1251, England:

Heavenly mother appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite, handed him a brown woolen scapular and gave him a promise:

 “This shall be a privilege for you and all Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit shall not suffer eternal fire.” with time, the Church extended this glorious privilege to all the laity who are willing to wear this sacramental.

But what is a sacramental???

A sacramental is something set apart by the Church to motivate good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart, to remit  sins…. Thus, alongside with the Rosary and the Miraculous Medal, the brown Scapular became one of the chief Marian sacramentals…we are talking about a small replica of a religious habit consisting of 2 pieces of wool connected by a cord. It is worn over the shoulders, under one's clothes, 

so that one piece hangs in front and the other in back. 

Now, everybody notices that this world in which we live is full of material things which have symbolic meanings: light, water, ect… and Christian life also has its signs. Jesus used bread, wine, and water, to help us understand higher things, which we cannot see or touch…. Likewise, the scapular is an external sign of trust and love for Mary, and of promise to live like her. 

So this garment is not a magical lure to protect us, nor an automatic guarantee of salvation, or a pretext for not living up to the demands of our Christian life. On the contrary, it is a sign that, by the approval of the church, stands for the decision to follow Jesus like Mary. It is a sign that expresses the openness to God and to His divine will, guided by the theological values of faith, hope and love.

It demands the one wearing it to be close to the needs of people, to have an internal life filled with prayer and invites for a deeper relationship with God omnipresent. And this scapular is a sign of a renewed hope of encountering God in eternal life with the help of Mary, daughter of the Father, mother of the Son & spouse of the Holy Spirit.

The users of this sacramental are always requested to share in the Masses, prayers and good works … wearers of the brown scapular must be active participants in spiritual life. 

The brown scapular stays this sign of a special relationship with Mary Mother of our Lord, whom we are invited to imitate. 

 In 1910, Pope Saint Pius X introduced a scapular medal which may be substituted in most cases for any of the various scapulars. The medals show the image of Our Most Holy Redeemer, Jesus Christ, showing His Sacred Heart, and the obverse that of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. 

Thus, we can declare that the brown scapular of Our Lady of Carmel stays a good reminder of the demands of the Christian interior life…. A life wholly dedicated to the quest for God, wholly orientated towards intimacy with Him…it is an invitation for a continuous silent prayer to all” busy “fellows as to cloistered nuns, in hope to reach a  contemplative life which was best realized in Our Lady herself, ‘Queen and Splendor of Carmel’.”