16 July 2021
Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
“LORD, I am your servant, your servant, the child of your maidservant; you have loosed my bonds.” (Ps 116:16)
There are various devotions that are first entrusted to particular religious orders and then become part of the treasures open to all in the Church. Thus, we find the Rosary especially stemming from the Dominicans, the Stations of the Cross from the Franciscans, the Spiritual Exercises from the Jesuits. The Carmelites have shared with the whole Church the special gift of the Brown Scapular. This small garment made of two squares of brown wool is a beautiful means of fostering devotion to Our Lady.
The wearing of the scapular, traditionally stems from the entrusting of the garment by Mary to St. Simon Stock, an early Carmelite of the 13th century. There are prayers associated with the wearing of the scapular, yet as St. John Paul II notes, the simple practice of wearing the scapular becomes what we hope all prayer becomes: a ‘habit’, and thus a sign of “the reciprocal communion between Mary and the faithful.” Mary loves us as our mother, and the wearing of the scapular is a beautiful way for us to place ourselves under her spiritual mantle. Put another way, God has given us a Mother who always prays for us and has us on her heart. The gift of the scapular is a way for us to be reminded of her care and to have Mary be on our hearts as well. Let us pray that we will cherish the scapular and all the reminders that the Lord gives us that we are the children of His handmaid, and that He has loosed our bonds.