotion to the Heart of Mary." (His Eminence, Arcadio Cardinal Larraona, Legate of Pope John XXIII -- May 13, 1963.)

THE SABBATINE PRIVILEGE
    The greatest personal reward one may receive through the Blue Army is the "The Sabbatine" (or Saturday.) Privilege and is based on a Bull said to have been issued on March 3rd, 1322, by Pope John XXII.
    The privilege is frequently understood to mean that those who wear the Scapular and fulfill two other conditions (which, according to the only copy of the Bull in existence, were made by Pope John XXII.) will be freed from Purgatory on the first Saturday after death.
  However, all that the Church has ever said officially in explanation of this, on several occasions, is that those who fulfill the conditions of the Sabbatine Privilege will be released from Purgatory, through the intercession of Our Lady, soon after death, and especially on Saturady.
    This official statement was issued by Pope Paul V.  At a time when both the origin and nature of the Sabbatine Privilege were under serious question, the Pope said:
    "It is permitted to preach . . . that the Blessed Virgin will aid the souls of the Brothers and Sisters of the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel after their death by Her continual intercession, by Her suffrages and merits and by Her special protection, especially on the day of Saturday which is the day especially dedicated by the Church to the same Blessed Virgin Mary."
    This "special Protection after death" is the greatest of all the Benefits of the Scapular Devotion, excepting the essential Benefit of the close bond which the Scapular Devotion creates between our hearts and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
    We recall again the words which Pope Benedict XV addressed to the Seminarians of Rome: ". . . The Scapular of Mary . . . enjoys the singular privilege of protection even after death."
    In his Letter of March 18th, 1922, commemorating the sixth centenary of the Sabbatine Privilege, Pope Pius XI said:
    "It surely ought to be sufficient merely to exhort all the members of the Confraternity to persevere in the holy exercises which have been prescribed for the gaining of the indulgences to which they are entitled and particularly for the gaining of that indulgence which is the principal and the greatest of them all, namely that called the Sabbatine."

Conditions
    The conditions for the Sabbatine Privilege are:  1) wear the Brown Scapular faithfully;  2) observe chastity according to one's state in life; and  3) say part of the Rosary each day. (when substitute of the Rosary is granted.)  In the case of the Blue Army, substitution of the Rosary is granted automatically when one requests it upon signing the Blue Army pledge and submitting it to Headquarters.

    To gain any reward, effort on our part is required.  So it is with the Sabbatine Privilege.  Our Lady has promised a most generous reward for those who persevere as Her special children under the protective mantle of Her Scapular.

FATIMA and the SCAPULAR
    Just when the wonder of Lourdes had thoroughly permeated the Catholic mind, and we were plunged into the universal darkness of the first World War, Our Lady came again -- at Fatima.
    "Only the Blessed Virgin can save the world," She said, before revealing Her identity.  Then, after She had appeared several times and given proof of Her presence to all who were present, She said: "IF THE WORLD IS CONSECRATED TO MY IMMACULATE HEART, RUSSIA WILL BE CONVERTED, AND THERE WILL BE PEACE."  She was saying: "The Reign of Christ will be established on the earth, if you will come to me!"
    How, dearest Mother?  How can we be consecrated to your Heart?  What must we do?
    "Say the Rosary and amend your lives," She said.  And then the drama began:
    The Miracle of the Sun, 6th Fatima Manifestation
    Having told those present to say the Rosary, Our Lady disappeared only to come back again in a tableau of the Joyful Mysteries: with Saint Joseph holding in his arms the Divine Infant; this tableau was immediately replaced with another depicting the other mysteries:  She appeared as the Mother of Sorrows, and Our Lord appeared at Her side raising His arm in a blessing -- as He must have done at the Ascension.  After this vanished, Our Lady came again.  This time She was standing in the middle of the sun which all the while had been whirling in the sky. (seen by over 70,000 people.)  She was dressed in brown and white, reaching down towards the crowd Her centuries-old sign of affiliation: the Brown Scapular.
    As She faded from view, the sun loosed itself from the sky and began to hurtle towards the earth.  That was the end of the six-month span of apparitions.
    She had come to save the world.  And we remember the prophecy of Saint Dominic: "One day, by the Rosary and the Scapular, She will save the world."

The Scapular MEDAL
    On being petitioned by people in torrid zones who could not conveniently wear the cloth Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Saint Pius X permitted (Dec. 16, 1910.) the substitution of the Scapular Medal.  Later this permission was extended to all Catholics.  While the use of the Scapular Medal brings with it all the privileges conceded to those wearing the cloth Scapular, Pius himself said: "I do not intend that the Scapular Medal should supplant the Brown Scapular in Europe and America.  I wear the cloth; let us never take it off."
    All of his Successors, Pius XI and Pius XII, and especially his immediate Successor, Pope Benedict XV, have expressed this preference with more or less vehemence.  It was to express this preference that Pope Benedict XV provided that: "In order that one may see that it is Our desire that the Brown Scapular be worn, We concede to it a grace that the Scapular Medal shall not enjoy."  He then proceeded to grant an indulgence of five hundred days for each time the Scapular is kissed.  This is the largest indulgence ever attached to so small an act.
    The cloth Scapular has a Tradition which is lost in the medal.  Here is a Sign which was used for seven hundred years . . . dear to such Saints as Peter Claver, John of the Cross, Alphonsus Ligouri, Francis Xavier, the Little Flower, Grignon de Montfort, Claude de la Colombiere, and so many countless other holy souls who linked the Scapular with the Rosary in their Devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
        Father Vermeersch, S.J., Canonist and Theologian, said: "I would prefer that, in order to honor the principle Scapular which is that of Carmel, the Brown Scapular, he wrote, in the accustomed form and the medal only as a substitute for the other Scapulars in order that one may not have to wear too many."  It would be wise never to use the Scapular Medal IN PLACE of the Brown Scapular but only TOGETHER WITH the Brown Scapular as a substitute for the less important Scapulars.
    Sacrifice is a part of devotion . . . and Our Lady promises so much for the use of the Scapular . . . and the sacrifice of wearing it is so little that to make the substitution of a medal for any but good reason is to betray even the very little sacrifice Our Lady asks for.

SCAPULAR REGULATIONS
    The Scapular may be made by any individual, or may be purchased.  It is important only that the Scaplar be valid.
    The color of the Scapular is usually brown, but may be any shade between brown and black.  It must be made entirely of wool.
    The cords which join the two pieces of wool may be of any decent material (even chains may be used) and of any color.
    Ornamentation or pictures on the Scapular are not necessary.  The Scapular must be worn over the shoulders in such a manner that one part hangs in the front of the body and the other in the back.  Worn in any other way, it carries no indulgences.  It is not necessary to wear the Scapular next to the skin.  It may be worn over one's clothes.  The Scapular may be inclosed in some sort of case (metal, plastic, etc.) providing the cords be actually joined to the woolen cloths, so that, were the covering removed, the Scapular would be intact.
    "It is permitted to sew one of the four edges of the rectangles (the top edge) to the top edge of another Scapular. (e.g. of a Third Order.)  Then only one set of cords is required, but the cords must be put in between the two Scapulars, so as to be sewed directly to each.

ENROLLMENT REGULATIONS
    The blessing of the Scapular and the enrolling to the Confraternity must be done by a Priest who has faculties.
    Once one has been enrolled, he remains enrolled for life.  The blessing and enrolling must be carried out by the same Priest, who may bless any number of Scapulars with the same blessing.
    Once anyone has been properly enrolled in the Scapular, he or she need not have subsequent Scapulars blessed.  A person who doubts whether he was validly enrolled should give the benefit of the doubt to the Priest who enrolled him and take it for granted that he had the faculties.  At the present time there are very few Priests who lack the faculties.  In most Dioceses of the country the faculty of enrolling in the five Scapulars -- of which the Brown Scapular is one -- is contained in the general faculties.  Also many Priests are members of Ecclesiastical Societies for Priests that have as one of their privileges the faculty of enrolling in the Brown Scapular. (e.g. the Missionary Union of the Clergy.)  And so, when a Priest enrolls in the Scapular it is taken for granted that he has the faculties and the one enrolled should think no more about it.  Moreover, a "Sanatio" validating all invalid enrollments is granted about every six years.
    The name of the person enrolled should be entered on the membership list in a Carmel or in a canonically established Scapular Confraternity.  However, many Priests have the privilege of enrolling without inscribing the names.  In fact, the general rule is that when a group is enrolled the names need not be inscribed.
    Soldiers and Sailors may enroll themselves simply by assuming a blessed Scapular or Scapular Medal and saying some prayers to Our Lady. (e.g. three Hail Mary's.)  They need not send their names to a Confraternity Church for official inscription, but become members of the Confraternity automatically, completely and perpetually.
    Children may be enrolled in the Scapular before attaining the use of reason.  This enrollment endures even after they reach the age of reason.
    Membership in the Confraternity is not forfeited by merely laying aside the Scapular.  Even if one should fail to wear the Scapular a long time, there is no need for re-enrollment. (Scapular instructions, Carmelite National Shrine, 329E, 28th St. N.Y., New York.)
    A non-Catholic may wear the Brown Scapular of Our Lady, and will receive many graces and blessings for this special sign of their devotion to the Mother of Christ.  However, only Baptized Catholics may be officially enrolled in the Confraternity.  All non-Catholics who are anxious to honor the Mother of Christ should be urged to wear the Scapular.

INDULGENCES
Consecration
    Do you wear the BROWN SCAPULAR -- always?
(Partial Indulgence every time it is kissed.) Let your SCAPULAR. . . . sign of your "contract" with the Immaculate Heart of Mary . . . remind you of Her following requests at Fatima:
Sacrifice
    Do you extend your MORNING OFFERING throughout the day?  (A Particial Indulgence is granted to:  1) That individual among the faithful who , CARRYING OUT HIS DUTIES and bearing with the trials of life, raises his mind in humble trust to God, adding -- even mentally -- some pius invocation;
2) That individual among the faithful who, led by a spirit of faith, mercifully expends himself or his goods in the service of needy brethren;
3) That individual among the faithful who, in a spirit of penance, freely abstains from something licit and pleasing to himself.)  Throughout the day whenever work or suffering is offered to God, a perfect formula given to us by Our Lady of Fatima is: "O my Jesus, it is for love of Thee, in reparation for the outrages committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and for the conversion of poor sinners."
Prayer
    Do you say five decades of the ROSARY every day?  (Plenary Indulgence once daily when said in common.)
Reparation
    Have you made an effort to make the FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS?  (To those who make the Five First Saturdays Our Lady promises: "I promise to assist at the hour of death with all the Graces necessary for salvation . . . ")  Have you adored Our Lord in the BLESSED SACRAMENT?  (Plenary Indulgence for at least a half-hour of Adoration before the BLESSED SACRAMENT.)
    The BLUE ARMY is the fulfillment of Our Lady's requests.

  We are annually reminded on the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ,, for the redemption of the human race, Himself with Mary offered to God the Father the sacrifice of His life from the arms of the arms of His Immaculate Mother.  Here was the first perfect Morning Offering.  May all Christians come to imitate it.

MORNING OFFERING
  O my God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary (here kiss your Brown Scapular)  I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Jesus from all the Altars throughout the world, joining the offering of my every thought, word and action of this day.
    O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgenece and merit I can and I offer them, together with myself, to Mary Immaculate . . . that she may best apply them to the interests of Thy most Sacred Heart. -- Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! -- Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for us! -- Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us!
    (This offering is said by the millions of members of the Blue Army throughout the world, each morning . . . to fulfill the requests of Our Lady of Fatima for the Sanctification of daily duties as a condition for the conversion of Russia.)  IMPRIMATUR: Most Rev. Geo. W. Ahr., S.T.D., Bishop of Trenton.

    . . . ever hold great esteem the practices and exercises of the Devotion to the most Blessed Virgin which have been recomended for centuries by the Magisterium of the Church.  And among them we judge well to recall especially the Marian Rosary and the Religious use of the Scapular of Mount Carmel.
                                                                                           Pope Paul VI on February 2, 1965.

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