What are the rules for a scapular?

  • Thread starter Thread starter IlCajetan
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I

IlCajetan

Guest
So I received a scapular a year ago but I didn’t know what it was so I didn’t wear it. Flash forward to today I have an idea of what it is and I would like to wear it, but what are the kind of “rules” to it. Am I allowed to take it off to go swimming, workout, shower, sleep and do I have to have a specific habit when wearing it?
 
Last edited:
Generally you’re allowed to take it off for activities where you normally wouldn’t wear a habit, such as showering and swimming, maybe some types of exercise, and maybe sleep though I wear mine in my sleep.

The specific habits associated with the Scapular depends on what color it is. Which scapular did you receive?
 
My scapular is brown with a picture of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Simon Stock sewed onto each piece at the end. It’s also wrapped in a kind of plastic ( to preserve the picture I suppose )
 
Thank you🙏Another small question though: they mention devotional prayers, does that mean following a specific prayer schedule that the Carmelite order follows, or just simply doing a morning/evening/night prayer or rosary once a day?
 
The catechesis says:
A few basic introductory principles of Carmelite spirituality would be
  1. frequent participation in the Mass and reception of Holy Communion;
  2. frequent reading of and meditation on the Word of God in Sacred Scripture;
  3. the regular praying of at least part of the Liturgy of the Hours;
  4. imitation of and devotion to Mary, the woman of faith who hears the Word of God and puts it into practice;
  5. the practice of the virtues, notably charity, chastity (according to one’s state of life), and obedience to the will of God.
Click to expand...
 
Momma maia I scrolled too fast. Thank you once again & God bless🙏
 
No problem. You have some ability to pick and choose there, for example many people do “devotion to Mary” by frequently praying the Rosary, but you could do it in a different way.

Also, though I’m a scapular wearer, I don’t currently do “regular praying of at least part of the Liturgy of the Hours” (LOTH) as of yet. I might do it down the road but right now I have a significant number of other daily prayers and if I were to add LOTH I’d have to drop some other prayers, because realistically I can only handle so many daily prayers before I start screwing up and missing a lot of them.

We should all be doing the stuff from paragraph (5) every day, and then if you just picked maybe 1 or 2 other activities to start, you could always add more of them.

Some old websites say that for the Brown Scapular you need to recite the Little Office of Our Lady. That’s been mostly replaced by the LOTH. However, I’m sure Mary would be fine with people still saying the Little Office if they want, but you don’t have to.
 
Last edited:
So if I read my Bible , Pray the rosary once, pray the divine Chaplet once, and say a morning and nightly prayer everyday do you think that is enough or should I bump it up? That is my current schedule so that’s the only reason I ask.
 
I think you’re doing just fine.

If you haven’t been formally invested in the Scapular, you might think about doing that. The best place to be invested is a World Apostolate of Fatima shrine or a Carmelite monastery, or elsewhere by a Carmelite priest. You can still wear it and get graces without the formal investment, but if you have a chance to get invested it’s a nice thing to do.
 
I’ll make sure to get invested in it once this is all over. The priest who gave it to me is of the Carmelite Order and he fa wit to us during a retreat. I’m pretty sure he blessed them before, but I’ll make sure to talk to him once this is over. Thank you once again. This has been of tremendous help
 
Blessing a Scapular is different from investiture. Investiture means that you are made a member of the Confraternity of the Scapular, and participate in the prayers and good works of all the Carmelites throughout the world. Any priest can bless a Scapular but iirc only a Carmelite priest or missionary can invest you. (I could be wrong on that but that’s what I remember.)

The Carmelite priest you mentioned could invest you in the Scapular. You would then share in his Masses, prayers and good works and those of all Carmelites in the world.
 
Thank you for the clarification it was much needed. I will certainly ask him about investiture once this whole thing is over.
 
I forgot: When you are invested, the priest blesses your first Brown Scapular. Since the person invested is also blessed, any subsequent Brown Scapulars don’t need to be blessed but most people have them blessed anyway.

And any blessed Brown Scapulars which are worn out NEVER get thrown out. They have to be buried or burned.

What we did at our house was if anything blessed was burned, we let the ashes sit in the fireplace for a few days so they’re completely, entirely 100% cold. Then we’d put the cold ashes in with the flowers outside.
 
Strictly speaking, it is a private devotion, and you can wear it in any way you see fit, as long as it conforms to standards of piety and modesty. However, if you wish to participate in the prayers, blessings, and spiritual benefits attached to it, you would have to follow whatever “rules” are prescribed for it. (Keep in mind that you do not sin in the least if you fail to “follow the rules”.)

The only thing I would say is that it is better actually to wear it, either 24/7 or at least during waking hours. I only say this because I have heard of people carrying it with them, or other such things. Again, it is a private devotion, but I fail to see how carrying it in one’s pocket, hanging it from a rear view mirror, and so on, has any spiritual benefit.

I wear the Brown Scapular 24/7 and only remove it for hygienic or safety reasons (such as if I am working on a motor or piece of machinery and it could fall out of my shirt and get tangled). Sleeping in it takes some getting used to, but after 21 years, I don’t even think about it anymore. I did take it off on the beach in France, as it is my understanding that obvious, outwardly worn religious clothing is illegal there (this is horrible — one of the few things I deeply dislike about France). For a long time, I will confess that I worried over “what will people think if it slips around on my chest and they see it, or see the straps?”. That, my friends, is sheepishness over professing one’s religion. I really couldn’t care less anymore, in fact, if someone did see it, that would be a teachable moment.
 
I honestly would wear it 24/7, but if I get this thing wet it is definitely gonna grow mold. The crinkly plastic isn’t super ideal and comfortable and I also sweat a lot in my sleep, I don’t wanna ruin the scapular.
 
IlCajetan said:
I honestly would wear it 24/7, but if I get this thing wet it is definitely gonna grow mold. The crinkly plastic isn’t super ideal and comfortable and I also sweat a lot in my sleep, I don’t wanna ruin the scapular.
Click to expand...
I don’t like the plastic ones. They feel cheap and kind of cheesy. I get 100% wool scapulars from the better distributors. A good-quality scapular will last you a long time, if you take care of it. I wash mine in a lingerie bag (no snickering, please, I bought such a bag precisely for this purpose 😉). The place where the scapular attaches to the strap usually gets threadbare and wears through, basically ruining the scapular. I either bury them in my garden or burn them.
 
I wear my Brown Scapular 24/7, even in the shower. After my shower, I take off my wet one and put on a clean Scapular.

I used to wear the plastic covered ones but the plastic was scratchy so I wear 100% will ones.
 
Last edited:
Margaret_Ann said:
I wear my Brown Scapular 24/7, even in the shower. After my shower, I take off my wet one and put on a clean Scapular.

I used to wear the plastic covered ones but the plastic was scratchy so I wear 100% will ones.
Click to expand...
Over half a lifetime ago, when I first began wearing the scapular, I would wear one in the shower, and exchange it for a dry one, once I got done. Then I reasoned that Our Lord can surely extend His Mercy to those few minutes that I am getting clean, if by some wild chance I would die on the spot (the Scapular Promise — “whosoever dies wearing the Brown Scapular will not suffer eternal fire”).

I shouldn’t be in a state of life where I would be liable to that fire in the first place.
 
It’s not even a matter of needing mercy from God. The Scapular is considered a garment; it’s a layperson’s equivalent to a habit. Nobody takes a bath or a shower in their habit. Take it off.
Thinking you need to keep it on in case you somehow die in the shower is superstitious.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top