The two most essential and important practices associated with True Devotion are the praying of our Lady’s Psalter, the Most Holy Rosary, and the wearing of the Brown Scapular (and the other scapulars of our Lady).

Saint Dominic himself made an incredible prophecy in the presence of Saint Francis of Assisi and the great Carmelite Saint Angelus of Jerusalem about the importance of the Rosary and the Scapular.  This prophecy was recorded and handed down to us in the ancient history of the Carmelite Order written by Ventimiglia…

One day, Brother Angelus, to your Order of Carmel the Most Blessed Virgin Mary will give a devotion to be known as the Brown Scapular, and to my Order of Preachers she will give a devotion to be known as the Rosary. And one day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, she will save the world.

It is most interesting to note that when our Lady appeared at Fatima in that final and greatest apparition, during which took place the Miracle of the Sun, she appeared to the children as our Lady of the Rosary, our Lady of Sorrows, and our Lady of Mount Carmel.

How can we deny the constant reiterations of the Popes and Saints of Holy Mother Church on the importance of the Holy Rosary.

Montfort, a third Order Dominican, certainly agrees with the importance of these two practices and name them among the most important for those who practice the True Devotion…

True devotion to our Lady has also several exterior  practices. Here are the principal ones…carrying such signs of devotion to her as the rosary, the scapular, or a little chain. (True Devotion, #116)

Montfort even wrote a little book called: The Secret of the Rosary, which is the best book on the Rosary in existence.  It is very short and extremely powerful.  In it he makes possibly the most profound statement ever made about the Rosary…

If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins ‘you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory.’ Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if– and mark well what I say– if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins.

“Even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic…”  This statement is not just theory for Montfort was proved correct about this in the case of Blessed Bartolo Longo, who was born almost at the same time the manuscript of True Devotion was discovered.  Bartolo was raised a devout Catholic, but fell away from his faith at University and ultimately was consecrated a satanic priest.  But by the grace of God, he was converted by a Dominican Priest with the help of the teaching of Saint Thomas Aquinas and the prayer of the Rosary.  Bartolo would take up the rosary and not only would be converted totally but would become one of the greatest apostles of our Lady and the Rosary since Saint Dominic or Blessed Alan.  So great in fact that Pope Leo XIII, the Pope of the Rosary, in Bartolo’s lifetime gave him the title: The Man of Mary.  You can listen to a sermon on his story here: From Satanic Priest to the Man of Mary: Blessed Bartolo Longo

And so now let us take a closer look at what Montfort says about the importance of the Hail Mary and the Holy Rosary…

Those who accept this devotion should have a great love for the Hail Mary, or, as it is called, the Angelic Salutation.

Few Christians, however enlightened, understand the value, merit, excellence and necessity of the Hail Mary. Our Blessed Lady herself had to appear on several occasions to men of great holiness and insight, such as St. Dominic, St. John Capistran and Blessed Alan de Rupe, to convince them of the richness of this prayer.

They composed whole books on the wonders it had worked and its efficacy in converting sinners. They earnestly proclaimed and publicly preached that just as the salvation of the world began with the Hail Mary, so the salvation of each individual is bound up with it. This prayer, they said, brought to a dry and barren world the Fruit of Life, and if well said, will cause the Word of God to take root in the soul and bring forth Jesus, the Fruit of Life. They also tell us that the Hail Mary is a heavenly dew which waters the earth of our soul and makes it bear fruit in due season. The soul which is not watered by this heavenly dew bears no fruit but only thorns and briars, and merits only God’s condemnation.

Here is what our Blessed Lady revealed to Blessed Alan de Rupe as recorded in his book, The Dignity of the Rosary,  and as told again by Cartagena: “Know, my son, and make it known to all, that lukewarmness or negligence in saying the Hail Mary, or a distaste for it, is a probable and proximate sign of eternal damnation, for by this prayer the whole world was restored.”

These are terrible words but at the same time they are consoling. We should find it hard to believe them, were we not assured of their truth by Blessed Alan and by St. Dominic before him, and by so many great men since his time. The experience of many centuries is there to prove it, for it has always been common knowledge that those who bear the sign of reprobation, as all formal heretics, evil-doers, the proud and the worldly, hate and spurn the Hail Mary and the Rosary. True, heretics learn to say the Our Father but they will not countenance the Hail Mary and the Rosary and they would rather carry a snake around with them than a rosary. And there are even Catholics who, sharing the proud tendencies of their father Lucifer, despise the Hail Mary or look upon it with indifference. The Rosary, they say, is a devotion suitable only for ignorant and illiterate people.

On the other hand, we know from experience that those who show positive signs of being among the elect, appreciate and love the Hail Mary and are always glad to say it. The closer they are to God, the more they love this prayer, as our Blessed Lady went on to tell Blessed Alan.

I do not know how this should be, but it is perfectly true; and I know no surer way of discovering whether a person belongs to God than by finding out if he loves the Hail Mary and the Rosary. I say, “if he loves”, for it can happen that a person for some reason may be unable to say the Rosary, but this does not prevent him from loving it and inspiring others to say it.

Chosen souls, slaves of Jesus in Mary, understand that after the Our Father, the Hail Mary is the most beautiful of all prayers. It is the perfect compliment the most High God paid to Mary through his archangel in order to win her heart. So powerful was the effect of this greeting upon her, on account of its hidden delights, that despite her great humility, she gave her consent to the incarnation of the Word. If you say the Hail Mary properly, this compliment will infallibly earn you Mary’s good will.

When the Hail Mary is well said, that is, with attention, devotion and humility, it is, according to the saints, the enemy of Satan, putting him to flight; it is the hammer that crushes him, a source of holiness for souls, a joy to the angels and a sweet melody for the devout. It is the Canticle of the New Testament, a delight for Mary and glory for the most Blessed Trinity. The Hail Mary is dew falling from heaven to make the soul fruitful. It is a pure kiss of love we give to Mary. It is a crimson rose, a precious pearl that we offer to her. It is a cup of ambrosia, a divine nectar that we offer her. These are comparisons made by the saints.

I earnestly beg of you, then, by the love I bear you in Jesus and Mary, not to be content with saying the Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin, but say the Rosary too, and if time permits, all its fifteen decades, every day. Then when death draws near, you will bless the day and hour when you took to heart what I told you, for having sown the blessings of Jesus and Mary, you will reap the eternal blessings in heaven. (True Devotion, #249-54)

The reform of Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross, returned the Carmelite order to its ancient observances after it had become very lax and corrupted over the centuries.  The Carmelite Order is the most ancient in the world as it dates back to the time of Elias and the hermits that lived on Mount Carmel thousands of years ago praying and awaiting the coming of the Messiah.  The monks on Carmel were not made into an official religious order of the Catholic Church until Saint Albert of Jerusalem, the Patriarch at that time, wrote for them a rule for them to follow at about the same time when Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Dominic were founding their respective orders in Italy and France.  Within a very short time the monks for forced to flee to Europe because of the encroaching danger of Islam in the area, and we see in their Liturgy many elements of the East and of the military Crusading orders, but is still very much a part of the family of Western Liturgical Rites.

Receive, my beloved son, this habit of they order: This shall be to thee and to all carmelites a privilege, that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire. (Viridarium Ordinis B. Virginis Mariae de Monte Carmelo per JOHANNEM GROSSI, reproduced in the Analecta Ordinis Cannelitarum, VIII [1932, Rome] from the Spec., t. I, by Danieis a V. M.)

In bygone days, the servants of famous people were distinguished by the fact that they wore the livery or distinct garb of their masters.  The servants of Mary, too, can be distinguished by the fact that they wear her livery, namely, her scapular, as a sign that they have dedicated themselves to her service and that they are members of the household of the Mother of God.  Heretics, as a rule, ridicule this devotion.  But Holy Church has approved it by many bulls and indulgences.  Father Crasset and Lezzana, in their accounts of the scapular of Mount Carmel, relate that in the year 1251 the Blessed Virgin appeared to Saint Simon Stock, and Englishmen, and gave him the scapular, telling him that all who wore it would be saved from eternal damnation.  She said: “Receive, my son, this scapular to your Order, the badge of my confraternity, a privilege granted to you and to all Carmelites.  Whoever dies while wearing this will never suffer hell-fire.”

Father Crasset also relates that Mary appeared to Pope John XXII and commanded him to make it known that all who wear this brown scapular will be delivered from purgatory on the Saturday after their death.  He declared this in a bull which was later confirmed by Alexander V, Clement VII, and other popes.  Pope Paul V, as we have already remarked, clarified the bulls of his predecessors, and set out the conditions that must be observed in order to gain the promised privilege.  These conditions are: that each one should observe the chastity required of his state in life and that he should recite the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin.  If a person is unable to read, he should at least observe the fasts of the Church and abstain from the meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The indulgences attached to the scapular of Mount Carmel, as well as those attached to the scapulars of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, of the Blessed Trinity, and especially of the Immaculate Conception, are innumerable—both partial and plenary—during life and at the hour of death.  I have made it a point to be invested in all these scapulars.  It is worth knowing that the scapular of the Immaculate Conception, which is blessed by the Theatine Fathers, enjoys many special indulgences.