Some thoughts on wearing the Scapular of Our Lady

Todays first reading at Mass continues the cycle of the life and mission of Elijah culminating in what is referred to as the 'assumption' of the prophet and handing over to the prophet Elisha the prophetic charism. The icon pictured illustrates this well.

 

In the scripture Elisha prays "May I receive a double portion of your spirit." in response to Elijah's command to ask whatever legacy Elisha may have desired. Elijah replied, "If you see me taken up from you, your wish will be granted, otherwise not." The scripture states that a fiery chariot came between the prophet and his disciple and took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, while the prophetic mantle fell at the feet of Elisha. Elisha tore his garments in mourning over the loss of his spiritual father and took up the mantle, rolling it up and striking the water of the river Jordan, causing it to divide, thus allowing him dry passage across the river bed. How many layers of spiritual significance to this story! Nevertheless, I have only one simple reflection, and that is regarding the Order of Carmel.


Pictured: St. Simon Stock receiving the scapular of Mt. Carmel.

First of all, the Order of Carmel has always seen the prophets Elijah and Elisha as the 'proto-founders' of the order. In the passage from Kings wherein Elijah sees the "little cloud rising from the sea" from his perch atop the summit of Mt. Carmel many have written that this little cloud prefigures the Virgin who would bear the Savior. Archeological evidence tells us hermit followers of Elijah inhabited Mt. Carmel even in Old Testament times, and of course Christian hermits lived there later, in the spirit of Elijah, hence the origins of the Order of Mt. Carmel.

Perhaps it is a stretch on my part but I have always seen the Scapular of Mt. Carmel somehow prefigured as it were, in this episode in the Book of Kings when Elijah passes on the mantel to Elisha. It seems to me when Our Lady gave the scapular to St. Simon there was a similar significance. To be sure it is a sign of her favor and protection, first to Carmel and then to the lay person who wears her 'livery' as the medieval word refers to it. Ponder the idea and consider it's meaning.

Without doubt there is a prophetic charism imbedded in the Order of Carmel, signified by Our Lady herself. The scapular of Mt. Carmel provides numerous benefits and graces for those who wear it, and it is a garment that the Church has highly praised and given many indulgences to. One may either wear the cloth scapular, which one must be enrolled in to enjoy all of the indulgences, or one may simply have it blessed by a priest and still enjoy the protection of the Mother God. A Scapular medal may also be worn in place of the cloth one, but the wearer must have been enrolled in the cloth scapular first in order to gain the same privledges. It all sounds so complicated, but it is not. Some people like to nit pick about how big it should be, or if the medal may substitute, but that makes it more of a fetish or talisman than a revered sacramental of the Church. (The Carmelite order has come out with revised conditions regarding the Scapular devotion.)

There are many other scapulars of various orders in the Church, as well as those that have cropped up from private revelations. If one's devotion moves one to wear these, that is fine, but sometimes I see the occasional person wearing all of them at once, as well as numerous medals and crucifixes - that's a bit off. Sometimes people use sacramentals to make themselves feel holy or appear holy, sometimes they use them superstitiously, all of that should be discouraged. In today's Gospel Our Lord cautions against "performing our religious deeds in order that people may see them."

For the laity however, the scapular is normally worn beneath one's outer garments, the devotion is a matter of the heart, it signifies our consecration to God, and the entrustment of ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as well as a guarantee of Our Lady's protection and guidance.

The affiliation to the Order of Carmel (indeed simply being a baptized and confirmed Roman Catholic) gives our lives a prophetic character, that of witnessing to our faith, albeit sometimes silently and hidden, much as the Scapular we discreetly yet devoutly wear next to our heart.
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Icon: The Assumption of the prophet Elijah.