The blessing of a scapular

Sister Rejane  
This Random Nun Clip is brought to you by A Nun's Life Ministry.

Sister Julie  
Okay, so the question came in from Mariko. And she sent it in by Facebook, and she says, "I'm a pretty crafty gal. It killed me to wear my store-bought mantilla, so I started making my own. But now that I think about it, I'm wearing a store-bought scapular." And she wondered, can you make your own scapulars? And if so, can they be blessed by a priest like the traditional scapulars? And she said, "Finally do scapulars that you make carry any special promises or indulgences, like traditional scapulars?" So what do you think about that, Sister Maxine?

Sister Maxine  
We know that Mariko is a very gifted artist, so I'm sure she could make her own scapulars very well -- that'd be nice. Historically, scapulars have been part of a religious habit. And did the Dominicans wear scapulars?

Sister Ruthanne  
Yes, we did.

Sister Maxine  
Can you describe a little bit about what that looked like?

Sister Ruthanne  
Well, the Dominican habit is white. And so the scapular is a white piece of cloth, the same length and size in the front and the back. It goes over the head. And for those wearing a full-length habit, the scapular is usually just a little bit shorter, and it is different according to the size of the person. So if you have a person who is a large person, the scapular might be a little wider. A very thin person has a thinner scapular. In the olden days, it was uniform, but it sort of fit the person's size, especially the length.

Sister Maxine  
So now that's the scapular as it applies to a traditional religious habit.

Sister Ruthanne  
And I Googled "scapular" and you will be amazed at what you will find. There are many religious article places, mail order houses, that feature scapulars of every sort of a devotion. Yes, they're out there. You can purchase them.

Sister Maxine  
And some have what are called indulgences attached to them. Some do not. They come in all sorts of colors. As you mentioned, there's a wide variety.

Sister Julie  
Yeah, the scapular I have in my hands, this came from a shrine called the Passion of Christ. And I think these were made by the Carmelite nuns in the area. And it's just it's two pieces of brown wool. It's a little bit bigger than a postage stamp. And these ones are green, and one side has St Michael on it. And the other has a crest with a chiro on it, the symbol for Christ. And then there's a couple holy medals attached to them. One is the medal that's associated with St. Benedict. And one is the crucifix.

Sister Maxine  
Somebody asked in the chat room if somebody could explain what an indulgence is.

Sister Julie  
Well, Sister Maxine could talk about chocolate. Or ice cream.

Sister Maxine  
I don't think was that kind of an indulgence.

Sister Julie  
Oh, okay. [laughter]

Sister Maxine  
Although I do have that as my indulgence. [laughter]

Sister Julie  
I can list other indulgences that Sr. Maxine is a regular fan of. One would be baseball.

Sister Maxine  
That is true.

Sister Julie  
Another indulgence: long hikes in the woods. Bike rides. Do you just mute my mic? [laughter]

Sister Maxine  
So now, sisters, tell us a little bit about indulgences -- other than chocolate and baseball.

Sister Julie  
For me indulgences weren't really part of my Catholic upbringing. But as I understand them, if you did certain practices or rituals, you would somehow be granted some kind of a favor or merit, such as having years taken off of your life in Purgatory. That's the one that always comes to mind.

Sister Maxine  
Okay. Other insights about indulgences?

Sister Ruth  
Well, my understanding is it was kind of a trade-off for certain prayers, said in a certain manner, would somehow, yes, relate to your afterlife. If you were in time a punishment in your afterlife, some of that would be cut off because of some certain actions in this life. And specific prayers would sometimes have that note on it, "so many days indulgence," or sometimes even longer than days' indulgence. Or certain practices of piety, the works of mercy, and so on.

Sister Maxine  
Now, we've got a question from Steve here in the chat room, who says -- because indulgences relate to purgatory -- he said, "Now is purgatory in or out?" [laughter]

Sister Ruthanne  
And we will find that out when we die.

Sister Julie  
Yeah, give us a few years on that one. We'll get back to you on that one.

Sister Ruthanne  
You know, I was thinking of indulgences. As recently as the year 2000, the Holy Year, when we were told if we visited certain churches, and prayed certain prayers, there would be indulgences. At the moment, I do not know what those exactly were -- I don't remember that. But I know that it still exists. It is a very difficult thing, because we're putting time and rewards onto loving, merciful God.

Sister Julie  
Yeah, it's a challenging practice to understand today. Certainly from how I've been raised in the church, so to speak, and in my theology studies. And at the same time, I think you're right: I think that many people do still look to things -- whether it's wearing the scapular or praying the rosary -- hoping for that. But I guess I'm with you, kind of siding on God's divine mercy, and relying on God's love and compassion first and foremost,

Sister Ruthanne  
Those are what we call popular devotions. And basically, they are to help us humans to be more aware of God's presence in our life. That's what the devotion is for, to bring us to an awareness of God here and now. And we can take it to extremes.

Sister Maxine  
People have asked, too, about blessings and scapulars. We'd want to start off by saying that having a scapular that's blessed does not make the scapular in itself holy, or the wearer any holier. I think it's the intention that's attached to that. And I know, Sister Julie, you've talked about that before.

Sister Julie  
Yeah, I was thinking about that. I have my grandmother's rosary, and I don't know if it was blessed, or not in any kind of formal way. But I know that my grandmother prayed on it. And I know that my grandmother carried it with her. And to me, that's the blessing. I guess, when I look at this, and do you need to have your scapular blessed in the traditional way, there's a couple of ways to look at it. With scapulars, a lot of times they're associated with an organization or an association you join. You get your, your booklet, and it tells you about everything on it, and the prayers for investiture and stuff like that. So if you want to be part of that kind of association, or a confraternity, I would say go for it. I mean, you know, it's part of the association. But you know, if in addition to that, your goal, or aside from that, your goal is -- as Sister Ruthanne mentioned, to have something that draws you closer to God, that helps you fall into the embrace of God, then how its blessed is probably what's meaningful to you. Maybe it's your grandmother, maybe it's the cloth that you use, maybe it's that as you made it and sewed each piece on, you were praying on behalf of someone else.

Sister Ruthanne  
You know, a modern day scapular could be the prayer shawls that so many organizations -- women gather to knit or crochet and make prayer shawls, and give them to those who are sick, who are grieving, who are facing difficulties -- with a little note that says, "As I knitted her, as I crocheted this shawl, we all prayed for you." That's the same sort of thing, I think.

Sister Maxine  
That there is sacredness in the making of the object. And for Mariko, certainly, I think that's something to consider as you begin to apply your wonderful artistic talents, to making scapulars. So as you make this, to let a call forth that sacredness in you, that call to faith and love, and that will flow into the design of the scapular.

Sister Julie  
And I'd say at the same time, if you are particularly interested in being associated with others in particular traditions, the wearers of the red scapular, or the wearers of the green one, the Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the St. Michael -- whichever one -- then I'd say definitely learn more about it because they do have almost like periods of formation to make sure you understand what it is and that you do take it to a priest to be blessed. It's good to be aware that if you would like to go that route as well, you can do that.

Sister Rejane  
To hear full episodes of A Nun's Life podcasts, visit the podcast page at anunslife.org/podcasts.