The Sci Fi Catholic Yak Module
About that Brown Scapular.....do you know it has a very specific association with the Carmelite Order? It is not a "generic" sacramental. The Carmelites have a fascinating history, a bracing Rule, and have produced St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lisieux, (all 3 Doctors of the Church)and St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein). The Carmelites are certainly worth scoping out, if only to be well-informed about the spirituality and charism associated with the Scapular.
Mmm - about that hypocrisy comment; I wonder if St Louis de Montfort is following in the tradition of the 'Refrigerium' or all those stories about visions of Hell and Judas and the like, where Judas is wrapped in flame save for one foot, and the reason is because that's the foot with which he pushed a bundle of hay towards a starving sheep.
The rosary on the belt may be hypocrisy; on the other hand, it may be the last flickering remnant of faith left alive. And God is not proud; He's willing to save us regardless if we only leave some tiny chink for grace to get through.
I suppose you're right about grace, Fuinseoig, and I further suppose it's not my place to guess the motives behind a rosary on a belt.
I doubt if the good saint is following the Refrigerium idea, but I'm sure he acknowledges, as is generally acknowledged in Catholic tradition, that the punishment in Hell is personal and that there are different levels of punishment. As far as I know, the notion that everybody in Hell gets the same lot and that the lot is as bad as God can possibly make it is a Calvinist idea, perhaps best expressed in Edwards's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
Xena Catolica, thanks for the info. I read up on the Scapular before I was inducted (is that the right term?) into it by my former priest in Wyoming. I haven't read a great deal about the Carmelites, though.
Oh, you're entirely right that merely wearing the scapulars or whatever won't save you; you can't go about merrily murdering whatever members of the general populace annoy you and then say "I've got the Miraculous Medal - I'm sorted!"
But pious tales of the kind you example (saved by wearing the rosary) were, I think, an attempt to convince people that God is rich in mercy, not the tyrant ogre. That forget about piling up as many good deeds on the plus side of the ledger to barter your way into heaven and convert your heart - if there is any sincere genuine love of God or the Faith there, no matter how small or in what way, then you may be saved.
Plus don't forget this story is probably all part of the praises of Our Lady and how she can help us 
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