The Brown Scapular is embroidered with the original promise of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Simon Stock: “Whosoever dies clothed with this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” Additionally, several privileges benefit those who wear the Scapular:
1 As a sacramental, the brown scapular confers extra grace and disposes us to cooperate with it. (CCC 1670)
2 The Blessed Virgin Mary promises special protection in life and death
3 Final perseverance “at the hour of death”
4 Assistance after death and an early release from Purgatory (also called the Sabbatine Privilege)
Marian Apparitions Throughout History: Saint Simon Stock and Our Lady of Mount Carmel
(this is a part of my Marian apparition and visionaries series-- for more on different approved apparitions and visions of Our Lady, check out my #mary as seen through time and space tag!)
Imposición del escapulario de la Virgen del Carmen a San Simón Stock - Vicente Berdusán
1251. Only 43 years after the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Dominic and gifted him the rosary, another monk, this time an Englishman from the Carmelite Order, was about to have a grand, mystical experience that would shape the Carmelites for the better and introduce a new devotion for the Catholic Church. Let's dive into the story of Simon Stock and Our Lady of Mount Carmel...
The Carmelites:
The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, or the Carmelites, was named for the mountain it was founded upon: Mount Carmel of Palestine, the mountain where the contest between King Ahab's god, Baal, and Elijah's God, the God of Abraham, occurred, showing God's might over all others, and whose caves Elijah retreated into to pray.
Like Elijah, the Carmelites retreated deep into the caves, praying to God as hermits, before later building a chapel dedicated to God and protected by Our Lady, Mary, Star of the Sea, and the Prophet Elijah. Over time, the hermits grew in numbers before fleeing to Europe to avoid the bloody, Christian lead violence of the Crusades, and almost lost their identity to Pope Innocent III, who wished to consolidate the religious orders of Catholicism into one singular organization. Forced to adapt, the Carmelites shifted, hermits no more, now a monastic order, and found themselves scattered and unsure. Who were they without their mountain? Who could they be, now that they had taken on a monastic rule?
They had little cohesion, fought much amongst themselves, and were in need of divine intervention.
The Forest Monk:
Simon Stock was 12 when he left his farm in Aylesford, England for the forests. A soft-spoken boy with a head full of daydreams, Simon Stock had proved to be far from helpful on his father's farm, preferring solitude and meditation over hard work. He'd far rather spend his days in the back of the chapel in prayer than he would help his parents and siblings in the fields, so, after years of finding himself yearning for freedom from all worldly things, he crept out of the house in the dead of night and took for the woods.
The English forests welcomed Simon Stock will open branches, and he soon found a tree deep, deep in the woods, taller than anything he'd ever seen. The oak was alive, but damaged, a lightning bolt haven taken a massive hole from its side, leaving behind a sizable hollow where Simon Stock would make his bed.
For years, the boy lived in that hollow in the oak tree, embracing a life of solitude, prayer, and penance as he grew into a young man. His “hallowed hollow,” touched by God's lightening, for him and him alone. But Simon Stock couldn't be a hermit forever. When a group of travelers heading to the coast stopped to ask him if he'd life to join them on their trip to the Holy Land, Simon Stock left his holy tree behind, and as he returned to England years later, he found himself traveling with a band of Carmelites. In awe of their grace and Godliness, Simon Stock realized he'd finally found home.
Through his dedication and love of others, Simon Stock saw the Carmelite presence in England grow, and his leadership touched them so deeply that he was elected as the sixth Prior General of the Carmelites in 1247. But, even Simon Stock couldn't fix all the Carmelite's troubles. He agonized on how to best lead his fellow monks and help them adapt to their new surroundings, helping them build friaries in Cambridge, Oxford, Paris, and Bologna, but soon the tide of public opinion changed against the Carmelites, and they found themselves being expelled from their own towns. It seemed to them that they would never succeed as a true monastic Order outside their mountain... until the miracle of July 16, 1251.
A Holy Gift:
The weather in Cambridge this time of year was usually lovely, but now, as Simon Stock trudged through the mud after a summer rain, he couldn't enjoy it. His men were frazzled, and things were dire. Was it right to leave his tree? Were they right to cleave Mount Carmel?
There was a clap of thunder, and the skies open up. Simon Stock offered up his annoyance to the Lord before stopping under a tree to wait out the rain. Suddenly, the chill of the rain and mud was gone, replaced by a gentle warmth. His hair was dry, the hem of his garments clean of mud, and he felt as toasty and one would after a warm meal beside a crackling fire. Light broke through the leaves despite the dreary weather, and Simon Stock's heart skipped a beat.
Above him, resting on a throne of cloud and vapor, was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She wore the clothes of a religious, though no Order he knew, a brown apron with a creamy white wool cloak across her shoulders, her face radiant, her hair covered modestly. Terrifying and glorious beings surrounded her, crying out the Lord's name with praise, holding out their many hands to keep a single drop of rain from falling on their mistress.
"Child," The Blessed Virgin Mary said, smiling softly, "Come closer."
Trembling, Simon Stock stepped closer, and Our Lady opened her hands, letting a strip of cloth fall from them. It was an apron, like the one she wore, made of brown wool. The wool was the width of one shoulder to the other and such a length that it reached the feet in front and behind, coarse but not rough.
"Receive, my beloved son, this scapular of thy Order; it is the special sign of my favor, which I have obtained for thee and for thy children of Mount Carmel. He who dies clothed with this habit shall be preserved from eternal fire. It is the badge of salvation, a shield in time of danger, and a pledge of special peace and protection."
Simon Stock clutched the scapular to his chest, laughing with disbelief and joy. It was beautiful. A sign from the Mother of God herself that the Carmelites would survive.
"Thank you," He cried, falling to his knees and kissing the hem of her cloak. "Bless you!"
"Go, and be well."
The clouds and vapors lifted into the stormy sky, taking Mary and the angels with them. Simon Stock pulled the scapular over his shoulders and ran to his brothers, ready to spread the news: they were protected under the eye of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and she would not let them flounder.
Simon Stock would go on to become a saint and one of the oldest documented Carmelites. After it was gifted to him by Our lady of Mount Carmel, Simon Stock began spreading the scapular devotion. It continues to be followed to this day, with the scapular signifying the wearer's consecration to Mary and affiliation with the Carmelite order, as well as Mary's promised protection. Simon Stock's feast day is May 16th, and the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is celebrated on July 16.
On May 16, the Catholic Church remembers Saint Simon Stock, a twelfth and thirteenth-century Carmelite monk whose vision of the Virgin Mary is the source of the Brown Scapular devotion.
Simon was born during 1165 in the English county of Kent.
He is said to have been strongly devoted to God from his youth, to the point that he left home at age 12 to live in the forest as a hermit.
Following the customs of the earliest monks, he lived on fruit and water, and spent his time in prayer and meditation.
After two decades of solitary life in the wilderness, he returned to society to acquire an education in theology and become a priest.
Afterwards, he returned to his hermitage until the year 1212, when his calling to join the Carmelite Order – which had only recently entered England – was revealed to him.
During the early 13th century, a group of monks in the Holy Land sought formal recognition as a religious order.
Their origins were mysterious, and by some accounts, extended back to the time before Christ, originating in the ministry of the Biblical Prophet Elijah.
The Carmelites’ ascetic, contemplative lifestyle was combined with ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It is she who is said to have appeared to Simon Stock, telling him to leave his hermitage and join the order that would soon be arriving with the return of two English Crusaders.
Impressed by the Carmelites’ rigorous monasticism, Simon joined in 1212 and was sent to complete a course of studies at Oxford.
Not long after his return to the order, he was appointed its vicar general in 1215. He defended the Carmelites in a dispute over their legitimacy, later resolved by the Popes.
In 1237, Simon took part in a general chapter of the Carmelites in the Holy Land.
Facing persecution from Muslims, a majority of the monks there decided to make their home in Europe, including Simon’s native England, where the order would go on to prosper for several centuries
After becoming the general superior of the Carmelites in 1247, Simon worked to establish the order in many of Europe’s centers of learning, including Cambridge, Oxford, and Paris.
Late in his life, Simon Stock reportedly received a private revelation about the Brown Scapular, a monastic garment worn by Carmelites.
“To him,” an early chronicle states, “appeared the Blessed Virgin with a multitude of angels, holding the Scapular of the Order in her blessed hands, and saying:
‘This will be a privilege for you and for all Carmelites that he who dies in this will not suffer eternal fire.’”
This vision was the source of the Brown Scapular devotion – a tradition which involves the wearing of an adapted version of the garment, along with certain spiritual commitments, by lay Catholics as well as priests and religious.
Simon Stock died in France on 16 May 1265, 100 years after his birth.
He is the patron saint of the Carmelite Order, those devoted to the Brown Scapular, and the city of Bordeaux in France.
The last confession I went to was on Holy Friday. It was the last hour they were offering it and I unknowlingly entered upon the English Good Friday mass. Three pews full of people were ahead of me. I knew it was going to be a long wait. The thought of leaving crossed my mind several times, but I knew that I needed to stay.
I always felt lost during confession, even if I follow any kind of literature that gives us the rubrics. Maybe I need more practice. Or maybe I need more confidence.
What I do feel in my soul is that confession may possibly be a preview of what our final judgment would be like.
Just like Holy Mass is a small taste of Heaven when we the Church Militant are united with our family in Heaven, the Church Triumphant, for the brief hour or so that Heaven crashes down on Earth as we relive Christ's passion and crucifixion at the altar.
Maybe our time in the confessional is God's way of giving us a humanly example of the end of times when we will be judged for our past sins, prayers, works and sacrifices. Thinking of it in that way, I initially have a feeling of fright, but that God-fearing feeling fuels a fire of strength and determination to do His will.
It had been four months since my last confession. I told my Confessor my sins. Lots of bouts of anger and wrath with motherhood. Sloth from my social media addiction and towards my job. For wrath, he urged me to focus on gratefulness and thanksgiving for all the blessings that comes with motherhood. And he's right. I remember from a Catholic Mom Calm coaching call that every cross we carry is caused by a blessing we have. My confessor's advice perfectly complements my Spiritual Director's recommendation of focusing on forgiveness to handle my wrath from the hurts and suffering caused by my childhood.
For sloth, my Confessor recommended I needed to work on a Rule of Life. I had a plan since the new year which I didn't follow through. And with Lent, work had creeped up on me and had been the busiest and most stressful few months I've had in a long time. It felt like work was such a heavy burden to carry that it completely affected my spiritual life.
One Our Father was my penance. I took my penance and offered an extra one for my Confessor. And from there, I needed to take the steps to carry out his will.
In short, my plan will be:
Meet with my Spiritual Director to (1) work on a Rule of Life, (2) enroll in the Brown Scapular and ask his guidance for my requirements on the Sabbatine Privilege; I want my requirement to start with at least combining Vespers/Compline and Matins/Lauds into one hour, as well as the other small hours until my children are older so that I can pray all the hours in their entirety.
For my Rule of Life, I wish for it to follow in the charism of Carmelite spirituality and model my day like the Horariums of Carmelite nuns and monks: (1) Schedule my day around the hours of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, (2) Daily TLM, while my kids are young to at least watch it with them on YouTube and do spiritual communion until I'm able to attend mass daily in person (3) Spiritual Exercises of Lectio Divina and Examen
Reflection on the Vision of St. Simon Stock and the Golden Scapular
While praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, I was suddenly drawn into a vision. I saw St. Simon Stock, the Carmelite saint who received the brown scapular from Our Lady herself. With a solemn gaze, he approached and touched the brown scapular around my neck. Then, with a sword—not in violence, but with heavenly authority—he cut it off.
In its place, he gently laid a new scapular upon me. This one gleamed with gold. Not earthly gold, but something purer, more radiant—like a heavenly promise.
I understood in that moment: this was not a rejection of the brown scapular, but a transformation. A calling. A deeper consecration.
The golden scapular represented a renewal of mission—perhaps a new level of spiritual responsibility, of deeper purity, or of greater union with Our Lady and her Son. Gold is the metal of kings, of eternity, of divine fire. It was a sign of being set apart.
Our Lady once promised: “Whoever dies wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” But the scapular is not a charm—it is a sign of belonging, of living a life in accordance with the Gospel and in devotion to Mary. The gold reminded me: this is not a cheap grace. This is a holy calling.
Am I ready to wear it not just around my neck, but in my soul? Am I ready to live like it matters?
