Please join us for our upcoming session with Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT. It takes place Monday 08/14/23 from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm MDT. Please click the link below for automatic entry. God Bless you.
Click on Zoom: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/4537185699?pwd=emRVOEZwMTY1eGN1bzYrU2VldWhiZz09
Opening Prayer: The Memorare
REMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.
Amen
Receiving the Gifts of Our Lady
Our Lady has made various prophecies during her approved apparitions down through the centuries of time. Many of them are warnings. Most of them grant the possibility of mitigation if enough people repent and turn back to God.
Our Lady also has obtained unique gifts for us, which She lavishly offers to her children, asking only the fulfillment of certain, easily complied-with conditions. One of the most overlooked gifts today is the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. St. Dominic, speaking to St. Francis of Assisi and St. Angelus back in the early 13th century, uttered a famous prophecy: ‘To my Order, the Blessed Virgin will entrust a devotion to be known as the Rosary and to your Order, Angelus, she will entrust a devotion to be known as the Scapular. One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, she will save the world.’
One of the unfortunate misapprehensions present today results in a general minimizing of the importance of sacramentals by framing them as potentially superstitious practices. This is enough for many people to conclude that they don’t need such gifts. The widespread practice of enrolling children in the Brown Scapular at the time of their First Holy Communion was discontinued because of this. Very sad.
To receive the spiritual blessings associated with the Scapular, it is necessary to be formally enrolled in the Brown Scapular by a priest. Once enrolled, the enrollment is for life and need not be repeated. St. Claude de la Colombière, the spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary, says of the Scapular: “No devotion has been confirmed by more numerous authentic miracles than the Brown Scapular.”
If you do not have the right attitude toward the Scapular, wear it anyway. There are many stories of the conversion of souls who agree to at least wear it. Even non-Catholics may wear it. Once you put on the Scapular, Our Lady is committed in a particular way to helping you even if your own heart is not yet in the right place. Our Lady promises, “Whosoever dies clothed in the Brown Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire. It shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace.” Don’t hesitate to put a scapular on a dying person, either, even if they have questionable faith. Your faith can supply, and there are innumerable stories of Our Lady taking care of the rest.
Fr. Chad Ripperger, who specializes in deliverance and exorcisms, indicates in one of his stories that the demons particularly hate the brown Scapular and will do anything to get it off of people because it snatches so many souls from hell. The demons know its efficacy, and they know when they see someone wearing it that they will have to fight Our Lady herself for this soul. They are always doomed to be defeated by Her, so they seek to separate souls from her as one of their first moves.
The last apparition of Fatima was of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel holding out the Scapular in one hand and a Rosary in the other. Sr. Lucia, the oldest of the visionaries at the time, said: “The Rosary and the Scapular go together.”
Mary attaches another promise to those who wear the Scapular: the Sabbatine Privilege. This concerns a promise made by Our Lady to Pope John XXII concerning those who wear the Brown Scapular: “I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory, I shall free, so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting.”
There are three requirements to make oneself eligible for this privilege: 1st, we must wear the Scapular; 2nd, observe Chastity according to our state of life and 3rd, recite the Little Office of Our Blessed Mother (The Rosary can be substituted for the office by obtaining permission from a priest.)
We can’t take anything with us when we leave this Earth except our good works and the love we have exercised and banked in our heavenly coffers. We can, though, enter eternity wearing the Scapular, which will identify us as children of Mary and assure us we are not eternally lost. Don’t leave Earth without it!
Questions for silent reflection:
1. There is a new Scapular apostolate beginning whose goal is to clothe everyone in the world with a scapular. Are you aware of its importance and does your family know about the Scapular?
2. When we put on the scapular in good faith, Our Lady obligates herself to caring for us in a particular way and to protecting us from any kind of eternal harm the evil one seeks to do us. How might you introduce someone to the idea of wearing it especially if they have issues with Mary?
3. What do you think was in Mary’s mind as she gave us this gift? How does she see the scapular? There is something different about receiving an actual blessed item Our Lady wants us to wear, vs. just listening to an exhortation about how we should relate to Our Lady.
4. What are other things you can offer people to benefit their souls? Clearly we are meant to work Jesus’ mission saving souls. What are some other ways we can concretely participate?
Our next session takes place 09/11/23. Please join us. Thank you, and may the Lord bless you, your family and your community. Peace.
Facing Our Immortality 