There are several famous saints who wore the Brown Scapular, such as St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Other scapular devotees are barely known, like Bl. Isidore Bakanja (circa 1887–1909), a martyr for Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Bl. Isidore was born into the Boangi tribe in the former Belgian Congo. He learned the Catholic faith from Cistercian missionaries, was baptized at age 18 and developed a strong devotion to the Rosary and the Brown Scapular.
Sharing his new faith became his passion, much to the chagrin of his employers. Bl. Isidore worked at a colonist-run rubber plantation. The Belgians who led the company hated Catholicism and despised the Catholic missionaries who were against the exploitation of native Africans.
When they discovered that Bl. Isidore was evangelizing his fellow workers, plantation officials demanded that he stop. One of them exclaimed, “You’ll have the whole village praying and no one will work!” Bl. Isidore continued spreading devotion to Jesus and Mary anyway.
One day, a boss ordered him to remove his Brown Scapular. Again, Bl. Isidore didn’t comply. His boss tore off the scapular and had him flogged almost to death with a whip made of elephant hide and nails. Bl. Isidore’s life was spared because an inspector was coming to the plantation and the managers didn’t want a dead body lying around.
They banished their bleeding victim to another village, but Bl. Isidore found the inspector, who later reported: “I saw a man come from the forest with his back torn apart by deep, festering, malodorous wounds, covered with filth, assaulted by flies.…he wasn't walking; he was dragging himself."
Several months after this encounter, wearing his Brown Scapular and holding his Rosary, Bl. Isidore died from his wounds. His final words included a promise to pray for his persecutors.
Pope St. John Paul II beatified Bl. Isidore on April 24, 1994. His feast day is August 12.
Bl. Isidore Bakanja and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!
Bl. Isidore was born into the Boangi tribe in the former Belgian Congo. He learned the Catholic faith from Cistercian missionaries, was baptized at age 18 and developed a strong devotion to the Rosary and the Brown Scapular.
Sharing his new faith became his passion, much to the chagrin of his employers. Bl. Isidore worked at a colonist-run rubber plantation. The Belgians who led the company hated Catholicism and despised the Catholic missionaries who were against the exploitation of native Africans.
When they discovered that Bl. Isidore was evangelizing his fellow workers, plantation officials demanded that he stop. One of them exclaimed, “You’ll have the whole village praying and no one will work!” Bl. Isidore continued spreading devotion to Jesus and Mary anyway.
One day, a boss ordered him to remove his Brown Scapular. Again, Bl. Isidore didn’t comply. His boss tore off the scapular and had him flogged almost to death with a whip made of elephant hide and nails. Bl. Isidore’s life was spared because an inspector was coming to the plantation and the managers didn’t want a dead body lying around.
They banished their bleeding victim to another village, but Bl. Isidore found the inspector, who later reported: “I saw a man come from the forest with his back torn apart by deep, festering, malodorous wounds, covered with filth, assaulted by flies.…he wasn't walking; he was dragging himself."
Several months after this encounter, wearing his Brown Scapular and holding his Rosary, Bl. Isidore died from his wounds. His final words included a promise to pray for his persecutors.
Pope St. John Paul II beatified Bl. Isidore on April 24, 1994. His feast day is August 12.
Bl. Isidore Bakanja and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!
