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3Giftsathome
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| Posted: Oct 31 2013 at 1:55am | IP Logged
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Not sure where to post this.
This might be a little long...
I have been praying about wearing the brown scapular for quite sometime and even talked to my priest about it about a year and a half ago. His reaction wasn't what I expected and I was quite taken back from his response. He told me I should really seek seeing a spiritual director and keeping a journal. I believe, based on our conversation, he thinks I shouldn't wear the scapular until this is done and I receive approval from the spiritual director.
Why am I seeking advice on wearing the scapular:
Two years ago, I felt very strongly about praying for another child. I prayed the Saint Andrew novena but I also prayed to our Blessed Mother Mary for prayers from her since this came so suddenly and couldn't understand why I felt I was being called to have another child when it didn't cross my mind after our third child (our youngest will be 6 soon). That summer, we became pregnant. Although very thrilled and loved the idea of having another child (always wanted a large family, but my high risk has led me to believe it wouldn't be possible) for some reason I had a feeling I wouldn't get a chance to carry the baby for long. Less than a month later we lost the baby. I mourned over this loss and prayed to our Mother Mary to help me be at peace with God's plan. Within a couple of months I felt I needed to pray for prayers from Our Mother Mary and Saint Andrew for another child. Within a few short months we found out we were pregnant. I was so thrilled and felt incredibly blessed I just knew our Mother Mary was bringing me closer to our Lord, to trust in him (something I had been praying for and continue to pray for). More than ever now I felt drawn towards wearing the brown scapular.
My concern is this..should I be seeking a spiritual director before I go through the ceremony to wear the scapular? I don't feel comfortable talking to my priest about wearing it. I don't know many people who wear this. When my sister decided to wear it, I don't ever remember her seeing a spiritual director. Of course I never asked her.
I am just about 34 weeks pregnant now and wearing the brown scapular is something I feel strongly about more than ever. Any advice?
Thank you all so much in advance! I haven't posted in so long, but know I am praying for you all!
God Bless,
Mary
__________________
Mary
Wife to my wonderful dh for 13 years
Mama to 4 gifts (dd '04, ds '06, ds '07, dd '13)
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Oct 31 2013 at 7:39am | IP Logged
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Mary,
First, congratulations on your littlest which will be here before you know it!!!
Understanding that your priest has offered you some specific direction, and knowing that you will pray about this and carefully choose how you proceed:
** You are not required to seek spiritual direction in order to wear a brown scapular. You do need to be enrolled in the scapular, which a priest can do for you. An enrollment is for life, so once enrolled, always enrolled. You don't have to go through the enrollment again each time you replace your scapular.
** Here is some more history and helpful information on the brown scapular from EWTN.
** A little more from the Sisters of Carmel.
** Garment of Grace is a lovely and small little booklet that you might enjoy!
** My favorite source for the scapular is from Rose Scapular. I find them to be quite sturdily sewn. I like them because I can choose to add a medal, or not (which is important to me when I have a grabby little one that tends to put everything in their mouth!). The Sisters of Carmel also offer brown scapulars made by the sisters.
** They're easy to make yourself though, if you have just a modest amount of sewing skill!
** I do wash our scapulars when they get dirty/grimy.   I wash in my machine, on the wool setting, and lay flat to dry. They can usually make it through a couple of washings before they need to be retired.
** Since a scapular is a blessed sacramental, when it has lived its useful life and needs to be retired, just bury it in your garden, or you can also burn it.
Hope this has been helpful information so that you can properly and prayerfully discern if wearing the scapular is God's will for you and how best to proceed. 
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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3Giftsathome
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| Posted: Nov 15 2013 at 12:30am | IP Logged
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Jen,
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I have continued to pray about this while continuing reading through information on the scapular. The information you gathered for me has been so helpful and appreciative!
Although I still feel strongly that God is calling me to wear the scapular, I admit I am hesitate on approaching my priest again for fear he will not want to enroll me since I haven't taken his advice on seeking a spiritual director. I guess he really caught me off guard and I thought he would be more supportive rather than questioning if I'm really ready to wear it.
I feel God would still like me to proceed with approaching my priest again and pray that I will go in with an open mind to listening to my priest instead of approaching him with my defenses up. Who knows, I may be surprised by his response.
God Bless,
Mary
__________________
Mary
Wife to my wonderful dh for 13 years
Mama to 4 gifts (dd '04, ds '06, ds '07, dd '13)
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4Real Forums : Hidden Treasure
Topic: Brown Scapular
