Miracles of the Brown Scapular: stories from those who wear and love it

Miracles of the Brown scapular

July was the month of our Lady of Mount Carmel and the brown scapular, which meant that much of the content here at Qui Minimo was focused on the story of the Carmelites, our lady of Mount Carmel, and the meaning of the brown scapular.

While I had planned to share these miraculous testimonies related to the Brown scapular, I am as equally happy that it got delayed until now, as I am excited to share them. It seemed fitting that we really focus on the deep meaning and significance of this devotion, or the heart of it all as someone might say, before diving into these powerful miraculous testimonies. It’s a great way to remember that it’s not something superstitious or transactional in our spiritual life, but these beautiful testimonies are a fruit of the individuals’ authentic faith and love with which they embrace this devotion.

And so here are some testimonies and miracles surrounding this beautiful and very ancient devotion. Some of these stories, I heard firsthand by Sisters in the monastery, some are secondhand, and others are from those I have never met and are more distant from me personally. I pray that above all these stories will inspire a more lively faith in and love for Jesus Christ, and in a special way through this devotion to the Brown scapular and our lady of Mount Carmel. Some details and names will be changed in order to protect privacy. Please note that some of these stories have mature or potentially triggering content.

1. This first story is from a sister who was in the monastery that I was in, but who had passed away before I got there. Before she was a Carmelite, she was part of a teaching order in Southern California and she herself taught high school students. One day, one of the fathers of the students abducted this Sister, and brought her out to a cabin that the family owned, with the intention of harassing her. This religious sister who had been kidnapped had a deep love for our lady of Mount Carmel and her Brown scapular, and her blood sister was a discalced Carmelite nun. As she was alone in a room in the cabin, she prayed to our lady of Mount Carmel and asked her to protect her from this man. She promised our lady that if she protected her and saved her from this moment, that she would become a Carmelite. When this man came back into the room, he attempted to tear off her habit, but the brown scapular emitted such a radiant light that it nearly blinded him, and he ran away and left her there at the cabin. This sister followed through on her, promised to our lady, and she entered the Carmelite monastery that her blood sister was in, and that I, years later, entered.

2. The second story is from one of the sisters in the monastery who was still living and told me her experience firsthand. She told me how there was a time that she and another sister were in a work room together when they discovered that there was not only an oil leak, but a small fire that has started in the room in the convent. The other sister who was with her, in a moment of panic, told her to give her her brown scapular. The sister telling the Story said that she reached into her habit and pulled out her small brown scapular that she always wore and threw it onto the fire, almost instinctually. At the moment that she threw the scapular onto the fire, the fire miraculously went out and the room, sisters, and convent as a whole were left unharmed.

3. This story is one I have heard before, though I don’t have any real sources to cite. I heard that the exorcist father Ripperger said that one of the first thing demons try to do in an exorcism is ripped the Brown scapular off of the victim because they know the reality of the Sacramento and the spiritual protection that accompanies it. Rather than being a miraculous story, this is a simple testimony to the reality of the scapular that even the demons recognize and fear.

4. In 1957, a Carmelite priest in Germany shared the story of how an entire row of homes had caught fire in Westboden, Germany. One family, beinginthe middle of the row and seeing the fire, tied a scapular to the front door and entrusted it to Mary. The fire raged all around it and even over it, but the house was left untouched. Within 5 hours, 22 homes had been burnt to the ground. The home, in the middle of all of the ashes, with the brown scapular tied to the front door was left intact.

5. For those who are afraid of flying: a Jesuit missionary in Guatemala tells a story of how in November of 1955 a plane carrying 27 passengers crashed. Everyone on board died except one young lady. When this girl saw the plane was going down, she took hold of her Scapular, and called on Mary for help. She suffered burns, her clothing was reduced to ashes, but her Scapular was not touched by the flames.

These are just a handful of testimonies, not including the smaller, more "ordinary" testimonies of parents who have written to me telling me how their child was having nightmares and as soon as they enrolled them in the brown scapular the nightmares ceased completely; or those who have experienced a profound peace and deeper recollection throughout their day just by the presence and reminder of this small sacramental they embraced. All in all, I pray this these stories stir a deeper, or perhaps first love with Our Blessed Mother and her maternal love and protection as is given to us through this beautiful devotion to the Brown Scapular.