This week I received a package of 4 new scapulars in the mail! I was so delighted. The last time I placed an order with Sacramentals.com was years ago. They simply have the best scapulars I've ever seen, all made by Rose Scapular Company.Because I tend to randomly give my scapulars away to people that I love, my supply has been dwindling. I gave my favorite Brown Crusader Scapular (blessed by Pope Benedict, no doubt!!) to my dear friend Shawn over the summertime, and local Catholic gift shops just don't seem to stock them any longer so I hadn't been able (until now) to replace it.
Becky fell in love with my extra large purple Scapular of Benediction & Protection when she visited here 2 years ago, so I insisted that she take it with her when she left. It had on it an image of the pieta, that sad scene where Mary is holding her Son Jesus after He has been taken down from the cross.
Josh chose to take a Brown Scapular with St. Michael on it when I wished him well in this year of training and service in Iraq, and I gave my parents a pair of Brown Scapulars as gifts last Christmas. I got my first Brown Scapular when I received my First Holy Communion in 2nd Grade, and--ever since--it's just kinda been important to me. :-)
Our Catholic tradition has a beautiful rainbow of scapulars for the faithful. Although brown is the most popular (beginning in 1251 AD), they come in white (1193), black (1240), blue (1605), green (1840), red (1846), purple (1878), and gold (1880). I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the existence of a pretty pastel yellow scapular (2009) and hopefully a fun, bright orange one (2010). There should be a pink one (2011), too!!
Typically, the color of each scapular is associated with a particular religious order within Catholicism. The Brown Scapular is meant to be a small version of the brown habit worn by the Carmelites, for example, who live a spiritual life based on the hermits (St. Simon Stock, among them) who lived long ago on Mt. Carmel.
They are meant to serve as little, itchy wool reminders that God is always watching us. Many miracles have been bestowed by God upon those who wear the scapular with faith (and not superstition). Astoundingly, Our Blessed Mother has told us that "no person shall die wearing the Brown Scapular and suffer eternal fire." This means that to put on the armor of a scapular takes a significant act of faith and belief in God. If faith the size of a mustard seed is meant to move mountains, is it a pea-sized faith that one needs to put on a scapular, showing the belief in being saved by Christ?
Probably not, I'd guess, because I will admit that I wear mine without the ability to fully understand them. I'm learning all the time, and I did learn that when one is invested into the confraternity of a particular scapular (via a priest's words and blessings), that person will reap the spiritual benefits of the order's prayers. In other words, these religious men and women must regularly pray for "All those who wear our order's scapular," thus offering a prayer for even those people which they may not know directly. How cool that we can benefit spiritually by being part of the confraternity, which is, really, just a foretaste of the Eternal Communion of Saints which we will enjoy in Heaven with God!
