Top Image source: Hanabishi, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Among the great gifts the Blessed Virgin Mary has given the Church through her apparitions, the Green Scapular holds a special place. It is unlike any other scapular: not the badge of a religious order, but a simple green cloth bearing two holy images, given by Our Lady herself as an instrument of conversion and healing. Through it, countless souls have been drawn back to God, and countless sufferers have found Mary’s maternal help. This guide explains where the Green Scapular came from, what it means, the single powerful prayer that accompanies it, and how to use it for those you love.
What Is the Green Scapular?
The Green Scapular is a sacramental of the Catholic Church consisting of a single rectangular piece of green cloth suspended from a green cord. On one side is an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary as she appeared to the seer, and on the other side her Immaculate Heart, aflame and pierced with a sword, surrounded by the invocation: “Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.”
Unlike the brown scapular and most other scapulars, the Green Scapular is not the miniature of a religious habit and is not the badge of a confraternity. For this reason, as Our Lady herself explained, it requires no special formula of enrollment. It need only be blessed by a priest and worn by, or kept near, the person one wishes to benefit by Our Lady’s intercession.
The Apparitions: How the Green Scapular Was Given
The Green Scapular was given to the world through a series of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Sister Justine Bisqueyburu, a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, in France in the 1840s. Her story is closely bound to another and more famous apparition: her spiritual director was Father Aladel, the same priest who directed St. Catherine Labouré, the seer who gave the world the Miraculous Medal. Both apparitions came through the Daughters of Charity, and in both Our Lady revealed her Immaculate Heart for the salvation of souls.
Our Lady first appeared to Sister Justine during her novitiate in Paris in January 1840, holding her Heart crowned with flames. The decisive apparition came on September 8, 1840, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, when Our Lady appeared holding in one hand her flaming Heart and in the other the green cloth scapular. An interior voice revealed its meaning: that this holy image, spread by the Daughters of Charity, would work the conversion of souls, especially of those without faith, and obtain for them the grace of a holy death. Mary asked that copies be made and distributed with confidence.
Over the following years Our Lady appeared again, at times pressing that the work be carried forward, for the making of the scapular had been delayed. In the apparitions of 1846, her hands were seen filled with radiant beams of light, and she revealed that the graces flowing from the devotion would be great or small in proportion to the confidence of those who prayed. The conditions of the devotion were given in a final apparition on September 8, 1846. These messages of Our Lady to Sister Justine, simple, maternal, and insistent above all on confidence, form the whole charter of the Green Scapular devotion.
The Meaning of the Green Scapular
The Green Scapular is, above all, a devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Through it, Our Lady offers herself as the Refuge of Sinners and the Mother who leads souls to her Son. Its purpose is twofold, and both purposes flow from her maternal love: the conversion of souls, especially those who have no faith or who have wandered far from God, and the grace of a happy death, that no soul entrusted to her may be lost.
What makes the Green Scapular so distinctive, and so consoling, is that it may be used on behalf of another person, even without that person’s knowledge. Because it is not the badge of a confraternity requiring the wearer’s own commitment, a mother may sew it into the clothing of a wayward child, place it in the room of a suffering loved one, or keep it near someone far from the faith, praying the daily prayer on their behalf. It is, in the truest sense, a mother’s devotion for the souls she cannot reach by any other means.
The Church has always taught that a sacramental is not a charm and works no magic. The Green Scapular bears fruit through the intercession of Our Lady and the grace of God, according to the confidence and faith of the one who prays. Its power is the power of Mary’s prayer before the throne of her Son, and of the confidence with which we appeal to her.
The Green Scapular Prayer
The devotion of the Green Scapular is centered on a single, short prayer, the very words that encircle the Immaculate Heart on the scapular itself. It is to be prayed at least once each day, though praying it often is encouraged:
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
This one prayer is the whole obligation of the devotion. There is a beautiful provision attached to it: if the person for whom the scapular is intended will not or cannot pray it, then whoever gives or keeps the scapular prays it in their place. In this way a single faithful soul, praying daily with confidence, can carry another to the very gates of grace.
The Promises of the Green Scapular
The Green Scapular carries no long list of numbered promises, as is sometimes claimed online. Its promise is simpler and more profound:
That Our Lady, invoked through her Immaculate Heart by means of this scapular, will obtain great graces from her Divine Son, especially the conversion of the person and the grace of a holy death, and also help in the health of mind, heart, body, and soul.
There is one condition Our Lady emphasized above all others: confidence. In the final apparitions, the varying brightness of the rays streaming from her hands was given a meaning, that the graces obtained would be great or small in proportion to the confidence of those who ask. This is the heart of the devotion. The Green Scapular asks little in the way of formula and much in the way of trust. To those who pray its prayer with childlike confidence in the power of Mary’s intercession, the tradition promises that she will not fail them.
Miraculous Favors and Conversions
From the beginning, the Green Scapular proved itself an instrument of grace, exactly as Our Lady had promised. The earliest recorded favor, in 1842, was the conversion of a hardened skeptic named Mr. Copin, a former soldier of Napoleon’s army who had lived without faith. After long resisting every appeal, he accepted the Green Scapular to please a friend and wore it without belief. Within days he was moved to tears before an image of Our Lady, promised to reconcile with God, made his confession, and received his First Communion with such peace that he died shortly after repeating, “How glad I am.”
The archives of the devotion record many such favors: sinners returned to the sacraments after decades away, marriages outside the Church prevented, the sick and even the gravely ill restored to health after being given the scapular and praying with confidence. These accounts, gathered by those who witnessed them, are not presented as articles of faith but as the fruit of a devotion Our Lady herself gave for the saving of souls. The Church holds that such miracles are given by God to strengthen the faith of believers and to draw the doubting toward the truth, and the long history of the Green Scapular bears witness to that mercy.
What the Church Teaches: The Approval of the Green Scapular
The Green Scapular has been received and approved by the Church. Because it is a holy image rather than the badge of a confraternity, its approval followed the ordinary path for such devotions. The devotion was carried forward under the authority of the Daughters of Charity and the Congregation of the Mission, with the approbation of the Archbishop of Paris, and in 1870 Pope Pius IX gave his verbal approval, examining the scapular, praising it as a beautiful and pious image, and granting permission for the Sisters to make and distribute it. Later popes held the devotion in esteem; it is recorded that Pope Pius XI kept a Green Scapular on his writing desk beside the Miraculous Medal.
The faithful may therefore embrace the Green Scapular with full confidence that it enjoys the warrant of the Church. It falls under no censure and is commended to the piety of the faithful as a genuine and fruitful Marian devotion.
How to Use the Green Scapular
Using the Green Scapular is simple.
- Have it blessed by a priest; any priest may bless it, and no special formula or enrollment is required.
- Then wear it yourself, or give it to the person you wish to help, or if they will not accept it, keep it near them, place it among their belongings, or sew it into their clothing.
- Pray the short prayer, “Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death,” at least once every day, on their behalf if they will not pray it themselves. Above all, pray with confidence, for it is confidence that Our Lady asked of us.
The Apostolate of the Green Scapular
The work Our Lady began through Sister Justine continues today as a living apostolate. For those who wish to take up this devotion in earnest, obtain Green Scapulars, and join others in praying for souls, the Society of the Green Scapular carries on the apostolate of the Green Scapular in our time, providing scapulars and gathering the prayers of the faithful for the conversion of sinners throughout the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Green Scapular used for?
The Green Scapular is used to obtain the conversion of sinners and those without faith, and to obtain the grace of a happy death, through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is also invoked for health of mind, heart, body, and soul.
Do you have to be enrolled to use the Green Scapular?
No. Unlike the brown scapular, the Green Scapular requires no enrollment and no special formula. It need only be blessed by a priest and worn by, or kept near, the person to be helped.
What is the Green Scapular prayer?
The prayer is: “Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.” It is prayed at least once daily. If the person the scapular is meant for will not pray it, another may pray it for them.
Can I give the Green Scapular to someone without them knowing?
Yes. Because it is not the badge of a confraternity, the Green Scapular may be given secretly, kept near a person, or sewn into their clothing, while the giver prays the daily prayer on their behalf. Many conversions have come about in exactly this way.
What is the difference between the green scapular and the brown scapular?
The brown scapular is the badge of the Carmelite Order and a sign of the wearer’s own consecration to Mary, requiring enrollment. The Green Scapular is a holy image given for the conversion and healing of others, requires no enrollment, and may be used on behalf of someone else.
Is the Green Scapular approved by the Catholic Church?
Yes. The devotion received ecclesiastical approbation, and Pope Pius IX gave his approval in 1870, permitting the Daughters of Charity to make and distribute it. It is a genuine and approved Marian devotion.
