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 By Robert A.
Macdonald, C.Ss.R.
Let me tell
you the story of how I discovered the Green Scapular. This is my only way of
trying to spread a true and tender love of Her Immaculate Heart and of paying
my debt to Her. Some years ago, before penicillin was in use, I was lying in a
hospital very ill with pneumonia. I began to hemorrhage and the doctors decided
to operate as a last resource. Then a little nun came into my room.
"Father, have
you great faith in the Mother of God, especially in Her Immaculate Heart? If
so, you can be cured."
"How,
Sister?"
"Through the
Green Scapular."
"What is
that?"
"Four years
ago, Father, I was operated on for cancer. I was so filled with it, that they
just closed me up and sent me away to die. Then I prayed to Our Lady of the
Green Scapular; grew tired of waiting to die and came back to work. I am cured,
Father. Do you want me to give you a Scapular?"
"Please,
Sister."
With that she
put one over my head. A feeling of tremendous confidence poured into me and the
bleeding stopped. Two days later, in the X-ray room, they asked me when the
hemorrhage had ceased. When I replied that it was a matter of a couple of days,
they expressed great surprise.
"You have a
wound that is six months healed and there is no other mark." Today even the
scars are gone. No wonder I speak of an unpayable debt to Her Immaculate Heart.
Since then I have done everything possible to foster this devotion. To my great
joy and amazement, those to whom I have spoken of the Green Scapular have
become more zealous than I. Never have I seen the equal of the faith and
confidence of these new apostles of Mary.
During May, I
asked the rector of St. Patrick’s, Toronto, for permission to speak of it
at the Wednesday devotions. I had a thousand Green Scapulars on hand, but no
one thought that more than thirty would be asked for. The thousand were gone
the first morning. The room where we distributed them was so jammed that I
feared someone would be injured. The rest of the day I was besieged on all
sides for more. Foolishly, I showed the one I had for myself and it was quickly
snatched from my hand.
The Green
Scapular is the story of Sister Justine Bisqueyburu. An orphan in early life,
she was adopted by a wealthy relative who left her his fortune. Her greatest
day of joy was November 27, 1839, when she entered the novitiate of the
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris. Her Sisters in religion
are stationed in Maryland.
They can tell
you much better than I the story of a Sister who inspired love and emulation in
everyone who met her. One who was a confidante of Pope Pius IX in the dark days
preceding his imprisonment in the Vatican; one who was the admiration of the
Mohammedans of North Africa; the recipient of the flattering imitation of the
famous Florence Nightingale on the battlefields of the Crimea. They can tell
you the great efforts she made to keep her identity unknown; how her secret was
revealed.
They will
repeat the description of the Mother of God, standing in all Her beauty before
the young novice, and returning again and again until the Scapular was made and
distributed. Telling the young Sister that the Scapular could be blessed by any
priest, carried or worn on the person, even left in one’s room.
The particular
power of this Scapular is that of conversion, to bring Her Son into the hearts
of men.
The prayer,
and this can be said in favor of another, is: "Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray
for us now and at the hour of our death."
Ten years
after the manifestation of the Miraculous Medal to Sister Catherine
Labouré in 1830, the Blessed Mother entrusted the Green Scapular of the
Immaculate Heart to Sister Justine Bisqueyburu, likewise a Daughter of Charity
of St. Vincent de Paul.
The manner of
using the Scapular was indicated by the Blessed Virgin. Since it is not the
badge of a confraternity but simply a double image attached to a single piece
of cloth and suspended from a cord, investiture is not required. It suffices
that it be blessed by a priest and worn by one for whom it is intended. It may
be placed in the clothing, on the bed, or simply in the room.
The only
prayer is the inscription surrounding the heart on the reverse of the Scapular:
"Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our
death." Although wonderful graces are obtained, they are proportionate to
the confidence with which it is given.
The Green
Scapular was twice approved by Pope Pius IX, in 1863, and again in 1870, when
he said: "Write to these good Sisters that I authorize them to make and
distribute it."
Reports of
conversions and cures attributed to the Green Scapular should be sent with
details of time, place and persons to the Daughters of Charity, care of the
address below.
Nihil Obstat: E.A. Cerny, S.S.,
S.T.D.
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur: Lawrence Cardinal Shehan, D.D.
Archbishop of Baltimore, September 18, 1962
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