One of the most powerful Sacramentals is the Brown Scapular. On July 16, 1251, Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, accompanied by her Heavenly Army of Angels and made the following promise:

"Whoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire."

Now, it was not our Lady's intention that the Scapular should replace the living out of a holy and virtuous Christian life. Instead, she meant it to remind us of the life she led, one of obedience to the Will of the Father, of humility, of fidelity, a willing vessel bringing the Savior to us.

Then in 1332, Our Lady made a second promise called the Sabbatine Privilege (or Saturday Privilege) when she appeared to Pope John XXII:

"I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend the Saturday after their death, and whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory, I shall free."

The Pope declared, in his Bull "Sacratissimo uti culmine", that the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and asked that the indulgences which Her Son had already granted in Heaven, be sanctioned by him as Vicar of Christ on earth and therefore conferred upon the Carmelites and all other wearers of the Scapular. These indulgences were:

(a) A plenary indulgence, at death for members of the Carmelite Order.

(b) A partial indulgence, remitting one third of the temporal punishment due to sin for the Confraternity members.

The Pope said that the Mother of God further told him that she would descend into Purgatory on the Saturday following their death and bring those enrolled in the Scapular up to Heaven.