Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Dear Parishioners,

I am so grateful to be back with you all after my 8-day Ignatian Retreat at Broom Tree in South Dakota.  Truly, the Lord wants to meet us in the silence where His voice can be heard.  I was deeply moved by experience and would like to invite anyone to consider doing a retreat there or at our local retreat center!  One touching moment in prayer was an invitation from Mary to renew my devotion to her through the Brown Scapular.  There are many devotions that each person is uniquely moved by and this is one that has been with me since around 2nd grade.  So, with the feast of our Lady of Mt. Carmel this week I would like to invite anyone to consider joining the confraternity of the brown scapular of our Lady.  

To give you some context, here is a brief history of the Scapular.  In the year 1251, in the town of Aylesford in England, Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite. She handed him a brown woolen scapular and said, “This shall be a privilege for you and all Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit shall not suffer eternal fire.” In time, the Church extended this magnificent privilege to all the laity who are willing to be invested in the Brown Scapular of the Carmelites and who perpetually wear it.  True devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary consists in three things: VENERATION, CONFIDENCE AND LOVE. By simply wearing the Scapular, we venerate her, love her and trust her protection.  As Our Lord taught us to say the Our Father, Our Blessed Mother taught us the value of the scapular. When we use it as a prayer, Our Lady draws us to the Sacred Heart of Her Divine Son. It is good, therefore, to hold the scapular in the hand. The Carmelites claim that this act of prayer offered while holding the Scapular is as perfect as a prayer can be. It is especially in time of temptation that we need the powerful intercession of God’s Mother. The evil spirit is utterly powerless when the wearer of a scapular faces temptation, calling upon the Holy Virgin in this silent devotion. “If you had recommended yourself to me, you would not have run into such danger,” was Our Lady’s gentle reproach to Blessed Alan de la Roche, one of her devoted servants.

The Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel has also promised to save those who wear the scapular from the fires of hell; She will also shorten their stay in purgatory if they should pass from this world still owing some debt of punishment.

The Blessed Virgin assigned certain conditions which must be fulfilled: 1. Wear the Brown Scapular continuously. 2. Observe chastity according to one’s state in life (married/single). 3. Recite daily the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin OR Observe the fasts of the Church together with abstaining from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays OR With permission of a priest, say five decades of Our Lady’s Most Holy Rosary OR With permission of a priest, substitute some other good work.

If you would be interested in joining the Brown Scapular Confraternity, please let me know by email, phone, or in person.  I will be doing inductions next Saturday and Sunday after all masses.  The Scapulars you will receive are handmade by our local Carmelites in Agnew, NE.

God Bless you all!

Fr. Luke Fleck