Q. How does a person go about getting enrolled in the brown scapular? Is wearing a scapular valid without being enrolled?
A. The Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is made of two pieces of brown wool material connected by two straps. Wearing it is a sign of being under Mary’s maternal protection and help in manifesting Jesus in the lives of those who wear the scapular.
People may be enrolled in and invested with the scapular in a simple ceremony by any priest or deacon using the official prayers. Enrollment gives people an affiliation to the Carmelite Family, obligates them to practice to some extent the Carmelite spirituality, and allows them to participate in all of the spiritual benefits of the Order of Carmel.
The Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the habit of the Carmelite Order. Wearing it signifies some degree of affiliation to the Carmelite Order, such as: 1.) being in the Secular/Lay Order or in a public association or confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2.) having been invested in the scapular, practicing the Order’s spirituality, and having been granted some association with the Order, or 3.) wearing the scapular out of devotion, practicing the Order’s spirituality, but having no formal association to the Order.
As for the second part of the question, “Is wearing a scapular valid without being enrolled?” Those not enrolled in the Scapular are not guaranteed all of the spiritual benefits that the Carmelite Order allows to those who enroll. God in His mercy may give His grace to those who, not being officially enrolled, wear the Brown Scapular devoutly.
This question was answered by Father Christopher Barak, Chaplain to the Carmelite nuns at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph near Valparaiso.
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