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THE FIVE SCiPELilRS

Raymond J. Miller, C.SS.R.

Copyright 1960

LIGUORIAN PAMPHLETS
KEDEMPTOBIST FATHERS

Liguori, Missouri



This is a summarized account of the five sea

ulars, usually worn as a unit, and of the pro:

ises made to those who wear these scapulai

Imprimi Potest:

John N. McCormick, C.SS.R.

Provincial, St. Louis Province,

Redemptorist Fathers

July 5, 1960

Imprimatur

:

St. Louis, July 12, 1960

^ Joseph E. Ritter
Archbishop of St. Louis

PROVO
^IVER^r

Tm



THE ME SCAPELARS
Raymond J. Miller, C.SS.R.

Red — white — blue — black —
)rown: these are the five scapulars, five

ittle pieces of wool, each about an inch

quare, worn by Catholics as an act of

levotion to the Mother of God.

With one exception, they are small-

cale copies of the religious garb worn

)y monks and nuns of various religious

orders. Wearing them signifies an inten-

ion on the part of the wearer to share,

IS far as he can, in the life of the monks

)r nuns of these orders: their prayers,

A^prks, merits; their influence with . God;

ind the benefits that God or Our Lady

lave promised from heaven to confer up-

m' those who would be faithful in wear-

ng that particular religious garb.

- 3 -



The one exception is the red scapula

this one was revealed from heaven by Oi

Lord precisely as a small scapular; it

not derived from any larger religioi

garb.

And it is true that each of the fb

scapulars is traced back to a revelatic

from heaven; although the revealing co

ered an immense period of time. It wj

six and a half centuries, to be exact. T1

first revelation, about the white scapula

occurred in the year 1190; and the la

one, about the red, was made in 184

Here are the stories of those revel;

tions.

St. John of Matha, a Spaniard, wj

saying his first holy Mass in 1190 whe

he saw over the altar the figure of c

angel wearing a white robe^, with a bli

and red cross on the breast and tl

shoulder. St. John was given to unde

stand that this was the kind of religioi

garb, or habit, that the Lord wished

be worn by the members of the new rel

gious order that John was about to foun(

It was to be called the Order of the Mo

- 4 -



rtoly Trinity, and was to be dedicated to

!;he work of redeeming Christians who

lad been captured by the Turks of north-

ern Africa and reduced to slavery.

In 1198 St. John and his first compan-

ons had applied to Pope Innocent III

:or papal approval of their new order.
' SVhile he was debating the matter, he too

Sad a vision of the angel in the white

*obe with the red and blue cross, and

hereupon did grant the approval. Such

j

s the story related in the Roman brevi-

ary of the origin of the Trinitarian Or-

ler, and incidentally of its scapular, the

\^hite scapular. And beyond a doubt the

)rder and its work turned out to be wor-

^ hy of the approval of heaven and the

^Church. During the three centuries from

M200 to 1500, there were some ninety

^ housand Christians rescued by its means

'^Tom behind the iron curtain of those

lays.

|!

Next in order of time to be revealed

jrom heaven was the black scapular of

'^:he Sorrowful Mother, or of the Seven

Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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In the year 1240 there were seve

men, prominent citizens of Florence i

central Italy, who had gathered togeth^

regularly and bound themselves by vo

to honor the Mother of God in her so

rows. One evening while they were

their prayers, she appeared to them hoh

ing some black garments in her hand

“Behold,” she said, “the manner of tl

garments with which I wish you to 1

clothed. These garments shall be to yc

a perpetual memory of the sufferings <

my heart.”

Following upon this vision, the seve

holy men founded the Order of the Se

vants of Mary, or the Servites. It is we

known in the United States as the ord(

which promotes the novena devotions i

honor of the Sorrov^ful Mother, held i

many churches every Friday night. Th

small black scapular of the Sorrowfi

Mother derives its origin from this visio

of the Mother of God. In fact, there :

evidence to show that historically th

black scapular was the first of all the fiv

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;

small scapulars to be adopted and worn

I

by lay people.

c
Next came the brown scapular in 1251

\md 1322. The Roman breviary relates

I
that Our Lady appeared to St. Simon

r Stock, an Englishman who was superior-

^

general of the Carmelite Order, in Cam-

1,

bridge, England, in the year 1251. Hold-

ing in her hands the brown habit of the

Carmelites, she made this promise: “Who-

ever dies in this habit shall not suffer

everlasting fire.”

In 1322 Pope John XXII issued a pa-

pal document in which he declared that

e
Our Lady had appeared to him also and

made this promise in regard to those who

e
wear the brown Carmelite habit and ful-

lefill certain other conditions: “I, the Moth-

ijer of Grace, shall descend on the Satur-

iiday after their death, and whomsoever I

in purgatory I shall free, so tl*at I

ijmay lead them to the holy mountain of

Qjlife everlasting.”

i This extraordinary promise has come

lito be known as the Sabbatine Privilege

v((in Latin, Sabbatum means Saturday).

- 7 -



We shall have more to say about it wh
we come to speak of the benefits and t

obligations connected with the wearing

the scapulars. Here we mention only t

it is universally accepted in Catholic l;j

that this Sabbatine promise of Our La

applies not only to actual members of t

Carmelite Order, but it is connected al

with the wearing of the small brow

scapular, by any and all Christians.

Several centuries elapsed before hea

'

en spoke again to reveal one of the fi

scapulars. This time it was in the ye

1605, in the city of Naples, to a holy ni

by the name of Sister Ursula Beninca

Our Lord Himself appeared to her ai

made great promises if she and her f<

low-nuns would adopt as their religio

habit one of a light blue color in hon

of the Immaculate Conception of t

Mother. Sister Ursula then asked Him

He would grant similar favors to those

the laity or of other religious orders wl

would wear in honor of the Immacuh

Conception a small blue scapular; ai

Our Lord did so promise.

- 8 -

I



I

* Several centuries passed again, and we

1 come to the year 1846, to the city of

Troyes in France, and to Sister Appoline

1 Andriveau, of the Sisters of Charity. In

i that year Our Blessed Lord appeared to

her, showing her the red scapular of the

Passion, promising that whoever would

I wear it would receive a great increase of

'' faith, hope and charity on every Friday.

'This vision was several times repeated;

^

and the extraordinary thing about it is

the rapidity with which it was approved

g

in Rome. The visions occurred in 1846;

and the very next year, 1847, Pope Pius

IX approved it and enriched it with many

indulgences. So prompt an action on the

Impart of Holy Mother Church in a mat-

ter of this kind hardly has a parallel.

Such was the origin of each of the five

H scapulars. According to the accounts,

^ each of them was revealed directly from

5' heaven. The custom of wearing the small

scapulars as a kind of small-scale copy

la of the original habit, it is true, did not

H come into practice until about the year

1600. By their connection with the orig-

-9-



inals, however, they too may be said i

have come at least indirectly from heave

But the stories of these heavenly visioi

are not the only reasons, nor indeed eve

the main one, for their importance ar

power in Catholic life. It is the approv

of the Church which gives them the

real value, and gives them the blessii

of heaven more certainly and dependab

than all the stories of revelations fro

on high.

Now the Church has approved eac

one of the five scapulars independent!

by itself: the red, white, blue, black ar

brown. And we might mention here th

the Church has also approved many otl

er scapulars besides our five. There a:

also those of the third orders of St. Frai

cis and of St. Dominic; those of Our Lac

of Good Counsel, of St. Joseph, of S

Benedict, of the Precious Blood, of tl

Sacred Heart, and the black scapular <

the Passion; also the green scapular «

Our Lady and a number of others; aboi

twenty in all.

Our own five scapulars however, ha^

- 10 -



one very special distinction; they have

been approved not only each by itself,

but also all together. The five scapulars

are one single devotion, approved as such

by the Church.

In Europe about the beginning of the

present century they were often called

iThe Redemptorist Scapulars, for the Re-

demptorist Fathers on their missions al-

ways preached (as they still do) the de-

votion of the five scapulars, and had

received power from Pope Leo XIII in

the year 1886 to enroll the faithful in

them. Even as far back as St. Alphonsus’

time, in the 1700’s, Redemptorists had

the faculties from the pope to enroll in

four of the five: the white, black, brown

and blue. And when the red scapular was

revealed to Sister Appoline in 1846, and

Pope Pius approved it in 1847, it was

not long before people began asking for

that scapular as well as the four from

Dlden times; and it was this popular de-

mand that gave rise, in the providence of

jrod, to the devotion of the five scapulars.

So much for the origin and approval

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of the five scapulars; now for their be

efits.

The main one is that the wearer enjo

some special protection of the Blesst

Virgin Mary. Even though not all tl

five are scapulars of Our Lady, yet

Catholic tradition they have come to 1

taken as a special sign of devotion to he

As such, St. Alphonsus recommends tl

wearing of the scapular in a list of D
votions to Mary he gives in his class

Glories of Mary; and states that he hir

self was enrolled in the four: whit

black, brown and blue (in his time tl

red had not yet been revealed).

Another benefit is the company whic

the five scapulars bring us into. Tl

wearer is affiliated somehow with thr

religious orders, and four confraternitie

The three orders are: the Trinitarian

for the white scapular; the Servites, f(

the black; and the Carmelites for tl

brown. The four confraternities of whic

the wearer becomes a member by beii

enrolled in the five scapulars are: of tl

Most Holy Trinity, for the white; of tl

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Sorrowful Mother, for the black; of Our

Lady of Mount Carmel, for the brown;

and of the Immaculate Conception, for

the blue. The last named is of compar-

atively recent origin: Pope Leo XIII es-

tablished the confraternity of the Im-

maculate Conception on September 18,

1894.

And note again that the red scapular

is not derived from any religious garb,

and has no confraternity. It is a Catholic

devotion. It does not make a wearer a

member of any spiritual organization, but

it has its own benefits and obligations.

Indulgences are often spoken of as one

of the great benefits of the five scapulars,

but it must be said that at the present

time they are not so extremely numer-

ous. Perhaps there are three or four

plenary indulgences every month, to be

gained usually by receiving the sacra-

ments and saying an Our Father, Hail

Mary, and Glory be for the intentions of

the Holy Father. The red scapular car-

ries with it the privileges of gaining a

plenary indulgence every Friday if one

~ 13 -



meditates for at least a quarter of an hou

on the Passion of Our Lord. This shoul

not be too difficult for persons who mak

a daily meditation. They could make

for that day on the Passion.

- 14 -



THE SCAPULAR PROMISES

What are the promises that heaven has

made for wearing the five scapulars? Im-

plicitly, there is a very real promise with

each of them. When our Lord or His

mother appeared with the individual re-

ligious habits, they were as much as say-

ing: “Wear this for Me, and I will love

you.”

Explicitly, however, not every one of

the five has a specific promise. There is

none (at least as far as this writer has

found) in so many words for the white

or for the black. For the blue, our Lord

promised “great favors” for the wearers

“and others” no doubt for those near

and dear to the wearers; He also seems

to have promised special power to their

prayers for the conversion of sinners.

For the red, He promised “a great in-

crease of faith, hope and charity on every

Friday.”

The promises of the brown scapular

of Mount Carmel are the most famous.

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To St. Simon Stock, the Blessed Virgii

promised that its wearers would escape

hell; to Pope John XXII she promisee

that she would free them from purgator]

on the Saturday after their death. Thii

latter Sabbatine promise has been the

object of a vast amount of controversy

The main point of the controversy waj

settled by the Church many years ago

when Pope Paul V issued a decree or
January 20, 1613:

‘Tt is lawful for the Carmelites tc

preach that the faithful may piously be-

lieve in the assistance promised to the

brethren themselves and also to the mem-

bers of the Confraternity of Mount Car-

mel, namely, that the Blessed Virgin wil

assist by her continual intercession, suf-

frages and merits, and also by her specia:

protection, particularly on the Saturday

after their death, the souls of those

brethren and members of the Confra-

ternity who depart this life in charity and

whilst living on earth have worn the

habit, observed chastity according to theii

state in life, etc.”

- 16 -



We shall discuss the other conditions

/hen speaking of the obligations of the

irown scapular.

Besides getting things for wearing the

capular, however, we are also empower-

d to do things. The scapular is not a

pod luck charm. The wearer is not sup-

osed to be completely passive about it.

lather, it is to inspire him to do things

or God and for souls. This is one of the

•enefits.

Wearing the white scapular is a way

f sharing in the works, merits and pow-

r of the Trinitarian Fathers, who saved

'0,000 Christian slaves from behind the

ron curtain of days gone by. The mod-

rn wearer of the white scapular and

lember of the Confraternity of the Most

loly Trinity, is sharing in those merits;

5 drawing upon them in his own prayers

nd good works in the work of bringing

elief and perhaps even deliverance to

lie thousands of slaves behind the iron

urtain of our own day.

Similarly, the wearing of the black

capular in honor of the Mother of Sor-

- 17 -



rows is a good work calculated to brii

down the favor of that Mother on all tl

mothers and all the loved ones bereave

by war or persecution or exile in our ov

day.

Our Lady of Fatima revealed to tl

children that devotion to her Immac^

late Heart is the way to world peace ai

the conversion of Russia. The blue sea;

ular of the Immaculate Conception c

fers a way of practicing that devotio

also the red, which, besides being tl

scapular of the Passion, is also that -

the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the In

maculate Heart of Mary. And in h<

final great apparition at Fatima, Maj

took the appearance of Our Lady <

Mount Carmel, according to the accoun

of the children.

Now for the obligations of the fr

scapulars: what must the scapulars thee

selves be made of? what about the e:

rolling and the wearing (with somethii

about the scapular medal)! and the pra;

ers or devotions that have to be pe

formed?

- 18 -



The scapulars must be of wool; there

must be two sets of the five, joined with

red strings. They must be worn around

the neck, one set on the breast, the other

on the back. It is not required that the

red cord be attached to each of the five

scapulars. They may be wrapped in cel-

lophane or other transparent material,

as long as the blue and red cross on the

(vhite scapular remains visible.

In particular, the requirements for the

white scapular are that it have a blue and

red cross sewed onto the front piece of

the two parts of the scapular. On the
back piece, there need be nothing; and

sometimes it is reduced to half size. For

the cross, the up and down beam must
be red, and the one across must be the

blue. The white scapular must be the

first or last among the five, for the reason

that the cross upon it must be visible.

There is no special legislation about

the make-up of the black, blue and brown

scapulars, except that they must be wool-

;n. They may have an image of the
Blessed Virgin upon them, but this is not

- 19 -



necessary. The scapular of Our Lady (

Mount Carmel may also be colored blac

instead of brown; though among the fi\

it will always be brown to distinguish

from the black one of the Sorrowft

Mother.

The red, however, is very special. O
one of the two pieces it must have a

image of our Lord on the cross with tb

prayer: “Holy Passion of our Lord Jesi

Christ, save us!” On the other piece thei

must be an image of the hearts of Jesi

and Mary, with the prayer: “Sacre

Hearts of Jesus and Mary, protect us!”

In order to share in the benefits of th

five scapulars, two things are always a

sential: 1) one must be enrolled in eac

of them by a priest having the powe

and 2) one must wear the scapulars (c

the scapular medal).

About the enroUing: most priests nov

adays have the power to enroll, or ca

obtain it fairly easily. Many priests ha\

also the power to enroll in the scapulai

under a single formula. This means thj

instead of having to place the five scaj

- 20 -



ulars upon the person’s shoulders five

times, as they would otherwise have to

do, a single imposing of the five will suf-

fice, when accompanied of course with

the proper prayers.

This is the manner of the enrolling

when there is a large crowd to be en-

rolled: (There is no problem if it is only

one or two.)

The priest having the proper faculties

can use a single scapular to enroll them

all. And it need not be a scapular belong-

ing to anyone of the persons to be en-

rolled.

1) The priest blesses the scapular. If

it is blessed already, that is, if he

has used it before in an enrolling

ceremony, he may omit the bless-

ing.

2) Next, before imposing it upon any-

one (not after), he recites the en-

rolling words: “Receive the habit

of the Most Blessed Trinity . . .”

“Receive the scapular of the Pas-

sion of Our Lord . . .” etc.

- 21 -



3) Then he does the actual imposin

by laying it for a moment on tf

shoulder (it need not be arour

the neck) of each person; ar

leaves it lying on the shoulder i

the last one.

4) Finally he says the concludir

prayers.

Some priests have a special privilege

If there are more than tw^enty persons l

be enrolled, and each has his own scapi

lar, they can impose it upon themselvc

at the proper time in the ceremony. Bi

this will not usually be the case; mo;

persons nowadays have not the scapuh

but the scapular medal.

Afterwards the name of each perso

e^olled must be taken down and sent i

to some church where one of the foi

confraternities is established: of the Mo;

Holy Trinity, of the Sorrowful Mothe:

c3Ff^ Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and c

the Immaculate Conception. Redemptoi

ists, however, are privileged to enroll i

the scapulars without the obligation c

sending in the names.

- 22 -



As to the actual wearing of the scap-

jlars, they must be worn around the

leck or carried on the person. If a scap-

ular is lost or worn out, all that is neces-

>ary is to procure another one and put it

Dn; no new blessing is required. If a per-

son once enrolled has completely given

Lip wearing it, but now wishes to take

jp the practice again, all he needs to do

is to get a new one and put it on. No

new blessing or enrolling is required.

This is the case with the scapulars them-

selves. ^But if one procures a new med-

al, the medal must always be blessed.

And that brings us to the scapular

medal. In 1910 Pope Pius X granted the
privilege of wearing the scapular medal

instead of the scapulars, declaring that

thereby the wearer shared in all the bless-

ings and benefits of the scapulars for

which the medal had been blessed, “not

excluding,” he says with emphasis, “the

Sabbatine privilege.”

But note these things about the scap-

ular medal:

1) The first enrolling must be in the

- 23 -



scapular, not in the medal, except i

persons in the armed forces, who m
be enrolled directly with the medal.

2) The medal supplies for any a

all scapulars for which it is blessed; tl

is, if the priest had faculties to enroll

the five scapulars, and blessed the mec

properly, it carries all the privileges of t

five. If he blesses it for still others, it c:

ries their privileges too.

3) The priest in blessing the mec

need only make the sign of the cross o\

the medal for each scapular. He ne

say no words; but he must keep ea

scapular distinct in his mind as he ble!

es. He can do so by repeating with ea

sign of the cross: ‘‘Red — White -
Blue — etc.”

4) How does a scapular medal loo
It must have on one side an image

our Lady, any accepted representati*

of her whatever; and on the other, t

image of our Lord with His Heart sho

ing.

5) The scapular medal need not

worn around the neck, but may be ci

- 24 -



ried anywhere on the person, or sewed

in the clothes, (for example, in a bath-

ing suit).

We now come finally to the prayers

that have to be said or good works done

in order to gain the benefits of the scap-

ulars.

For four of them, namely all but the

brown, there is nothing imposed as of

obligation. It is the brown scapular that

has the special obligations. Not as re-

gards our Lady’s promise to St. Simon

Stock, about saving the wearers from

hell; that requires only the faithful wear-

ing of the scapular. But to gain the Sab-

batine privilege; to make sure of being

freed from purgatory on the Saturday aft-

er our death (if not sooner); there we

do have something special to do.

The decree of Pope Paul V of Janu-
ary 20, 1613, which was partially quot-

ed above, goes on to list these obligations

of the Sabbatine privilege. It declares

that we may believe that the Blessed Vir-

gin will bring special help: especially on

the Saturday after their death to the souls

- 25 -



of those brethren and those members

the confraternity who depart this life

charity and who, whilst living, have wo

the habit, observed chastity according

their state, and who shall have recited t

Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mai

or, if they cannot read, shall have o

served the fasts of the Church and sh;

have abstained from flesh meat on We
nesdays and Saturdays (unless the Fes

of the Nativity of our Lord falls on th

day).

Note that, besides wearing the brov

scapular, this decree imposes two obt

gations, with a substitute offered for t'

second.

The first obligation is that of “cha

tity according to one’s state.” This do

not mean that the wearer of the brov

scapular may not get married, but th

married or single he must strive to avo

sins against chastity, and if he shou

fall into sin, must be prompt to reper

The second is “reciting the little c

fice of the Blessed Virgin.” This is

very ancient Catholic devotion, consis

- 26 -



ng of a collection of hymns and psalms

ind prayers in honor of our Lady, mod-

eled on the divine office which priests

ay every day; a kind of abbreviated

)reviary in honor of Mary. It must be

aid every day to gain the scapular prom-

se. Those bound to say the regular di-

dne office fulfill the obligation by that

^ery exercise. Sisters who recite the new

hort breviary in English (as many are

loing nowadays) would also seem to be

ulfilling this obligation; at least, any

)riest who has faculties to enroll in the

)rown scapular can commute the obli-

gation of the little office into this Eng-

ish office for them.

The substitute for the second obliga-

ion in Paul V’s decree is to “observe the

asts of the Church and abstain on Wed-

nesdays and Saturdays.” But very often

n modern life even this substitute is

)ractically impossible. So the Church,

ike a solicitous mother, has gone on to

)ffer a substitute for the substitute. She

las granted to every priest who has facul-

ies to enroll in the brown scapular, the

- 27 -



power to change or commute this fa

ing and abstaining into the performar

of certain good works or the recitati

of certain prayers. Good works would t

periodic almsgiving; regular contributic

to the missions; hearing Mass on wee

days; kissing the brown scapular da

with the prayer: “Our Lady of Mov

Carmel, pray for us!” As to the prayc

to be recited, various suggestions e

made by writers on the subject. Soi

say it should be seven Our Fathers a

Hail Marys every day; some would bri

it down as low as one Our Father, o

Hail Mary, and one Glory be, every dc

The exact prayers will depend on t

judgment of the priest who does t

commuting.

This, then, is the devotion of the fi

scapulars. In one way it seems easy, cc

sidering the magnitude of the benefits

offers. But to be faithful throughout li

in a conscious and deliberate way, to tl

easy exercise of wearing the little sea

ulars and fulfilling the other obligatic

is no little thing, and wiU surely bri

- 28 -



le rewards that heaven has promised

nd Holy Mother Church has made her

wn by her approval.

“Those enrolled in the five scapulars

re to be enrolled in the four confra-

jrnities pertaining to the white, black,

rown and blue scapulars. There is no

onfraternity and no inscribing necessary,

3r the red scapular.

- 29 -



WHITE

Rev. Director,

Confraternity of the Most Holy

Trinity,

St. Ann’s Church,

Bristol, Pennsylvania

BLACK

Rev. Director,

Confraternity of Our Lady of

Sorrows,

3121 Jackson Blvd.,

Chicago 12, Illinois

BROWN

Rev. Director,

Confraternity of Our Lady of M
Carmel,

Carmel of Holy Hill,

Hubertus, Wisconsin

BLUE

Rev. Director,

Confraternity of the Blue Scapula

1156 9th St.,

Denver 4, Colorado

- 30 -



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