How to Enroll in the Brown Scapular
Enrollment is a brief, one-time blessing by a priest that receives you into the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It takes no more than a few minutes.
What enrollment is
The Brown Scapular is not merely a devotional item to be worn. It is a habit. In enrolling you, the priest clothes you in a miniature of the Carmelite habit and receives you into the spiritual family of Mount Carmel, where you share in the prayers, Masses and penances of the entire Order.
This is why the scapular is worn rather than carried, and why enrollment takes place only once in a lifetime. One does not enter a family twice.
Three simple steps
The whole of it takes only a few minutes.
"Father, would you be willing to enroll me in the Brown Scapular? I have one with me — it takes only a moment."
The first step is simply having one in hand
Yours arrives already blessed, ready to be worn from the day it reaches you — and to be brought to your priest for enrollment whenever you are able.
Receive Your Brown Scapular → Ships worldwide · Moneyback guaranteeWhat you are asked to live
- Wear the scapular continually. Not perfectly, but faithfully. Should it come off, put it on again and continue.
- Observe chastity according to your state in life. Married, single or consecrated, the measure is fidelity to what your vocation already asks of you.
- Pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary — or ask the priest at your enrollment to commute this to the daily Rosary. Nearly every priest will do so, and most of the faithful are enrolled in this manner.
An honest word
The scapular has never been a charm, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel never promised that it would be. To wear brown wool while living carelessly saves no one, and the saints who spread this devotion said so plainly and often.
What the scapular is, is a sign: a garment you put on each morning that declares you belong to her, and a mother's promise that she will not forget the child who wears her habit. Worn in faith, it is a rope let down into the ordinary day.
Good to know
May I wear it before I am enrolled?Yes. Begin the day it arrives. Enrollment is the formal reception into the Confraternity, and may be done whenever you are able.
Must I be enrolled again when it wears out?No. Once enrolled, you are enrolled for life. Simply put on the new one; it requires no fresh blessing.
May children be enrolled?Yes, once they are able to understand its meaning — which for most families falls around the time of First Communion.
What if there is no priest nearby?Enquire at the nearest Carmelite monastery, religious house or shrine, where enrollments are commonly held after weekend Masses.
May I wear the scapular medal instead?Pope St. Pius X permitted the blessed medal for those genuinely unable to wear the cloth. One must still be enrolled in the cloth scapular beforehand.
What if mine breaks or is lost?Nothing is lost. Your enrollment remains. Replace it and continue as before.
"Whosoever dies clothed in this shall not suffer eternal fire."
Our Lady of Mount Carmel to St. Simon Stock, 1251It all begins with one scapular
Yours arrives already blessed, so it may be worn from the day it reaches you. When you are ready, bring it to your priest for enrollment.
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