Simon Stock - Brown Scapular

Brown Scapular

The earliest accounts of Saint Simon's life do not mention him having a vision. The first such reference dates from the late 14th century, over 100 years after the July 16, 1251 date when tradition says the vision occurred. It states that "St. Simon was an Englishman, a man of great holiness and devotion, who always in his prayers asked the Virgin to favour his Order with some singular privilege. The Virgin appeared to him holding the Scapular in her hand saying, 'This is for you and yours a privilege; the one who dies in it will be saved.'" In its original context, the meaning of this promise was that Carmelite religious who persevered in their vocation would be saved. Beginning in the 16th century, the Carmelites began giving the Brown Scapular to lay people who wanted to be affiliated with the Order, and it became increasingly popular as a sacramental.

Scholarly investigation into historical source documents has raised questions about whether Saint Simon Stock's vision actually happened, or if this tradition about him arose later, perhaps as a means of expressing in the form of a story, the strongly held Carmelite spiritual belief in the favor and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Several other religious orders in the Middle Ages had similar stories of Mary giving their habit or promising protection. The great Carmelite authors of the 14th century do not mention the scapular at all. Challenges to the historicity of the scapular vision (and passionate defenses of it) are not a new phenomenon; a notable challenge came in 1653, from a scholar at the University of Paris, Fr. Jean de Launoy. In response, a Carmelite named Fr. John Cheron published a fragment of a letter which he purported to be an account by Saint Simon Stock's secretary Peter Swanington (or Swanyngton), giving details of the Saint's life, and the scapular vision. This document was also the origin of the date that has become traditional for the vision, July 16, 1251 (July 16 was already in the 17th century the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, though that liturgy made no reference to the scapular). Today, scholars affirm that this document was a forgery and Fr. Cheron himself the likely author. Shortly after Vatican II, the historical uncertainties revealed by 20th century scholars such as Fr. Ludovico Saggi, O.Carm of the "Institutum Carmelitanum" in Rome, resulted in the Church briefly striking the feast day of Saint Simon Stock from the Carmelite liturgical calendar, though it was restored in 1979 as an optional memorial, on the condition that no mention be made of the scapular vision. Devotion to the Brown Scapular remains widespread and recommended by the Catholic Church, and the Carmelites continue to find meaning in the traditional story and iconography of Saint Simon Stock receiving the scapular, particularly as reflecting their filial relationship with Mary. When Pope John Paul II addressed the Carmelite family in 2001 on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the bestowal of the Scapular, he said that "Over time this rich Marian heritage of Carmel has become, through the spread of the Holy Scapular devotion, a treasure for the whole Church. By its simplicity, its anthropological value and its relationship to Mary's role in regard to the Church and humanity, this devotion was so deeply and widely accepted by the People of God that it came to be expressed in the memorial of 16 July on the liturgical calendar of the universal Church," the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.