Questions about scapulars in general

[blueshells]

Hi friends,
Happy first Sunday of Advent! I apologize in advance; I’m still trying to navigate some of the finer points of Catholicism.

I have a number of friends who wear scapulars, and I’m still confused as to why they wear them (when I ask, I don’t really get the best answers: “So Mary’s got my back all the time”, “To make sure I go to heaven if I die”, etc.).

Why do people wear them, outside of a special devotion to Mary? (If you wear one and don’t mind sharing your reason, I’d love to hear it).

What exactly does a green scapular do? I’ve had some friends tell me sort of tongue-in-cheek to put one in my parents’ house and they’ll convert…

I’m sorry if these have been beaten to death; I couldn’t find anything that directly answered my questions either on the forums or on a cursory Google search.

 

[sowinskija]

cmri.org/05-brownscap.html

 

[gxensen]

My post on basic info. on the Brown Scapular of Mt. Carmel.

Basically, the Brown Scapular is a consecration to our Lady, and a promise to be devoted to her.

“Whosoever Dies Clothed in This (Scapular) Shall Not Suffer Eternal Fire.”
This is Mary’s Promise made July 16, 1251 to St. Simon Stock.

 

[midori]

A scapular is a reminder of the yoke of Christ… “for my yoke is easy and my burden light” sort of thing. It originated with the religious orders, who wear very large scapulars (ie, look at a statue of a Carmelite), but is often worn by the laity in a very miniaturized form.

Each scapular has its own focus… someone who liked meditating on the Passion might wear a red one, for example. Some of them, such as the brown scapular, are a symbol of a confraternity, and one must be invested in it. Others are free to wear without any investment or particular ceremony.

The green scapular is linked to conversion, and is generally placed somewhere, or carried, rather than worn. You might give it to someone whose conversion you desire, or merely place it somewhere around them, like their room or their mattress. They, or you on their behalf, would pray, “Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.”

 

[R_C]

First, to understand the Scapular and the Rosary (which go hand in hand) we must understand that we can find three levels of devotion to the Blessed Virgin (according, at least, to the writings by St. Louis de Montfort, praised by many popes and especially loved by blessed pope John Paul II, who selected his motto totus tuus from them).

There are indeed several true devotions to our Lady.

The first consists in fulfilling the duties of our Christian state, avoiding all mortal sin, performing our actions for God more through love than through fear, praying to our Lady occasionally, and honouring her as the Mother of God, but without our devotion to her being exceptional.

The second consists in entertaining for our Lady deeper feelings of esteem and love, of confidence and veneration. This devotion inspires us to join the confraternities of the Holy Rosary and the Scapular, to say the five or fifteen decades of the Rosary, to venerate our Lady’s pictures and shrines, to make her known to others, and to enrol in her sodalities. This devotion, in keeping us from sin, is good, holy and praiseworthy …]

The concept of the Rosary was revealed to St. Dominic (founder of the Ordo Praedicatorum, now known as Dominicans for obvious reasons) in a private revelation from Our Lady in 1214. This apparition was officially recognized by the Church as Our Lady of the Rosary.

The Scapular of Mount Carmel (brown scapular) is the habit of the Carmelite order, in small version widely popular as a sacramental, and is the prototype of all other scapulars. The tradition on the current devotion begins around the year 1251, when St. Simon Stock, Prior General of the Carmelite Order, received a private revelation from Our Lady which endowed the scapular with special graces from God.

Fr. Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD, so summarizes the Church position on the Scapular:

The scapular is a Marian habit or garment. It is both a sign and pledge. A sign of belonging to Mary; a pledge of her motherly protection, not only in this life but after death.

As a sign, it is a conventional sign signifying three elements strictly joined: first, belonging to a religious family particularly devoted to Mary, especially dear to Mary, the Carmelite Order; second, consecration to Mary, devotion to and trust in her Immaculate Heart; third an incitement to become like Mary by imitating her virtues, above all her humility, chastity, and spirit of prayer.

A lay faithful does not have a Scapular blessed like a Rosary but, rather, is *invested *in it by a priest.

To receive the scapular means to belong to the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and to pledge to live according to its spirituality in accordance with the characteristics of our state in life (1996 statement from the Congregation for Divine Worship).

Many indeed have received a special grace and have converted by wearing the habit of Our Lady. We should, however, avoid all superstition: it is God who, by his free will, allowed Our Lady to give us the Rosary and the Scapular(s), and it is God who grants special graces to those who wear it, even if they are nonbelievers!

The Scapular of blessed Pope Gregory X (1210-1276!) found intact after 600 years and is still intact to this very day in a museum in Arezzo. The Brown Scapular of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787), a great devout of Our Lady and founder of the Redemptorists, was found intact after many years, and in fact is still intact to this very day in Rome. St. John Bosco, founder of the Salesians, who died in 1888 was buried in his Scapular. When his body was exhumed in 1929 the scapular was found intact, and is still preserved in Torino.

In 1951, Pope Pius XII told a very large audience to wear the Brown Scapular as a sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And it is known that after the terrible assassination attempt, blessed pope John Paul II personally told the surgeons: “do not take off my scapular”.

As you can see, there is something *very *special about the little habit