World Apostolate of Fátima
Phoenix Diocesan Division

Q: What happened at Fatima?

A: Through a series of six apparitions from May 13 through October 13, the Blessed Virgin Mary invited all mankind to prayer, conversion, consecration and reparation as the sure means of obtaining world peace. Her message was validated by the Miracle of the Sun on October 13, 1917. More than 70,000 persons, in a thirty-mile radius of Fatima, including atheists, saw the sun make abrupt movements in the sky and plunge toward the earth. Our Lady of Fatima prophesied the rise of communism, World War II and persecution for the Church, but added that in the end, her Immaculate Heart would triumph and an era of peace would be granted to mankind.

Q: How is the World Apostolate of related to Fatima?

A: Members pray the daily Rosary as requested by the Virgin Mary at Fatima and frequently meet for a weekly Holy Hour called a Prayer Cell. They offer the penance of their daily trials in life for the conversion of sinners, and they wear the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel as a sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They also make the First Saturday Devotion in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Q: How do I become a member of the World Apostolate of Fatima?

A: Simply sign a pledge in which you promise to fulfill the conditions for peace given by Our Lady at Fatima. The pledge is not a vow and does not bind under pain of sin.

Q: What are the conditions of the pledge?

A:

1. Pray the daily Rosary;
2. wear the Brown Scapular as a sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; and
3. offer reparation (the sacrifices of daily life) through the Morning Offering.
4. It is also highly recommended that members make the First Saturday Devotion.

Q: I am already fulfilling these basic conditions. What more can I do?

A:

• Attend Mass frequently;
• receive Holy Communion worthily;
• make visits to the Blessed Sacrament;
• participate in Prayer Cell Holy Hours and All-Night Vigils.
• Tell others about Our Lady of Fatima's requests and encourage them to join the World Apostolate of Fatima.

Q: What are the benefits of World Apostolate membership?

A: You know you are fulfilling Our Lady's conditions for the conversion of sinners and world peace. You obtain numerous indulgences through the Rosary and the Scapular. You become eligible for the Sabbatine Privilege. Your name is flown to Fatima and buried near the site of the apparitions. You are remembered in special Masses at Fatima and at the Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Washington, New Jersey. You also share in the prayers of the Handmaids of Mary Immaculate and World Apostolate members throughout the world.

Q: What are the conditions and benefits of the First Saturday Devotion?

A: Our Lady said: "I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me."

Q. What is the Brown Scapular?

A. The Brown Scapular is a sacramental. It is part of the habit of Carmel. In miniature form, it consists of two small pieces of brown material connected by string or chain and worn over the shoulders. The Carmelite Order, to which the Scapular belongs, originated on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land near the cave of Elijah the Prophet, who was the inspiration of the early members of Carmel.

Q: What is the history of the Scapular?

A: Saint Simon Stock, General of the Carmelite Order, was the man God chose to accomplish great work in the Carmelite Order. About 1251, when difficulties seemed insurmountable, Simon had recourse to Mary, whom he loved. According to tradition, she appeared to him and made the Scapular of the Carmelite habit a sign of her special love and a pledge of her motherly protection, saying: "This shall be to you and all Carmelites a privilege, that anyone who dies clothed in this shall not suffer eternal fire; and if wearing it they die, they shall be saved."

Catholic theologians have explained the promise to mean that anyone dying in Mary's family (Carmelite Order or Scapular Confraternity) will receive from her, at the hour of death, either the grace of perseverance in the state of grace or the grace of final contrition.

The wearing of the Scapular must be understood to mean that one is striving earnestly to live up to all Christian ideals. It does not take the place of the Church's Sacraments, but is an outward sign of inward commitment to virtue and Christian piety, under the patronage of Mary.

Saints and pontiffs have often warned us of the folly of abusing Mary's promise. At the same time that Pope Pius XI joyfully professed: "I learned to love the Scapular Virgin in the arms of my mother," he also warned the faithful that "... although it is very true that the Blessed Virgin loves all who love her, nevertheless those who wish to have the Blessed Mother as a helper at the hour of death, must in life merit such a signal favor by abstaining from sin and laboring in her honor."

To lead a willfully sinful life while trusting in the Scapular promise is to commit a sin of presumption.

Q: What is the Sabbatine Privilege? How does it relate to the Scapular?

A: The Church permits it to be said that those who faithfully wear the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel after being enrolled in the Scapular Confraternity, observe chastity for their state in life and daily recite the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary will be released from Purgatory, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, soon after death, and especially on Saturday (Sabbatine). All priests have the faculty to permit the substitution of the daily Rosary or some other prayers for the daily recitation of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This Sabbatine Privilege has been supported by Pope Paul V in the seventeenth century as well as by Popes Benedict XV and Pius XI in the twentieth century. According to tradition, the Sabbatine Privilege had its origin in a bull issued by Pope John XXII on March 3, 1322, and said that observants of the conditions for the privilege would be released from purgatory on the first Saturday after their death. However, the authenticity of the only existing copy of the bull has been questioned and there is unanimous agreement in the writings of modern day Carmelites that no bull was issued on the Scapular by Pope John XXII.

Q: What are the conditions for the Sabbatine Privilege?

A: The conditions for the Sabbatine Privilege are: (1) wear the Brown Scapular faithfully; (2) observe chastity according to one's state in life; (3) say the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Q: What is the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary?

A: The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an ancient prayer of the Church, consisting mostly of psalms and hymns commemorating the role of Mary in the great mysteries of our Faith. It is arranged according to the eight hours of the liturgical office and requires from forty-five minutes to an hour. It is recited daily by many orders of sisters and brothers.

Copies of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the laity are available from the World Apostolate of Our Lady of Fatima, Box 976, Washington, NJ, 07882. To order, call toll-free at 866-513-1917.

Q: Can the daily requirement to recite the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary be commuted?

A: The Sabbatine Privilege requirement for daily recitation of the Little Office can be commuted by any priest to another suitable prayer, such as the Rosary. The daily Rosary is frequently permitted as a substitute for the Little Office and also fulfills the request of Our Lady of Fatima for this prayer.

Q: Do I simply begin wearing the Brown Scapular, or must I be invested in it first?

A: To obtain the full benefit of the Brown Scapular devotion, one must be validly invested in the Brown Scapular. The investiture "enrolls" the wearer in the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

A Catholic can be invested in the Brown Scapular by a priest, using a Scapular blessed by a priest. After proper investiture in the Scapular, a person need not have subsequent Scapulars blessed. Once invested, you are invested until death.

Q: May a non-Catholic wear the Brown Scapular?

A: Yes, and in so doing, a non-Catholic will receive many graces and blessings with this special sign of devotion to the Mother of God. Although baptized Catholics are the only ones who can be officially invested in the Confraternity and share in the special Scapular privileges, non-Catholics are warmly encouraged to avail themselves of this special way of honoring Jesus' Mother.

Q: I was once invested in the Brown Scapular but have failed to wear it for some time. Must I be reinvested in order to derive the Scapular benefits?

A: Membership in the Confraternity is not forfeited by merely laying aside the Scapular. One need only begin wearing it again.

Q: Must I wear the Scapular around my neck?

A. Yes, the Scapular is a habit-Our Lady's habit. The Scapular must be worn over the shoulders in such a manner that one part hangs in front of the body and the other in back. Worn in any other way, it carries no indulgence or promise. It is usually worn under one's outer clothing but not necessarily next to the skin. Furthermore, the Scapular may be enclosed in some sort of case-metal, plastic, etc.-provided the case does not prevent the Scapular material from being attached to the braid or chain. A deteriorated Scapular should be burned or buried; any metal or plastic covering may be discarded.

Q. Must the Brown Scapular be made of wool?

A: At one time, this was a requirement. However, Carmelite regulations now permit the Scapular to be made from any suitable brown material.

Q: May I substitute the Scapular Medal for the cloth Scapular?

A: While the Scapular Medal enjoys all the privileges granted to those wearing the cloth Scapular (except for the partial indulgence for kissing the Scapular granted by Pope Benedict XV), the substitution of the medal for the cloth should only be made for a good and serious reason. Saint Pius X insisted that he ". . . did not intend that the Scapular Medal should supplant the Brown Scapular in Europe and America." He said, "I wear the cloth; let us never take it off."

Q: There are many different Scapulars. Why does the World Apostolate of Our Lady of Fatima promote the Brown Scapular?

A: The World Apostolate of Our Lady of Fatima promotes the Brown Scapular because of the tremendous Sabbatine Privilege and also because Our Lady appeared at Fatima on October 13, 1917, as Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

The Ritual of Investiture admits the one being invested to a participation "in all the Masses, prayers and good works performed by the religious of Mount Carmel." This participation plus the great promise of salvation and the Sabbatine Privilege give an unspeakable spiritual value to the Brown Scapular devotion.

In 1950, Pope Pius XII wrote the now-famous words concerning the Scapular: "Let it be your sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which We are particularly urging in these perilous times."

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