SCAPULAR
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SCAPULAR
the Most Blessed Trinity. To Innocent III, who
Banctioned the Order of the Trinitarians on 28
January, 1198, an angel is said to have appeared,
wearing a white garment and on his breast a cross,
of which the transverse shaft was blue and the
longitudinal shaft red. The Trinitarians were ac-
cordingly assigned this as their habit. When later
the faithful sought to associate themselves more
closely with their order in confraternities, the Trini-
tarians gave them as their outward badge the scapular
described above. The red and blue cross is essential
only on the front segment of woollen cloth which
hangs before the breast. Each person who joins the
Confraternity of the Blessed Trinity must be in-
vested with this scapular and must constantly wear
it. The indulgences of this confraternity were last
approved by a Decree of the Congregation of Indul-
gences of 13 August, 1899. The General of the
Trinitarians may communicate to other priests the
faculty of receiving into the confraternity and of
blessing and investing with the scapular (Beringer,
"Die Ablasse", 13th ed., 584 sqq.; French tr.,
3rd ed., II, 107; cf. Baro Bonav., "Annales Ord.
SS. Trinit.", Rome, 1684, p. Ixxviii ad an 1598).
B. The Scapular of Our Lady of Ransom {B. Marice V. de Mercede redemptionis caplivorum). — Like the Trinitarians, the Fathers of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the Ransom of Prisoners give the faithful a special scapular on their entering the confraternity erected by them. The; order was founded by St. Peter Xolasco (d. 1256) . The scapular is of white cloth, and bears on the front part, which hangs over the breast, the picture of Our Lady of Ransom. The other part consists simply of a smaller segment of white cloth. The summary of indulgences of the confraternity was last approved by the Con- gregation of Indulgences on 30 July, 1868 (Rescr. auth. S. C. Indulg., pp. 483 sqq., n. 36). The General of the Mercedarians communicates to other priests the faculty of receiving into the confraternity and of blessing and investing with the scapular. In the "BuUar. Ord. B. M. V. de Mercede" (Barcelona, 1696), p. 16, mention is made of a Constitution of Urban IV issued at Viterbo on 25 March, 1263, granting afresh to the laity who wear the scapular of the order {habitum 7ioslrum) in the world many graces and indulgences. We do no more than record this circumstance exactly as it is related in the "Bullarium". However, the encyclical could not have been issu(>d from Viterbo on 25 March, 1263, for Urban IV was at that time in Orvieto.
C. The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the best known, most celebrated, and most widespread of the small scapulars. It is spoken of as "the Scapular", and the "feast of the Scapular" is that of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 16 July. It is probably the oldest scapular and served as the proto- type of the others. According to a pious tradition the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Simon Stock (q. V.) at Cambridge, England, on Sunday, 16 July, 1251. In answer to his appeal for help for his oj)- pressed order, she appeared to him with a scapu- lar in her hand and said: "Take, beloved son, this scapular of thy order as a badge of my con- fraternity and for thee and all Carmelites a special sign of grace; whoever dies in this garment, will not suf- fer everlasting fire. It is the sign of salvation, a safe- guard in dangers, a pledge of peace and of the covenant" . This tradition, however, appears in such a precise form for the first time in 1642, when the words of the Blessed Virgin were given in a circular of St. Simon Stock, which he is said to have dictated to his companion, secretary, and confessor, Peter Swanyngton. Although it has now been sufficiently shown that this testimony cannot be supported by historical documents (cf. B. Zimmerman, "Mon. hist. Carmelit.", I, Lerins, 1907, pp. 323 sqq.; Louis Saltet in "Bulletin de
litt. eccl.", 1911, pp. 24 sqq., 85 sqq.), still its
general content remains a reliable pious tradition;
in other words, it is credible that St. Simon Stock was
assured in a supernatural manner of the special pro-
tection of the Blessed Virgin for his whole order and
for all who should wear the Carmelite habit; that the
Blessed Virgin also jjromised him to grant special
aid, especially in the hour of death, to tho.se who
in holy fidelity wore this habit in her honour through-
out life, so that they should be preserved from hell.
And, even though there is here no direct reference
to the members of the scapular confraternity, in-
directly the promise is extended to all who from
devotion to the Mother of God should wear her habit
or badge, like true Christians, until death, and be
thus as it were affiliated to the Carmelite Order.
Heretofore no authenticated testimony has been discovered proving that the small scapular was known from the second half of the thirteenth century and was given to the members of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. On the contrary there are many reasons for the view that the small scapu- lar, as we now know it and in the form it has certainly had since the sixteenth century, is of much later origin. Zimmerman (Mon. hist. Carmelit., loc. cit.) and Saltet (loc. cit.) give very reasonable grounds for this view. In any case, the scapular was very widespread in European countries at the end of the sixteenth century, as is evident from "La cronica Carmelitana" of the Carmelite Joseph Falcone (Piacenza, 1595). In 1600 appeared at Palermo the "Giardino Carmelitano" of the Car- melite Egidio Leoindelicato da Sciacca (the approval is dated 1592). Towards the end the author gives, after the formula of benediction for the Fratelli and Sorelle della Compagnia della Madonna del Carmine (who receive the complete habitof the order), the formula for the blessing of the scapular for the Devoti della Compagnia Carmelitana (pp. 239 sqq.). This is the earliest form of benediction for the small scapular with which we are acquainted. It is also noteworthy that the formula for the sisters con- tains no reference to the scapular, while in that for the brothers there is a special blessing for the scapular (cf. ibid., pp. 228 sqq.).
Nevertheless, even should we admit that the small scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel originated even as late as the beginning of the sixte(>nth century, yet the above promise, whi(;h is designated the first privilege of the Carmelite Scapular, remains unim- paired. For this privilege declares nothing else than that all those who out of true veneration and love for the Blessed Virgin constantly wear the scapular in a spirit of fidelity and confiding faith, after they have been placed by the Church itself with this habit or badge under the special protection of the Mother of God, shall enjoy this special protection in the mat- ter and crisis which most concerns them for time and eternity. Whoever, therefore, even though he be now a sinner, wears the badge of the Mother of God throughout life as her faithful servant, not pre- sumptuously relying on the scapular as on a miracu- lous amulet, but trustfully confiding in the power and goodness of Mary, may securely hope that Mary will through her powerful and motherly intercession procure for him all the necessary graces for true conversion and for perseverance in good. Such is the meaning and importance of the first privilege of the Carmelite Scapular, which is wont to be ex- pressed in the word: "Whoever wears the scapular until death, will be preserved from hell". The second privilege of the scapular, otherwise known as the Sabbatine privilege, may be briefly defined as mean- ing that Mary's motherly assistance for her servants in the Scapular Confraternity will continue after death, and will find effect especially on Saturday (the day consecrated to her honour), provided that
