I wanted to take a moment to talk about scapulars and what they mean for us in faith. Several years ago, while I was at a retreat with my youth group (we were in junior high and in the mountains), the priest that was with us started talking about scapulars. I remember having no idea what that meant, but I was far too afraid to ask, as if in asking him I would be letting him down somehow. Despite my cowardice, someone else in the group asked, and I am very grateful for that. The priest told us that a scapular is a promise- it is a sign of your faith. When you commit to wearing a scapular, you are making a lasting statement of your faith. Those who wear a scapular rarely take it off. Some even wear it when bathing. I remember being shocked and amazed at this. I found myself questioning "How could someone devote themself to something like this? This is a big commitment for your faith!" Despite thinking that the practice was cool, I thought that I would never take up this devotion, but God had other plans. At the end of the weekend, I received a brown scapular, so myself and a few friends decided that we would start to wear them, at first to humour the priest, but later it became something we all maintained as a sign of our faith. As time went on, and we started to enter high school, I saw one by one my friends stop wearing this scapular. They often would make up an excuse, saying they forgot to put it on, but what was really happening was that they were being tested in their faith. We were no longer in our catholic school and the idea of faith seemed to make you less popular amongst your classmates. So they started to leave the practice. Now I know you're wondering, "David, I have never seen you wear this! What happened?" Well, for me, I was quite fond of the practice. I diligently wore it every day and often even would wear it into the shower, but this disintegrated the weave in the rope, and it eventually broke apart. Let's back up for a second. What is a scapular? A scapular is an object that you wear on your neck. It has pieces of fabric on both ends, typically of woven wool. You wear it evenly on your neck with one piece on your front and one on the back. The word scapular derives from the latin word for shoulder. This object is a sacramental. A sacramental is an object that works to "prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it" (CCC 1670). Some other sacramentals include palms from Palm Sunday, Holy Water, saint medals, etc. These items are blessed.
There are several different types of scapulars, but I will describe a few of them. There is the brown scapular is a symbol of the Carmelite order. The story goes that Our Lady gave this to St Simon Stock, and with it she said "..."he who dies in this will not suffer eternal fire." What this means is that as this is an outward sign of faith, it should compel us to continue to grow closer to God, and if we maintain this practice throughout our lives, we should be in a place where we will be in a position to go to heaven, or at the very least purgatory for a time. Our Lady also described it as a, "...sign of salvation, a safeguard in dangers, a pledge of peace and of the covenant." Some other scapulars include the red scapular, which is a devotion to the Passion of Our Lord, the black scapular which is the seven sorrows of Mary, and the green scapular which is the Immaculate Heart of Mary. You can read about them some more HERE. I hope that I have been able to help you learn a little about scapulars! They are a really cool devotion that I encourage you to check out more! God Bless!
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PulsePulse is our Jr High group (Grades 6-9) for those who want to be journeying to learn more about God and how He fits into this crazy thing called life! From Saint of the Day to talks to activities, we work to understand more about our faith and its importance in our everyday lives as we all work to become modern day saints. Categories
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