POPE JOHN PAUL II
 


Karol Wojtyla, as a young factory worker, wearing his his brown scapular.


Pope John Paul II on the Brown Scapular and Carmel


What is Pope John Paul II's affiliation with the Carmelites?

In a letter to Cardinal Ballestrero OCD dated 14 September 1981, the Holy Father had said:

"From Childhood we have been so closely linked with the sons of the admirable St.Teresa that we became a Carmelite tertiary."

(A souvenir of JPII's visit to Britain, 1981. Printed by the Nuns of the Darlington Carmel. p15)
 
Carmelites are very happy to count among our numbers our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. The vocation of a Carmelite is a vocation for all Christians, to live in intimacy with the Holy Trinity, with devotion to His Holy Mother Mary, and to grow in charity and grace, striving to live His perfect Will.

"The Marian patrimony of Carmel has become, over time, "through the spread of the devotion of the Holy Scapular, a treasure for the whole Church. For its simplicity, for its anthropological value and for the relationship with Mary as regards the Church and humanity, this devotion has been profoundly and widely grasped by the people of God, so much so as to find expression in the commemoration of July 16th, which is present in the Liturgical Calender of the Universal Church". As far as the Scapular is concerned in a specific way, John Paul II, emphasized that it is worn by many simple faithful, as a devotion to Mary, which in this way find themselves associated with the great Carmelite families. And inserted a memory and a personal testimony. "I too have worn on my heart, and have for a long time, the Carmelite Scapular."

From "The confiding of the pontiff in a letter to the Superior Generals of the Carmelite Order and to the Discalced Carmelites Vatican City, March 27th (VID) -"

VIA Inside the Vatican Newsflash: John Paul II and the Brown Scapular
by John Drogin

Pope John Paul II insisted doctors not remove his brown scapular during surgery on him following the assassination attempt in May 1981. Father Mariano Cera, a Carmelite priest, told Inside the Vatican: "Just before the Holy Father was operated on, he told the doctors 'Don't take off the scapular.' And the surgeons left it on." Father Cera made the comments at the beginning of celebrations for the 750th anniversary of the Carmelite scapular, now underway in Rome. Some 750 years ago monks were banished from Mount Carmel in Palestine by Muslims. Nearly eight centuries later, Pope John Paul is convinced that Our Lady of Mount Carmel, along with Our Lady of Fatima, saved him from the bullets of Mehmet Ali Agca. [See Inside the Vatican, July 2001, page 44] The Virgin Mary appeared at the final apparition of Fatima (Portugal) and at Lourdes (France) wearing the brown scapular. The pontiff, a Third Order Carmelite, has worn the scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel since he was a young boy. He frequent ly asks Our Lady of Mount Carmel to help him make important decisions.

In observation of the 750th anniversary, to be celebrated on July 16, Pope John Paul II has written a special letter to the Carmelites, saying: "I  also carry the scapular on my heart... for the love that it nutures toward the common Heavenly mother, whose protection is continually springing forth."

Currently more than half a million people around the world wear the brown scapular. On Sunday evening, July 8, in the overflowing Carmelite church of Santa Maria in Transpontina, 30 laymen became a part of that expanding number. Father Cera, the chief celebrant, invested these men of faith with the scapular. The scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is inseparable with the events of the past century: Fatima, Russia, the Pope's shooting and especially the hope of reuniting East and West. The Carmelites are the only Order founded in the East that that has settled in the West. Pope Paul VI said the devotion of the brown scapular and the Holy Rosary are the two most recommended devotions by the magisterium of the Church.

 


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