Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Greetings in Jesus and Mary!

Blessed feast day to all! I am repeating an article done in the past for this great feast day because of the message of the Scapular being a garment of war. Yes, we are at war. This is a very special title for Our Lady. The Carmelite Order IS the Order of Our Lady. The history of it goes back to before Christ on Mount Carmel where the first monks prayed for the coming of the Messiah and for the coming of The Virgin who would give Him birth.  It only makes sense that the Eternal Father would have these prayer warriors inspired to pray for the necessary graces needed for the world to receive Our Lady who would then receive the Son of God - our Savior. It is a very beautiful and rich history. It is a great honor and privilege to be a Carmelite!

Traditionally, today, many priests will offer either today or the Sunday nearest this day to enroll new members into the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular. Today, so little emphasis is given to this amazing sacramental. For those of us who study God's gift of Our Lady, we know Her amazing place in our salvation. Her yes, allowed the Son of God to be born and die for our sins. We have so much to be grateful for. She was conceived without Original Sin in order to be the first tabernacle of Jesus which had to be very pure. She  is Immaculate! We need to give Her our gratitude with our obedience to Her wishes which She has given to us so many times throughout Catholic history. It is always the same --- repent, do penance, pray the Rosary and wear Her Scapular! Lucia of Fatima stated that the Rosary and the Scapular are inseparable. We must do both in order to receive the graces given to those enrolled in Her army.

Father Daniel Lord, SJ has written so much for us in the years gone by and I will take some of the words he wrote for the nine day novena pamphlet to Our Lady of Mt Carmel given to us in 1947. I quote:

"The scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a uniform, the splendid uniform of those who enlist under Christ and Mary to battle evil and defend the right.

Almost from the dawn of history uniforms have suggested war. Soldiers wore them when they went out to do battle. Now with the coming of Christ, a new kind of war was emphasized: the war of truth against lies, of right against wrong. Naturally enough in this new war, in which there were armies on the side of Christ, the men and women who pledge to fight the good fight and thrust Satan back into hell came to wear uniforms. These were the religious habits of early Christian times, the special garb worn by priests and brothers and nuns.

The scapular of Our Lady is the badge of our allegiance to Christ and His Mother in their fight against the forces of Evil. It has become a distinctive emblem of a Catholic.

When Satan, the great and immortal enemy of the human race, won the preliminary skirmish of Eden, the voice of God Himself foretold that the foot of a conquering woman would crush the devil's head.

Mary, conqueror of heresies...
Mary, triumphant always in the battle with sin...
We wearers of the uniform of Mary know the certainty of victory and the clear prospect of eternal peace.
Before all observers, that scapular says: "I am a soldier of Christ and of Mary. I am a sworn enemy of evil."
Mary watches with eagerness and guards with care those sons and daughters who wear Her uniform and profess by Her scapular their consecration to Her!"

Above is taken from Father Daniel Lord, SJ "Mount Carmel Novena" 1947

So we conclude by saying that we should be happy and proud to be able to wear Her Scapular in this battle today. We can't help but think that it is no wonder that the enemy, who now is actually lurking in the Church, has silenced the promotion to this Scapular - EVEN WITHIN THE CARMELITE ORDER! Satan doesn't want a single soul to be wearing it!!  Much Reparation is needed for this crime!! Even the Blue Army, that once promoted it - is now renamed "The Fatima Apostolate". It is politically incorrect to talk of an army or being a soldier of Christ ----  we are now called to tolerate evil - everywhere. THIS IS FALSE TEACHING AND SHOULD BE COUNTERED WITH THE TRUTH!

May we wear our uniform bravely, courageously and boldly in this battle of good vs. evil, knowing that the Queen of Mt. Carmel is given the grace by God to crush the head of the devil. Let us not disappoint our King and Queen - let us promote enrollment in Our Lady's army which is fighting a very great battle right now against Satan and his cohorts. Let us put on the uniform of the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on our bodies and the weapon of Her Rosary beads in our hands so that we can help protect many souls from being deceived by the enemy and present them instead to the Heart of Her Son - Jesus Christ - Our Lord and King.

May Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us.
All ye Carmelite saints, pray for us.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

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History of the Brown Scapular