On the Brown scapular:
It is not the scapular itself that is invested, but the person. It takes about 10 minutes. So, once invested, you can go buy a new scapular and put it on without any additional blessing necessary. Althought it is nice to have it blessed anyway.
Six practical ways of affiliation ate recognized by the Carmelite Order:
- The religious men and women of the Order and aggregated institutes
- The Secular/Lay Order (Third Order).
- Members of public associations and confraternities of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, such as active communities of the Scapular Confraternity.
- Those who have been invested in the scapular, practice the Order’s spirituality, and have been granted some association with the Order.
- Those who wear the scapular out of devotion, practice the Order’s spirituality, but who have no formal association to the Order.
- Those who are committed to practice the Marian characteristics of Carmelite Spirituality but use outward forms other than the Brown Scapular to express this devotion.
What is different about the brown scapular is the “practice of the Order’s spirituality” in some way. It is taking on the Carmelite way of prayer and life in some way. The green scapular dosen’t have this commitment as such to an order or a special way of spirituality.
The Green scapular:
As someone else has already said, it is about increasing faith or gaining back the faith or receiving the faith for the first time. Mary said to the sister in the daughters of charity in 1840, that the green scapular may benefit the person in these ways:
… Conversion of those who do not have the faith
… Reconciliation to the Church for those who have lost/strayed from the faith
… Assurance of a happy death
… Strengthening of the faith for those already in the Church
… Protection from Satan for those who wear or promote the scapular
Here are the very words of Mary to Sister Justine:
“The GREATEST graces come from using the scapular but these graces come
in direct proportion to the degree of CONFIDENCE IN ME which the user has.”
But on your part you must pray, at least daily:
“Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.”
The scapular may be given to someone else for their conversion or return to the faith. If they won’t take it, then it may be hidden around them somewhere where they frequent. The green scapular could be hid in a pillow, clothes, under a mattress, behind a picture, in a purse, and so on. Then the prayer must be said by the person hiding the scapular.
The greater the faith of the person, the greater the graces. Mary would never say something she didn’t intend to keep. How could she? It is her gift to us and you would be doing her a favor by using it. This is exactly what she wants.
If you wish to use one yourself, just tuck it in where you have your credit cards. Say the prayer each day. Both brown and green can be used together.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=620449
(From an atheist)
How did you come to embrace Catholicism?
Strangely enough, it was the Blessed Virgin Mary. That friend of mine had sneakily
snuck in a scapular under my mattress. I didn’t know until about 1 year into my
conversion. I imagine that she had something to do with it. I think it was the
green scapular.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=9630587&posted=1#post9630587
I prayed for my husband a lot as he had been away from the Church for many years. I put a blessed green scapular under the mattress and prayed for him daily, and other family and friends prayed for him also. After several years he finally came back to the Church, and died a very happy man two years after that.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=544742&page=3
My father, a fallen-away Catholic, passed away several years ago. When he first became ill and was hospitalized, one of the Vincentian priest pinned a Green Scapular to his pillow. I know my mother was especially worried about his salvation, as he had not awakened following emergency surgery. He did awaken many days later, and that same Vincentian asked if he wished to receive the sacraments. He was on a ventilator, so he could not speak, but he could indicate “yes” or “no”, so the priest simply asked if he was sorry for any and all sins he committed, then he was given Extreme Unction. This was 2 years to the day of my auto accident, August 3rd. He died 2 days later, on the Feast of Our Lady of the Snows on August 5th. There is a promise attached to the Green Scapular that Our Lady will obtain the conversion of those who have fallen away from the True Faith. I’m convinced she did so with my father, the day of his death was clearly Providential.
So, I have not heard