Our Lady knows how hard we pray for our loved ones who have left the Faith. She knows how much we suffer alongside our friends and family who are dealing with physical or emotional afflictions.
She also knows that people in need of conversion are often closed to our attempts to lead them to the truth.
In 1840, she brought us a simple and powerful devotion to her Immaculate Heart, a devotion designed for such difficult (and delicate) situations.
On the Feast of her Nativity, September 8th, 1840, she appeared to Sister Justine Bisqueyburu in Paris. Sister Justine was a Daughter of Charity, the same order as St. Catherine Labouré who had received the Miraculous Medal just ten years earlier.
Our Lady appeared with her Immaculate Heart in her right hand and a scapular in her left. The scapular was really a cloth medallion rather than a true scapular, since it only had one piece of cloth. It depicted Our Lady on one side—her flaming Heart in her hands—and on the other, her Heart, pierced and flaming, rays coming forth from it, and a cross surmounting it. Around her Heart are the words:
“Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us, now and at the hour of our death.”
An interior voice told Sister Justine that God wished to establish in the world a greater and more tender devotion to the Immaculate Heart. Graces of conversion would abound for those who were devoted to her under this title and using the image Sister Justine saw.
Since it is not a form of a religious habit like other scapulars, there is no enrollment process—it need only be blessed by a priest. The person needing healing or conversion should wear it and say the above-quoted prayer to the Immaculate Heart every day.
Our Lady also explained that if the person in need is unable or unwilling to wear it, you can slip it—unbeknownst to them—into their belongings or home or work environment! (A wise Mother indeed!)
If (as in the case of someone unwilling to wear it) the intended wearer cannot or will not say the prayer, you can pray it for them.
Since the apparition, the Green Scapular has become famous for the conversions and healings Our Lady has effected through it. Some of the most common types of miracles associated with it include: healings of people on the brink of death or suicide, sudden wisdom and understanding in the midst of dangerous relationships or behaviors, and, most importantly, quiet or drastic changes of heart which lead people to (or back to) the Catholic Church.
If you have a friend or family member in need of spiritual conversion, enlightenment, or any kind of healing, place them in the safe haven of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Green Scapular is Our Lady’s special means of rescuing these souls—even when they don’t want to be rescued. Available today at The Catholic Company!
