Papal Endorsement

The Church has recommended and endorsed the wearing of the Brown Scapular for centuries. Numerous Popes have enriched this sacramental by attaching priviledges and indulgences to the wearing of the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, to encourage the faithful to participate in this devotion and gain its spiritual favours. 

Below are some examples of the devotion of Catholic Pontiffs to the Brown Scapular:
 
Pope Leo XI (d. 1605) wore a brown scapular and while he was being vested in his papal robes, following the conclave that elected him, his scapular was accidentaly removed and he said: "Leave me Mary lest Mary should leave me".

Pope Benedict XV (d.1922): "Let all of you have a common language and a common armour: the language, the sentences of the Gospel; the armour, the Scapular of the Virgin of Carmel, which you all ought to wear and which enjoys the singular privilege of protection even after death".

Pope Pius XI (d.1939): "I learned to love the Scapular Virgin in the arms of my mother". 

Pope Puis XII (d.1958): "There is no one who is not aware how greatly a love for the Blessed Virgin Mother of God contributes to the enlivening of the Catholic faith ... In the first rank of the most favored of these devotions that of the Holy Carmelite Scapular must be placed".

Blessed Paul VI (d.1978): "Let the faithful hold in high esteem the practices and devotions to the Blessed Virgin approved by the teaching authority of the Church. It is Our conviction that the Rosary of Mary and the Scapular of Carmel are among these recommended practices. The Scapular is a practice of piety, which by its very simplicity is suited to everyone".

St. John Paul II (d.2005): "There are two truths which the sign of the Scapular brings out: on the one hand, there is the continuous protection of the Blessed Virgin, not only along the pathways of this life, but also at the moment of passing into the fullness of eternal glory; on the other hand, there is the awareness that devotion towards Our Lady cannot be limited to the occasional prayer in her honour, but must become a "habit", that is a permanent way of Christian living, made up of prayer and the interior life, frequent recourse to the Sacraments and the concrete exercise of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy"