Devotion to the Madonna del Carmine: the scapular, a sign of protection

Nobody, like Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, now also Doctor of the Church, has probably better exposed the idea according to which the Scapular presents us as a sign of Marian protection. The great Marian teaching that the young Carmelite gives us is that which stems from the grace received at the cave of Saint Magdalene, a sort of tiny Romitone located in an isolated place in the garden of the monastery of Lisieux. This event took place in July 1889, and Teresa tells Mother Agnes of Jesus in this way: There was like a veil thrown over me for all things on earth ... ... I was entirely hidden under the veil of the Holy Virgin . At that time, they had entrusted me with the refectory, and I remember doing things as if I didn't, it was as if they had lent me a body. I stayed like that all week. We see through this original formulation a singular implicit reference to the role of the Scapular. There was like a veil thrown over me for all things on earth.

This observation is nothing other than the realization of a desire of Teresa manifested since her passage in the famous Parisian sanctuary of Our Lady of Victories in 1887, just before she entered Carmel: With all fervor I prayed to her (the Virgin Maria) to always keep me and to realize my dream soon by hiding in the shadow of her virginal mantle! (...) I understood that it was in Carmel that it would be possible for me to really find the mantle of the Madonna, and it was towards that fertile mountain that all my desires tended (Ms A 57 r °). For Teresa, to be in Carmel (or to be affiliated to Carmel) is to be under the mantle, under the veil of the Virgin. It is to be under the dress of Our Lady, that is, as we have just said, to be dressed in the Scapular, the Marian livery par excellence.

In a nutshell, Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus recalls the profound meaning of the Scapular which, although not explicitly mentioned, is nevertheless so familiar to her. The grace of the cave of Santa Maddalena can help us find the meaning of the habit of Mary. Through a hidden path, this humble dress predisposes us, in a tangible and incarnate way, to the benevolent action of Mary's maternal protection. This protection is manifested to us with much discretion. Rather, it should be said that it is gradually revealed to us, as if the Mother of God delicately lifted a corner of the veil that covers the mystery of her maternal protection. The young Carmelite from Lisieux, faithful to the traditional conception of her Order, reminds us, through a testimony that may seem anonymous to us, that Mary, at Carmel, exercises as a charism of revelation. Mysteriously she reveals herself, in a sort of spiritual intimacy, symbolized by the grotto of the Lisieux garden. The Scapular, the veil of Mary, are one. We too, like Santa Teresa, can be entirely hidden under the veil of the Holy Virgin and do things as if I didn't do them.

Wearing the dress of Our Lady is letting Mary cover the darkness of our anonymous, simple, silent and monotonous lives with her maternal protection ... and then nothing more will be superficial. What Teresa affirms of the veil of Mary applies perfectly to the devotion of the Scapular, as a sign of Marian protection. In a poem composed in 1894 (five years after the significant experience of the cave), she imagines that the Queen of Heaven, addressing one of her children of the earth, says to him: I will speed you up under my veil / where the King of Sky. / My son will be the only star / to shine in your eyes now. - But in order that I always welcome you / to Jesus under my veil, / you must remain small / adorned with childish virtues (Poetry 15). The Scapular is more than a Marian sign. It is the sign of real and effective protection. She is not content to send us back to Maria. It is the memorial of all the graces granted by the Mother of God to each of us. His sight comforts us. In dangers or anguish, it is good for us to touch it: we know that we are not alone.

To receive this piece of brown cloth is to slip on, to slide under the protective veil of Our Lady. The Scapular, meaning the protection of Mary, founds our trust, our confident abandonment in her maternal hands. It gives us the certainty that this protection will be followed by the grace of God's mercy, because even when the Mother of God protects her children, it is to submit them to the beneficial action of the Lord. This is why the habit of Mary, as sacramental, engages the grace of the Lord. The Marian protection it signifies implies a transformation with the one who is clothed in it, because to receive the Scapular is to clothe Mary, it is to welcome her and receive her as an inheritance; it is a commitment to imitate his virtues and exclaim, with the prophet Isaiah: Exult of joy in God, my soul rejoices in my Lord. Since he clothed me in the robes of salvation, he wrapped me in the cloak of justice (IS 61,10).

For a sort of veiled charity that tries to hide its origins, our Mother assists us and presides over our spiritual growth to introduce us to the full possession of God. Inviting us to share her divine intimacy under her veil, the Virgin Mary commits his maternal protection and leaves us a wonderful sign: the Scapular, his own garment.