The green scapular and its favors


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THE
i GREEN SCAPULAR





THE

GREEN SCAPULAR
AND ITS FAVORS

by

Marie Edouard Mott, C.M.

SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE

EMMITSBURG, MARYLAND



NIHIL OBSTAT:
F. J. Dodd, C.M.

Censor Deputatus

IMPRIMATUR

:

iJiMichael J. Curley

Archbishop of Baltimore

and Washington

August 15, 1942

DECLARATION

In compliance with the decrees of Pope Urban VIII,
we make all necessary reservations upon the super-
natural character of the facts herein related, in no way
intending to anticipate the judgment of the Church to
which beforehand we submit ours entirely.

OeaMec*



PREFACE

The work that appears today on the Green Scapular,

with its origin and the countless favors of which it is

the instrument, has been in demand for a long time.
It is true, its marvelous effects were well known, but

its origin remained shrouded in an almost impenetrable

mystery, upon which, however, people were most anx-

ious to be enlightened.

One can easily understand why this mystery might
have prevailed during the life time of the happy seer
of whom God chose to make use for the transmission
of this pledge of salvation, namely Sister Justine Bis-

queyburu, Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

Now her death having occurred on September 23,
1903, the reasons for keeping the secret no longer exist,
and we may at last satisfy the pious curiosity of the
faithful.

I should have wished to do so sooner, had I not been
deterred by insurmountable obstacles. As these ob-



IV PREFACE

stacles have now disappeared, I am happy to set to
work and share with my readers the precious informa-
tion which for a long time has been in my possession.

At first I intended not to sign my name to this work
and most gladly would I have remained in obscurity.
But, after revolving the first impulse in my mind, it
seemed to me that since I am acting as a witness it
would be wiser to reveal myself, considering that an
anonymous declaration has not, as a rule, much value.
From the year 1870 on, being then a very young

priest, I was put in touch with Sister Bisqueyburu by
the Most Honored Father Etienne, our Superior Gen-
eral, who, the year following authorized me in a still
more explicit manner to receive the depositions of the
Sister, who then was Superioress of the Hotel Dieu of
Carcassonne. This authorization, bearing the date of

June 24, 1871, was thus worded : “I beg Sister Bisquey-
buru to say and confide to Father Mott, Priest of the
Mission and Director of the Seminary of Oran (Al-
geria) , all that had happened to her and all she knows
concerning the Green Scapular.”

In order to receive these depositions, I undertook, in

1872, the journey to Carcassonne; but I must confess
that, in spite of that authorization so explicit and bear-

ing almost the character of a command, I could not
draw much out of the exceedingly humble seer. She
shrouded herself in an almost absolute silence, as she

felt the utmost repugnance to speak of these matters,

giving as a pretext that since 1840 (epoch of the first

apparitions), she had forgotten everything and, for
the time being, had no other concern but to fulfill

the obligations of her state the best she could.



PREFACE V

To these reasons must be added, it seems to me, the

difficulty which a Superior of fifty-four years of age

must have found to open herself in such a matter to

so young a priest, scarcely twenty-six years old, and

who, after all, was to her but a stranger.
Fortunately Carcassonne is not far from Narbonne,

where the hospital was in charge of Sister Buchepot,
former Directress of the Seminary (mistress of nov-

ices) of Sister Bisqueyburu, and who had received all
her communications.

Hence it was to her I then applied and she gave me
all the information I could wish for. She even lent me
the letters which Sister Bisqueyburu had written to
her at the time of the apparitions, together with the

correspondence carried on with her director, Father

Aladel, who likewise had been the director of Vener-
able Catherine Laboure

,

1 the seer of the Miraculous

Medal.

Later on, I was able to procure a few autographs of
Father Aladel concerning this affair, as well as other

precious and perfectly authentic documents, which
were a great help to me.
The following is the plan of this little work

:

I deemed it useful to begin, in part first, by intro-
ducing to my readers Sister Justine Bisqueyburu.
For the items of this biographical sketch, I am in-

debted to several of her former companions who wrote
them out for me. Having for long years lived side by
side with her, they are true eye witnesses of her saintly
life, and most trustworthy witnesses they are too.

(1) Now Blessed Catherine Labour^.



VI PREFACE

In part second is found the account of the appari-

tions to which the Green Scapular owes its origin, the
manner of using it, its efficacy and the approbations of
which it has been the object.

Finally, part third tells of some of the countless
wonderful cures, but especially of the conversions of

which this scapular has been, and continues to be the

instrument.

May our Lord make use of these pages to glorify
more and more the Immaculate Heart of His Holy
Mother, whose badge the Green Scapular is. May He
inspire those who shall read them with an ever in-
creasing confidence in the goodness and power of this
Holy Heart, Refuge of Sinners; and, thanks to His
most efficacious intervention, may He see return to His
fold great flocks of strayed sheep who one day in
heaven shall forever praise His divine mercies : Miseri-

cordias Domini in aeternum cantabo (ps. lxxxviii, 2).

Marie Edouard Mott,
u. p. o. t. c. m.



PART ONE

SISTER JUSTINE BISQUEYBURU

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Daughter of Clement Bisqueyburu, merchant, and

of Ursula Albine d’Anglade, our Sister was born at

Mauleon (Lower Pyrenees) on November 11, 1817,
feast of St. Martin, was baptized the following day,
and received the name of Justine.
We know almost nothing of her connections and

early childhood, unless it be that her mother’s kinsfolk

lived at Oleron. There she at an early age (for what
motives is not known) was intrusted to her maternal
aunt, Miss d’Anglade, and to Mr. d’Anglade, who took
a great liking to her and at his death left her all his

fortune. With them, she grew up, received her First
Communion and was educated.
When the time came for her decision as to a state

of life, the Divine call came to her, though we know
none of the circumstances. All we do know is that she
was then twenty-two years old and that she asked this
permission of her aunt, Miss d’Anglade, who loved her
dearly and who would have wished to keep her. A thor-
ough Christian, however, she would not thwart the de-



2 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

signs of God upon this soul and hence let her go,
towards the end of August, 1839, to make her postula-
tum at the hospital of Pau under the guidance of the
venerable Sister Vallier.

Her postulatum having expired, she left for Paris
to begin her Seminary or Novitiate. Strange to say, she
made the journey in care of the saintly priest who was
soon to become the confidant of the extraordinary
graces with which she was favored, a circumstance
willed by a particular design of Divine Providence.
This was Father Aladel, Director of the Daughters of
Charity who, happening to pass through the city of

Pau on his return to Paris, willingly agreed to accom-
pany the young postulant on her journey. She entered
the Seminary November 27, 1839, on the ninth anni-
versary of the famous apparition of the Immaculate
Virgin to Blessed Catherine Laboure, an apparition to

which the Miraculous Medal owes its origin. The good
Father Aladel, who was so wisely directing Sister
Catherine Laboure in her extraordinary ways, did not

suspect that confidences somewhat similar were soon
to be reposed in him by this postulant.

After nine months of Seminary training, she was
placed in the house of Charity of Blangy (Seine-In-
ferieure)

.

We should like to have some details of the time spent
in the Seminary and the manner in which she con-
ducted herself, but we may draw a fair conclusion from
the remarks written about her, in truly eulogistic
terms, at the time of her taking the habit

:

“Sister Bisqueyburu (Justine). Tall. Knows how to
read, write, cipher, knows her grammar. Gentle dis-



SISTER JUSTINE BISQUEYBURU 3

position. Is sensible, has judgment and an ardent imag-

ination. Skillful, intelligent, courageous, pious and vir-

tuous. Fit for school.”

As one can see, her piety had not escaped the eyes
of her Directresses who, in these remarks, had con-

densed the results of their observations. But the First

Directress alone, Sister Buchepot, had been able to see,
from receiving the communications of the young Sis-
ter, to what degree her soul was united to God. Favored
as she was from the beginning of her Seminary with
extraordinary graces, of which we shall speak at length
in part two, she knew how to keep them secret and
spoke of them only to those charged with her direction.
The remarks written at the time of her receiving the

Habit end with these words, “Fit for school.” And, in

fact, her first employment on leaving the Seminary was
that of school teacher at Blangy, a small place situated

in the Department of Seine-Inferieure. Yet she did not
stay there long, for in 1841, we find her in the House
of Charity of Notre-Dame parish at Versailles, where
she remained until 1855. It was there she made her
first Holy Vows. There also she had the opportunity of
spending herself unreservedly in the practice of char-

ity, revealing the extraordinary aptitude with which
she was gifted for the care of the sick. Her good Su-
perior, Sister Le Pelletier, was afflicted with a cancer
on the tongue which caused her cruel sufferings and
required delicate attentions most repugnant to nature.
Sister Bisqueyburu considered herself happy to bestow
this care upon her and did so with great affection.
Night and day was she at the bedside of the venerated
patient, endeavored to soothe her pains and anticipated



4 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

her least wish ; and when the moment of supreme sepa-
ration arrived, her filial devotedness inspired her to

render less painful the ever-momentous passing from

time to eternity.

When the Crimean war broke out in 1854 and mili-
tary authorities made an appeal to the devotedness
of the Daughters of Charity for the nursing of the

wounded soldiers on the battle field, Superiors readily
complied with her expressed wish to be employed for

that purpose. She left for Constantinople in 1855 with

the other Sisters destined to the same charitable func-
tions, and, like them, she devoted herself unreservedly

to this work.

The devotedness of the Daughters of Charity in the
painful labor of the ambulances, aroused an admirable

enthusiasm in those who witnessed it regardless of
religion or nationality, and provoked a generous emu-
lation, even within the ranks of schism and heresy.
An English lady, Miss Nightingale, who had been

for a long time at the head of the Anglican Association

of Charity in London, conceived the thought of endow-

ing her country with an institution similar to that of

the Daughters of Charity. She even went to Paris for
the purpose of an interview with Father Etienne, their

Superior General, begging him to show her the rules
and organization of that Community that she might
take a copy of them. After having obtained all that she

wished, she left full of confidence in the success of her

enterprise.

At her return to France in 1856, Sister Bisqueyburu
was given a duty which was like the sequence of the
one she had efficiently fulfilled in Constantinople. She



SISTER JUSTINE BISQUEYBURU 5

was placed at the military hospital at Val-de-Grace in

Paris, where she remained two years. One of the Sis-
ters who lived with her at that time and later was
placed under her charge at Rome—Sister Bergasse

—

testified that she was deeply devoted to her patients
and that she possessed all the qualities of a true servant

of the poor.

Qualities as precious as hers determined Superiors

to place her at the head of an establishment. The one
first entrusted to her in 1858 was the Military Hos-
pital of Rennes, which she was commissioned to open.
But she remained only a few months and the last days
she spent there were very painful, for, a month before
her departure, she had received an order to be in readi-

ness to be sent to Algiers at the first signal, and at the
same time she was to keep the most absolute silence
about it. The secret was indeed well kept, but the af-
fectionate heart of the new superior suffered from it.
As she dearly loved her companions, as well as the
hospital which she had put in excellent order, the
thought of the impending separation was most painful
to her and her grief was so much the greater as ex-
teriorly she was not to betray the least sign of it. In
this circumstance she revealed great strength of char-

acter, and when the order for departure arrived she
at once complied with it and knew how to leave with-
out commotion.

At Algiers she was placed at the head of the Dey’s
Military Hospital, a very important house which neces-
sitated a sure and firm hand to direct it, together with
a kind and motherly heart that would be guided by
correct judgment. Sister Bisqueyburu showed herself



6 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

equal to her task during the nine years she held this

office, from 1858 to 1867.

One of her companions who had the great privilege
of spending seven years under her direction at Algiers,

and who became Superior of an important house in
foreign lands, gave us the following statement of this

epoch of her life under the date of March 22, 1907, less
than four years after the death of the Sister

:

“I am trying to recall memories of long ago of this
fervent soul whom I had the happiness to know and to
love in our Lord.

“On leaving the Seminary, I was for seven years
under her direction. I was constantly thanking God
for it, for, in the midst of the duties of that large hos-

pital of the Dey at Algiers, I could fancy myself still
under the direction of the saintly Sister Buchepot, our

dear and venerated Directress of the Seminary.
“Sister Bisqueyburu was a living rule. She drew our

attention to the military exactness we had the oppor-
tunity to witness on the part of the nurses and patients
in order by a comparison to inspire us with a greater,
higher and more supernatural fidelity to our Holy
Rules, of which she gave us a perfect example herself.
“Everywhere the first in the accomplishment of

duty, she surpassed us in the practice of humility

and mortification.
“Under an austere exterior appearance lay hidden

a great kindness of heart. The illness of one of her
companions was to her a most painful trial and when
the patient died she was inconsolable.

“In 1886, eight of our sixteen Sisters were stricken
with cholera within less than forty-eight hours and



SISTER JUSTINE BISQUEYRURU 7

three died immediately. This good Sister multiplied

herself in order to attend to them all and at each new
death she offered herself to God as a victim, begging
Him to spare her companions. Thus long ago did Saint
Louise de Marillac. Her grief was truly painful to be-
hold, and our worthy Director, the Very Reverend

Father Doumercq, had great difficulty in cheering up
this otherwise energetic soul. Five successive times I

have seen her maternal heart submitted to this trial.

It was really heartrending. And yet her resignation
to God’s will was perfect.

‘‘Her esteem for our dear vocation was so deep that
she could not understand the slightest hesitation on our

part in the duties and sacrifices she imposed upon us.
“For our venerated Superiors she had a respect and

obedience inspired by her great spirit of faith and she
was prompt in executing not only their orders, but
their least wish. Likewise, civil authorities, military

officials, doctors and administrators placed an entire
confidence in her.

“In the beginning, she had numberless difficulties,
finding herself at variance with many prejudices which
she succeeded in overcoming, adjusting everything

with much wisdom and firmness, for she knew how
to convert the sentiments of those most opposed to her
into admiration for her virtuous and saintly life. The
strength necessary was the outcome of her solid piety,
her unreserved confidence in God and her tender devo-
tion to the Most Holy Virgin. But nothing would ever
make one suspect that she had been the object of super-
natural favors.

“In 1867, Superiors sent her to Italy in the service



8 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

of the Pontifical Army which, with so much heroism,
was devoting itself in defence of a cause, alas ! already
despaired of.

“After spending three days and three nights on the

battle field of Mentana, she went to Rome to equip and
organize three ambulances; that of the Quirinal, that

of Saint Agatha, and another whose name escapes my
memory.
“On this new field of action, where she displayed the

same zeal as at Algiers, God had several consolations
in store for her. Pope Pius IX, who soon appreciated
her valor, often saw her and gave her more than one
token of his fatherly kindness. He even sometimes al-
lowed her to accompany him in his walks through his
private gardens. Mgr. de Merode, who occupied a su-
perior rank at the Pontifical Court, also held her in the

highest esteem.

“She was very far from taking pride in these favors.
She never even spoke of them, but it is probable that
God permitted them in compensation for what she had
suffered at her departure from Algiers.”

In 1868, she left Rome to take the direction of the
Hotel-Dieu of Carcassonne, where God granted her a
great consolation. She received the visit of the Very
Reverend Father Doumercq, Director of the Daughters
of Charity in Algeria, who happening to pass through
Carcassonne, came to see her.
The Hotel-Dieu of Carcassonne was her last mission.

She remained there thirty-five years (from 1868 to
1903), giving there, as she did in other places, the

example of many virtues and accomplishing much
good. June 16, 1868, Tuesday in the octave of Corpus



SISTER JUSTINE BISQUEYBURU 9

Christi, she was installed Sister Servant of the Hotel-

Dieu of Carcassonne by Sister Roche.

Many adjustments were necessary in this establish-
ment when she took charge of it. Yet without being

discouraged by difficulties, she resolved to reestablish

order, and courageously set her hand to the work

which, with the help of God, she brought up to ex-

cellent standards.

The following was written to us, May 18, 1907, by
one of her companions who lived with her during the
last seven years of her life:

“Sister Bisqueyburu, very intelligent, and of a quick

and ardent disposition, took personal interest in all the

details of the house; making her rounds through the
duties in the twinkling of an eye, visiting the sick in

their wards, having for each a cheering word and de-
voting herself untiringly to the service of God and the
poor.

“From the start, she undertook to put in good con-
dition the old Hotel-Dieu of Carcassonne, which was
very delapidated at her arrival. She had the floors of
the corridors repaired, as they had suffered from the
dampness that arose from the earth. The large stair-
way leading up to the second floor was built and iron
beds were procured for the poor sick who had been
very uncomfortable heretofore. Near each bed she had
a red marble slab fixed for the convenience of the
service, she even furnished the section reserved for the

officers at her own expense, had gas-light put every-
where and had a clock set in the top of the cupola. As
previously it had been very poor, the usual fare of the
patients and the Sisters was improved under Sister’s
watchful direction.



10 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

“The chapel, which had just been built, lacked the

barest necessities. It was the pious Superior who sup-
plied it with linen, sacred vessels, feast day vestments

and all the objects required by the liturgy. She or-

ganized a choir and selected as an organist a young

girl who had suffered from reverses of fortune and
whose musical talent could be used to her benefit.
“The administration of the Hotel-Dieu, whose ex-

treme ideas were in opposition with hers, furnished her
with the occasion of displaying a great patience, to

which she united deference in their regard, but not to

the exclusion of firmness when duty required it, and
she at last triumphed over the great difficulties first

encountered. In consequence, they esteemed her to such

a degree that she possessed their respect and venera-
tion. She was consulted by them in many matters and
by degrees they entered into her views. Thus she had
the consolation of seeing the Crucifix put back in its

place of honor in the wards from whence it had been
taken. At the same time public prayers which had been
suppressed in the wards were resumed.
“The doctors likewise appreciated her devotedness,

her virtue and particularly, her exactness in carrying
out their orders.

“Besides this, she was pleasant to deal with, and
secular persons, as well as members of the clergy with
whom she was acquainted greatly enjoyed even a slight
contact with her.

,,

Another companion of hers, Sister Moy, who for
twenty years lived under her, in a similar manner
eulogized her:

“She loved the poor sick dearly with a maternal love.



SISTER JUSTINE BISQUEYBURU 11

It was a happiness for her to visit them, to listen to

their complaints and to relieve them whenever she

could.

“Her vigilance was remarkable, and as she was

quick on her feet one would have thought she was

everywhere at once.

“Doctors and administrators greatly appreciated

her. Person of the world had recourse to her as to

an oracle, and always received from her light, con-

solation and strength. She did a great deal of good

by opening both her heart and her purse to all sorts

of woes and needs ; but she was very clever in throw-

ing a mantle over her good deeds.

“She was most pious and regular, always up at four

o’clock and the first to be in the chapel.”

The following may be read about her in a circular
letter of the Most Honored Mother, Superior of the

Daughters of Charity, January 1, 1905:

“Sister Bisqueyburu, Superior of the Hotel-Dieu of

Carcassonne, concealed under an austere exterior and

a quick manner a great depth of kindness and devoted-
ness, exercised exemplary regularity and possessed a

great spirit of faith. To this all her companions agree.
“She had more than an ordinary devotion to the

Blessed Virgin
; a devotion which betrayed itself in her

words and in the fervor with which she said the chap-
let. when a patient refused the succors of religion, Sis-
ter Bisqueyburu did not wish that the Sister in charge
should complain about it openly, but she herself went
before the Blessed Virgin in the Oratory and recited
a Memorare and rarely was her prayer fruitless.

“Always up at four o’clock as long as her strength



12 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

permitted it, always first at all community exercises,,
a strict observer of silence, Sister Bisqueyburu held

the Holy Rules in high esteem. But she was not like
the Pharisees of the Gospel whom our Lord reproached
for laying upon others burdens which they would not
touch with their fingers, and if there be Sisters who
found her too strict, they must confess that she was
still more so to herself than to others.
“She understood her vow of poverty and practiced it

with zeal and to perfection, never wasting anything.

On her bed of suffering where she spent the last ten
months of her life, she still worked whenever her ill-
ness permitted it, thus being to her companions a per-

fect model of a true servant of the poor. Yes, dearly

did she love her poor and the thought of having one
day to leave them at her departure from Hotel-Dieu,
rent her heart. Our dear Lord wished to spare her that
supreme sorrow by recalling her to Himself before the
secularization of an establishment which for many
years had witnessed her devotedness.”

Sister Naude, to whose testimony we have already
referred, wrote May 7, 1907 : “How can one speak in
adequate terms of a life filled with years dotted with

unusual incidents, especially in the beginning; years

replenished with good works ? How is it possible to give
an idea of her solid virtue, sincere piety, a will strong

in spite of the multitude of various events with which
it had been in conflict, a patience amazing in so lively
and impressionable a temperament as was hers?”
Another of her companions, Sister Corboz, who had

been Sister's assistant in the later years of her life,

wrote June 10, 1907

:



SISTER JUSTINE BISQUEYBURU 13

“I shall give you very simply what I have remarked

in this worthy Sister. She was of a reticent disposition

and if some persons have judged her less favorably, it

was because they had neither sufficiently studied nor

understood her.

“Severe towards herself, she sometimes seemed to

be also with regard to others, even her companions

when she thought they did not evince enough zeal for
their perfection. Her keen eye noticed the least defect,

the slighest resistance, which she reproved rather se-

verely. But her severity soon changed into an un-

equalled sweetness as soon as she perceived that her

admonitions were sincerely turned to profit. In con-

sequence, she several times told me : ‘I have been severe
towards my companions yet I never ceased to love
them.' And more than one act of charity confirmed the
truth of this statement.

“Her regularity, piety, and love of duty were ex-
emplary and even in the most painful moments of her
community life she was never heard to utter a com-
plaint. She was most attached to her Community and
filled with respect towards Superiors from whom the
least attention caused her a true happiness.”

From the beginning of her vocation, this worthy
Daughter of Saint Vincent had been the object of
supernatural favors from the Most Holy Virgin, which
we shall make known in the second part. Her humility
managed to keep them completely secret for a long
time

; but in her last illness her companions succeeded
in making her admit several revealing details. She re-
gretted it as soon as she was aware of it

; but without
doubt God permitted this avowal so that we might have
a full assurance of the authenticity of these favors.



14 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

Something of this secret, however, had transpired,

though it cannot be told how it happened ; for one day
when she still was at Algiers, some of her companions
having gone to see good Father Girard, Superior of the

Ecclesiastical Seminary, the conversation fell on the

Miraculous Medal, the Scapular of the Passion and

finally the Green Scapular which already had worked
wonders in the conversion of poor sinners. “At any

rate,” they said, “if for the Green Scapular there were

visions, the secret has been well kept, for nobody knows
who the happy seer is.”—“But,” answered good Father
Girard, “that privileged soul is your fervent Sister

Servant . . . ; oh ! that does not mean you should go and
publish it broadcast.” And they were faithful to the
latter recommendation.”

On her part, Sister Bisqueyburu skilfully eluded the
pointed questions which at times were addressed to her.
“On several occasions,” said Sister Naude, “we tor-
mented her to make her admit it was she who had the
vision. She never could be trapped and dismissed us in
a manner that discouraged any further quizzing.”
“During the last years of her life,” said Sister Brun,

another of her companions who had spent eighteen
years with her, “we used often to speak to her about
the happiness of souls favored with visions of the
Blessed Virgin. We then more particularly dwelt on
the Green Scapular which she recommended us to use
with the patients in enmity with God, which, by the
way, always proved successful. When we had a patient
whose condition was critical, we recommended him to
the prayers of our good Superior, made use of the
Green Scapular and were always heard.



SISTER JUSTINE BISQUEYBURU 15

“But when we tried to find out to whom the Blessed
Virgin had revealed that scapular, she either smiled

or referred us to our Superiors for better information,

or she simply said: ‘You bother me; leave me alone
with all your visions. It is not well to believe too readily

all that sort of thing/
”

But towards the end of her last illness, God per-
mitted that she should be unaware of the purpose of
certain questions addressed to her, thus betraying her-

self unconsciously. That illness lasted a long time af-

fording her an opportunity for the practice of many
virtues to the great edification of those surrounding

her.

To make sure of not missing any of the exercises of
piety prescribed by the rules at the time appointed for
them, she requested two of her companions to come
and recite them aloud near her bed, and she joined
with them the best she could. Moreover she kept in
touch with all that was going on in the house and she
still directed it by her orders and advices.
“When her condition grew worse,” wrote Sister

Naude, “we should have liked to speak to her about
receiving the Last Sacraments, and yet, in spite of the
saintly disposition we saw her in, the courage to do so
failed us. We would have liked her to ask for them her-
self. But she very likely did not believe her state so
alarming, and did not think of it. I therefore resorted
to the following scheme : I slipped the Green Scapular
under her pillow, saying to myself : ‘If she is the one
to whom this scapular was revealed, the Blessed Virgin
will not permit that her privileged daughter should
leave this world without the succors of religion/ At



16 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

once, wonderful to say, she asked for a priest and re-
ceived the Sacraments with the deepest piety.

“This was two weeks before her death and during
these last days, so painful for her, she edified us all by
her patience, her gentleness, her kindness with regard

to all.

“Her weakness was as great as her emaciation and
her life could be prolonged only by means of constant
stimulation.

“As she felt her end drawing near, she frequently
raised here eyes to heaven saying : ‘Heaven ! . . . Oh

!

Heaven . . . Heaven !' And her look seemed to say:
‘Will that beautiful heaven be mine?" She dreaded

death, not that she was afraid to die, but, as she ex-
pressed herself, she feared to appear before the Sover-

eign Judge void of merits. ‘What?' said one of her com-
panions to her. ‘Do you count as nothing those sixty-
four years you spent in serving God and the poor?'

“
‘It is true/ she replied, ‘but what are they worth,

these works? I have been the object of so much adula-
tion! Did I not receive my reward here below?'

“But her fears soon vanished and she henceforth
spoke of nothing but heaven and the Blessed Virgin.
“She often repeated to us : ‘Do love the Blessed Vir-

gin, love her much. She is so beautiful!' ‘Sister, one
would think you had seen her,' said Sister Louise to
her. But instead of answering, she repeated : ‘Love her
much. She is so beautiful!' ‘But what must we do to
love her?’ ‘You must imitate her virtues.'

“I then ventured to ask her some questions of which
she did not notice the purpose and which she answered
without being aware that she was revealing a secret



SISTER JUSTINE BISQUEYBURU 17

kept for more than sixty years. 'What was the color of
her dress?’ 'White.’ 'And her mantle?’ 'Blue.’ 'How did
she wear her hair?’ 'It was hanging loose about her.’
And she illustrated every statement with a gesture,
whilst her eyes seemed to behold sweet visions of the

past.

"I showed her the Green Scapular and she at once
said : 'Yes that’s it exactly.’ And she piously kissed it.

“I also asked her whether the Blessed Virgin had

appeared to her at Carcassonne too. But then she be-
came aware that she had given herself away, and she
replied in a tone not very gracious: ‘I don’t know,’

adding: 'Why did I say that anyhow?’ And as if to
destroy the favorable impression produced upon us
by her revelation, she quickly said : 'I am nothing but
a conceited creature, and Father Aladel who knew the
whole thing told me I was deluded. Do not bring this
up any more. Leave me alone.’ From that time she
refused to speak of it.”

And shortly after, on September 23, 1903 (anniver-
sary of St. Vincent’s ordination to the Priesthood, in

1660), she sweetly surrendered her soul to God in the
sentiments of deepest piety, being in the eighty-second

year of her age and the sixty-fifth of her vocation,
leaving a perfume of sanctity behind her. There is no
doubt that she now in heaven beholds with happiness
the august Virgin who so often deigned to appear to
her in this place of exile!

This was the conviction of the Sisters who best knew
her and had come in closest contact with her. Three
days after her death, one of them wrote to Sister
Naude: "Oh! let me weep with you! It is such relief



18 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

to be able to pour the abundance of one’s heart into

the heart of a friend! Yours, dear Sister, understands

mine, and they both had for the dear departed the same
affection, the same veneration. Now they share to-
gether the same sorrow. . . .
“How I love to recall her humility, fervor, regu-

larity! Ever in the path of duty, strong and noble in
the hour of sacrifice, in sufferings, in all sorts of sor-

rows, she was for us the type of a true Daughter of
Saint Vincent de Paul. . . .

“Now she is in heaven and gazes in holy rapture on
Him Who here below possessed all her love, Who was
the ultimate Object of all her actions. I am sure that
her happiness has not bereft her of the memory of
those who weep her loss. We have in her a very power-
ful advocate in heaven.”

How much must her glory in heaven be increased
by that train of souls whose salvation was wrought
through the Green Scapular revealed to her by the
Immaculate Heart of Mary!



PART TWO

THE GREEN SCAPULAR

OR

BADGE OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

In part one, we sketched in rather rapid strokes the
life of Sister Justine Bisqueyburu ; a life full of merits

and good works, a life which is a tribute to the great

Saint Vincent de Paul, whose worthy Daughter she

was. From her life we may glean many lessons of
virtue, which are for us a powerful incentive in the
pursuit of virtue, of generosity in the performance of

duty, of self-forgetfulness in the practice of divine

charity.

But in the religious family of Saint Vincent such

examples are so numerous, that it was not the mere
purpose of relating them which induced us to publish
these pages.

God, by raising up this chosen soul in His Church
and lavishing choice graces upon her, did not merely
intend her to work out her own salvation, but had also
destined her for a special mission in which the salva-
tion of a multitude of souls was involved.



20 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

Just as He had made use of a Daughter of Saint
Francis de Sales, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, for
the purpose of manifesting the Sacred Heart of His
divine Son to the world, He likewise willed to make
use of a Daughter of Saint Vincent de Paul, Sister
Bisqueyburu, in order to reveal the Immaculate Heart

of Mary, to present it to the veneration of the faithful,

and to make of its sacred representation an instrument
for the salvation of infidels and poor sinners.

True, a first manifestation of this most pure Heart
had already taken place in the Chapel of the Mother
House of the Daughters of Charity, on November 27,
1830. On the reverse of the Miraculous Medal, revealed
to Blessed Catherine Laboure, and since then known
as the Miraculous Medal, the Heart of Mary appeared,
pierced with a sword, opposite to the Sacred Heart of

Jesus crowned with thorns and surmounted by a cross.
Likewise, later on, July 29, 1846, another Daughter of

Charity, Sister Appoline Andriveau, was favored by
an apparition of our Lord, who revealed to her a new
scapular of a red color, on which, next to His Heart,

was also that of His Mother, and which for this reason
received the name of Scapular of the Sacred Hearts
of Jesus and Mary.
But in the apparition which Sister Bisqueyburu, had,

it is her Immaculate Heart alone which the Blessed

Virgin wished to present to our veneration and our

prayers, as we are about to see from the autograph
notes of the seer, those of her Director, Father Aladel,

and of her Directress, Sister Buchepot.
We have already seen that after the expiration of

her postulatum at Pau, Justine Bisqueyburu undertook



BADGE OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY 21

the journey to Paris, accompanied by Father Aladel,

and that she entered the Seminary of the Daughters

of Charity (140 rue du Bac), November 27, 1839. As
she did not arrive there in time to take part in the

great retreat which had closed just a few days previous

she had to wait until the following January before

being able to make her little entrance retreat.
In those days, the retreat exercises were held in a

hall situated above the chapel, in which there was an
altar bearing a statue of the Most Holy Virgin. This

statue, reputed miraculous, is of very ancient origin.

Now, it was in this hall and before this statue that
the new little Seminary Sister made her entrance re-
treat

;
and it was during that retreat that the Blessed

Virgin appeared to her for the first time on January

28, 1840.

The Sister was at prayer when suddenly the Blessed
Virgin made herself visible to her eyes. She was
dressed in a long white gown which reached to her
bare feet, over which was a mantle of very light blue,
but she wore no veil. Her hair hung loose about her;
in her hands she held her heart, from the top of which
abundant flames gushed out. The majesty of her bear-
ing was enhanced by a beauty all heavenly. At this
sight, the young Sister, struck with admiration and
awe, almost let a cry escape her lips.

Again at the close of the retreat she was favored
with the same vision, and also four or five times in the
course of her Seminary on the principal feasts of the
Blessed Virgin.

Up to that time this favor seemed to have been quite
personal and to have had no other purpose than to in-



22 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

crease her tender devotion to Mary and her Immaculate
Heart. But the course of events showed that God had
other designs which were soon to be revealed.

After receiving the Holy Habit, Sister Bisqueyburu,

as already said, was sent to Blangy ( Seine-Inferieure)
to teach school. Shortly after her arrival, September

8, 1840, feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin,

she had another vision. The Mother of God appeared
to her during meditation, holding in her right hand her
heart surmounted by flames, and in the other hand a
kind of scapular, or rather one-half of a scapular. It

was a single piece of green goods, rectangular in shape
and of middle size hanging by a string which was green
also and closed as if destined to go around the neck.

The whole thing looked more like a medallion of cloth,
than a scapular properly so-called. On one side was a
picture of the Blessed Virgin such as she had shown
herself in her preceding apparitions ; and on the other
side was a heart all ablaze with rays more dazzling
than the sun, and as transparent as crystal. Those are
the very expressions made use of by the Sister to de-
scribe the vision. That heart, pierced with a sword, was
encircled by an inscription of oval shape surmounted

by a gold cross, and thus worded: Immaculate Heart

of Mary, pray for us, now and at the hour of our
death

” At the same time an interior voice was heard
by the Sister revealing to her the meaning of the vi-
sion. She understood that this holy picture was by
the medium of the Daughters of Charity, to contribute
to the conversion of souls, particularly infidels, and

to procure for them a good death; that copies should



BADGE OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY 23

be made as soon as possible and distributed with

confidence.1

Sister Buchepot was the only one, at first to whom
Sister Bisqueyburu imparted this new favor, in a letter
dated October 8, 1840; and this she did timidly and

most secretly, “fearing lest all this be the effect of

imagination, and requesting her to keep this com-

munication secret.” “However,” she added, “if you be-

lieve it to be necessary for me to speak of it to Father
Aladel, I shall do so.”

The same apparition was again renewed August 15
and September 13, 1841, and Sister Buchepot informed

Father Aladel of it by these few lines : “Sister Bisquey-

buru again saw on the feast of the Assumption and this
morning during thanksgiving, the Blessed Virgin and

the scapular of which I already spoke to you. She feels

strongly impelled to tell you so and this costs her so

1 As one may see it has been improperly styled a Scapular.
It is not, in fact, the habit of any confraternity, but simply the

joining together of two pious images attached to a single piece of

green goods, which hangs on a single string of the same color.
The regrettable confusion liable to ensue from this denomination,
had suggested the thought of changing it, to replace it by the
more exact name of Badge of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But
then this change seemed impossible, considering that for so long

a time people have been speaking of the Green Scapular and the
wonders of which it is the instrument. Hence it seems necessary
to continue the misnomer as is done for so many other devotions
of the Church. Thus for example it is with the Heroic Vow in
favor of the souls in Purgatory, it being no vow at all, that is to
say no promise made to God, but simply a voluntary offering of
the satisfactory value of our supernatural works, in behalf of the

souls in Purgatory. We shall therefore use the title Green Scapular,
but with the proper understanding of the term.



24 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

much that her anguish rouses my compassion. I prom-
ised her to write this little note to you, so that when
on Thursday she will go to see you in the parlor, your
charity might make it easy for her/’
On Thursday following, September 16, Father Aladel

received in fact this new communication. But whether
he did not attach enough importance to it, whether
prudence inspired him not to rush matters, in order to
test whether these supernatural manifestations came
from God, according to the Apostle (I Joann., iv 1), he
did not seem as yet to take active measures for the
making and distribution of the scapular.
The Blessed Virgin complained of it to the Sister in

a new vision with which she was favored during the
morning meditation of May 3, 1842, a Communion day.
(Daily Communion had not then been established.)
This is how the Sister herself relates her vision to

Sister Buchepot, in a letter dated from Versailles, May
20, 1842 : “It seemed to me I heard a voice which told
me that she was not pleased because they delayed so
long in making the scapulars. She was so beautiful ! . . .
I promised her to make you acquainted with it, as well
as Father Aladel, so that you might both examine

whether it was indeed her holy will, at the same time
begging you to attend to it as soon as possible. I hope

to come to Paris in the near future; then I shall tell
you all that I have seen and heard. A want of time
prevents me from writing to Father Aladel ; I shall try
to do so next week. Please pay him my respectful re-
gards and ask him to pray for his humble daughter.”
Two days later on May 22, Sister Buchepot sent this

letter to Father Aladel, adding to it the following lines

:



BADGE OP THE IMMACULATE HEART OP MARY 25

“I am sending you a letter I received yesterday. You
see we are being urged on. . . . If you advise me, I
shall write again to Mr. Letaille. I am surprised that
he who is so devoted to the Blessed Virgin thus delays
her affairs. After reading this letter will you kindly

send it back to me, that I may answer it. ... I beg you
also to add a yes or a no, concerning Mr. Letaille.”

We can see hereby that the wishes of the Blessed
Virgin had received attention as far as the preliminary

steps were concerned, since Mr. Letaille had been in-

trusted with the engraving of the plate destined to

produce prints of the image of the scapular and that
partly he was accountable for the delay.

This is what Father Aladel answered Sister Buche-
pot the same day, May 22 : “It would seem a good thing
for you to write again (to Mr. Letaille) . I suppose the

good works he is called upon to do prevent him from
rushing this affair. It may also be that his engraver
does not hurry as much as he is expected to.”
At last the scapular could be made, although only

in small quantities, but it was not given with sufficient
confidence and more by way of experiment. Hence, the
results were not very satisfactory.
The Blessed Virgin repeatedly showed her displeas-

ure in the course of the year 1846, to the Sister, who
wrote on June 4, to her former Directress : “Above all,
the affair must be hurried on; there is unfortunately
much delaying. . . .” There she excused herself for not
going to Paris to see Father Aladel as she was kept at
Versailles by a First Communion class. “But I may
write,” she added, “although it costs me. What must
Mr. Aladel think of the little confidence I show him?



26 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

I am going to correct myself and labor at becoming
more simple.”
And in another letter, bearing the date of the follow-

ing month of the same year, 1846, and also addressed to
Sister Buchepot, she told her: “For a long time I have
had a desire to write to you; but I did not dare to do
so, because I am always afraid to be in a state of illu-
sion. Today I want to overcome this ill-founded fear,
and wish to be towards you like a little child who
speaks to her mother with complete openness of heart.

“I believe again to have seen, yes I saw, I am sure
of it. It is absolutely necessary that Father Aladel at-

tend to the scapular, that he should disseminate it

and do so with confidence. Heretofore, I am sure, he
did not attach great importance to it. He was very
wrong. True, I do not deserve to be believed, for I

am only a poor girl in every respect. May I entreat
him to do this, not for my sake, but I ask him in
the name of Mary to do it for these poor souls who
die without knowing the true religion; yes, if it be
given with confidence, there will be a great number
of conversions.”

But, feeling that it was not very pleasant to transmit
such a message, she wondered whether she should not
give it herself. She therefore added: “Help me out,
good Mother. Do you advise me to write to Father
Aladel? I think it would be more proper if I should
speak to him of it; what is your idea? It has been al-
most a year since I last mentioned the matter to him.

I fear to see him, he still awes me very much. I cannot
help it. . . .

“Answer me, I beg of you, as soon as possiole; we
cannot lose any time.”



BADGE OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY 27

The apparitions of 1846 had this particularity, that

the hands of the Blessed Virgin were filled with rays.

This is what the Sister says of it in a letter to her

former directress, dated Versailles, August 10, 1846:

“Has Father Aladel arrived? I forgot to tell you that

he asked me whether the scapular (such as it had been
made with the plates of Mr. Letaille) was really exact.
I answered in the affirmative, that I did believe it was

;

but perhaps I answered too hastily, for now, as far as

I can remember, it seems to me that it had no rays
proceeding from the hands of the Blessed Virgin and

reaching to the hem of her garment. And however, it
seems to me that is the way she appeared the last time.
It seems to me, understand well, for I am always
tempted to consider all this an illusion of the devil,

who perhaps makes use of this means for my destruc-
tion, making me believe things that are not.

“But I told you that I would say all ; I want to keep
my word. Do not speak of this to Father Aladel, I
would rather tell him myself, because I fear he thinks
I have not enough confidence in him, for which he has
already reproached me.”

And she asked that they should send her the picture
of the scapular that she might add to it with lead pencil
the rays as she saw them at the last apparition.
They did not believe it was necessary, however, to

have the engraving made over, and it remained and
still is without rays. It was thought that this omission
of detail would not prevent the scapular from corre-
sponding substantially to the desires of the Blessed
Virgin.

They did better; they went more actively about the



28 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

printing and making of the scapular, and distributed
it with more confidence.

But one difficulty arose whose solution could not be
found in the preceding revelations. What were the con-
ditions required to render this scapular effective? Must
it be submitted to a special blessing, be imposed with
certain ceremonies, oblige those who wear it to certain
prayers or practices, should it be used only in behalf
of infidels and in foreign missions only?
To solve these diverse problems there was but one

way, namely that the Sister would beg the Blessed
Virgin to give the answer. But as she had a great re-
pugnance to do so, her director had to oblige her to it.
“I am going to obey,” she wrote to her former direc-
tress, “but it costs me

;
I hardly feel fit to ask for any-

thing. I am in so wretched a state.”
She obeyed, although with repugnance, and on the

eighth of September (1846), the Blessed Virgin, hav-
ing again appeared to her, her hands filled with rays,

the answer was in substance as follows

:

That the scapular, not being like other scapulars, the
habit of a confraternity, but merely two holy pictures
put on a single piece of goods and hanging by a string
as would a medal, no special formula is requisite to
bless it and there can be no question of imposing it. It

suffices that it be blessed by a priest and worn by the
infidel or sinner whom we wish to benefit by its happy
influence. It may even be slipped unknown to him in his
clothes, or his bed or room. As to the prayers to be
recited, there is but one that should be said every day,

the one that forms the oval inscription with which the
Holy Heart is surrounded on the Scapular. Immaculate



BADGE OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY 29

Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our
death. If the person in whose behalf this scapular is

applied should not say it, then the one who makes use
of or gives the scapular must say it in her place. This

scapular may be used in France, as well as in foreign
lands. The greatest graces are attached to its use ; but
these graces are more or less great in proportion to the
degree of confidence which accompanies it. This was
the meaning of the different kinds of rays which fell

from the hands of the Blessed Virgin at the last ap-
parition.

These indications were exactly complied with, and

the scapular being applied under these conditions, pro-

duced henceforth, and is ever producing an incalculable
number of marvelous conversions and sometimes cures.
In the third part the relation of some of these marvels
will appear.

Are not these wonders like an authentic proof of the
supernatural origin of this devotion, and of the sanc-
tion which God Himself seems thus to give it?
But it may be wondered whether or not it has been

submitted to the decision of the Church; whether it
has some ecclesiastical approbation to recommend it.

In the first place, everything leads to presume,
though we have no written token of it, that Father
Aladel, so wise, so prudent and so cautious, did not
authorize the making and distributing of the Green
Scapular without making sure, beforehand, of the
approbation of the Archbishop of Paris, Msgr. Affre.
Thus we saw him in 1832 humbly asking of the prede-
cessor of Msgr. Affre, Msgr. de Quelan, the authoriza-
tion for the striking of the Medal revealed in 1830,



30 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

known since then under the name of Miraculous Medal.
How can it be thought that for the Green Scapular,
which is a kind of medallion of cloth, he should have
believed himself dispensed from a similar measure?
How can it be thought that Mr. Letaille, so Christian
a publisher as he was, would have been willing to take
a share in the diffusion of a devotion which would not
have been sanctioned by the first pastor of the diocese ?
However for this devotion, spreading little by little

not only throughout France but even abroad, an ap-

probation merely diocesan might have appeared insuf-
ficient to certain doubtful minds. Hence it was resolved
to solicit from Pope Pius IX an ampler approbation
which would silence any scruples.

This was done by Father Borgogno, Procurator Gen-
eral of the Congregation of the Mission at the Holy

See, who achieved complete success. He gives the fol-
lowing statement of it in a letter dated April 3, 1870

:

“Having spoken about the Green Scapular to the
Holy Father, I related to him the details of its origin
adding that particular graces of conversions among
hardened sinners had been obtained by means of it.
When he asked me whether I had any with me, I an-
swered in the affirmative and showed him one. The
Holy Father took it, examined it attentively and said
to me : ‘This is a beautiful and pious picture/ Then he
added, ‘Well, what do you wish in this matter?’ I
answered, ‘Nothing else than the permission for our

Sisters (the Daughters of Charity) to make and dis-
tribute scapulars similar to this one, with the faculty

of distributing them.’ Then he said: 7 give full per-
mission for that. Write to these good Sisters that I



BADGE OP THE IMMACULATE HEART OP MARY 31

authorize them to make and distribute them
* ” Hence

it is plain that it was with a full knowledge of the
matter, after attentively considering this image, that

the Pope, while praising its beauty and piety, gave his

sanction thereto.

What more could be desired? In fact it is here a
question of nothing but a pious image and not of the

badge of a confraternity. And the new Canon Law
(Can. 1385, I, 3; 2) which forbids the printing of any

pious picture without an ecclesiastical authorization,

says that this authorization must be given by the
Ordinary of the place inhabited by the author, or that
where the picture is to be printed, adding that for
religious a permission from a Major Superior is more-
over required (ib., 3). Now, in 1911 there appeared
at Lille a pamphlet of eight pages on the Green Scap-
ular with a reproduction of its two pictures ; and this
pamphlet bore the approbation of Most Honored Father
Fiat, Superior General of the Mission and the Daugh-
ters of Charity (July 8, 1911), and also an authoriza-
tion of Msgr. Delamaire, Coadjutor and soon after-
wards Archbishop of Cambrai (July 13, 1911).

It may be remarked, by the way, that the Green
Scapular was not a stranger to Our Holy Father Pope
Pius XI, since it had a place on his working desk side
by side with the Miraculous Medal. The following is
what the Most Honored Mother of the Daughters of
Charity wrote on the subject as she was relating her
journey to Rome and her audience of January 27, 1923

:

“The audience with the Sovereign Pontiff was con-
soling. As I was telling him that our Sisters were using
with success the Green Scapular for the conversion of



32 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

sinners, I offered one to His Holiness who took it in his
hands, then placed it on his writing desk with the

Miraculous Medal.”

Hence there need be no anxiety about the legitimacy
of this devotion. Not only does it fall under no censure,
but it moreover presents itself to the piety of the faith-

ful with all the warrants required by the Church.
Also after living for a long time in obscurity (too

long, perhaps), it does not fear now to appear in broad
daylight. And the Community of the Daughters of
Charity, while keeping the monopoly of the Green
Scapular, has decided to put it on the market. There-

fore those persons who wish to procure that precious
pledge of salvation must have it blessed by a priest
(any priest has this power), and they must observe
the conditions previously pointed out.

As to the graces of conversion or others which shall
have been obtained by means of the Green Scapular,
those who know of them are requested to send an ac-
count of the facts exact and authentic as possible, to
Saint Joseph's, Emmitsburg, Maryland; being careful
to mention precisely the circumstances of time, place

and persons; not fearing under pretence of humility

to give the names. It is a question of glorifying God
and His Most Holy Mother.



PART THREE

THE FAVORS

OF THE GREEN SCAPULAR

The wonders attributed to the Green Scapular are
truly countless. Almost constantly we are informed of
conversions of infidels or sinners who, first rebellious,

declared themselves vanquished as soon as the Green

Scapular was used. Thus are realized the words spoken
by the Blessed Virgin to Sister Bisqueyburu in 1846

:

“Yes, if it be given with confidence, there will be a

great number of conversions.” Cures obtained by the
same means are not so numerous, though there have
been some.

It is absolutely impossible here to mention all these
favors. We shall confine ourselves to relating just a
few. They will suffice to justify the promises of the
Blessed Virgin, and to inspire confidence in the use
of this new pledge of salvation which we owe to her
maternal kindness.

This is very likely the first or one of the first at-
tributed to the Green Scapular, for it took place Sep-
tember 30, 1842, and the first Scapulars were made
in 1841.



34 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

This wonderful conversion may be considered as a
reward not only for the zeal which Mr. Letaille dis-

played in bringing about the conversion of his book-

keeper to the practice of religion, but also for the re-

ligious eagerness he showed in attending to the engrav-
ing of the plate used in printing the scapular.

The relation that follows is most authentic, based on
the testimony written by persons who were in closest
touch with the event: the convert himself, Mr. Copin,

then Mr. Letaille, Father Aladel, and Sister Grand.

It is from these testimonies, carefully preserved in the
Archives of the Congregation of the Mission, that the

following details are drawn.

* * *

Mr. Copin, who was born about the year 1792 amid
the disturbances of the Great Revolution, had not re-
ceived a Christian education. Having had no religious
instruction, he knew the Church, her doctrine, her cer-
emonies and her ministers only through her detractors.

He had at first entered upon a military career and
served in the army of Napoleon I, taking part in sev-
eral campaigns. He had reached the rank of under
officer when, in a battle against the English, he was
wounded and taken prisoner.

Returning to France and retiring from the army, he
availed himself of his knowledge of bookkeeping and

we thus find him in 1840 about fifty years of age, as
bookkeeper in the house Letaille (formerly conducted

by Pintard, 30, rue St. Jacques) . “He acquitted himself
of this duty,” said Mr. Letaille, “with a perfect regu-

larity and steadfastness up to his death. Being of a



THE FAVORS 35

cold temperament, firm, perhaps somewhat headstrong,

he had a tender heart capable of devotedness.”

He married one of the employees of the house

—

much younger than himself—and was very good to her
and practiced in his home all domestic virtues. Nothing
was wanting to make of him a perfect man but to add
to these natural virtues faith and the practice of

religion.

At that time (1840) Mr. Charles Letaille, who had
himself returned to God after two years of hesitation
and prayer, felt in the fervor of a neophyte the need
of imparting to others the faith he had regained and

which he had attributed to Our Lady of Victory.
To satisfy this apostolic inclination, he undertook

the conversion of his bookkeeper, Mr. Copin, whom he
held in great esteem and whose religious doubts and
prejudices he had previously shared. Let us hear from
him the story of the efforts of his zeal

:

“When we became acquainted, we both were scepti-
cal philosophers, discussing everything, doubting every-

thing, but more through ignorance and presumption
than prejudice.

“As soon as I had embraced the practice of religious
duties, I felt the need of special studies in order to

explain my conduct and to be able to answer as a
Christian to the attacks directed against me on all
sides. To this effect I implored the help of the Most
Holy Virgin. I consecrated myself to her promising
her that if she would guide me in all things, I would
no longer concern myself about anything but to serve
her divine Son under her banner.

“Mr. Copin became the companion of my religious



36 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

studies and for two years (1840-1842) we interrupted
our monotonous secretarial work only to discuss points
of dogma or ethics.
“With God's help, I soon became better versed than

he. At times, even my words seemed to touch him, but
I was dealing with a mind too set in its own ideas to
be able to produce any serious change in him.

“He told me in his conversations that the things that
had most prejudiced him against religion were certain
religious eccentricities of which he had been a witness

in his youth and which provoked an extreme disgust

in him. He had known in his family some Illuminate
of the sect of the deacon Paris, and some of their
meetings at which he assisted had produced a regret-

table impression upon him.

“The habit he had contracted of weighing everything
and arguing about everything rendered our discussion
lengthy and painful. It was only step by step that any
headway could be made. For example, it took me a con-
siderable time to convince him on a point which seemed
to me at first insurmountable ; he could not see how all
the animals could have fitted in Noah’s ark . . .

!

“Recognizing that the efforts of my zeal were power-
less and almost fruitless, and penetrated with the sen-
timents of my great weakness, I betook myself to
prayer and entreated Our Lady of Victory to come to
my help. I also recommended the conversion of this
good soul to the interests of the priests and religious
person whom the great mercy of God had made use
of to save my own self."
Among those persons were Father Desgenettes, the

saintly pastor of Our Lady of Victory and founder of



THE FAVORS 37

the famous Archconfraternity which bears that name

;

a Jesuit Father who is not named ; two Daughters of
Charity of the Mother House, Sister Henriette and

Sister Grand, on duty in the secretariate, lastly Father

Aladel, Director of the Community of the Daughters
of Charity, and confidant of the revelations of the

Blessed Virgin to Sister Bisqueyburu concerning the

Green Scapular.

It was thus God was pleased to surround this pre-
destined soul, who was soon to appear before His tri-
bunal, with all that could help him to secure a favorable
judgment.

That moment, in fact, was not far removed. “Mean-
while, related Mr. Letaille, “the worthy Mr. Copin
fell sick. At first it was only a sore throat, a hacking
cough which seemed not very alarming. However, the
case was most serious. Mr. Copin, whose body was
worn out by the privations and fatigues of his military
campaigns, was by these facts predisposed to disease.
His lungs became ulcerated and his condition grew
critical.

“Although he was well aware of it, he did not seem
disturbed in the least. For him it was a conflict to sus-
tain with disease and he loved warfare, hoping to tri-
umph by dint of energy. His energy, let it be said, was
more than ordinary, and he gave many proofs of it
during his illness. One day as he himself had applied a
searing iron to his arm, he placed a silver coin on it
and pressed on it so hard that it was all bent. And in
the last stages, when his illness confined him to bed, he
succeeded in overcoming his extreme weakness to at-
tend to his bookkeeping which he kept up until his
death.”



38 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

Yet his state of soul inspired him with no anxiety
regarding eternity. Fortunately, others thought of it

in his place, and Mr. Letaille’s zeal for his friend in-
creased in proportion to the imminent danger.

“In this extremity/’ he said, “I had recourse to some
means which I deemed to be decisive. I obtained the
consent of the venerable Father Desgenettes, my Direc-
tor to pay my patient a visit. He came to see him sev-
eral times, and each time had a long talk with him, but,
alas ! without any success. The poor sick man said that
he would be very glad to know the truth, but that he
felt himself surrounded by darkness which prevented
him from seeing the truth. As he was gifted with an
upright and sincere soul, he did not wish to perform
an action contrary to his convictions.

“As I was exasperated at seeing the disease pro-
gressing each day and the longed-for conversion pro-

ceeding so slowly, I tried to put my poor friend in
touch with the good Sisters of Charity whom he loved
and revered.”

There were in particular two Sisters of the Mother
House, Sister Henrietta and Sister Grand, who very
efficaciously helped Mr. Letaille in his zealous efforts

to bring about the conversion of the dear patient.

Sister Grand took charge of pleading his cause with
the Very Reverend Father Aladel, whom she induced
to visit the patient.

“I saw Father Aladel this morning,” she wrote to
Mr. Letaille, on Saturday, September 17, “and he con-
sents to see the patient, not thinking, however that he
will be able to hear his confession. Nevertheless, I look

upon this visit as a great blessing; I induced him to



THE FAVORS 39

pay it tomorrow, Sunday, after Vespers, that is about

four or five o’clock.

“I think, it would be well if the patient were pre-

pared for the visit. You might tell him that I am so
grateful for the prayers he kindly said for my brother,
that I should at any cost obtain this same happiness
for him

;
that I beg him to give a kind reception to this

venerable priest, to open to him his heart entirely and
to tell him why he does not seriously begin to make his
confession . . . etc. Tell him that this good priest, who
is under rules, did not hesitate to inconvenience him-

self to make this call for the sake of the glory God
might derive from it . . . etc. . . .

“Consider whether it is better for Father Aladel to
meet at your house or at his and then come and tell me
tomorrow, Sunday, before our High Mass, which is at
eight o’clock.

“I dare hope that the Blessed Virgin will bless this
visit. Please offer tomorrow’s Communion for that in-
tention. This soul must

,
must be saved, our Lord wishes

it—the Blessed Virgin wishes it.” It can be seen what
a heart of an Apostle this good Daughter of Charity
possessed

!

The visit took place on Sunday, September 18
; but

it had not the expected result. “The worthy Father
Aladel,” said Mr. Letaille, “was received as the other
priest who had previously called, with a courtesy deeply
respectful, but his endeavors to persuade the patient
to take the step that cost him so much, remained fruit-
less. Dear Mr. Copin was moved to tears at these marks
of interest, and his grief was, so he said, not to be able
in conscience to admit what was proposed to him with
so much zeal.”



40 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

It was then that the idea occurred to have recourse
to the Green Scapular. Monday, September 19, 1842.

Sister Grand sent one to Mr. Letaille asking him to
induce the patient to accept it, at least as a means to
restore him back to bodily health. “Try,” said she,
“and if needs be, be insistent. Bring the heart of Mary
(whose image is on the scapular) near that unhappy
heart, so that her power may break its lock, and that
grace may, as soon as possible, penetrate into that soul.

All our Sisters are going to join in prayer for him.”

Mr. Copin accepted the scapular to please his friend,

and even wore it on his person, but without attaching
much importance to it.

However, the disease made rapid strides and Father
Desgenettes advised Mr. Letaille to enlighten the pa-
tient upon the seriousness of his state and to tell him
that his end was near.

“I was the only Christian friend,” said Mr. Letaille,
“who could venture for his salvation such an announce-
ment and it cost me beyond words. I appealed to the
Blessed Virgin for light and grace. I prayed myself

weary and then went to my patient.
“The conversation soon fell upon heaven. It was our

usual subject. And I told him gently, without effort,
that the time had come for him to think of it . . ., that
the end of his mortal career was near at hand. . . .

“Overwhelmed by this news he sat on his bed, took
my hands and after a few moments of silence he said
to me : ‘How different do the things of this world look
when one is standing on the brink of eternity . . .!’
These words gave me some hope, and our conversation
continued in its affectionate turn. But soon I under-



THE FAVORS 41

stood that unless a miracle would happen, my poor
friend would not ask for the priest, that he would
content himself with using all his energy in order to

die without weakness, like a disciple of Socrates. I was
distressed.”

The moment however was not far distant when this
distress was to be changed into great joy; the Immacu-
late Heart of Mary was soon to work a great favor.
The patient spent the greater part of his time in bed

;

but he rose each day, worked at his bookkeeping and
even ate at the table with his family.

On Friday morning, September 30, Mr. Letaille
called to see him, but the conversation was very super-
ficial and religion was not even mentioned. The little
success of the preceding day lent no encouragement to
a fresh attempt.

Now, in the evening of that very Friday, about seven
o’clock, Mr. Copin was at table with his family, when
all of a sudden, he rose abruptly, left the table and
retired in his bedroom. There he fell on his knees before

an image of the Blessed Virgin and took his Green
Scapular in his hands as a “medium” as he expressed
himself; he kissed it respectfully, and shed abundant
tears. Then he felt impelled to promise the Blessed
Virgin that within the week he would seriously settle
the affair of his conscience.

Rising, he went back to his family, but soon he re-
tired again, went on his knees in a recess near his bed,
weeping and praying, and finished by promising our
Blessed Mother not to wait a week but to attend to it
the very next day.

Immediately he wrote the following note to Mr,



42 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

Letaille: “Most dear friend: I have to speak to you

about many things; and if you could give me a few
hours tomorrow afternoon, I would consider it a great
favor. I made a promise to our good Mother, I prayed
hard to her yesterday and am most anxious to see you
about it. Goodbye, pray for me, I need it so much ! It
is in your house I should like to see you; here my
emotion would be too great.

Sincerely yours,

Copin.”

What a sudden and truly miraculous change! That
man, usually so cold, so matter of fact, so far from
any religious practice, now weeps, prays, promises
Mary not to put off his reconciliation, with God, and
writes to his friend to declare himself vanquished!

On receiving this note, Saturday morning, October
1, Mr. Letaille could not control his joy; he sent the

note immediately to Sister Grand, adding to it the fol-

lowing lines. “Dear Sister : This morning on returning
from Mass, I received a very consoling letter from our
poor dear patient. Our good Immaculate Mother came
to his help.—I am sending it to you that you may see
for yourself. How edified I am by his humility and
confidence ! T made a promise to our good Mother ’

This is the first time, as far as I can remember, that
he made use of this appellation in speaking of the
Blessed Virgin. I do not know as yet what this promise
is. ... I went right away to see our dear pastor (of
Saint-Severin’s) Father Hanicle and gave him a gen-
eral account of this sad story, showing him the enclosed
note. He will come at half-past three. Perhaps Mr.
Copin will still be there. We place everything in the



THE FAVORS 43

hands of our good Immaculate Mother. It makes me
happy to see that it happens on a Saturday and the

eve of the Feast of the Holy Angels, to whom I am
going to begin a novena for him tomorrow. I wrote to
Father Desgenettes in order to recommend him to the
special prayers of the Archconfraternity ; and with the

help of our good Mother I shall go tomorrow evening
to pray at the shrine of her Immaculate Heart. I know
that it is needless to ask you to think of us from noon
until four o’clock, as I know full well the extent of your
charity for him and for us. Help us, Sister, we beg you
so much. Will you kindly tell this to Father Aladel and
keep the note for me?”

That very day, in fact, Mr. Copin, bracing himself
up against his weakness, was able to call on Mr.
Letaille to tell him about his sudden conversion and
the promise he made to the Blessed Virgin. The two
friends fell into each other’s arms. “The time of dis-
cussion was over,” said Mr. Letaille, “we agreed in
humbling ourselves and thanking God.” And the pastor
of Saint-Severin who arrived could begin hearing the
confession of the happy convert; of which event Mr.
Letaille hastened to inform good Sister Grand: “My
dear Sister,” said he, “our good Mother has triumphed

!

Alleluia! The poor sick man just went to confession
to Father Hanicle, from four until five o’clock. It was
the Green Scapular that conquered him.”
And Sister Grand answered October 2: “How good

Mary is ! How powerful ! How liberal ! How merciful

!

. . . How we thank you for telling us the good news!
we are so interested in it! Tell the happy patient so,
while awaiting the time when we may call on him our-



44 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

selves, October 4, to rejoice with him and express our
happiness. . . . The demon is overcome! But what a
triumph ! and what a feast must be held in the heavenly-
home! All the angels are celebrating this longed-for
return. All sing ‘Glory to God, love to the divine

Mother.' And we too, let us not weary returning
thanks, especially by greater fidelity and fervor."
On the same day she also imparted her joy to Father

Aladel : “Father, how happy I am at this new triumph
of our powerful Mother! The poor patient is to con-
tinue his confession tomorrow (Monday evening, Oc-
tober 3) Sister Henriette and I will go to see him on
Tuesday (October 4), and I dare hope that you will
have the charity to go there also on one of these days.
. . . These are good beginnings to recommend the new
Scapular . . .! This first trial is well calculated to

encourage us . . . how evident it is that heaven is bless-
ing it and how true has the revelation proved itself to
be. ... As a consequence I do love that Green Scapular.
But especially do I love Mary, our good Mother, who is
giving us this new pledge of her inexhaustible love.
Yes, indeed ! in heaven there must be a great feast at
the conversion of a sinner. I can well feel this by the
almost excessive joy which I experience."

On the Tuesday following, October 4, the patient
received the visit of Sister Grand and the day after,
on Wednesday the 5th, that of Father Aladel, who
joyfully convinced himself of the reality of this sur-

prising and sudden conversion.

However Mr. Copin had not yet ended his confession
which had already required two interviews. It was only
on Monday, October 17, that he received absolution and



THE FAVORS 45

on the next day, Tuesday the 18th, feast of St. Luke,

he made at the Church of Saint-Severin his first and
last Communion. Here is an account of it by Mr. Le-

taille, given to Sister Grand the very day of this happy
Communion

:

“My dear Sister, I am sending you this note to ask
you to help us to thank our Immaculate Mother, for the

protection she never ceases to show us.
“Everything went well. Our dear patient has been

somewhat tried but I do hope that with the help of
God this will make him much the stronger.

“Yesterday, Monday, Father Hanicle (the Pastor of

Saint-Severing) as he intended to come to hear his
confession, had to go to the ministry and returned only
at nine p. m. Our poor sick man waited for him pa-
tiently, went to confession at nine o’clock and then
returned home.

“The next day, that is to say, this morning, he had
to undergo a fast that was extremely difficult for him,
considering his condition. He had to abstain from every
drink, lozenge, etc. from midnight until after eight
o’clock. . . .

“This morning, exactly at eight o’clock, he came with
his wife to Saint-Severin’s and I arrived with my
mother. He was very weak; but you know how brave
he is. As it was somewhat cold we took him to the
sacristy to warm himself, while waiting for the priest,
who was not long coming. He had a few scruples of
conscience which he wanted to submit to Father but
they could not have been much for it did not look as if
Father gave him absolution.

“After that we went to the altar of Our Lady of



46 THE GREEN SCAPULAR,

Holy Hope. We followed him, the four of us—he, his
wife, my mother and I—united in one same thought,
in one same sentiment.
“To spare him every subject of confusion, I told him

to do everything he would see me do, and you may be-
lieve I kept him sitting as much as possible.
“At last the moment of Communion arrived, and

under the protection of our good Immaculate Mother

he received our dear Master! Praised and adored be

at all times the Most Holy Sacrament of love, and
blessed be forever the purity and Immaculate Concep-

tion of our good Mother! Amen! Oh! my dear Sister,
how good God is ...

!

And our Blessed Mother, too

!

“After the last Gospel, I sat with him to help him
make his thanksgiving ; when our dear Lord who just
now had reassumed His rights over our poor hearts,
willed by a magnanimous gesture to take us all to-
gether to Himself. How welcome to me was the thought
with which he then inspired Father ; for as I am think-
ing it over, it seems to me as if our Lord wished thus
to bind us to Him before everybody. This is how it
happened.

“At the end of the Mass, before leaving the altar.
Father stopped, recollected his thoughts for a moment,
then turning around, he said aloud: ‘My brethren, I
spoke to you of an elderly gentleman whose conversion
we obtained, together with that of his wife, by our
prayers to our Lady of Hope. I had asked you to pray
in order to draw down the graces of heaven on his
First Communion which he had not as yet had the
happiness of making. He made it at this Mass, under
the protection of St. Luke who, as you know was a



THE FAVORS 47

physician ; this is a good omen. We asked and obtained
by our prayers the cure of his soul. Let us now ask of
our Lady of Hope, Refuge of the hopeless, the cure of

his body, under the patronage of St. Luke. Let us for

that intention say a Pater and an Ave.’

“After that, Father knelt down and we answered
the prayers which he said aloud . . .! Oh! how I
wished you had been there! You would have been so
happy . . .

!”

What were the sentiments of the happy convert at
the moment when our Lord, coming to him in Holy
Communion, took possession of his soul? We learn it
by a letter of Sister Grand to Father Aladel, dated
Saturday, October 22:

“Last Thursday I went to see that poor patient, to
congratulate him for the great grace of his First Com-
munion. What a sweet impression I carried away from
this visit! If it were possible that I could doubt the
infinite goodness of God, I confess that I would there
have found incontestable proofs of it. . . .

“Sister Pineau was with me. We found Mr. Copin
in bed, very weak, but calm and perfectly resigned.
“As I expressed the anxiety which I had felt on the

day of his Communion at the thought that it would
be very hard for him to stand the fatigue of waiting
until morning, followed by the long stay in the Church,
he answered: ‘No, Sister, I was not tired that day. On
the contrary, I went to bed at eight o’clock in the eve-
ning and the whole day was spent in the sensation of
my happiness. In the morning I had something that
worried me, and, as I wished to prepare calmly for this
action, I wanted to see Father Hanicle once more to-



48 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

settle it. He soothed me by saying that I had already
confessed it.

“I feared lest I should be very cold and yet I could

prepare myself better than I had dared to expect. And
afterwards, all the remainder of the day I felt too

happy. You see it was something so overpowering that
it was a case of telling our dear Lord it is enough. I
could not bear so much, I thought I was gone; never-
theless I was calm and peaceful, saying to myself that
I ought to accept that consolation, not for its own sake,
but for the precious memory of it that would remain
with me. I was so full of my happiness that it seems
to me I could not have spoken of anything else. . . .
I was wishing that everybody would love God, that
everybody would come to seek Him here in Holy Com-
munion, and I so much regretted not having loved Him
sooner

!

“ ‘When I found myself alone, closing my eyes, I let
my tears flow, and my wife inquired if I had had some
sorrow. I could give her no other answer except that
my tears were from an excess of happiness and if it
should continue, my heart must burst, as it could bear
no more. . . . But now, Sister, all is passed, and of
that great happiness nothing remains but the memory.
I feel again today, as well as yesterday, dry and cold,
yet though our dear Lord should seem to abandon me
a little, how could I complain, I who for so long a time
had abandoned Him.’

“I then told him that very likely our Lord intended
by these moments of sensible grace, to strengthen his
faith and relieve him forever of the doubts which had
so painfully affected him since his conversion, to make



THE FAVORS 49

him realize by these lights and consolations that He is
truly hidden in the Sacrament of love. 'Oh ! yes, Sister/

he replied, 'that is indeed what I was clearly given to

know and to understand/
"I was wishing, Father, you could witness as I did,

the sweet peace with which he spoke of the graces

received on that beautiful day. With what emotion he

recalled them!”

In presence of such sentiments, and contrasting them

with those that animated Mr. Copin a few days ago,

one cannot help considering such a change as humanly

inexplicable, as a real miracle of grace.

That Communion, so well made, imparted to him a
strength and courage that never left him during the
few days he had still to spend on earth.

"I remember,” related Mr. Letaille, "that when he
finished his thanksgiving, he reached me his hand say-
ing: 'Now I have received enough to last to the end;
I ask for nothing more/ He felt that henceforth it
would be his turn to give.

"His strength returned a little at first; but soon he

had to confine himself again to his room and bed, with-
out ever interrupting his work or the little practices
of piety he had embraced. He always received his rela-
tives and friends calmly and there was in his greeting
something more cordial and affectionate than before
his conversion

;
he let them see without affectation that

he was using the rosary which never left him, as well
as the Green Scapular that hung on his breast. He
spoke to them with humility, but also with firmness,
of his conversion, which he considered the greatest
good fortune of his life.



50 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

“At last the end of his sufferings came, for he did
suffer greatly, but he knew how to conceal his pain
with great fortitude. He liked especially to reassure
his wife by assuming a cheerful countenance. As he
judged her too weak to assist at his death, he begged
me to keep her at a distance, and he bade her farewell
in a note which he placed under the marble slab of his
writing desk.

“His agony was incredibly sweet. Even then, when
he could no longer hear what I said to him, with eyes
riveted and face aglow, he repeated three or four times

very distinctly : ‘Ah ! how glad I am ! Ah ! how glad I
am!’ Then he passed away gently.

“This is, in all simplicity, the relation of that con-

version so surprising to those who knew the previous
dispositions and the mental caliber of Mr. Copin, sud-

denly conquered and transformed by the application of
that blessed Scapular. God has granted me the grace to
witness other very edifying conversions but none has

ever impressed me so strongly as did this one.”
0O0

It was time for classes to begin in a large High
School, and all the pupils were ready and interested in

the subject, except one, and where was she, she who
was always on time and fully alive to the day's work?
Alas poor N. had a heavy little heart that morning and
she was waiting to see the Sister Superior, to unburden
her sorrow to the kind Sister whom she felt would help
if anyone could.

“Good morning, N., what can I do for you?” asked
Sister.

In tears and sobs the young girl said, “Oh, Sister,



THE FAVORS 51

my mother will die today, my mother will surely die
today

!”

“Now, N.,” Sister said, “surely your dear mother

is not that ill.”

“I tell you, Sister, my mother will die of a broken
heart today, because my sister is to be married to a
divorced man and nothing will stop her. She has it all
arranged, and they are to be married this morning. Oh,

Sister, my poor mother will die!” And the poor girl
stood weeping by Sister's side. Suddenly Sister said:

“Your mother will not die nor your sister marry that
man either. Take this Green Scapular home this min-
ute, tell mother to start saying the prayer: ‘Immacu-

late Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour
of our death' and to say it over and over and not to
stop, and I tell you that man will not marry your
sister. Hasten on now, and tell mother this and to say
the prayer with confidence in Blessed Mother, and all
will be well.”

Poor N. started on the way home and did as she was
told. The sorrow stricken mother received Sister's mes-
sage and with a heavy heart, but as one clutching at a
last straw, she began the hours of prayer for her
poor deluded child. Surely Mary would help in this
hour of anguish. The morning dragged on, the mother
prayed, and Sister Superior too, and her students im-
plored Blessed Mother for ‘something very urgent that
morning’; and all waited almost breathlessly for the
outcome.

Early the next morning N. arrived in school, but oh,
with what a different feeling. No, her sister did not
marry that man as planned on the previous day, and



52 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

this she hastened to impart to Sister Superior. With
animation she came to tell Sister that the man who
was in the army and who was permitted to have the
day off for the marriage, when he came and saw how
heartbroken the girl's mother was, said to his intended
bride, “We had better wait, I could not go through
this with your mother feeling as she does, let us wait
a short while and see if she will not get over this and
give her consent." What a surprise

;
what a moment of

intense relief
;
Yes, Blessed Mother was doing her work

and would continue to shield her child who had been
so mithful to her in days gone by. So the marriage was
put off indefinitely. However, it was decided between
the couple that if the groom-to-be could get a furlough,

they would be married, hoping by this time the mother
would be reconciled. Sister urged the girl to tell her

mother to continue the prayer and she knew Our
Blessed Lady would not let that marriage take place.
The prayer was answered. Just a few days before the
furlough, all leaves of absence were withdrawn, that
division of men ordered to start for parts unknown
and all communications between the man and the girl
were broken off. Thus did Mary show her power and
reward the confidence of her humble servants who
confided in her.

0O0

A patient was entered in the hospital as a protestant
and was operated on. A short time before she was to be
discharged, the patients in the room with her received
the sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion. One

day she remarked that she was a Catholic and had been

brought up in a Catholic orphanage till she was almost



THE FAVORS 53

twelve years of age. Then she had gone out to work in

a good family. Later, she had married out of the

Church and had brought up her children as protestants

which church she herself had joined, about thirty-two

years before. She very much resented being asked if
she would not like to return to her own Faith, notwith-
standing which she willingly accepted a Green Scap-

ular. The next morning, the Sister, who had given her
the scapular, came into the room and she noticed a wor-

ried look in the eyes of her patient. On inquiring if she
could assist her the woman said she would like to see
a priest. Throughout the long years she had been most
unhappy for having left her childhood's faith but the
friends she consulted had told her she never could re-
turn. She received the Sacraments and sent for her
husband and told him she was determined henceforth
to live up to the Catholic Church. Thanks to the Green
Scapular she continues faithful to her good resolutions
now she is again at her own home.

0O0

A young couple who were very wealthy suffered by
losing all they had and were reduced to a state of great
poverty. The wife was a Catholic but the husband a
protestant; their three little boys were being brought
up Catholics. After they met with reverses, the mother
became careless about her religion and neglected send-
ing the children to church or catechism because she

had no fit clothing for them, and in time all religion
became a thing of the past in the family. Again, the
wheels of fortune turned and they not only retrieved
what they had lost but became millionaires. The mother
gradually returned to the practice of her religion as did



54 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

also two of the boys, but the oldest one did not. This
was a source of continual worry to the mother who
realized she was responsible before God, for, the son,
now 55. He ignored all efforts to win him back. A
neighbor, learning the facts, gave the mother two
Green Scapulars and told her to have him wear one.
He laughed and refused to do so. She then placed one
on his bed and sewed the other in his suit. A few weeks
later he said to his mother : “Guess where I have been.
I have been to the Jesuits to have them instruct me in
my Faith and prepare me to approach the Sacra-
ments.” Shortly after he made his First Confession
and received his First Holy Communion. The family
are extremely grateful to Our Lady of the Green
Scapular.

0O0

—

The following incident occurred in a hospital con-
ducted by the Sisters of Charity.—A woman in one of
the wards inquired for a Sister whom she had known
some years before. The Sister went to see her im-
mediately and found her suffering with a gangrenous

leg and the Sister in charge of the ward gave the visi-
tor very little hope of recovery, saying that it was
well nigh to impossible to save the leg and she feared

it would have to be amputated. This was sad, for the
poor woman had no idea her condition was so serious.
She was also a victim of diabetes. The leg was so
swollen it looked more like a piece of stone than a
human leg. Some days passed and as the leg was
treated every day without showing any improvement,

the poor patient began to be despondent about her cure.



THE FAVORS 55

Pitying her condition, a Sister gave her a Green

Scapular, telling her to put all her confidence in our

Blessed Mother. Lovingly and with kisses, she put it

around her neck. The Sister also gave her a prayer
leaflet of St. Joseph, and since it was the month of
March she began a novena to St. Joseph. On the nine-
teenth, feast of St. Joseph, she was much improved,
for the greater part of the pain had ceased and the
doctors now looked for her recovery. At the end of two
weeks she was permitted to return home, where later
on two of the Sisters called to see how she was pro-
gressing. She told them her leg was getting on fine
and that the attending doctor thought that he would
only need to make two more visits before he discharged
her. She was still wearing the Green Scapular and she
said she felt sure her recovery was due to our Lady of
the Scapular. Again and again, her children, who are
quite grown, expressed their appreciation of their
mother's cure and their gratitude to the Queen of
Heaven.

0O0

My father, a convert for about eighteen years, left
the Church over fifteen years ago because he said he
could not believe in the Immaculate’ Conception and
in the Infallibility of the Pope. During these interven-
ing years he has often expressed the desire for the
grace of Faith, but it was not until this year that it
came.

Since last May, he has been wearing the Green Scap-
ular and has said the prayer on it, asking others to
pray for him also. Several days before he went to con-
fession, a Sister spoke to him about Our Lady and it



56 THE GREEN SCAPULAR

seems that this time Our Lord opened his eyes to the
possibility of this mystery.

On the afternoon of the feast of the Green Scapular,
my father went to confession and every day since then
he has received Holy Communion.
He has told me since that he will always wear the

scapular and each month he has a Mass offered in
thanksgiving to Blessed Mother for his return to the
Faith.







Image of the

IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

on Green Cloth

Commonly Called the Green Scapular

The Green Scapular or Scapular of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary is, like the
Miraculous Medal, a gift of our Blessed
Mother to the Daughters of Charity of
Saint Vincent de Paul.
On November 27, 1839, Justine Bis-

queyburu, destined by Providence to make
known this devotion, entered the Seminary,
or Novitiate of the Daughters of Charity,
140 rue du Bac, Paris. On January 28, 1840,
during her first retreat, the young Sister
was favored with a celestial vision. Our
Lady appeared to her clothed in a long
white robe over which hung a bright blue
mantle. Her hair, which fell loosely over
her shoulders, was not covered with a veil,
and in her hands she held her heart, from
the top of which issued brilliant rays. To
the dignity of her bearing was joined the
dazzling brightness of celestial beauty. The
young Sister, seized with admiration and
fear, could scarcely repress an exclamation.
The same apparition was repeated four

or five times during her Seminary on the
principal feasts of the Blessed Virgin.
This favor seemed to have no other end
than to increase in the Sister herself tender
devotion to Mary Immaculate.



Clothed with the Habit, Sister Bis-

queyburu was sent to Blangy and shortly
after her arrival September 8, 1840, feast

of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, she

was favored during prayer with an appari-
tion of the Mother of God, who held in her
right hand her heart surrounded by flames,
and in her left a sort of scapular, consist-

ing of a single piece of green cloth sus-

pended from a cord of the same color. On
one side was a picture of the Blessed Virgin
as she had shown herself in the apparitions;
on the other, a heart all inflamed with rays

more brilliant than the sun, and clearer
than crystal.

This heart pierced with a sword was
surrounded by an oval inscription, sur-
mounted by a cross. The inscription read:
“Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us
now and at the hour of our death.” At the
same time an interior voice revealed to the
Sister- the meaning of this vision. She
understood that this new scapular, through
the medium of the Sisters of .Charity, would
contribute to the conversion of those who
have no faith, and, above all, procure for
them a happy death, and that it should be
distributed immediately with confidence.
For various reasons the execution was

long delayed, in consequence of which the
Blessed Virgin in several apparitions be-

tween 1840 and 1846 complained to the
Sister. As obstacles were removed, the
scapular was distributed, producing wonder-
ful conversions and some bodily cures.



Among favors obtained are the follow-
ing: A sick man, a declared enemy of all
religion, was thrown into frenzy by the
mere sight of a priest. He accepted a
Green Scapular on September 19 , 1842.

Eleven days later, arising from dinner, he
withdrew into an adjoining room, fell on
his knees and took out his scapular which
he called an intermediary agent. Kissing
it and bathing it with tears, he promised
Our Lady to go to confession within a week.
That delay seemed too long, for the next
day he received the sacraments.

In 1844, a child of fourteen with depraved

morals received the scapular and in a few
days his conversion was effected.
At Constantinople a Greek schismatic

was converted by the scapular and also
cured of a hideous leprosy. Many similar
examples might be cited.
The manner of using the scapular was

indicated by the Blessed Virgin. Since it
is not the badge of a confraternity but
simply a double image attached to a single
piece of cloth and suspended from a cord,
the formalities of a scapular are not re-

quired for the benediction and imposition.
It suffices that it be blessed by a priest and
worn by the one for whom it is intended.
It may be placed in the clothing, on the bed,
or simply in the room. The only prayer to
be recited is the inscription surrounding the
heart on the reverse of the scapular: “Im-
maculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now
and at the hour of our death.” This should



be repeated daily, if not by the one wearing

it, by the one giving it. The scapular may
be distributed everywhere. Although won-

derful graces are attached to it, they are

proportionate to the confidence with which

it is given, as signified by the rays of dif-

ferent lengths which in the last appari-

tions, issued from the hands of the Blessed
Virgin.

The Green Scapular was twice approved
by Pope Pius IX, in 1863 and again in 1870
when he said: “Write to these good Sisters
that I authorize them to make and distri-
bute it.”

Nihil Obstat: E. A. Cerny, S.S., D.D.

Censor Librorum
Imprimatur: Francis P. Keough, D.D.

Archbishop of Baltimore

August 22, 1950

An exact account of any conversion or cure
which may be attributed to the Green Scap-
ular should be sent to Saint Joseph’s Central
House, Emmitsburg, Maryland, with all
circumstances of time, place and persons.
Names should not be withheld under pre-
text of humility, for there is question of the
glory of God and of His Holy Mother.

Green Scapulars—8 for $1.-100 for $12.50—Book 25c
Address

:

Green Scapular Department
St. Joseph Central House
Emmitsburg, Maryland



Image of the

IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

on Green Cloth

Commonly Called the Green Scapular

The Green Scapular or Scapular of the

Jmmaculate Heart of Mary is, like the
Miraculous Medal, a gift of our Blessed

Mother to the Daughters of Charity of

Saint Vincent de Paul.

On November 27, 1839, Justine Bis-
queyburu, destined by Providence to make
known this devotion, entered the Seminary,
or Novitiate of the Daughters of Charity,
140 rue du Bac, Paris. On January 28, 1840,
during her first retreat, the young Sister
was favored with a celestial vision. Our
Lady appeared to her clothed in a long
white robe over which hung a bright blue
mantle. Her hair, which fell loosely over
her shoulders, was not covered with a veil,
and in her hands she held her heart, from
the top of which issued brilliant rays. To
the dignity of her bearing was joined the
dazzling brightness of celestial beauty. The
young Sister, seized with admiration and
fear, could scarcely repress an exclamation.
The same apparition was repeated four

or five times during her Seminary on the
principal feasts of the Blessed Virgin.

This favor seemed to have no other end
than to increase in the Sister herself tender
devotion to Mary Immaculate.



Clothed with the Habit, Sister Bis-

queyburu was sent to Blangy and shortly
after her arrival September 8, 1840, feast

of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, she

was favored during prayer with an appari-
tion of the Mother of God, who held in her
right hand her heart surrounded by flames,
and in her left a sort of scapular, consist-

ing of a single piece of green cloth sus-*

pended from a cord of the same color. On
one side was a picture of the Blessed Virgin
as she had shown herself in the apparitions;
on the other, a heart all inflamed with rays

more brilliant than the sun, and clearer
than crystal.

This heart pierced with a sword was
surrounded by an oval inscription, sur-
mounted by a cross. The inscription read:
“Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us
now and at the hour of our death.” At the
same time an interior voice revealed to the
Sister the meaning of this vision. She
understood that this new scapular, through
the medium of the Sisters of Charity, would
contribute to the conversion of those who
have no faith, and, above all, procure for

them a happy death, and that it should be
distributed immediately with confidence.
For various reasons the execution was

long delayed, in consequence of which the
Blessed Virgin in several apparitions be-

tween 1840 and 1846 complained to the
Sister. As obstacles were removed, the
scapular was distributed, producing wonder-
ful conversions and some bodily cures.



Among favors obtained are the follow-
ing: A sick man, a declared enemy of all
religion, was thrown into frenzy by the
mere sight of a priest. He accepted a
Green Scapular on September 19, 1842.

Eleven days later, arising from dinner, he
withdrew into an adjoining room, fell on

his knees and took out his scapular which

he called an intermediary agent. Kissing

it and bathing it with tears, he promised

Our Lady to go to confession within a week.
That delay seemed too long, for the next
day he received the sacraments.

In 1844, a child of fourteen with depraved

morals received the scapular and in a few
days his conversion was effected.
At Constantinople a Greek schismatic

was converted by the scapular and also
cured of a hideous leprosy. Many similar
examples might be cited.
The manner of using the scapular was

indicated by the Blessed Virgin. Since it
is not the badge of a confraternity but
simply a double image attached to a single
piece of cloth and suspended from a cord,
the formalities of a scapular are not re-

quired for the benediction and imposition.
It suffices that it be blessed by a priest and
worn by the one for whom it is intended.
It may be placed in the clothing, on the bed,
or simply in the room. The only prayer to
be recited is the inscription surrounding the
heart on the reverse of the scapular: “Im-
maculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now
and at the hour of our death.” This should



be repeated daily, if not by the one wearing

it, by the one giving it. The scapular may
be distributed everywhere. Although won-

derful graces are attached to it, they are

proportionate to the confidence with which

it is given, as signified by the rays of dif-

ferent lengths which in the last appari-

tions, issued from the hands of the Blessed
Virgin.

The Green Scapular was twice approved
by Pope Pius IX, in 1863 and again in 1870
when he said: “Write to these good Sisters
that I authorize them to make and distri-
bute it.”

Nihil Obstat: E. A. Cerny, S.S., D.D.

Censor Librorum
Imprimatur: Francis P. Keough, D.D.

Archbishop of Baltimore

August 22, 1950

An exact account of any conversion or cure
which may be attributed to the Green Scap-
ular should be sent to Saint Joseph’s Central
House, Emmitsburg, Maryland, with all
circumstances of time, place and persons.
Names should not be withheld under pre-
text of humility, for there is question of the
glory of God and of His Holy Mother.

Green Scapulars—8 for $1.—100 for $12.50—Book 25c
Address

:

Green Scapular Department
St. Joseph Central House
Emmitsburg, Maryland



*7Ae ^nee*t Soafredan



The Green Scapular

By Rev. R. MacDonald, C.Ss.R.

It is my conviction, that despite all the wars,
the threat and the horror of Communism, we
are living in the happiest of centuries. Never
since the days that she taught the Infant Jesus
to pray has the Mother of God been closer to
the earth. We are living in the Age of Mary.
Countless signs show us that she has come
down from the Galilean hills of heaven to give
us a new Bethlehem, a reborn Christ in the
hearts of men. Germany, Italy, Portugal and
France have been singularly blessed by her
gentle presence. From all sides witnesses spring
up to attest with wondrous proofs, her pres-
ence among us. She is walking on the earth!

However, there is a dark side to the picture
today, the darkness of the beast. He prowls to
trample and destroy. Never has he been so
apparent. His time is growing short. No one
knows better than he. He has never forgotten
the prophecy in the garden: “I will put enmi-
ties between thee and the woman . . . she shall
crush thy head.” (Gen. 3:15).

He realizes well what the coming of Mary
means to him and his empire. God alone knows
the furious activity of hell, the rage with which
it strives to make this world a madhouse of
hate. How he must hate the tender Virgin as
she journeys from country to country. His
power has been so great that he thought God
had abandoned the world because of its unbe-
lief. He was hopeful of finally conquering the
world, of snatching souls from the nail-scarred
Hands of Christ. Then came Lourdes, then
Fatima and, today, the Mother of God sitting
at the bedside of a sick world.

For years he has succeeded in hiding the
beautiful devotion of her Immaculate Heart
in the Green Scapular. I am sure that most



of you have heard of this matchless devotion
only lately. Yet the good Sister to whom it
was revealed died over forty years ago. This
is not surprising. See how well the evil spirit
hid the marvels of Fatima although Our Lady’s
power flamed in the heavens before fifty thou-
sand men and women.
Let me tell you the story of how I discov-

ered the Green Scapular. This is my only way
of trying to spread a true and tender love to
her Immaculate Heart and of paying my debt
to her. Seven years ago I was lying in a hos-
pital very ill with pneumonia. I began to
hemorrhage and the doctors decided to oper-
ate as a last resource. Then a little nun came
into my room.

“Father, have you great faith in the Mother
of God, especially in her Immaculate Heart?
If so, you can be cured.”
“How, Sister?”
“Through the Green Scapular.”
“What is that?”
“Four years ago, Father, I was operated on

for cancer. I was so filled with it, that they
just closed me up and sent me away to die.
Then I prayed to Our Lady of the Green
Scapular; grew tired of waiting to die and
came back to work. I am cured, Father. Do
you want me to give you a Scapular?”

“Please, Sister.”

With that she put one over my head. A
feeling of tremendous confidence poured into
me and the bleeding stopped. Two days later,
in the X-ray room, they asked me when the
hemorrhage had ceased. When I replied that
it was a matter of a couple of days, they ex-
pressed great surprise.

“You have a wound that is six months healed
and there is no other mark.” Today even the
scars are gone. No wonder I speak of an un-
payable debt to her Immaculate Heart. Since
then I have done everything possible to foster
this devotion. To my great joy and amaze-
ment, those to whom I have spoken of the



Green Scapular have become more zealous than
I. Never have I seen the equal of the faith
and confidence of these new apostles of Mary.
The tremendous fervor of the crusades must
have been like it.
During May I asked the rector of St. Pat-

rick’s, Toronto, for permission to speak of it at
the Wednesday devotions. I had a thousand
Green Scapulars on hand, but no one thought
that more than thirty would be asked for. The
thousand were gone the first morning. The
room where we distributed them was so
jammed that I feared some one would be
injured. The rest of the day I was besieged
on all sides for more. Foolishly, I showed the
one I had for myself and it was quickly
snatched from my hand.
The spirit in Toronto today is beyond be-

lief. Ten thousand more have been too few.
Over twenty-five priests have come to our mon-
astery begging for scapulars. I have been
stopped on the streets and accosted on trains
by total strangers asking where these scapulars
could be obtained. Montreal has since shown a
like fervor.

I am stunned at the response. I have no ex-
planation for it. Certainly it was not due to
the simple little sermon that I preached. I
believe the explanation of it was given by a
priest with all the simplicity of the priesthood:
“She wants her Heart loved.”

Those who doubted in the beginning are
today the most devoted to the Green Scapular.
It has become something priceless. They love
to say the beautiful prayer which we learned
from Mary’s lips:

“Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now
and at the hour of our death.”

Toronto today is feeling the warmth of that
Heart. A man, who had refused for years to
see a priest, remained adamant on his death-
bed. One of the family brought the Scapular
into his room, said the prayer twice and, sud-
denly out of clear sky, he begged for a priest.



I must insist that the peculiar power oi this
Scapular is that oi conversion. To bring her
Son into the hearts oi men. To give Him a
new birth there. Although there are many
cures like my own, I repeat, her greatest de-
sire is to give her Son birth in the cradle oi
your soul.
The Green Scapular is the story of Sister

Justine Bisqueyburu. An orphan in early life,
she was adopted by a wealthy relative who left
her his fortune. Her greatest day of joy was
November 27, 1839, when she entered the
novitiate of the Daughters of Charity of St.
Vincent de Paul in Paris. Her Sisters in re-
ligion are stationed in Maryland. Address: Sis-
ters of Charity, Central House, Emmitsburg,
Maryland.
They can tell you much better than I the

story of a Sister who inspired love and emula-
tion in everyone who met her. One who was
a confidante of Pope Pius IX in the dark days
preceding his imprisonment in the Vatican; one
who was the admiration of the Mohammedans
of North Africa; the recipient of the flattering
imitation of the famous Florence Nightingale
on the battlefields of the Crimea. They can tell
you the great efforts she made to keep her
identity unknown; how her secret was revealed.
How the Green Scapular found its way to the
desk of Pope Pius XI. They will repeat the
description of the Mother of God, standing in
all her beauty before the young novice, and
returning again and again until the scapular
was made and distributed. Telling the young
Sister that the Scapular could be blessed by
any priest, carried or worn on the person, even
left in one’s room, the only obligation being to
say, once a day (and this can be said in favor
of another) : Immaculate Heart oi Mary, pray
ior us now and at the hour oi our death.”
(The above article was pmblished in the “Madonna
Magazine,” August, 1948, and was copied with permis-
sion by the “Quarterly Bulletin of the Archconfra-
ternity of the Holy Agony, March, 1949. It also ap-
peared in “Fatima Findings,” September, 1949, pub-
lished by the Reparation Society of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, Baltimore, Maryland.



Image of the

IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
On Green Cloth

The Green Scapular or Scapular of the Im-
maculate Heart of Mary is, like the Miraculous
Medal, a gift of our Blessed Mother to the
Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.

On November 27, 1839, Justine Bisqueyburu,
destined by Providence to make known this de-
votion, entered the Seminary, or Novitiate of
the Daughters of Charity, 140 rue du Bac,
Paris. On January 28, 1840, during her first re-
treat, the young Sister was favored with a
celestial vision. Our Lady appeared to her
clothed in a long white robe over which hung
a bright blue mantle. Her hair, which fell
loosely over her shoulders, was not covered
with a veil, and in her hands she held her
Heart, from the top of which issued brilliant
rays. To the dignity of her bearing was joined
the dazzling brightness of celestial beauty. The
young Sister, seized with admiration and fear,
could scarcely repress an exclamation.

The same apparition was repeated four or
five times during her Seminary on the princi-
pal feasts of the Blessed Virgin. This favor
seemed to have no other end than to increase
in the Sister herself tender devotion to Mary
Immaculate.

Clothed with the habit, Sister Bisqueyburu
was sent to Blangy and shortly after her ar-
rival, September 8, 1840, feast of the Nativity
of the Blessed Virgin, she was favored during
prayer with an apparition of the Mother of
God, who held in her right hand her Heart
surrounded by flames, and in her left a sort
of scapular, consisting of a single piece of

green cloth suspended from a cord of the same
color. On one side was a picture of the Blessed
Virgin as she had shown herself in the appari-
tions; on the other, a Heart all inflamed with
rays more brilliant than the sun, and clearer
than crystal.



This Heart pierced with a sword was sur-
rounded by an oval inscription, surmounted by
a cross. The inscription read: “Immaculate
Heart oi Mary, pray tor us now and at the
hour ot our death” At the same time an in-
terior voice revealed to the Sister the meaning
of this vision. She understood that this new
scapular, through the medium of the Sisters
of Charity, would contribute to the conversion
of those who have no faith, and, above all,
procure for them a happy death, and that it
should be distributed immediately with confi-
dence.

For various reasons the execution was long
delayed, in consequence of which the Blessed
Virgin in several apparitions between 1840 and
1846 complained to the Sister. As obstacles
were removed, the scapular was distributed,
producing wonderful conversions and some
bodily cures.

Among favors obtained are the following:
A sick man, a declared enemy of all religion,
was thrown into frenzy by the mere sight of
a priest. He accepted a Green Scapular on
September 19, 1842. Eleven days later, arising
from dinner, he withdrew into an adjoining
room, fell on his knees and took out his scapu-
lar which he called an intermediary agent. Kiss-
ing it and bathing it with tears, he promised
Our Lady to go to confession within a week.
That delay seemed too long, for the next day
he received the sacraments.

In 1844, a child of fourteen with depraved
morals received the scapular and in a few days
his conversion was effected.

At Constantinople a Greek schismatic was
converted by the scapular and also cured of a
hideous leprosy. Many similar examples might
be cited.

The manner of using the scapular was in-
dicated by the Blessed Virgin. Since it is not
the badge of a confraternity but simply a
double image attached to a single piece of



cloth and suspended from a cord, the formali-
ties of a scapular are not required for the
benediction and imposition. It suffices that it
be blessed by a priest and worn by the one for
whom it is intended. It may be placed in the
clothing, on the bed, or simply in the room.
The only prayer to be recited is the inscription
surrounding the heart on the reverse of the
scapular: “Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray
for us now and at the hour of our death.”
This should be repeated daily, if not by the
one wearing it, by the one giving it. The
scapular may be distributed everywhere. Al-
though wonderful graces are attached to it,
they are proportionate to the confidence with
which it is given, as signified by the rays of
different lengths which in the last apparitions,
issued from the hands of the Blessed Virgin.

The Green Scapular was twice approved by
Pope Pius IX, in 1863 and again in 1870 when
he said: “Write to these good Sisters that I
authorize them to make and distribute it.”
An exact account of any conversion or cure which may
be attributed to the Green Scapular should be sent to
Saint Joseph Central House, Emmitsburg, Maryland
with all circumstances of time, place and persons.
Names should not be withheld under pretext of hu-
mility, for there is question of the glory of God and
of His Holy Mother.

Nihil Obstat: E. A. Cerny. S.S., D.D.

Censor Librorum

Imprimatur: Francis P. Keough, D.D.
Archbishop of Baltimore

Feast: Immaculate Heart of Mary
August 2 2, 1950

Green Scapulars, 8 for $1.00; 100 for $12.50.

Copies of this leaflet, 3c each; $2.50 per c;

$20.00 per m.

Address:

Green Scapular Department

St. Joseph Central House
Emmitsburg, Maryland



^tee*t Sozjktdan



The Green Scapular

By Rev. R. MacDonald, C.Ss.R.

It is my conviction, that despite all the wars,
the threat and the horror of Communism, we
are living in the happiest of centuries. Never
since the days that she taught the Infant Jesus
to pray has the Mother of God been closer to
the earth. We are living in the Age of Mary.
Countless signs show us that she has come
down from the Galilean hills of heaven to give
us a new Bethlehem, a reborn Christ in the
hearts of men. Germany, Italy, Portugal and
France have been singularly blessed by her
gentle presence. From all sides witnesses spring
up to attest with wondrous proofs, her pres-
ence among us. She is walking on the earth!
However, there is a dark side to the picture

today, the darkness of the beast. He prowls to
trample and destroy. Never has he been so
apparent. His time is growing short. No one
knows better than he. He has never forgotten
the prophecy in the garden: “I will put enmi-
ties between thee and the woman . . . she shall
crush thy head.” (Gen. 3:15).

He realizes well what the coming of Mary
means to him and his empire. God alone knows
the furious activity of hell, the rage with which
it strives to make this world a madhouse of
hate. How he must hate the tender Virgin as
she journeys from country to country. His
power has been so great that he thought God
had abandoned the world because of its unbe-
lief. He was hopeful of finally conquering the
world, of snatching souls from the nail-scarred
Hands of Christ. Then came Lourdes, then
Fatima and, today, the Mother of God sitting
at the bedside of a sick world.

For years he has succeeded in hiding the
beautiful devotion of her Immaculate Heart
in the Green Scapular. I am sure that most



of you have heard of this matchless devotion
only lately. Yet the good Sister to whom it
was revealed died over forty years ago. This
is not surprising. See how well the evil spirit
hid the marvels of Fatima although Our Lady’s
power flamed in the heavens before fifty thou-
sand men and women.
Let me tell you the story of how I discov-

ered the Green Scapular. This is my only Way
of trying to spread a true and tender love to
her Immaculate Heart and of paying my debt
to her. Seven years ago I was lying in a hos-
pital very ill with pneumonia. I began to
hemorrhage and the doctors decided to oper-
ate as a last resource. Then a little nun came
into my room.

“Father, have you great faith in the Mother
of God, especially in her Immaculate Heart?
If so, you can be cured.”
“How, Sister?”
“Through the Green Scapular.”
“What is that?”
“Four years ago, Father, I was operated on

for cancer. I was so filled with it, that they
just closed me up and sent me away to die.
Then I prayed to Our Lady of the Green
Scapular; grew tired of waiting to die and
came back to work. I am cured, Father. Do
you want me to give you a Scapular?”

“Please, Sister.”

With that she put one over my head. A
feeling of tremendous confidence poured into
me and the bleeding stopped. Two days later,
in the X-ray room, they asked me when the
hemorrhage had ceased. When I replied that
it was a matter of a couple of days, they ex-
pressed great surprise.

“You have a wound that is six months healed
and there is no other mark.” Today even the
scars are gone. No wonder I speak of an un-
payable debt to her Immaculate Heart. Since
then I have done everything possible to foster
this devotion. To my great joy and amaze-
ment, those to whom I have spoken of the



Green Scapular have become more zealous than
I. Never have I seen the equal of the faith
and confidence of these new apostles of Mary.
The tremendous fervor of the crusades must
have been like it.
During May I asked the rector of St. Pat-

rick’s, Toronto, for permission to speak of it at
the Wednesday devotions. I had a thousand
Green Scapulars on hand, but no one thought
that more than thirty would be asked for. The
thousand were gone the first morning. The
room where we distributed them was so
jammed that I feared some one would be
injured. The rest of the day I was besieged
on all sides for more. Foolishly, I showed the
one I had for myself and it was quickly
snatched from my hand.
The spirit in Toronto today is beyond be-

lief. Ten thousand more have been too few.
Over twenty-five priests have come to our mon-
astery begging for scapulars. I have been
stopped on the streets and accosted on trains
by total strangers asking where these scapulars
could be obtained. Montreal has since shown a
like fervor.

I am stunned at the response. I have no ex-
planation for it. Certainly it was not due to
the simple little sermon that I preached. I
believe the explanation of it was given by a
priest with all the simplicity of the priesthood:
“She wants her Heart loved.”

Those who doubted in the beginning are
today the most devoted to the Green Scapular.
It has become something priceless. They love
to say the beautiful prayer which we learned
from Mary’s lips:

“Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now
and at the hour of our death.”

Toronto today is feeling the warmth of that
Heart. A man, who had refused for years to
see a priest, remained adamant on his death-
bed. One of the family brought the Scapular
into his room, said the prayer twice and, sud-
denly out of clear sky, he begged for a priest.



1 must insist that the peculiar power of this

Scapular is that of conversion. To bring her

Son into the hearts of men. To give Him a
new birth there. Although there are many
cures like my own, I repeat, her greatest de-
sire is to give her Son birth in the cradle of

your soul.
The Green Scapular is the story of Sister

Justine Bisqueyburu. An orphan in early life,
she was adopted by a wealthy relative who left

her his fortune. Her greatest day of joy was

November 27, 1839, when she entered the

novitiate of the Daughters of Charity of St.

Vincent de Paul in Paris. Her Sisters in re-

ligion are stationed in Maryland. Address: Sis-

ters of Charity, Central House, Emmitsburg,

Maryland.
They can tell you much better than I the

story of a Sister who inspired love and emula-
tion in everyone who met her. One who was
a confidante of Pope Pius IX in the dark days
preceding his imprisonment in the Vatican; one

who was the admiration of the Mohammedans
of North Africa; the recipient of the flattering

imitation of the famous Florence Nightingale

on the battlefields of the Crimea. They can tell
you the great efforts she made to keep her
identity unknown; how her secret was revealed.
How the Green Scapular found its way to the
desk of Pope Pius XI. They will repeat the
description of the Mother of God, standing in
all her beauty before the young novice, and
returning again and again until the scapular

was made and distributed. Telling the young
Sister that the Scapular could be blessed by
any priest, carried or worn on the person, even
left in one’s room, the only obligation being to

say, once a day (and this can be said in favor
of another) : Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray
for us now and at the hour of our death.”
(The above article was pmblished in the “Madonna
Magazine,” August, 1948, and was copied with permis-
sion by the “Quarterly Bulletin of the Archconfra-
ternity of the Holy Agony, March, 1949. It also ap-
peared in “Fatima Findings,” September, 1949, pub-
lished by the Reparation Society of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, Baltimore, Maryland.



Image of the

IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
On Green Cloth

The Green Scapular or Scapular of the Im-
maculate Heart of Mary is, like the Miraculous
Medal, a gift of our Blessed Mother to the

Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.

On November 27, 1839, Justine Bisqueyburu,
destined by Providence to make known this de-
votion, entered the Seminary, or Novitiate of

the Daughters of Charity, 140 rue du Bac,

Paris. On January 28, 1840, during her first re-
treat, the young Sister was favored with a

celestial vision. Our Lady appeared to her

clothed in a long white robe over which hung

a bright blue mantle. Her hair, which fell

loosely over her shoulders, was not covered

with a veil, and in her hands she held her

Heart, from the top of which issued brilliant

rays. To the dignity of her bearing was joined
the dazzling brightness of celestial beauty. The

young Sister, seized with admiration and fear,

could scarcely repress an exclamation.

The same apparition was repeated four or

five times during her Seminary on the princi-

pal feasts of the Blessed Virgin. This favor

seemed to have no other end than to increase

in the Sister herself tender devotion to Mary
Immaculate.

Clothed with the habit, Sister Bisqueyburu

was sent to Blangy and shortly after her ar-

rival, September 8, 1840, feast of the Nativity

of the Blessed Virgin, she was favored during

prayer with an apparition of the Mother of

God, who held in her right hand her Heart
surrounded by flames, and in her left a sort

of scapular, consisting of a single piece of

green cloth suspended from a cord of the same

color. On one side was a picture of the Blessed
Virgin as she had shown herself in the appari-

tions; on the other, a Heart all inflamed with

rays more brilliant than the sun, and clearer

than crystal.



This Heart pierced with a sword was sur-
rounded by an oval inscription, surmounted by
a cross. The inscription read: “Immaculate
Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the
hour of our death." At the same time an in-
terior voice revealed to the Sister the meaning
of this vision. She understood that this new
scapular, through the medium of the Sisters
of Charity, would contribute to the conversion
of those who have no faith, and, above all,
procure for them a happy death, and that it
should be distributed immediately with confi-
dence.

For various reasons the execution was long
delayed, in consequence of which the Blessed
Virgin in several apparitions between 1840 and
1846 complained to the Sister. As obstacles
were removed, the scapular was distributed,
producing wonderful conversions and some
bodily cures.

Among favors obtained are the following:
A sick man, a declared enemy of all religion,
was thrown into frenzy by the mere sight of
a priest. He accepted a Green Scapular on
September 19, 1842. Eleven days later, arising
from dinner, he withdrew into an adjoining
room, fell on his knees and took out his scapu-
lar which he called an intermediary agent. Kiss-
ing it and bathing it with tears, he promised
Our Lady to go to confession within a week.
That delay seemed too long, for the next day
he received the sacraments.

In 1844, a child of fourteen with depraved
morals received the scapular and in a few days
his conversion was effected.

At Constantinople a Greek schismatic was
converted by the scapular and also cured of a
hideous leprosy. Many similar examples might
be cited.

The manner of using the scapular was in-
dicated by the Blessed Virgin. Since it is not
the badge of a confraternity but simply a
double image attached to a single piece of



cloth and suspended from a cord, the formali-
ties of a scapular are not required for the
benediction and imposition. It suffices that it
be blessed by a priest and worn by the one for
whom it is intended. It may be placed in the
clothing, on the bed, or simply in the room.
The only prayer to be recited is the inscription
surrounding the heart on the reverse of the
scapular: “Immaculate Heart oi Mary, pray
for us now and at the hour of our death."
This should be repeated daily, if not by the
one wearing it, by the one giving it. The
scapular may be distributed everywhere. Al-
though wonderful graces are attached to it,
they are proportionate to the confidence with
which it is given, as signified by the rays of
different lengths which in the last apparitions,
issued from the hands of the Blessed Virgin.

The Green Scapular was twice approved by
Pope Pius IX, in 1863 and again in 1870 when
he said: “Write to these good Sisters that I
authorize them to make and distribute it.”
An exact account of any conversion or cure which may
be attributed to the Green Scapular should be sent to
Saint Joseph Central House, Emmitsburg, Maryland
with all circumstances of time, place and persons.
Names should not be withheld under pretext of hu-
mility, for there is question of the glory of God and
of His Holy Mother.

Nihil Obstat: E. A. Cerny. S.S., D.D.

Censor Librorum

Imprimatur: Francis P. Keough, D.D.

Archbishop of Baltimore

Feast: Immaculate Heart of Mary
August 22, 1950

Green Scapulars, 8 for $1.00; 100 for $12.50.

Copies of this leaflet, 3c each; $2.50 per c;

$20.00 per m.

Address:

Green Scapular Department

St. Joseph Central House
Emmitsburg, Maryland