Your obligations once you are invested with the Brown Scapular

The Brown Scapular, like any other scapular, is not just a devotional or a sacramental, but it is an identifying garb used by orders of monks and nuns to uniquely identify them from other religious orders.

That is why the Carmelite Family is identified with the Brown Scapular.

So the laity, who wears the Brown Scapular, either as a tertiary Carmelite or not, has a responsibility to do.

I wrote this back in Jul;y 17, 2009:

There is a decree issued by Pope Paul V in 1613 stating the importance of wearing this scapular:  "It is permitted to preach that the Blessed Virgin will help by her continued assistance and her merits, particularly on Saturdays, the souls of the members of the Scapular Confraternity who have died in the grace of God, if in life they had worn the scapular, observed chastity according with their state of life, and recited the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary."

The imposition is done with a scapular of wool. Afterwards, a scapular medal could be worn. The requirements of this devotion are:

To receive the imposition of the scapular and to wear it habitually. To guard one's chastity. To pray daily the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. It could be substituted by praying three Hail Marys; or seven Our Fathers with Hail Mary and Glory Be; or the Divine Office.

The Confraternity of the Brown Scapular lists the following:

The members of the Confraternity must at all times devoutly wear the Scapular (or the medal), as a visible sign of their belonging to Mary in the brotherhood of Carmel. But above all the members are bound to set aside regular time to be with God in prayer, frequent participation in the Eucharist and the sacrament of Confession, daily recitation of one of the Hours of the Liturgy or of some Psalms or the rosary.

You can also read from the blog how you can become a member of the Confraternity.

Members of the Apostleship of Prayer, kiss the Brown Scapular they are wearing (yes, they too must wear it) when during their daily morning habit of praying the Morning Offering, the mention of the words "O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers..."

This is in fact one of the obligations a member of the Apostleship of Prayer must fulfill....daily!

You just not wear this scapular and do nothing.  You just don't wear this scapular so you can walk around the church during a Traditional Latin Mass, or a religious procession, wearing this and do nothing afterwards!

You think you just wear the Blessed Scapular and.........uhm, do nothing?

Pray and live chastely according to your state of life.

You may also want to read the reasons WHY YOU MUST WEAR the Brown Scapular by clicking here and here.

Brown Scapular "responsibilities"

Did you know to  that you have an obligation to fulfill once you are imposed with the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel?

Answers tomorrow.

You may chime in your guesses.  :)

The Cross of the Jubilee of the Resurrection

What is your Catholic jewelry?

Some call it bling.

Others call it "something to accentuate yourself".

Whatever it may be, jewelries are as old as human civilization.  We put on stone, bone or metal on our bodies in order to add decoration, so to speak, or as the modern fashionistas say "accentuate".

But in Christian tradition, we use jewelries that speak of a reality, something that represents that which cannot be seen by the naked eye.

That is why the wedding band or ring, is not just a symbol of the husband's love for his wife and vice versa, it represents the reality that the man and woman are betrothed to one another "till death" do them part.  It is not just a piece of jewelry to tell the whole world that this person is not available anymore.  It is a public declaration of a man's love to the woman, and vice versa.  Anyone wonder what the engagement ring is all about and why it is in diamond most of the time?  Yea, it shouts right?

Now going back to what you hang on your neck.  Does your jewelry represent a reality not immediately seen by the naked eye?

Some people would wear a cross as a necklace like this one below.

Did he wear the cross out of his conviction to proclaim his faith or was it just for pure fashion?  Will he still wear a cross if it is made out of wood or he won't wear one unless it is made out of sparkling crystals or diamonds?

Whatever you wear reflects who you are.

So I tell my kids never ever to wear a t-shirt or jewelry about drugs, sex or violence.  NEVER.

Times are tough for Catholics nowadays in a world that hates Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular.  Wear something that you are proud of.  If you can wear a t-shirt that expresses what a proud Filipino you are, what a proud basketball fan you are, then I guess you can also wear a jewelry that expresses how proud you are as a Christian and as a Catholic.

Wear your cross, and medal and tell the whole world that you are a proud Christian and Catholic.  And no better way to prove it but by your words and actions.

Whatever you choose to wear, be it a cross of precious stones or metals, whether a scapular or a saint's medal, always remember, DO NOT BE LIKE THE PHARISEES, who wear their long robes just to attract attention and be called holy.

Whatever is on the outside must reflect what is in the inside.

 

The Black Scapular and other devotions

Did you know that there is also a Black Scapular?

There are actually two kinds of a Black Scapular.

One from the Passionists.  The Scapular is called the "Scapular of the Passion of the Lord"

The tradition of the Passionists holds that before St. Paul of the Cross founded the Congregation of the Passionists he had a Marian apparition during which he received the black habit of the order with the badge on chest. Thereafer, the Passionist Fathers gave the faithful who wished to associate themselves more closely with their order a black scapular in honor of the Passion of Christ. This small scapular has a replica of the badge of the Passion, namely a heart with three nails above a cross, on which is written "Jesu XPI Passio" and below "sit semper in cordibus nostris". The other portion of the scapular hanging at the back, may consist simply of a small segment of black cloth, but at times has an image of the Crucifixion of Christ.
The indulgences for the scapular were extended to all the faithful who wear it by Pope Pius IX in 1861. Various other indulgences for the faithful who wear this scapular, were then approved by the Congregation of Indulgences in 1877

And the other from the Servites.  This scapular is called the "Scapular of the Seven Sorrows of our Lady"

Members of the Confraternity of Our Lady of the Seven Dolours honour the Seven Dolours of Mary, and wear the black scapular of the Order of Servites, sanctioned in 1255 by Alexander IV. The scapular is in black cloth like the habit of the Order, bearing an image on the front of it of the Mother of Sorrows. It bears the indulgences of the Confraternity if worn constantly, and one must go back to 9th March, 1888, for a summary of these indulgences approved by the Congregation of Indulgences.

You can read more about these two Black Scapulars by clicking here (for the Passion) and here for the Seven Sorrows and about all scapulars here.

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A brotherly reminder my dear TPC readers.

It is not in how many you are wearing, but it is in how what you are wearing affects you in your relationship with God and your fellowmen.

I have seen people wearing a lot of medals and scapulars around their necks they would rival B.A. Baracus (Mr. T.) of the A-Team with the number of necklaces worn.

Stay focused my dear friends.  As one of my patron saints, St. Louis de Monfort wrote:

“All our perfection, consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ; and therefore, the most perfect of all devotions is, without any doubt, that which most perfectly conforms, unites and consecrates us to Jesus Christ. Now, Mary being the most conformed of all creatures to Jesus Christ, it follows that, of all devotions, that which most consecrates and conforms the soul to Our Lord is devotion to His holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more it is consecrated to Jesus” (Treatise on True Devotion, n. 120).

About Blessed Ashes

I just had ashes imposed on me by an EMHC.  The imposition happened right after the priest's homily, which some agree is the most opportune time to do so.

I personally do not wash off my ashes.  I proudly show off my mark telling the whole world, especially anti-Catholics that I am proud of who I am and what I believe in!

We must also remember that ashes are sacramentals.  They are blessed objects and should be treated properly.

Blessed palms MUST NOT BE thrown into the waste basket like all of our trash.  They are blessed objects.  We must burn them and the ashes disposed off properly like burying it.

So, I keep my ashes on my forehead and wash it off before I go to bed.  I make sure that the washed off water from my face falls to the ground and not just in the sewers because that is not the proper place for blessed objects.

Ash Wednesday Survey

Ash Wednesday is just around the corner.

And I have this little survey to ask my dear fellow Pinoy Catholics everywhere.

After getting the ashes of your forehead, what do you do with it?

Wash it off immediately? 

Leave it on the forehead the whole day?

Wash it off before going to bed?

I will share my answer tomorrow at 8PM, Philippine Standard Time.

What the Western Media did not report about Novak

I was watching a newscast of ABC and CBS and learned of the death of Robert Novak.  I only learned that he is a Jewish convert to Catholicism by reading it online.  Was it a deliberate attempt to hide that part of his life to millions of viewers not only in America but also the rest of the world?  Once can only speculate.  But something tells me, it was deliberate.

Read the article below to learn of the faith journey of Mr. Novak.  Requeim aeternam dona ei, Domine.

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Catholic Convert and Political Commentator Robert Novak Passes Away 

Washington D.C., Aug 18, 2009 (CNA).- The death of Robert Novak has led many to remember the career of the expert political journalist. Some noted his conversion to Catholicism later in life, with one former colleague calling it his “most important” change of heart.

Novak died of a malignant tumor at his Washington, D.C. home on Tuesday.

One half of the Evans-Novak “Inside Report,” begun in 1963 with journalist Robert Evans, Novak was known for his ability to explain the feuds and factions of American politics with the help of his many inside sources. For a long time he was co-host of the CNN debate show “Crossfire.”

Though a political conservative, he opposed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Later in 2003, he became the object of controversy for exposing the identity of a CIA agent married to retired diplomat John C. Wilson, who investigated and questioned the factual basis for the justifications of the war.

Tim Carney, a former employee of Novak, described the journalist’s late-life conversion to Catholicism as “his most important change of heart.”

“Brought up a secular Jew, and having lived seven decades as an agnostic, Novak entered the church in his 60s,” Carney wrote at HumanEvents.com. “When I went to work for him, I was considering entering the Catholic Church as well. Novak pointed me to the priests who helped answer my remaining questions and cement my faith.”

He reported that Novak told aspiring journalists to pick a different field if they aimed to change the world.

“But, by simply aiming to inform and to do his job as well he could, Novak changed the lives of his readers and those of us blessed to work with him.”

Announcing his cancer diagnosis in his final column for the Chicago Sun-Times on September 7, 2008, he said his health problems first became manifest after he hit a pedestrian with his car. Tests later showed he had lost his left-side vision.

A biopsy revealed a major tumor, leading his oncologist to estimate that he had six months to a year to live.

“Being read your death sentence is like being a character in one of the old Bette Davis movies,” Novak said. “I believe I was able to withstand this shock because of my Catholic faith, to which I converted in 1998.”

Novak went into greater detail about his faith in his 2007 book “The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington.”

Novak attended Christian services sporadically until the mid-1960s, but then stopped going to religious services for nearly 30 years.

In the early 1980s, a friend gave Novak Catholic literature after he came close to dying from spinal meningitis. Ten years later, his non-Catholic wife Geraldine persuaded him to join her at Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Washington D.C.

The celebrant, Fr. Peter Vaghi, was a former Republican lawyer and adviser to Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM). He was also a former source for the Evans and Novak column.

Novak then started to go to Mass regularly and decided to convert a few years later. According to Novak, the turning point came when he visited Syracuse University in New York to lecture. Before he spoke he was seated at a dinner table near a young woman who wore a cross necklace. Novak asked her if she was Catholic, and she asked him the same. [This is related to my latest post about the Miraculous Medal.  See what positive effect an outward expression of your faith have on other people?  Produly wear your crucifix, cross, scapular or medal!  Catholic and be proud of it!  Wear it proudly!  We are not in the days of the Diocletian persecution.]

Novak said that he had been going to Mass each Sunday for the last four years, but had not converted.

“Mr. Novak, life is short, but eternity is forever,” the woman responded, thus moving the journalist to begin studying for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, the rite by which people learn the Catholic faith. He was baptized at St. Patrick’s in 1998. His wife was also baptized a Catholic.

Novak later recounted his conversion in an interview with a skeptical New York Times interviewer. He said he told her he believed the Holy Spirit was behind coincidences such as his former source becoming a priest.

"I consider this the only one true faith, so I believe the Holy Spirit led me to it," Novak said. 

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and this one entitled "Robert Novak finds peace" where it describes some of his thoughts after his baptism.

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"The ceremony, in May 1998, was mostly a solemn affair. In the course of it, Novak, then 67, was baptized, confirmed, and received his first Holy Communion. “It was an exhilarating experience,” he says, “one of the great moments of my life. I thought I was in a different dimension.” [Do we feel the same after every Holy Communion?] 

The solemnity lifted for a moment when Monsignor [Peter] Vaghi said how privileged they were to witness the transformation of the “prince of darkness” into a “child of light.”