Do You Have The Five-Fold Scapular?

07/08/2015 by The Home Monastic

I want to introduce you to the Five-Fold Scapular, because I want you to partake in the graces available to you through the Holy Catholic Church. It consists of:

1) The Passion Scapular: Red with Red Wool Braid
2) The Scapular of Mt. Carmel: Brown
3) The Scapular of The Seven Dolors: Black
4) The Immaculate Conception Scapular: Blue
5) The Trinity Scapular: White with Red-Blue Cross

Here is a brief introduction to The Five-Fold Scapular:

*In 1190 A.D., St. John of Matha, a Spaniard, was saying his first Holy Mass, when he saw over the altar the figure of an angel wearing a white robe, with a blue and red cross on the breast and the shoulder. This became the habit of the Order of the Holy Trinity. (White Scapular)
*In 1240 A.D., the Blessed Virgin appeared to seven prominent citizens of Florence who bound themselves by vow to honor the Mother of God in her sorrows. She handed them the black habit of the Servites and said, “…these garments shall be to you a perpetual memory of the sufferings in my heart.” (Black Scapular)
*In 1251 A.D., Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, holding in her hands the brown habit of the Carmelites, she made this promise: “Whoever dies in this habit shall not suffer everlasting fire…” (Brown Scapular)
*In 1605 A.D., Our Lord appeared to Sr. Ursula Benincasa, and made great promises if she and her fellow nuns would adopt as their religious habit one of a light blue color in honor of the Immaculate Conception of His Mother. Sister Ursula then asked Him if He would grant similar favors of those of the laity or of other religious orders who would wear, in honor of the Immaculate Conception, a small Blue scapular; and Our Lord did so promise. (Blue Scapular)
*In 1846 A.D., Our Blessed Lord appeared to Sr. Appoline Andriveau, showing her the red scapular of the Passion, promising that a great increase in faith, hope and charity would be reserved every Friday for those who wore the scapular. This vision was several times repeated; and the extraordinary thing about it is the rapidity with which it was approved in Rome. (Red or Passion Scapular)

These five scapulars have been apporoved separately and together by the Church. The five-fold are one single devotion, approved by the Church. The Brown Scapular is the best known and entitles its wearer to the greatest privileges and indulgences. There is a ‘blanket investiture’ to enroll you in all of them at once, with with specific mention and blessing of each individual scapular in the Five Fold.

Read more about the Five Fold Scapular at http://www.ihomm.org/five.html

There are tremendous blessings, graces and indulgences attached to the Five Fold Scapular. I hope you take the effort to be enrolled.

Just Say No To ‘Talk Like A Pirate Day’: The Catholic Calendar vs. The Pagan Calendar

Somewhere inside everyone is a sense that each day should celebrate something, each day individually for a different reason. In today’s society, just about every day has a silly, concocted ‘feast day’ in an attempt to fill this need. How is a National Doughnut Day necessary? And just think of how Halloween is celebrated…The Holy Catholic Church provides the real calendar of feasts. Here is what St. Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney (1786-1859) (The Curé of Ars) had to say about feast days, Patron Saint’s days in particular:

We Are Keeping A Feast 

In the early days of the Church, the faithful of one province, or district, used to come together publicly on the feast day of a saint in order to have the happiness of participating in all the graces which God bestows on such days. The office of the vigil was started. The evening and night were spent in prayer at the tomb of the Saint. The faithful heard the word of God. They sang hymns and canticles in honor of the Saint. After passing the night so devoutly, they heard Mass, at which all those assisting had the happiness of going to Holy Communion. Then they all withdrew, praising God for the triumphs He had accorded the Saint and the graces He had bestowed in response to the latter’s intercession. After that, my dear bretheren, who could doubt but that God pours out His graces with abundance upon such a reunion of the faithful and that the Saints themselves are happy to be the patrons of such people. That was the way in which the feast days of Patron Saints were celebrated in olden times.

What do you think of that? Is it thus that we celebrate such feasts today? Alas! If the first Christians were to come back upon this earth, would they not tell us that our feasts are no different from those the pagans kept? Is it not the general rule that God is most seriously offended on these holy days? Does it not seem, rather, that we combine our money and our energies together to multiply sin almost to infinity?

What are we concerened with on the vigil of such feasts, and even for several days beforehand? Is it not with spending foolish and unnecessary money? And all this time poor people are dying of hunger and our sins are calling down upon us the anger of God to the point where eternity would not be sufficient to satisfy for them. You should pass the night in repentance and remorse, in considering how very little you have followed the example of your Patron Saint. And yet you consecrate that time to preparing everything that will flatter your gluttony! Might it not be said that this day is one for pure self-indulgence and debauchery? Do parents and friends come, as in former times, to enjoy the happiness of participating in the graces which God bestows at the intercession of a Patron Saint? They come, but only to pass this feast day wholly at the table.

In former times, the religious services were much longer than they are today, and still they seemed always too short. Nowadays you will see even the fathers of families who, during the performance of the offices, are at table filling themselves with food and wine. The first Christians invited each other in order to multiply their good works and their prayers. today it seems rather as if people invite each other so that they can multiply the sins and the orgies and the excesses in which they indulge in eating and drinking. Does anyone think God will not demand an account of even a penny wrongly spent? Does it not seem that we celebrate the feast only to insult our holy Patron and to increase our ingratitude?

Let us look a little closer, my dear bretheren, and we shall realize that we are far from imitating Him whom God has given us for a model. He passed His life in penance and in sorrow. He died in torments. What is more, I am sure that there are parishes where more sins are committed on those days than during all the rest of the year. The Lord told the Jews that their feasts were an abomination and that He would take the filth of their feasts and throw it in their faces. He wished to make us understand by this how greatly He is offended on those days which should be passed in weeping for our sins and in prayer.

We read in the Gospel that Jesus Christ came on earth to enlighten souls with the fire of divine love. But we can believe that the Devil also roams around on earth to light an impure fire in the hearts of Christians and that what he promotes with the greatest frenzy are balls and dances.

I have debated for a long time whether I should speak to you about a matter so difficult to get you to understand and so little thought upon by the Christians in our days, who are blinded by their passions. If your faith were not so weak that it might be extinguished in your hearts in the blink of an eye, you would understand the enormity of the abyss towards which you precipitate yourselves in giving yourselves over with such abandon to these wretched amusements. But, you will tell me, for you to talk to us about dances and about the evil that takes place at them is just a waste of time. We will indulge neither more nor less in them. I firmly believe that, since Tertullian assures us that very many refused to become Christians rather than deprive themselves of such pleasures.

Some Biblical References to Purgatory

This explanation of Purgatory includes a few Biblical references to its existence.

Purgatory. A place of temporal punishment for those who die in God’s grace, but are not entirely free from venial sins or have not entirely paid the satisfaction due to their sins. The existence of purgatory is universally taught by all the Fathers of the Church. The words of Our Lord, “Thou shalt not come out from it until thou hast paid the last penny” are very clear (Matt. 5:25-26). Later, when speaking of the sins against the Holy Ghost, Jesus says that such a sin “will not be forgiven in this world or the next,” thus implying that there are some sins that can be atoned for in the next world (Matt. 12:32). Saint Paul also shows his belief in purgatory when, in his second letter to Timothy, he prays for the deceased Onesiphorus. “May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day” (2 Tim. 1:18). Even in the Old Testament there was a belief in the existence of purgatory, for there we find Judas Machabeus sending 12,000 drachmas to Jerusalem to have sacrifices offered for the sins of the dead. That chapter ends with the advice: “It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins” (2 Mach. 12:46).

In purgatory, souls suffer for a while in satisfaction for their sins before they can enter heaven. The principal suffering of these souls consists in the pain of experiencing, on the one hand, an intense longing for God and, on the other, a realization that they are hindered from possessing Him by reason of their past sins. Unlike the souls in hell, they are certain of one day seeing God. They can be helped, moreover, by the prayers of the faithful on earth, and especially by the offering of Mass.

Excerpt from The Catholic Dictionary, edited by Reverend John P. O’Connell, M.A.,S.T.D., pp.196-197. The Holy Bible. The Catholic Press, Inc. Chicago, Illinois. Copyright 1951.

A Short Catechism on Indulgences (Part 2)

Here is the last part of A Short Catechism on Indulgences. Even if you are familiar with the subject it doesn’t hurt to remind yourself to accept the gifts the Holy Catholic Church offers.

7. Why does the Church grant indulgences? The Church grants indulgences for two reasons:

1. The Church wishes to save us from the suffering of purgatory and to hasten our entrance into heaven.

2. The Church wishes to encourage us to perform certain good works. As an added inducement to perform them, the Church grants us an indulgence. For example, to encourage us to make the Stations of the Cross, to recite the rosary in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, to read the Bible with due veneration and as spiritual reading, to recite certain prayers, the Church has attached to these exercises various indulgences.

8. Does an indulgence forgive sins? No, it takes away the punishment due to sins already forgiven.

9. Is an indulgence a permission to commit sins? No. No one can grant permission to commit a sin.

10. What are the two principal kinds of indulgences? The two principal kinds of indulgences are the plenary (complete) and the partial indulgence. A plenary indulgence takes away all of the temporal punishment due to the sins of one person; a partial indulgence takes away part of the temporal punishment due to one’s sins.

11. What is an indulgence of “300 days”? The phrase “300 days” does not mean that the time in purgatory is shortened by 300 days. It means that the indulgence takes away as much temporal punishment as would have been taken away by 300 days of public penance in the early Church. An example will help to explain this point. In the early days of the Church if John Smith had sinned by injuring his neighbor or by stealing and then had gone to confession, he might have been given some difficult penance, e.g., kneeling during the entire Mass for 300 consecutive days. This public penance gained for him great merit and took away some of the temporal punishment due to his sins. But how much it took away neither he nor anyone else on earth knew. In granting an indulgence of 300 days the Church applies to an individual soul the same amount of merit that would have been gained by 300 days of difficult public penance. But no one on earth knows how much temporal punishment is taken away (or how much purgatory is shortened) by that indulgence.

12. What does the phrase “usual conditions” mean? In stating what must be done to gain a particular indulgence, it is sometimes said that the indulgence may be gained by doing the prescribed works and “under the usual conditions”. The conditions referred to are these four:

1. Going to confession.

2. Receiving Holy Communion.

3. Visiting a church or oratory.

4. Praying for the intention of the Pope.

13. What must one do to gain an indulgence? To gain an indulgence one must:

1. Be a baptized Catholic and not be excommunicated from the Church.

2. Be in the state of grace.

3. Have at least the general intention of gaining the indulgence.

4. Perform the work prescribed by the Church for gaining the indulgence (e.g., making the Stations, reading the Bible, etc.).

14. Can we gain indulgences for others? We cannot gain indulgences for other living persons. But we can gain indulgences for souls in purgatory, because the Church makes most indulgences applicable to them also.

15. How often can we gain indulgences? We can gain indulgences as often as we can fulfill the conditions required for gaining them. For example, the indulgence of 300 days attached to the recitation of the ejaculation “My Jesus, mercy” may be gained as often as that ejaculation is recited. Again, the indulgence of three years for reading the Bible as spiritual reading for fifteen minutes may be gained as often as the Bible is read for fifteen minutes. However, unless the opposite is expressly stated, a plenary indulgence for one particular good work (e.g., reciting the Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament) can be gained only once each day. But many plenary indulgences may be gained in one day if they are for different good works (e.g., one for making the Stations of the Cross, another for reciting the Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament).

A Short Catechism on Indulgences (Part 1)

I am glad to bring you a two-part teaching on the Holy Catholic Church’s teachings concerning Indulgences. It was in a Bible from 1951–note the lack of ambiguity. This is the first installment, and the final part I will post later today or perhaps tomorrow.

A Short Catechism on Indulgences 

1. What is an indulgence? An indulgence is the removal by the Church of temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.

2. What is temporal punishment? Temporal punishment is temporary punishment. It will last only for a time. It is not endless, like the punishments of hell.

3. After a man’s sins are forgiven, must he still suffer for them? Even after a man’s sins are forgiven, he must make up for them, or atone for them in some way. He must make satisfaction to God for the injustice done by his sins. A parent who has forgiven a child’s prank (e.g., breaking a window) would still demand that the child in some way atone for the injury committed (e.g., by paying for the window). Similarly God, even after forgiving a man’s sins, demands that he atone for the injustice done.

4. How can one make up for the sins he has committed? There are many ways in which one can satisfy or make up for his sins. For example, confession, by which sins are forgiven, also helps atone for them, that is, it takes away some of the temporal punishment due to one’s sins. Also, suffering, patiently endured and offered to God, atones for sins. Doing good works (e.g., giving alms to the poor, praying devoutly, etc.) also helps to atone for sins.

5. If all one’s sins are not completely atoned for at the time of his death, how shall he atone for them? After his death his soul shall suffer for a time in purgatory to atone for those sins not already atoned for in life.

6. Can sin be atoned for in any way except by one’s own personal good works and sacrifices? Yes. The merits of Christ, of Mary, and of the Saints can help to atone for the sins of men. Christ’s death, in addition to meriting forgiveness for the sins of all men, also made infinite atonement or satisfaction for the sins of men. That infinite satisfaction merited by Christ and the superabundant satisfaction merited by Mary and of the Saints (which they gained during life but did not need) constitutes the “Treasury of the Church”. From this store of supernatural merit, which the Church can apply to its own living members, the Church grants indulgences. An indulgence is the application to a particular soul some of the satisfaction merited by Christ, by Mary, or by the Saints.

Catechism on Indulgences, p. xi, xii. The Holy Bible. The Catholic Press, Inc. Chicago, Illinois. Copyright 1951.