“And Elias took his mantle and folded it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they both passed over on dry ground.”
(2 Kings 2:8)
THE ROSARY HOUR PODCAST NEWSLETTER | JULY 16, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel1
THE SCAPULAR: A SILENT PRAYER
Do you know anyone who might benefit from knowing one must install the scapular with the help of a priest?
Fr. Elias explains in the above video with some footage from today’s ceremony in the Archdiocese of Braga in Portugal.
The Scapular is a sacramental — a silent prayer. To link now to the SCAPULAR INSCRIPTION PROVIDED BY FR. ELIAS MARY MILLS, FI, scroll to the FOOTNOTES: #2. You can also read more about the history of this devotion from note 3 here: #3
The Scapular is essentially a "habit"St. John Paul II further explains that “the sign of the Scapular points to”
an effective synthesis of Marian spirituality, which nourishes the devotion of believers and makes them sensitive to the Virgin Mother's loving presence in their lives.
He goes on to say that:
The Scapular is essentially a "habit". Those who receive it are associated more or less closely with the Order of Carmel and dedicate themselves to the service of Our Lady for the good of the whole Church (cf. "Formula of Enrolment in the Scapular", in the Rite of Blessing of and Enrolment in the Scapular, approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 5 January 1996). Those who wear the Scapular are thus brought into the land of Carmel, so that they may "eat its fruits and its good things" (cf. Jer 2: 7), and experience the loving and motherly presence of Mary in their daily commitment to be clothed in Jesus Christ and to manifest him in their life for the good of the Church and the whole of humanity (cf. "Formula of Enrolment in the Scapular", cit.).
The specified material worn on the shoulder, therefore represents the protection and the promise of the Blessed Mother.
THINK ABOUT ENROLLING IN THE SCAPULAR DURING THE YEAR OF PRAYERAs we celebrate “The Sabbatine Privilege” now 702 years after the first Papal Bull “Sacratissimo uti culmine” written by John XXII, March 3, 1322, let us find ways to encourage the installation of the Scapular as Fr. Elias Mary Mills suggests, especially pertinent as we approach Jubilee 2025 through the year of prayer.
THE ROSARY AND THE SCAPULAR AS "SHIELD"How does the scapular become a shield with the sword of the Rosary and thus the very means by which we are reminded of the spiritual battle that Henri de Lubac notes is the function of the Church? De Lubac once noted that “our personal destiny can work itself out only in the common salvation of the Church, who is the ‘Mother of Unity’” (Henri de Lubac, The Splendour of the Church, Ignatius Press, page 45). He further notes that:
“The Church is not only the first of the works of the sanctifying Spirit, but also that which includes, conditions, and absorbs all the rest. The entire process of salvation is worked out in her; indeed, it is identified with her. In consequence, something that may well have seemed a restriction at first glance turns out, on the contrary, to give us an opportunity of appreciating the scope of the truths concerning the Church, the strength of the bonds that holds us to her, and the depth of the part she plays in the economy of our life as Christians.”
In today’s video, we listen to Fr. Elias Mary Mills, FI who begins in PART 1 to explain the power of this sacramental — a shield suggested by the Latin text of the scapular investment:
Oremus.
Domine Jesu Christe, humani generis Salvator, hunc habitum, quem propter tuum tuaeque Genitricis Virginis Mariae de Monte Carmelo, amorem servus tuus (ancilla tua) devote est delaturus(a), dextera tua sancti+fica, ut, eadem Genitrice tua intercedente, ab hoste maligno defensus(a), in tua gratia usque ad mortem perseveret: Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
P - Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, sanctify + by Thy power these scapulars, which for love of Thee and for love of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Thy servants will wear devoutly, so that through the intercession of the same Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and protected against the evil spirit, they persevere until death in Thy grace. Thou who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.
Source: Sisters of Carmel
https://www.sistersofcarmel.com/brown-scapular-information.php
THE VOICE OF FÁTIMA covers THE BROWN SCAPULARIn the July, 1953, issue of the VOICE OF FÁTIMA, published as the official voice of the Bishop of Fátima, and still available online today — simultaneously in five languages, on the front page, in bold type, the Bishop of Fátima gave a detailed answer. It is only fitting that that answer, in its entirety, be quoted here because. . . in the first definitive statement on this subject by the Bishop of Fátima . . . His Excellency pierced the three most controversial points of the Scapular Devotion:
STATEMENT OF THE BISHOP OF FÁTIMA
(I) Substitution of a medal for the Scapular.This was authorized by a decree of the Holy Office, December 16, 1910.According to this decree"in wearing the medal one participates, as with the Scapular proper, in all the Indulgences and in all the privileges, not excepting that called the Sabbatine Privilege of the Scapular of Mount Carmel."
But the same decree begins with the following words:"As the holy Scapular contributes efficaciously to the progress of the spiritual life among the faithful and is in great favor amongst them, the Holy Father desires that the habitual form be maintained." (Act. Ap. Sedis, III, 22.)
Therefore, the use of the medal instead of the Scapular is permitted. But it was the wish of Blessed Pius X, who granted the permission, and of the Pontiffs who succeeded him, that preference should be given to the use of the Scapular. Our Lady's wishes cannot be different from the wishes of the Vicar of Her Son.
Try then to use the Scapular (even with the medal as many people do in Portugal). You will find that in practice it is not so inconvenient to use as might at first appear. And besides, if on occasions it is necessary to make a little sacrifice and win a battle over human respect . . . so much the better.
(II)The Scapular of Mount Carmel or another?There is no doubt that, in Portugal at least, the Scapular of Mount Carmel is the Scapular par excellence. When we speak of the Scapular we have only one in mind. Very probably it is the oldest of all and is a model and example to all others. In the minds of the faithful it is the one which best symbolizes participation in a religious Order and subordination to Mary.His Holiness Pope Pius XII,happily reigning, in a letter which he wrote to the Generals of the Carmelite Order, on the occasion of the seventh centenary of the Scapular of Mount Carmel onFebruary 11, 1950, said explicitly that we should all recognize thatthe Scapular is the sign of our "consecration to the most holy Heart of the Immaculate Virgin."His Holiness on this occasion is most certainly referring to the Scapular of Mount Carmel and to no other. The Blue Army then was right in choosing, proposing and propagating the Scapular of Carmel------and not one of the many others which exist in the Church------asa sign of the consecration of its members to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
(III) The Apparition of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The fact that Lúcia, on October 13, 1917, saw the Blessed Virgin as She is generally represented under the invocation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, lends itself to many interpretations.There is nothing to prevent people seeing in this fact the desire of Our Lady to be better known, loved and invoked as Queen of Mount Carmel, or that the use of Her Scapular, with all its obligations, be considered one of the points of Her message, as a very efficacious means of salvation of souls and of the world.
The "Blue Army," which we mentioned above, and to which the Bishop of Fátima refers in his statement on the Scapular, has caused millions of people, all over the world, to promise to wear the Scapular always as their sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The "pledge" used by the Blue Army was first used in a "March of Pledges" which the present author inaugurated in the Scapular Apostolate in New York, in the fall of 1947.
Even as the "March of Pledges" was beginning (netting one and three-quarter million pledges in the United States in twelve months), Our Lady Herself was "founding" the Blue Army elsewhere in America . . . the Army which would, by the use of the Rosary and Scapular and fulfillment of daily duty . . . extend Her power over the earth even into the very heart of the Communist empire.
It began in the last weeks of 1946 when a devout priest, worn by years of intense labor in the Lord's Vineyard, was dying of a serious heart ailment. Five heart specialists had decided that he had but a few months to live.
In this extremity, the good priest . . .Father Harold V. Colgan, of Saint Mary's Church, in Plainfield, N. J. . . . had recourse to Our Lady. He had ever loved Her with a simple, childlike devotion, and he had been one of the best promoters of Our Lady's Sodality among the secular clergy in America.
"If you cure me,"he said to Her,"I will give you the rest of my life . . . to do your work."
And he was cured.At once he began to do three things in his parish:
He resolved that
not one of his parishioners would die without the Scapular.He strove to
establish the daily Rosary in every home.And he
asked everyone in his parish to thus form for Our Lady, by their devotion and above all by their good daily lives, a small Marian army against the red armies of Communism.He asked them to wear some little outward sign of blue as a token that they had pledged themselves to this:that they were saying the Rosarywearing the Scapularand offering up their daily duties in a spirit of reparation for the sins of the world.
The number of daily Communions in the parish doubled in one year. Masses on the first Saturday filled the Church (which seats 1,000) to capacity.
Everyone in the parish could see and could feel the spiritual light this Marian devotion had brought to them.They could see it above all in the greatly increased number of people at the Communion rail.
Other pastors in the area heard of it and took up the idea of the "Blue Army." And coincidentally there wasa growing friendship between the author of this book [John Haffert] and Father Colganwhile the idea of the Blue Army . . . as though by magic . . . began to spread far and wide. . . .
Within three years the Blue Army leaped to over two million signed members in the United States, and more than twice that number in other nations.Saint Dominic is reported to have said.
. . . "One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, She will save the world,"
And whether the Saint did actually speak those words seven hundred years ago or not, they were recorded in a book at least more than two centuries ago.
And from the skies of Fátima Our Blessed Mother today holds down to us . . . the Rosary and the Scapular . . . with the promise of great conversions and of world peace.
REPOST from “Sign of the Heart” by: John Haffert, for Educational Use Purposes only.
AVE MARIA! FR. MILLS RETURNS TO THE ROSARY HOUR PODCAST
Last week, the Rosary Hour Podcast team listened to the final teachings about the Scapular by Fr. Elias Mary Mills, FI, who again joined our podcast to help us craft with more audio commentary this post telling the story of the Devotion of the Scapular from his desk in Griswold, CT. We hope you enjoy this video presentation and will share PART II with Fr. Elias’s Testimony soon.
Please visit our podcast channel on the Rosary here:
https://www.youtube.com/@travessadasenrahousepress
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: 
PRAY WITH CHILDREN’S ROSARY on RADIO MARIA EVERY SECOND SATURDAY on RADIO MARIA USA at 4 p.m. EST / 3 PM CENTRAL. Mark your calendar. Listen to the Founder of Children’s Rosary and share with others. PRAY THE ROSARY EVERY DAY!
WANT TO TEACH SOMEONE HOW-TO-PRAY A DECADE OF THE ROSARY TONIGHT WITH FR. PETER & AMELIA? CLICK BELOW:
LINK TO A PDF of the “LITANY TO OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL” + NOVENA
MORE RHP RESOURCES: A LIST OF ARTICLES, FYI“St. Simon Stock receives the Brown Scapular” https://littleflowerbasilica.org/blog/st-simon-stock-receives-the-brown-scapular
“MESSAGE OF JOHN PAUL II TO THE ORDER OF THE BROTHERS
OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY OF MT CARMEL” (Castel Gandolfo, 8 September 2001, Apostolic Blessing by St. John Paul II)“MENSAGEM AO PRIOR-GERAL DA ORDEM DOS IRMÃOS DA BEM-AVENTURADA VIRGEM MARIA DO MONTE CARMELO” (Castelgandolfo, 8 de Setembro de 2001 —Bênção Apostólica ao Senhor Prior-Geral, aos Irmãos capitulares e a toda a Família do Carmelo)
CONTACT THE “CURIA GENERALIZIA DEI CARMELITANI VIA GIOVANNI LANZA, 138 - 00184 ROMA” (ITALIA) here: www.ocarm.org - email: seggen@ocarm.org
TEL. +39.6.462018.1 FAX +39.6.46.2018.47
REVIEWED BY IZZY: JULY 16, 2024, 6:25 PM PACIFIC STANDARD TIME, BC.
FOOTNOTESWatch Fr. Elias Mary Mills YouTube video reiteration from seven years ago here in this sermon. He speaks of Jezebel, the pagan queen, St. Elias, reminding us that we can pray to him — patron of Fr. Elias. He reminds us of the story of Baal.
The Rosary Hour Podcast will continue this History of the Scapular in the next video.
See video for ceremony on the Camino to Santiago by Fr. Avelino Castro, pastor at the “Mother Church” in the Archdiocese of Braga who demonstrates for our podcast the installation ceremony for the Brown Scapular; his homily explains to the congregation the promise and importance of this brown scapular important to him the July 16 homily, including the prayer with 3 Ave Marias as promoted by Papa Pio XII.
READ THE Procedure for Blessing and Investiture (English) suggested by Fr. Elias:Priest: Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy.
Enrollee: And grant us Thy salvation.
Priest: Lord, hear my prayer.
Enrollee: And let my cry come unto Thee.
Priest: The Lord be with you.
Enrollee: And with your Spirit.
Priest: Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, sanctify + by Thy power these scapulars, which for love of Thee and for love of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Thy servants will wear devoutly, so that through the intercession of the same Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and protected against the evil spirit, they persevere until death in Thy grace. Thou who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.
The priest sprinkles the scapular and the person(s) being enrolled with holy water. He then invests him (them), saying:
Priest: Receive this blessed scapular and beseech the Blessed Virgin that through Her merits, you may wear it without stain. May it defend you against all adversity and accompany you to eternal life. Amen.
After investiture the priest continues:
Priest: I, by the power vested in me, admit you to participate in all the spiritual benefits obtained through the mercy of Jesus Christ by the Religious Order of Mount Carmel. In the name of the Father + and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. + Amen.
May God Almighty, the Creator of Heaven and earth, bless + you, He who has deigned to join you to the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel; we beseech Her to crush the head of the ancient serpent so that you may enter into possession of your eternal heritage through Christ our Lord.
Enrollee: Amen.
The priest then sprinkles the person(s) enrolled with holy water.
ORProcedure for Blessing and Investiture (Latin)
Priest: Ostende nobis Domine misericordiam tuam.
Enrollee: Et salutare tuum da nobis.
Priest: Domine exaudi orationem meum.
Enrollee: Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
Priest: Dominus vobiscum.
Enrollee: Et cum spiritu tuo.
Priest: Oremus. Domine Jesu Christe, humani generis Salvator, hunc habitum, quem propter tuum tuaeque Genitricis Virginis Mariae de Monte Carmelo, Amorem servus tuus devote est delaturus, dextera tua sanctifica + , tu eadem Genitrice tua intercedente, ab hoste maligno defensus in tua gratia usque ad mortem perseveret: Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
The priest sprinkles the scapular and the person(s) being enrolled with holy water. He then invests him (them), saying:
Priest: Accipite hunc, habitum benedictum precantes sanctissima Virginem, ut ejus meritis illum perferatis sine macula, et vos ab omni adversitate defendat, atque advitam perducat aeternam. Amen.
After investiture the priest continues:
Priest: Ego, ex potestate mihi concessa, recipio vos ad participationem, omnium bonorum spiritualium, qua, cooperante misericordia Jesu Christi, a Religiosa de Monte Carmelo peraguntur. In Nomine Patris + et Filii + et Spiritus Sancti. + Amen.
Benedicat + vos Conditor caeli at terrae, Deus omnipotens, qui vos cooptare dignatus est in Confraternitatem Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo: quam exoramus, ut in hore obitus vestri conterat caput serpentis antiqui, atque palmam et coronam sempiternae hereditatis tandem consequamini. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.
Enrollee: Amen.
The priest then sprinkles the person(s) enrolled with holy water.
Why did Our Lady appear as Our Lady of Mount Carmel holding out the Brown Scapular? Fr. Elias Mary Mills explains. (Part 1)