One of the most extraordinary of all Scapular incidents took place right here in the United States. It happened around the turn of the century in the town of Ashtabula, Ohio, that a man was cut in two but a train; he was wearing the Scapular. Instead of dying instantly, as would be expected he remained alive and conscious for 45 minutes, just enough time until a priest could arrive to administer the Last Sacraments. These, and other such incidents, tell us that Our Blessed Mother will take personal care of us in the hour of our death. So great and powerful a Mother is Mary that she will never fail to keep the Scapular contract, i.e. to see that we die in God’s grace.
We should even give the Scapular to non-Catholics for Our Lady will bring conversions to those who will wear it and say one Hail Mary each day, as the following true story will show. An old man was rushed to the St. Simon Stock Hospital in New York City, unconscious and dying. The nurse, seeing the Brown Scapular on the patient, called a priest. As the prayers were being said for the dying man, he became conscious and spoke up: “Father, I am not a Catholic.”
Then why are you wearing the Brown Scapular?” asked the priest. “I promised my friends to wear it,” the patient explained,” and also to say one Hail Mary a day.” “You are dying” the priest told him. “Do you want to become a Catholic?” “All my life I wanted to be one.” The dying man replied. He was baptized, received the Last Rites, and died in peace. Our Lady took another soul under Her mantle through the Scapular!
Still another Scapular miracle concerns a French priest who had gone on pilgrimage. On the way to say Mass, he remembered that he had forgotten his Scapular. He knew he would be late if he went back to retrieve it, but he could not envision offering Mass at Our Lady’s Altar without Her Scapular. Later, as he was offering the Holy Sacrifice, a young man approached the altar, pulled out a gun, and shot the priest in the back.
To the amazement of all, the priest continued to say the prayers of the Mass as though nothing had occurred. It was at first presumed that the bullet had miraculously missed its target. However, upon examination, the bullet was found adhering to the little Brown Scapular, which the priest had so obstinately refused to be without.
Learn more about the devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel by reading:
Comments