THE HISTORY OF THE BROWN SCAPULAR. Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

The Scapular devotion dates from the time of the prophet Elias  (Third  Book  of  Kings).  The  people  were  then  adoring Baal  (the  devil).  To  bring  the  people  back  to  God,  Elias prayed for a drought, which the people would understand as a sign of Divine displeasure. After  it  did  not  rain  for  three  and  a  half  years,  Elias  went up to Mount Carmel (in Palestine) and asked God to send rain.  After  praying  for  a  time,  he  sent  his  companion  to  see  if rain  was  coming.
 His  companion  went  down  the  mountain side,  looked  to  the  sea,  then  returned  to  Elias  and  reported that  he  saw  no  rain.  So  Elias  prayed  again,  then  sent  his companion  down  to  the  sea,  and  again,  there  was  no  rain. He prayed six times. Each time, there was no rain. Then  Elias  prayed  a  seventh  time.  This  time  when  the man went down the mountain, he saw a little cloud coming out  of  the  sea  in  the  shape  of  a  foot.  And  this  cloud  grew until  it  covered  the  whole  land.  And  from  that  one  cloud, there came the rain. Now  Elias  understood  this  cloud  represented  God’s Mother-to-come,  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.  The  cloud  was  in the shape of a foot, and he knew the prophecy of Genesis, that the  Woman would crush the serpent’s head with Her foot. Saint Bonaventure tells us that every page of the Old Testament  talks  about  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  one  way  or another.  Holy  people  have  told  us  that  there  are  two  other reasons why this cloud represented the Blessed Virgin: 1)  Because  the  sea  was  a  salt-water  sea  but  the  cloud  was fresh water. The cloud represented Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception.  Our  Lady  arose  out  of  sinful  humanity,  but  She alone was conceived without sin; 2)  The  cloud  also  represented  the  Blessed  Virgin  as Mediatrix  of  All  Graces.  The  rain-water  represents  grace. The  rain-water  that  fell  on  all  the  parched  land  came  from one cloud. It came through the Mediatrix of All Graces. Elias,  being  a  prophet,  decided  to  commemorate  this event and he founded a community of hermits on Mount Carmel to prepare for the coming of the Savior and His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Mantle of Elias is Mentioned in Sacred Scripture. 

One  time  when  Elias  went  across  the  river  Jordan,  he took his Mantle off, touched the river with the Mantle and it stopped  the  river  from  flowing,  so  he  could  cross  it  (4  Kings 2:8).  When  he  was  to  be  taken  up  to  Heaven,  his  successor Eliseus  asked  Elias  for  his  prophetic  spirit.  Elias  said  to  him, “If  I  leave  my  Mantle  behind  for  you,  know  that  you  will receive  this  prophetic  spirit.”  Scripture  tells  us  when  the  fiery chariot  came and took Elias to Heaven, it separated Elias and Eliseus.  Then  Eliseus  picked  up  the  Mantle  left  behind  by Elias (4 Kings 2:13). On Pentecost, 10 days after Jesus ascended into Heaven, the  spiritual  descendants  of  Elias  and  his  followers  came down  from  Mount  Carmel.  These  were  the  first  to  accept the  message  of  Christianity  and  be  baptized  by  the  Apostles. When, at last, they were presented to Our Lady, and heard the sweet words from Her lips, they were overcome with a  sense  of  majesty  and  sanctity  which  they  never  forgot. They  returned  to  their  holy  mountain,  and  erected  the  first chapel  ever  built  in  honor  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.  From that time, devotion to God’s Mother became the treasured spiritual legacy of the hermits on Mount Carmel. It  was  to  the  successor  of  these  hermits  of  Mount  Carmel that  Our  Lady  appeared  centuries  later.  The  community had just been transferred in 1241 from Mount Carmel in Palestine  to  Aylesford,  England.  Saint  Simon  Stock  was made Superior General of the Order for men in 1245. Weighed down by all the external persecutions and internal  dissensions  at  that  time,  the  90-year-old  Saint  Simon Stock  had  retired  to  his  cell  alone.  On  July  16,  1251  he  poured out his heart to the Blessed Virgin Mary — the Flower of Mount Carmel — asking Her to help him and all the Carmelites. Then, accompanied  by  a multitude  of angels,  the  Blessed Virgin  appeared  to  him,  holding  in  Her  hands  the  Scapular  of the Order, and said: “This shall be to you and to all Carmelites a privilege that anyone who dies clothed in this [Scapular] shall not suffer eternal fire.”1 The full Carmelite Scapular is made of brown wool, is about  14  inches  wide  and  is  worn  down  to  the  knees  in  the front and the back. Saint  Simon  established  the Confraternity of  Mount Carmel shortly after this apparition and thus the promise of eternal salvation was extended to Carmelite Confraternity members  who  died  wearing  the  Carmelite  Scapular.  Pope Urban  IV,  in  1262,  extended  special  blessings  to  these Confraternity members.2 Already  by  1276  AD  the  abbreviated  form  of  the  Scapular existed as can be seen by the  still-preserved  small  Scapular  of  Pope  Gregory  X,  who died  that  year  and  was  buried  with  his  Scapular  on.  Five hundred  and  fifty-four  years  later,  it  was  found  intact  in  1830 in  his  tomb  and  is  still  preserved  in  the  Arezzo  (Italy)  museum today.  There  are  historical  records  of  Carmelite  Confraternity meetings of lay people in Florence, Italy in 1280 AD.