Question: A friend of mine recently gave me a Green Scapular and when I asked her whether it was different from the Brown Scapular she wasn’t sure. Can you help us both?
By Fr John Flader
The Brown Scapular, as I wrote in an earlier column (cf. J. Flader, Question Time, Connor Court 2008, n. 136) was revealed to St Simon Stock in 1251 and is a source of many graces for those who use it by virtue of their association with the Carmelite Order.
The Green Scapular has a different origin and purpose.
It dates to the year 1840, ten years after the revelation of the Miraculous Medal to St Catherine Labouré, a Daughter of Charity in Rue de Bac, in Paris (cf. J. Flader, ibid., n. 135).
As with the Miraculous Medal, it was Our Lady who revealed the Green Scapular to a Daughter of Charity, Sr Justine Bisqueyburu. Significantly, Sr Justine had entered the novitiate at Rue de Bac on November 27, 1839, the ninth anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to St Catherine Labouré.
It was there, on January 28 the following year, that Our Lady first appeared to Sr Justine.
Mary was dressed in a long white gown with a light blue mantle, but she wore no veil. In her hands she held her heart, from which flames burst forth.
Our Lady appeared to Sr Justine again four or five times during her novitiate.
After completing the novitiate, Sr Justine was sent to Blangy, (Seine-Inférieure) to teach school. It was there, on September 8, 1840, the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, that Our Lady appeared to her, holding in her right hand her heart surmounted by flames, and in the other hand a Scapular, consisting of a single rectangular piece of green cloth, hanging from a string which was also green and closed so as to be worn around the neck.
On one side was a picture of the Blessed Virgin as she had revealed herself in the preceding apparitions. On the other was a heart ablaze with rays more dazzling than the sun, and as transparent as crystal. That is how Sr Justine herself described the vision.
The heart, pierced by a sword and surmounted by a gold cross, was surrounded by an inscription in the shape of an oval which read, “Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us, now and at the hour of our death.”
At the same time, Sr Justine heard an interior voice saying that this holy picture was to contribute to the conversion of sinners and infidels and to win for them a good death, and that copies should be made as soon as possible.
Sr Justine informed her Superior of what had happened but no action was taken to make the Scapulars. She received the same apparition a year later on August 15 and September 13, 1841, but still the Scapulars were not made.
Our Lady expressed her displeasure at this in another vision on May 3, 1842. A few Scapulars were then produced but without much confidence and hence the results were not very satisfactory. Our Lady spoke of this several times in 1846 and finally the Scapulars were produced in greater numbers. The question then arose as to whether any special blessing or prayers were required to make the Scapular effective.
In an apparition on September 8, 1846, Our Lady explained that since the Scapular was not the habit of a confraternity, it was sufficient that a priest bless it and that it be worn or carried by the person whose conversion was sought. It could also be left in this person’s clothing or room.
The prayer on the Scapular was to be recited everyday, either by the person whose conversion was sought or by the person giving them the Scapular. The benefits received would be in proportion to the degree of confidence and faith accompanying it.