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SeaStar
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I sent away for one from the Green Scapular Society and received an envelope with 14! But they are just very tiny little squares of felt with a picture on each side. I guess I was expecting a style similar to a brown scapular that can be worn. Is this how most Green Scapulars are? The ones I received would not be very easy to wear or pin to anything. I am very happy to have them, anyway, but I was a little surprised at how they small they are.
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LLMom
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Melinda,
This is how the green scapular usually is. These are very powerful to help convert or re-vert people. They are usually put, in secret, somewhere near the person, in their house. For example, I have heard of people sewing them into pillows, inserting them behind pictures in the frame, tucking them under the mattress. Then you pray for that person, "Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death" daily for their conversion. Also, other Catholics can keep them tucked in a pocket, purse, car, under your pillow, etc. Here is a great link with a description of its history and use.
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aussieannie
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SeaStar wrote:
| they are just very tiny little squares of felt with a picture on each side. I guess I was expecting a style similar to a brown scapular that can be worn. Is this how most Green Scapulars are? |
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The Green Scapulars I've seen are normal brown scapular size, but I have seen some Asian scapulars that are small, so I imagine they can be smaller in size.
Small...but powerful! 
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SeaStar
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Thanks for your input. I am still a little perplexed by this batch that I got. It came with a pamphlet that explained the Green Scapular, but the grammar was pretty off (as if possibly translated from another language), and the instructions said to write names on the scapular- "up to one hundred names may be written on a scapular". How could you write 100 names on a one inch square of material that already has a picture on it? Then there are quotes from a visionary who talks to Jesus- she quotes him as recently as May 2008. I'm just not sure what to think of it all... although I really do want a Green Scapular. Do you think this organization is really legitimate? I'm a little worried. I was able to order from them on line, and the scapulars did come very quickly.
Apostlate of the Green Scapular
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Helen
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SeaStar wrote:
| the instructions said to write names on the scapular- "up to one hundred names may be written on a scapular". |
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That does sound a little superstitious doesn't it? A sacramental is a conduit for God's grace for the person who uses it in faith. It doesn't have power, in and of itself.
I don't believe you can ask for graces for another person through a sacramental. You may pray for the person. The Lord loves prayers for others.
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Helen
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Here's a section from the CCC:
Catechsim of the Catholic Church wrote:
1670 Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church's prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. "For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God." |
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Maybe conduit isn't the best word for a sacramental.
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Helen
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Melinda,
I also checked The Directory of Popular Piety and Liturgy
Here's the section on the Brown Scapular and other Scapulars:
Directory wrote:
205. The history of Marian piety also includes "devotion" to various scapulars, the most common of which is devotion to the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Its use is truly universal and, undoubtedly, its is one of those pious practices which the Council described as "recommended by the Magisterium throughout the centuries"(255).
The Scapular of Mount Carmel is a reduced form of the religious habit of the Order of the Friars of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel. Its use is very diffuse and often independent of the life and spirituality of the Carmelite family.
The Scapular is an external sign of the filial relationship established between the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and Queen of Mount Carmel, and the faithful who entrust themselves totally to her protection, who have recourse to her maternal intercession, who are mindful of the primacy of the spiritual life and the need for prayer. |
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Maybe I'll be able to talk more about this later instead of just giving quotes.
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JennGM
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I think we have to be very careful to make sure we don't attribute "power" to sacramentals.
Melinda, the green scapular is a valid and very old sacramental. It can be worn, or not. I would have hesitation at the other private visions or revelation, but have no problem in using the scapulars. Skip the part about writing names. What you are doing is praying for a person.
From Fr. Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary:
GREEN SCAPULAR
A popular scapular of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is made of green felt cloth, and on the face side is a picture of the Blessed Virgin, with rays emanating from her heart. On the reverse side is an image of the Heart of Mary alone, pierced by a sword, and surrounded with the inscription, "Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death." The scapular is reputed to have special efficacy in bringing people back to the Church and to the sacrament of penance even after many years of estrangement from their faith.
I found some good articles I enjoyed reading, showing the different kinds of scapulars and all about sacramentals. I always need refresher courses on both of these areas.
Different Kinds of Scapulars by Fr. William Saunders
The Value Of Sacramentals by Paul Kokoski
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MaryM
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In response to your original question about the style of the green scapular you received - there are other places to obtain them. I recently requested a couple from here. They are definitely the style for wearing.
And regarding the hiding them, though I know of a couple friends locally that did that or had it done to them and there were conversions, I am leary of that practice. That aspect of it seems to hint much more toward the superstitious as it seems external not focusing on the internal disposition. I saw the posts above that quoted the CCC. Here for reference is the CCC section specifcially on superstition.
Quote:
| 2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition. |
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aussieannie
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MaryM wrote:
| And regarding the hiding them, though I know of a couple friends locally that did that or had it done to them and there were conversions, I am leary of that practice. That aspect of it seems to hint much more toward the superstitious as it seems external not focusing on the internal disposition. |
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I can understand people having to hide them, if they are praying for a conversion the person in mind may not be open to this sacramental in any way and the Church's history is full of testimonies like this, where the sacramental involved is hidden (I think of the miraculous medal in particular but also the St Benedict medal)
I don't think it can matter too much at what it may hint at because Catholics can be accused or judged upon appearances in other ways too, like when we kneel in Church before a statue and a whole host of other Catholic practises. I think the important point to emphasis is that we MUST pray (which is the main focus of your point, Mary) when we have handed out a green scapular in any way.
I can specifically remember giving someone one many, many years ago and praying for a couple of years for them in my daily prayers and then after that I stopped and it was a sad thought whenever it came to mind because I knew that it was a JOINT process - prayers - blessed sacramental - the two go together.
The famous conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne is one such interesting case where things can look unusual to others at first glance. It is one of the miraculous medal's most famous conversions. It involved the miraculous medal and the memorare prayer...but it was done under the conditions of a BET!! It was the only way they could get Alphonse to become a part of it as Alphonse was excited at the prospect of proving them wrong and making a big thing of it. It sounded scandalous, well that's how I thought upon reading it, but heaven accepted it obviously. Once again though, prayer was the focus, because Alphonse's words over and over again after Our Lady appeared to him was 'How that man prayed for me, how that man prayed for me!'
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Green Scapular question
