THE BROWN SCAPULAR OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

THE  BROWN  SCAPULAR  OF OUR  LADY  OF  MOUNT  CARMEL
The  16th July is the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
In the year 1251 on the 16th July, St Simon Stock was praying for his Carmelite order, where there were many disputes among the members. Kneeling in his tiny cell, he pours forth his soul with deep and longing sighs in what has been called "after the Hail Mary, the most beautiful of all Marian prayers".

" Flower of Carmel, Vine blossom-laden,
Splendor of Heaven, child-bearing maiden,
None equals thee!  O Mother benign, Who no man didst know,
On all Carmel's children Thy favors bestow,

Star of the Sea!

As the Saint lifts his tear-dimmed eyes the cell is suddenly flooded with a great light.  Surrounded by a great concourse of angels, the Queen of Heaven is descending towards him, holding forth the Brown Scapular and saying:

"RECEIVE  MY  BELOVED  SON,  THIS  HABIT  OF  THY  ORDER;  THIS  SHALL  BE  TO  THEE  AND  TO  ALL  CARMELITES  A  PRIVILAGE,  THAT  WHOSOEVER  DIES  CLOTHED  IN  THIS  SHALL  NEVER  SUFFER  ETERNAL  FIRE"

"This most extrordinary gift of the Scapular from the Mother of God to St Simon Stock - brings its great usefulness not only to the Carmelite Family of Mary but also to all the rest of the faithful who wish, affiliated to that family, to follow Mary with a very special devotion"  - Pope Pius 1X

God made His Mother the great missionary at the foot of the cross on Calvary.  To understand the wherefore of Her Scapular's being an instrument of Divine Providence in the salvation of souls, we have to go back to Calvary.  It is there that we learn the meaning of Mary's universal Motherhood. 
When Jesus says "Woman behold thy son; son, behold thy Mother" and then His cry  " I thirst"! We understand.  One is standing there who is achieving  the mission of co-Redemptrix and receiving that of Universal Mediatrix.  "Mother all the souls so dearly purchased at the price of this suffering are the object of My desire.  You love me so dearly that I commission you to bring them to Me that thus My pierced Heart may receive them.  Satan has no dominion over you; I make them your children; save them by your prayers! Mother!  I thirst for souls.  It is with awe that we picture to ourselves Her descent to St Simon Stock, surrounded by the pomp of Her Heavenly Court, to cloth us in Her garment, to proclaim Her Motherhood even as at Lourdes She has proclaimed Her Immaculate Conception Moreover, we see the explaination of the Scapular.

In considering Mary from any angle, we are struck with particular force by two prerogatives: Her power and Her love - the one omnipotent, the other fathomless.  It is because of Her love that she made the Scapular Promise and it is by her prayer-power that she keeps it.