The Blessed Virgin is not only the physical mother of Jesus, but she is also our spiritual mother, and to a group of monks devoted to her, she gave a garment called a scapular with a special pledge attached to it.  She promised to protect them in wearing it.  The monks belonged to the Carmelite Order, and the scapular they received from the Virgin Mary was made of brown cloth, and is known as the Brown Scapular (Visualize in the above illustration a veil and the outline of a face in the third strand from the left). 

     The scapular is worn over the shoulders, and hangs down, both in front and back (It comes from scapula, the Latin word for shoulder).   It goes over a tunic and began as a working garment to protect it, a kind of apron, and both are part of a religious attire called a habit.

     And through the monks, it was in turn given to the laity.  The abbreviated form of this Carmelite garment, the scapular laymen are enrolled in and wear, consists of two small pieces of brown cloth joined by two narrow bands or strings. It goes around the neck, with the strings or bands resting on the shoulders while the cloths themselves hang in front and in back. The benefits that apply to the larger scapular also apply to this smaller one.
     
                                 The Twofold Relationship
     
     The two pieces of cloth joined together, befit a sense of belonging. The scapular signifies belonging to Mary, but in a more special sense than announced from the Cross.  And the cloths befit the two part association, or in the words of Mary, the eternal alliance. 

     While it is a sacramental, it is more than that. It is a sign of promise and protection on the part of the Mother of God and men, and of dedication and devotion on the part of her spiritual children.

      For her part, Our Blessed Mother promises salvation to the one who wears the scapular: that the one who dies in it shall not suffer eternal fire.

      This all does not mean, however, that we may wear the scapular and sin as we please under its protection, for that mocks the meaning.  Sin is contrary to what Mary would want or desire.  We should remember that sin crucified her Son, and that He suffered for our sins.   Sin was the cause of His death, and that is not just a matter of history, as sin continues today.

      The scapular wearers benefit from Mary's intercessory power with God, and her role in dispensing grace from God, as do any of her children. As users of a sacramental they draw upon the prayers of the Church for its benefits, and as enrolled members of the Confraternity of Carmel, they share in the Masses, prayers and good works of the Carmelite Order, participating in its spiritual life.

     For our part, we give her our dedication and devotion.  Apart from our love, we can freely let ourselves be used as her instrument, like a needle to help her mend the torn world.  Yes, Mary can use our scapular devotion to patch the holes in the souls of our fellow human beings.  This may be partly done by accepting things that come our way, or by initiating things to do, like fasting, making sacrifices, and encouraging the rosary.

    An important aspect of our part, is consecration, the giving of self to her. And St. Louis Marie de Montfort says that the more one's consecrated to Mary, the more one's consecrated to Jesus.  The consecrated person, through dedication to Mary, will serve her by doing things to bring souls to her Son, and to Salvation.

       Through our consecration, we may offer her our daily duty, especially our crosses, hurts, disappointments and sufferings, so that she may use the merit of these to bring others to Salvation. It's something like putting a weight on a scale, and as one balance dish goes down, the arm lifts the other dish. And upon that other dish is a soul, even at the brink of hell, and the arm lifting it, is the arm of God.
                
                        Incidents of Protection in This World

       But her benefits are not just in the next world or at its entrance.  She also extends to us protection from danger and peace in the present world.  The following are incidents of  protection in this world, accounts related by Rev. Howard Rafferty, O. Carm., once the Provincial Director of  the Third Order of Carmelites in America.
     
       Among these accounts of protection in peril, is that of a row of houses that caught fire in Westboden, Germany. The inhabitants of a two-family dwelling put a scapular upon the main door when they left. The sparks flew around and over the house, and it was unharmed amid 22 that were destroyed, reduced to ruin and ashes in three hours.
     
      In another account, an English ship in 1845 was caught in a wild hurricane and was in danger of sinking. Aboard was a Protestant minister, a Rev. Fisher, who went out on deck with his family to pray for mercy and forgiveness. The end seemed near.   Seeing the peril, an Irish sailor named John McAuliffe, opened his shirt, took off his scapular, made the Sign of the Cross with it over the angry sea and threw it into the ocean.  The wind calmed, and another wave washed the scapular back aboard at the sailor's feet.  Rev. Fisher and his family observed what happened and questioned the sailor who told them about Mary, the scapular and its protection in danger.  They were so struck by this, that they determined to become Catholics and enjoy its protection. 

      In yet another incident, a French priest on a pilgrimage to Switzerland, at a place called Einsiedeln, was on his way to Mass when he remembered his scapular was back in his room.  He went back to get it.   During Mass, a young man drew a revolver and shot him in the back, but the priest went on saying Mass. Afterwards, in the sacristy, the abbot said he thought the gunman had missed him. When the priest's vestments were taken off, "the bullet was found adhering to the little brown Scapular." 

     In another account I found on the internet, which is probably about the same incident, it speaks of a French priest saying Mass at the same place in Switzerland.  It tells of a scuffle in the congregation and that a young man started shooting. It goes on to say, "The priest felt a sharp impact against the middle of his back, certain it was a bullet, but he felt no pain, no weakness or even seemed to be bleeding. After the culprit was subdued, the priest continued the mass. Afterward, in the sacristy, when his vestments were removed, a metal bullet was found in the middle of his brown wool scapular. It was as crushed as if it had impaced (impacted) with a wall of solid steel."
                                   
                                      Strands of History

      As cloth is woven from separate strands, so the meanings of the scapular are woven from different strands of history and belief, loomed together you might say from a weft, centuries wide, and a warp, heaven high.

      One of these historical strands is tied to the yoke, like oxen have. The yoke, by which these cattle serve man, goes around the neck, with the burden pressing against the shoulders in plowing and pulling. Our Lord spoke of faith as a burden to be borne. He said, "My yoke is sweet and My burden light."

     The scapular took on a spiritual meaning, hanging as it did from the shoulders. When the monk put it on at the beginning of the day, it reminded him of his service for God during the day.

                                        Medieval Setting

     In order to understand the scapular more fully, it's necessary to see it in this medieval setting, from which comes another strand for it.  In the Middle Ages, before towns, commerce and industry, livelihood was dependent upon the land which belonged to the lords, and the people had to acquire the right to till the land from them. To become tenants, they became vassals to the lords to whom they paid homage. They served the lords, who in turn protected them.

       The account of this cloud rising out of the sea, may refer to the words of God to the serpent after the Fall of Man. He said in Genesis, "I will put emnities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." Mary rose pure from the muddied sea of humanity, and through her Christ brought the rain of grace to the parched earth, and humankind.

      And there on Mt. Carmel, in time to follow, dwelt followers of Elias devoted to the Mother of God. In following Mary they found cleanliness of heart, and they regarded her as the Queen of that holy place. Carmel was her vineyard where they hoped for her guidance and protection.

      They prayed for her coming, and when she came, she lived at Nazareth, not far from Carmel. There's a story that the Holy Family stopped there and rested on the way back from their sojourn in Egypt.

      A few volunteered to remain at the monastery on Carmel, but in 1291 the hermits were wiped out by the Mohammedans and their monastery destroyed.

     In Europe the hermits became friars and founded houses, the main one was at Aylesford, England, where in 1245 Simon Stock became their General. He was beset with troubles from within and without, and even cries to disband the order whose ancient striped cloak was unpopular. Maybe at times he longed for his former life in the forest.  It's said that as a youth he lived in the hollow of an oak, as a hermit. 

                               The Bestowal at  Aylesford

     Simon turned to Mary, in whose honor he'd taken his habit. As a vassal going to a lord, he besought her protection. On July 15th, 125l, he knelt all night in his cell, beseeching her to save the order. He prayed devoutly:

     She appeared with a multitude of angels in a flood of light during the early morning hours of the 16th, with a scapular in hand. She said, "Receive, my beloved son, this scapular of your Order. This shall be to you and to all Carmelites a privilege that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire. It is a badge of salvation, a protection in danger, a pledge of peace and eternal alliance."  The scapular he received appears to have been loomed in heaven.

                               Popes and the Scapular

     Nineteen popes have blessed and approved the devotion. When his Scapular was removed during his papal robing, Pope Leo XI said, "Leave me Mary, lest Mary leave me." When the Papal remains of Blessed Gregory X were exumed in 1830, over 500 years after his death, his Scapular was found intact. In 1916 Pope Benedict XV granted a 500-day indulgence each time it's kissed devoutly.

     The Spirit was manifest at Pentecost by "a sound from, heaven, as of a mighty wind coming" and there appeared "parted tongues as it were of fire."  On October 13th, 1917, when Mary appeared at Fatima, there may've also been a sign of the Holy Spirit, in the wind.

     An eyewitness named Dominic Reis, who had come from a long distance, was close to the tree where the children were, and reported that "There was a good three inches of water where I stood, and mud on the ground."  He said he was soaking wet and around noontime they could see the sun breaking.  In his words, "Now it was raining just like you open a faucet at your house.  Rain!  And then suddenly the rain stopped  The sun started to roll from one place to another place, and changed blue, yellow, all colors  Then we see the sun come toward the children, toward the tree."

     Dominic said that as soon as the sun resumed its place in the sky, the wind started blowing very hard without the trees moving at all.  The wind  blew and blew "and in a few minutes the ground was as dry as the floor here.  Even our clothes had dried..." 

     That a strong wind wouldn't stir the trees seems beyond the laws of nature.  Yet it's accounted that it happened, and something similar to this had happened before. That was at Lourdes, in 1858, before Bernadette saw the Lady for the first time on February 11th.  Bernadette heard a rushing wind but when she looked back at poplar trees, she saw that they were motionless.  And consider, the apparitions at Lourdes would close on July 16th, the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

       In Proverbs, it speaks of a worthy wife rendering good to her husband, and clothing her domestics in double garments so they won't be cold.  Mary provides us with a second garment, called a garment of grace, for our protection. When Elias was taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot and a whirlwind, he dropped to earth his mantle for his successor Eliseus who asked his double spirit, maybe meaning that Elias had twice that of other prophets. In bestowing the scapular, Mary imparts to us the benefit of her greater spirit.

      Her scapular for us is small, but its importance is not measured by its size, but in the power of God behind it. A grain of sand or an atom are small, but behind their existence is the power of God.  God made the world from nothing, and He can bring peace from something small if He desires, and through whom He desires.

       Our Lady said that sin causes war, and from this we can say, what helps reduce sin, helps peace. The scapular, like the rosary, is a means to Christianize our personal lives, and through them, the world.  And a world that's more Christlike, is a world closer to peace.
                                                                          ― John Riedell
                                                                                    
 
A Brown Scapular hung outside of a home as a protection against storms and lightning.