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JMJ
Second Day
"I will lead you into my Family of Carmel where you will wear MY HABIT." - Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to Bl. Anne of Bartholomew, C.D. (a nun of Teresian Carmel)
"RECEIVE, MY BELOVED SON, THIS HABIT OF THY ORDER: THIS SHALL BE TO THEE AND TO ALL CARMELITES A PRIVILEGE, THAT WHOSOEVER DIES CLOTHED IN THIS SHALL NEVER SUFFER ETERNAL FIRE. BEHOLD A SIGN OF PEACE, A SAFEGUARD IN DANGER, A PLEDGE OF MY ETERNAL ALLIANCE."
Consideration: The Meaning of the Scapular Promise
Presenting the Scapular to St. Simon Stock for the world, Our Immaculate Mother makes but one condition to Her promise of salvation: “Whosoever dies clothed in this Habit shall not suffer the fires of hell.” She promises then that anyone who enters Her family of Carmel, and dies there, shall not suffer the fires of hell.
Our Blessed Mother does not mean by Her promise that anyone dying even in mortal sin will be saved. Death in mortal sin and damnation are one and the same thing. Our Lady’s promise naturally rewords itself: “Whosoever dies clothed in this Habit shall not die in mortal sin.” To make this clear, Holy Church often inserts the word “piously” (“pie,” in Latin): “Quicumque in hoc pie moriens, aeternum non patietur incendium.”
Orthodox Catholic theologians and authorities like Vermeersch, St. Robert Bellarmine, Beringer, Pope Benedict XIV, and others, explain the promise to mean that anyone dying in Mary’s family will receive from Her, at the hour of death, either the grace of perseverance in the state of grace or the grace of final contrition.
To die in the membership of Mary’s family is the one condition. Now, in order to so die - either having been enrolled in the Confraternity (see the “Confraternity Membership” in the Group’s Documents section) or having been admitted as a Friar, Nun, or Tertiary – one must die clothed in the sign of membership, that is, the Scapular.
Our Lady’s promise does not mean a removal of God’s sanction of moral law, i.e., that regardless of what we do we shall not be eternally punished. Saints and the Roman Pontiffs warn us of the foolhardiness of abusing Mary’s promise. Pope Pius XI warned all the faithful that “although it is very true that the Blessed Virgin loves all who love Her, nevertheless those who wish to have the Blessed Mother as a Helper at the hour of death, must in life merit such a signal favor by abstaining from sin and laboring in Her honor” (Letter on the Occassion of the Sixth Centennary of the Sabbatine Privilege,” March 18, 1922). One can take it as certain that if he continually sins because of Mary’s Scapular promise, he shall not die in the Scapular. To lead a sinful while trusting in the Scapular promise is to commit a sin the horror of which borders on sacrilege; its punishment will not only be eternal but far worse than of one had led a sinful life without making the Mother of God an excuse for crucifying Her Son time and time again.
There are times when a person is tempted to some great sin, such as impurity (which, according to Our Immaculate Mother in Fatima, Portugal, draws souls in such great numbers to hell) that the suggestion comes: “Why not do it? You wear the Scapular and after this moment is passed you will still have no fear about your eternal salvation.” It is certainly Satan using the Scapular promise to draw a soul to sin, a worse sin that the act itself. Like all sin, it can become a habit. A typical and warningful example is found in a certain well-testified Scapular miracle. A man openly excused a wicked life by boasting that he wore the Scapular; he claimed surety of salvation while he disedified his neighbors by abominable excesses. He persevered in this presumptuous belief until death overtook him. Then those whom he had disedified became witness to an event that has not been uncommon in the years that men have sought to realize Mary’s promise. As death approached, the poor wretch thought that the Scapular was the cause of his agony. He cried out painfully that it was burning him. In a last supreme effort, tearing it off, he flung it from him... an went to see the Divine Judge (from P. Huguet, “La Devotion a Marie en exemples,” Vol. II, p.62).
Our Blessed Mother’s promise is the masterpiece of Her motherly love. It was made to be a source of hope and confidence to us. In the supreme moment of our lives – the moment when we feel this earth slipping away with all that it has meant to us while a strange life yawns at our feet into eternity, we need a mother. Probably, it was at the foot of the Cross, the moment when Her Divine Son made Her our Mother in a gesture of death-parting, that Mary thought to assure us of a Mother’s love at our dying moment. Soldiers cast lots over the earthly garments She ad made for Her Crucified Redeemer; She would make a heavenly garment for Her Blood-purchased redeemed.
We need “Her family,” both as corporate members of a militant Church against Satan and as individual warriors with a private battle especially today with the power of Satan threatening to shake the very foundation of the Church - the See of Peter. Pope Benedict XV, addressing the seminarians of Rome on July 16, 1916, said: “Let all of you have a common language and a common armor: language, the sentences of the Gospel; the common armor, the Scapular of the Virgin of Carmel, which you all ought to wear and which enjoys the singular privilege of protection even after death.” [taken from "Mary in Her Scapular Promise" by J. Haffert]
Opening Prayer
Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and
kindle in them the fire of Thine love. Send forth Thy
Spirit, and they shall be created; and Thou shall renew the
face of the earth.
O God, you instructed the hearts of the faithful by the
light of the Holy Spirit. Grant us by the same Spirit to be
truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Novena Prayer
“Flos Carmeli” by St. Simon Stock
Flos Carmeli Flower of Carmel
Vitis florigera Vine blossom-laden
Splendor Coeli Splendor of Heaven
Virgo puerpera Child-bearing Virgin
Singularis! None equals thee
Mater mitis Mother benign
Sed viri nescia Who no man didst know
Carmelitis On Carmel’s children
Da privilegia Thy favors bestow
Stella Maris! Star of the Sea
(Mention your petitions here.)
Concluding Prayers
Most Holy Mary, Our Mother, in your great love for us you gave us the holy Scapular of Mount Carmel, having heard the prayers of your chosen son St. Simon Stock. Help us now to wear it faithfully and with devotion. May it be a sign to us of our desire to grow in holiness.
Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity.
There are none that can withstand Your power.
Sweet Mother, I place this cause into you hands.
Show us herein that you are our Mother.
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Our Father..., Hail Mary..., Glory be...
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us.
The Litany of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ hear us.
Christ graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world...
God the Holy Ghost...
Holy Trinity, One God...
Holy Mary, pray for us sinners.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Queen of heaven...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Queen of heaven...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Vanquisher of Satan...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Dutiful Daughter...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Pure Virgin...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Devoted Spouse...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Tender Mother...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Perfect Model of Virtue...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Sure Anchor of Hope...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Refuge in affliction...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Dispensatrix of God's gifts...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Tower of strength against our foes...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our aid in danger...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Road leading to Jesus...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our light in darkness...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our consolation at the hour of death...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Advocate of the most abandoned sinners...
For those hardened in vice,
with confidence we come to thee O Lady of Mount Carmel.
For those who grieve thy Son...
For those who neglect to pray...
For those who are in their agony...
For those who delay their conversion...
For those suffering in Purgatory...
For those who know thee not...
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Hope of the Despairing
Intercede for us with thy Divine Son.
(Let Us Pray)
(Let Us Pray)
O God, who has honored the Order of Carmel with the
special title of thy Blessed Mother Mary, ever Virgin,
grant in thy mercy that we who keep her memory this day
may be shielded by her protection and be found worthy
to attain unto joy eternal. Who livest and reignest with
God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God,
world without end. Amen.
Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our Mother, penetrated with the most lively
confidence in your all-powerful and never failing
intercession, manifested so often through the Scapular, we
your loving and trustful children implore you to obtain
for us the graces and favors we ask during this Novena, if
they be beneficial to our immortal soul, and the souls
which we pray.
You know, O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, our Immaculate Mother
and Queen of Carmel, how often our souls have been the
sanctuaries of your Son Who disdains iniquity. Obtain for
us then a deep hatred of sin and that purity of heart which
will attach us to God alone so that our every thought,
word, and deed, may tend to his greater glory.
Obtain for us also a spirit of prayer and self-denial that we
may recover by penance what we have lost by sin and at
length attain to that blessed abode where you are Queen of
angels and of people. Amen.
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