- Protection against the Devil
You will understand why the Devil works against those who promote the
- Scapular when you hear the story of Ven. Francis Ypes. One day his Scapular
- fell off.
- As he replaced it, the devil howled, “Take off the habit which snatches so many
- souls from us!”
- Then and there Francis made the devil admit that there are three things which
- the demons are most afraid of: the Holy Name of Jesus, the Holy Name of Mary,
- and the Holy Scapular of Carmel.
- To that list we could add the Holy Rosary.
The great St.Peter Claver was another of God’s heroes who used the Scapular
- to good advantage. Every month a shipment of 1000 slaves would arrive at
- Cartegena, Colombia, South America. St. Peter used to insure the salvation of
- his converts.
- First, he organized catechists to give them instructions. Then, he saw to it that
- they were baptized and clothed with the Scapular. Some ecclesiastics’ accused
- the Saint of indiscreet zeal, but St. Peter was confident that Mary would watch
- over each of his more than 300,000 converts!
Our Lady Protects a Missionary
One day in 1944, a Carmelite missionary in the Holy Land was called to an
- internment camp in order to give the Last Rites. The Arab driver made the
- priest get off the bus four miles from the camp because the road was
- dangerously muddy. After two miles, the missionary found his feet sinking
- deeper and deeper into the mire. Trying to get solid footing he slipped into a muddy pool.
- Sinking to his death in this desolate place, he thought of Our Lady and Her Scapular. He kissed his great Scapular -- for he was wearing the full habit -
- - and looked toward the holy mountain of Carmel, the birthplace of devotion
- to God’s Mother.
- He cried out, “Holy Mother of Carmel! Help me! Save me!” A moment later,
- he found himself on solid ground. Later he said, “I know I was saved by the Blessed Virgin through Her Brown
- Scapular. My shoes were lost in the mud, and I was covered with it, but I
- walked the remaining two miles praising Mary.”