Help win souls with the Brown Scapular

How the Scapular can win souls

 

Everybody needs conversion. 

 

Whether you were baptized Catholic or have never even heard of Jesus Christ - we all need to convert our hearts more closely to Christ and his divine will. 

 

However, for those souls who do not know Christ and do not have the enormous privilege of his Church and her sacraments, formal conversion to the True Faith is critically important. 

 

Since St. Paul and St. Augustine - and many other Catholic saints - Catholics have known that to follow Christ is to be in the world but not of the world. 

 

Most of us have someone in our lives that we love dearly who does not know Christ or who does not know the Catholic Church. And we feel a burning desire to bring these souls into the Church because we love them and want them to be happy. 

 

And the good news is that the Brown Scapular can be an effective means of conversion. Mary brings souls to her son through the Scapular. 

 

Mary pours out graces on the baptized Catholic who has a devotion to her through the Scapular. She uses the Scapular devotion to give grace and bring souls even closer to her son. 

 

Why wouldn’t she do the same for the soul who isn’t Catholic, or who isn’t even Christian? 

 

Mary works miracles precisely because she brings souls closer to her son, Jesus Christ, and the Brown Scapular is one of the privileged ways in which she works and she is willing to give grace to anyone who is a child of God and has some desire to know the truth. 

 

The Saints

 

How many saints sought holiness through a single-minded devotion? 

 

St. Gertrude and St. Nicholas of Tolentino and the Holy Souls in Purgatory. 

 

St. Andre Bizet and his devotion to St. Joseph. 

 

Blessed Alan de la Roche and the Rosary. 

 

God saved many souls through their single-minded dedication to particular devotions.

 

(Yes their lives were more complex - and yet within the complexity of their lives, many saints demonstrated a special focus on certain devotions which can shed light for us). 

 

And the Brown Scapular is no different.

 

For example, the Venerable Francis Yepès - brother of St. John of the Cross- made the Brown Scapular the main focus of his apostolate to bring souls to Christ through Mary. During his personal devotions he was even accosted by demonic spirits who told him the Brown Scapular was one of their worst enemies. 

 

 

The story of St. Peter Claver is particularly powerful in this regard. Claver was a Spanish Jesuit who traveled to Colombia where he mostly ministered to Africans who had been enslaved. 

 

St. Claver was unique for his time for two reasons: he placed an emphasis on caring for the corporal needs of the enslaved and criticized the injustice of their condition and treatment. 

 

St. Claver wasn’t just a social worker. He cared for the souls of the Africans that he ministered to - that was his chief priority in fact. By the end of his life, he had converted and baptized an estimated 300,000 people. He clearly understood that God desires our salvation above all else. 

 

And yet, Claver recognized that he had to care for the whole person if he truly cared about a person’s salvation. It wasn’t enough to simply preach the words of the Gospel to men and women who were unjustly enslaved and treated like animals. 

 

He knew that he had to do all that he could to comfort them and treat them with the dignity they are owed as human persons made in the image of God. 

 

So Claver went on to the slave ships to minister to those enslaved in their crumpled, feverish conditions. He clothed the naked. Gave drink to the thirsty and food to the hungry. 

 

When he went to plantations to teach and baptize, he didn’t wine and dine with the slave owners but stayed with those who were enslaved. 

 

St. Peter Claver understood that in order to reach the human person and win souls he had to go all the way to the very depths of human suffering. 

 

What does this mean?

 

Why is this significant? 

 

St. Peter Claver was a strong believer in the Brown Scapular. When he baptized new Catholics he tried to enroll as many as possible into the Brown Scapular devotion.

 

He did this in order to place their souls under the care of Mary. He was just one of a very few people ministering to the enslaved peoples in Colombia. Because of that, he had very little time with each individual, but he wanted to do all that he could to secure their salvation. 

 

In fact, there was very little that he could do. But there was a lot that Our Lady was able to do. 

 

It’s worth pointing out St. Claver’s devotion to the Brown Scapular. 

 

Because this was a saint whose every action testifies to the fact that he was willing to go the extra mile and then some to win souls to Christ. He would take on any suffering and give up any comfort if it meant that he could tell one person about Christ. 

 

The Scapular wasn’t just some easy solution for Peter Claver. It wasn’t the sort of idea that he tossed off without much effort. 

 

He recommended the Scapular because he knew it worked. Not because it was just something easy to do. 

 

He believed in the Brown Scapular because it worked. 

 

St. Peter Claver just did what worked. What was effective. It wasn't enough to comfort people that were enslaved with words. So he did what worked and sacrificed himself and suffered physically to give them food and water and comfort.

 

Because that was the only way to do it.

 

He enrolled people in the Scapular because he knew that it would win souls for heaven. He relied on the Brown Scapular because it was effective. Because it was the only practical solution.

 

The Brown Scapular Works

 

When you hear about the Brown Scapular Devotion for the first time, it seems too easy. It's such a simple thing on the face of it that to modern minds it seems like wishful thinking. 

 

But it's not. 

 

The Brown Scapular is a practical help in our salvation. 

 

It's a concrete way to give God's grace and Our Lady's protection to the soul that needs it (If you're wondering who that includes, here's a hint: it means everyone).

 

Remember, we just have to participate with God's grace, but God is the one that does all the work. Sometimes the spiritual life is hard, no doubt. The life of virtue is not easy. 

 

But God does give us clear means of grace that are pure gifts for our benefit: the Mass, the sacraments, the Rosary - and the Brown Scapular (among others).

 

Don't be fooled by the beautiful simplicity of the Brown Scapular. Like St. Peter Claver knew, this is a practical way to offer Our Lady's promise and protection of divine grace to the poor sinner. 

 

Let's help spread the word and save souls for Christ.
 

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If Our Lady has blessed you through the Brown Scapular then please consider donating to help us spread this powerful devotion to others.