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 By the Grace of Almighty God and the intercession of Our Blessed Lady and the Saints, man has been given powerful weapons with which to achieve salvation and protect himself against the "snares and wickedness of the devil." Among these, pride of place must of course be given to the Seven Sacraments, instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ and administered by His Holy Catholic Church. In addition and complimentary to the Sacraments, Heaven has also provided mankind with many salutary prayers, practices and sacramentals by which virtue may be augmented and dangers to faith and morals averted. At Fatima, the
Mother of God emphasized the vital importance of the daily recitation
of the Rosary and signalled Her desire that all Catholics wear the Brown
Scapular as a visible sign of their devotion. These two great Fatima devotions
are joined indissolubly with those of the Five First Saturdays (which Our Lady
instituted at Pontevedra, Spain in 1925) and the Seven Fatima Prayers that are
traditionally associated with Her appearances.  The Most Holy
RosaryThe Rosary has been treasured in the Church for many centuries. In a profound sense, it is a summary of the Christian Faith in language and prayers inspired by the Bible. Pope Pius X wrote that "among all the devotions approved by the Church, none has been favored by so many miracles as the devotion to the Most Holy Rosary." The
Rosary traditionally is said to have originated with St. Dominic, a Spanish
monk of the 13th century who was the founder of the Order of Preachers (more
commonly known as the Dominicans) and a mighty missionary against heresy. One
night, as he was deep in prayer, Our Lady appeared to him, holding the Rosary
in Her hand and said: "Be of good cheer, Dominic, the remedy for the evils
which you lament will be meditation on the life, death and glory of My Son,
uniting all with the recitation of the angelic salutation (Hail Mary) by which
the mystery of redemption was announced to the world. This devotion, which you
are to inculcate by your preaching, is a practice most dear to My Son and Me.
The faithful will obtain by it innumerable advantages and shall always find me
ready to aid them in their wants. This is the precious gift which I leave to
you and to your spiritual children."Over the
centuries, inspired by the teachings of St. Dominic and his followers,
especially the Blessed Alain de Roche and St. Louis de Montfort, the Holy
Rosary has become the most beloved and popular of all Catholic devotions. It
has long been associated with innumerable miracles of faith and healing. Speaking of Our
Lady's appearances at Fatima (where She identified Herself as "the Lady of the
Rosary"), Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité has written that "if
She willed to appear at the Cova da Iris holding (the Rosary) in Her hand...it
was to show us that it is the surest means, because it is the easiest and the
humblest, of winning Her Heart and obtaining Her graces."THE FIFTEEN PROMISES OF THE ROSARY SISTER LUCY SPEAKS ON THE ROSARY  The Brown Scapular
of Mount CarmelThe Brown Scapular is a sacramental, one of the many items set apart or blessed by the Church to inspire devotion and increase holiness. The Carmelite Order, to which the Scapular belongs, originated on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land and the Scapular is itself a reflection in miniature of the habit which the monks wear as a sign of their vocation and devotion . The Scapular
consists of two small pieces of brown wool connected by string and worn over
the shoulders. The Scapular must be brown, rectangular in shape and made of 100
percent lamb's wool (symbolic of Jesus, the Lamb of God). The strings
connecting the pieces of wool may of any color or material and pictures on the
scapulars are optional. The Scapular must, however, be worn over the shoulders,
one part in front and one in back.The Scapular
devotion was born on July 16, 1251 when Our Blessed Mother appeared to St.
Simon Stock, general of the Carmelite Order, in response to his heartfelt
prayers for assistance. Holding the Scapular before him, Our Lady spoke,
saying:
"Take this Scapular. Whosoever dies wearing it shall not suffer eternal fire. It shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger and pledge of peace." This great
promise was further magnified some eighty years later when the Queen of Heaven
appeared to Jean Drèze (later Pope John XXII) and told him that "those
who have been invested with this Holy Habit will be delivered from Purgatory
the first Saturday after their deaths." This great secondary promise attached
to the Scapular is called the Sabbatine (Saturday) Privilege and is based on a
decree issued by John XXII in 1322 (and re-confirmed 400 years later by Pope
Paul V). In our own century, Pope Benedict XV, as a sign of his approval,
granted a 500 day indulgence each time the Scapular is kissed.At its essence,
the Scapular is a prayer in which Our Lady draws us nearer to the Sacred Heart
of Her Divine Son. For over seven hundred years, the promise of the Scapular
has been proven theologically sound and confirmed by miracles which the Blessed
Claude de la Colombiere has called "more numerous and authentic" than any other
sacramental devotion.SISTER LUCY AND THE BROWN SCAPULAR Heaven's Weapons       |