Devotion towards the Mother of Sorrows being the principal distinctive characteristic of the order, there are special prayers and indulgences attaching to the solemn celebration of the five major Marian feasts: the Annunciation, Visitation, Assumption, Presentation and Nativity of our Blessed Lady.
In the neighbouring Electorate of Saxony, Elector John Frederick I forbade the sale of indulgences, not because he disagreed with them in principle, but because his candidate for the see of Mainz had been outbid for the position by Albert of Mainz.
Pope Francis removed him from his position as Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy on 21 September 2013, naming him to head the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican tribunal that deals with indulgences, latæ sententiæ excommunications, and other internal forum matters.
These indulgences are interrupted by two 'intermezzos', the first one a sinister murmuring of repressed agitation, the second one a ghostly 'Wilde Jagd' (Wild Hunt).
Although the Rosary and the Scapular are primarily viewed as devotional elements of Catholicism, traditions and beliefs on the power of Sacramentals have associated specific promises and indulgences with each one.
The 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia states that a list of indulgences, privileges, and indults of the Scapular Confraternity of Mount Carmel was approved on July 4, 1908, by the Congregation of Indulgences.