Hi when i got to St Columbas I found some students wearing strange things called scapulas - never quite worked out what they were or where they came from.
Good old GOOGLE cam up with https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/1165181825/two-tone-scapular-necklacesterling
when I saw what is just about the same thing except from Babylon some 4000 years ago Professor Irving Finkel is brilliant at untangling ancient Biblical stories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNNaZ110ee4
Can anyone shed light on them
In actual fact these are called "scapulars". They have always been a feature of religious life in Ireland. The scapular was approved by Pope Pius IX in 1870.
"St Simon Stock received the Brown Scapular from the Mother of God, July 16th, 1251.
She said to him ‘’One day through the Rosary and the Brown Scapular I will save the world’’
The Brown Scapular carries a great promise of eternal salvation for those who devoutly wear it.
The Rosary also carries Our Lady’s fifteen great promises."
Then there is the green scapular.
"What is the Green Scapular used for?
The Green Scapular is frequently given out at hospitals in the hope of obtaining physical healings. The Scapular may also be worn about the neck, placed under the pillow, kept in a wallet, or placed in one's clothing."
"Unlike typical sacramentals, scapulars are not merely blessed, but need to be invested by a priest to enroll the faithful. Any Catholic priest may invest a baptised Catholic with the Brown Scapular. Lay people are unable to bless a Scapular."
