October, the month dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary
Feast of the Most Holy Rosary
J.M.J.
THE ROSARY, BROWN SCAPULAR AND THE SABBATINE PRIVILEGE
The Rosary
Pope St. Pius X said: "If you want peace in your heart, in your home, in
your country, assemble together every night and say the ROSARY". Many
complain that it is a tireless repetition-that they cannot meditate on the
mysteries. Our Blessed Mother gave this advice to St. Dominic: "This is why,
before doing anything else, priests should try to kindle a love of prayer in
people's hearts and especially a love of my rosary. If only they would all
start saying it and persevere, God, in His mercy, could hardly refuse to
give them His grace. So I want you to preach my Rosary!"
St. Louis de Montfort said: "I beg of you to beware of thinking of the
Rosary as something of little importance - as do ignorant people and even
several great but proud scholars. Far from being insignificant, the Rosary
is a priceless treasure which is inspired by God." He also tells us: "For
never will anyone who says his Rosary every day become a formal heretic or
be led astray by the devil." St. Dominic prayed to Our Lady that she would
force the devils who possessed a man to reveal the truth about devotion to
her. The devils were forced by Our Lady to reveal: "Now that we are forced
to speak we must also tell you this: Nobody who perseveres in saying the
Rosary will be damned, because she obtains for her servants the grace of
true contrition for their sins and by means of this they obtain God's
forgiveness and mercy." St. Teresa of Avila tells us how priceless a
treasure it is by showing the value and merits of a single HAIL MARY.
Shortly after her death, she appeared to one of the Sisters of her Community
and told her that she was willing to return to a life of suffering until the
end of time to merit the degree of glory which God rewards one devoutly
recited Hail Mary.
What a Wonderful Consolation to know that we can be assured of Salvation by
giving just fifteen minutes a day to Praying the Rosary.
THE BROWN SCAPULAR
Another magnificent assurance of Salvation is Our Lady's Brown Scapular. One
of the great mysteries of our time is that the great majority of Catholics
either ignore or have forgotten the Blessed Virgin Mary's promise that
"whoever dies clothed in this (Scapular) shall not suffer eternal fire." She
further says: "Wear it devoutly and perseveringly. It is my garment. To be
clothed in it means you are continually thinking of me, and I in turn, am
always thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life." Many
Catholics may not know that it is the wish of our Holy Father, the Pope,
that the Scapular Medal should not be worn in place of the Cloth Scapular
without sufficient reason. Mary cannot be pleased with anyone who
substitutes the medal out of vanity or fear to make open profession of
religion. Such persons run the risk of not receiving the promise. The medal
has never been noted for any of the miraculous preservations attributed to
the Brown Cloth Scapular. To obtain the fullest possible benefits from the
Brown Scapular devotion, one must be validly invested (sometimes called
enrolled) in the Brown Scapular by a priest. Every priest has the privilege
of enrolling Catholics in the Scapular. After having received the initial
blessed Scapular from a priest, no other Scapular need be blessed before
wearing. The blessing and imposition are attached to the wearer for life.
During the Scapular Anniversary celebration in Rome, Pope Pius XII told a
very large audience to wear the Brown Scapular as a sign of consecration to
the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our Lady asked for this consecration in the
last apparition at Fatima, when she appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
holding the Brown Scapular out to the whole world. It was Her last loving
appeal to souls to wear Her Scapular as a sign of Consecration to Her
Immaculate Heart.
St. Claude de la Colombiere, the renowned Jesuit and spiritual director of
St. Margaret Mary, gives a point which is enlightening. He said: "Because
all the forms of our love for the Blessed Virgin, all its various modes of
expression cannot be equally pleasing to Her, and therefore do not assist us
in the same degree to Heaven. I say without a moments hesitation that the
BROWN SCAPULAR IS THE MOST FAVORED OF ALL!" He also adds: "No devotion has
been confirmed by more numerous authentic miracles than the Brown Scapular."
The two great founders of their own respective Orders, St. Alphonsus of the
Redemptorists and St. Don Bosco of the Salesians - both had a very special
devotion to Our Lad of Mount Carmel and both wore Her Brown Scapular. When
they died, they were buried in their priestly vestments and Scapulars. Many
years later, their graves were opened, the bodies and sacred vestments in
which they were buried decayed-dust! BUT THE BROWN SCAPULAR WHICH EACH WAS
WEARING WAS PERFECTLY INTACT. The Scapular of St. Alphonsus is on exhibit in
his monastery in Rome.
We should even give the Scapular to non-Catholics as Our Lady will bring
conversions to those who will wear it and say one Hail Mary each day as the
following true story will show: An old man was rushed to the St. Simon Stock
Hospital in New York City, unconscious and dying. The nurse, seeing the
Brown Scapular on the patient, called the priest. As he was saying the
prayers for the dying, the man became conscious and spoke up: "Father, I am
not a Catholic." "Then why are you wearing the Brown Scapular?" asked the
priest. "I promised my friends to wear it," the patient explained, "and say
one Hail Mary a day." "You are dying," the priest told him. "Do you want to
become a Catholic?" "All my life I wanted to be one," the gasping man
replied. He was baptized, received the last rites and died in peace. Our
Lady took another soul under Her mantle, through Her SCAPULAR!
The devils revealed to Francis of Yepes, the brother of St. John of the
Cross that three things especially tormented them. The first is the NAME OF
JESUS; the second, the NAME OF MARY; and third, THE BROWN SCAPULAR OF OUR
LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL. "Take off that habit," they cried to him, "which
snatches too many souls from us. All those clothed in it die piously and
escape us."
"The Scapular must be worn on the shoulders in such a manner that one part
hangs in front of the body and the other in back. Worn in any other way it
carries no indulgence or promise."
THE SABBATINE PRIVILEGE
The Scapular even extends to Purgatory. The name Sabbatine Privilege is
derived from the apocryphal Bull "Sacratissimo uti culmine" of Pope John
XXII, 3 March, 1322. Through the Sabbatine Privilege, we can be released
from Purgatory on the first Saturday (Sabbath) after death. There are three
requirements to make oneself eligible for this privilege: 1st, we must wear
the Scapular; 2nd, observe Chastity according to our state of life and 3rd,
recite the Little Office of Our Blessed Mother (The Rosary can be
substituted for the office by obtaining permission from a priest.) Our Lady
revealed to Venerable Dominic of Jesus and Mary: "Although many wear my
Scapular, only a few fulfill conditions for the Sabbatine Privilege." We
maintain the majority don't know them. It is an act of charity to make the
Sabbatine Privilege known to all. A soul from Purgatory was asked by a
Sister: "What is the average stay of the souls in Purgatory?" The Poor Soul
answered: "From thirty to forty years!" Can you see the importance of making
Our Lady's Privilege known - if you consider that the flames are the same as
the fires of Hell!
A last reminder - we give you the message of one pastor. He said: "If I were
positive that all my parishioners died wearing the Brown Scapular, I would
be most certain that we would all meet in Heaven." If this pastor can be so
certain about his parishioners, why can't all pastors be just as certain?
Give your pastor this circular. Why can't every father and mother be certain
of their children, family and friends? Explain to them the SCAPULAR PROMISE
and the SABBATINE PRIVILEGE. Heed Our Lady's wish: "DRESS THEM WITH THE
GARMENT OF MY SCAPULAR, AND LEAD THEM TO MY SON, YOUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!"
THE REAL FATIMA STORY
A Gallup poll disclosed that only one and one-half percent of all Catholics
in the Untied States really know the Fatima message. Why? Because the other
98 1/2 percent of American Catholics are ignoring - or do not have a chance
to learn about - God's plan for a just and lasting peace.
The time was October 13, 1917. The place was Fatima, Portugal. This "miracle
of the sun" was witnessed by more than 70,000 people. An event so
outstanding that it was reported in many secular newspapers of the times -
including the influential O DIA and O SECULO, papers run by atheists and
agnostics.
At that time and in four previous apparitions, Our Blessed Mother told three
shepherd children that wars were a punishment due to sin and that man must
stop offending God "already too much offended." She predicted that if people
did not follow the "Peace Plan from Heaven" that Russia would rise and
spread her errors throughout the world and that "various nations would be
annihilated . . ." She also predicted World War II which would come in the
reign of Pius XI - and it arrived right on schedule.
The Blessed Mother gave the three children a frightening vision of Hell and
told them this was where the souls of poor sinners go and that "many souls
go to Hell because there is no one to pray for them . . ."
Topic: October, month of the Holy Rosary (Read 544 times)