Scapular of Mary

ThisRock said:

A scapular is a sort of mini-version of a part of clothing worn by religious (monks and nuns) hundreds of years ago. They used to wear these large pieces of cloth to signify their order or their devotion to Jesus and Mary. Lay people started wearing them in a smaller version. You take the scapular to a priest who says a certain prayer for you and you devote your daily life to Jesus and to be more like Mary in her devotion to him. The scapular is more of a symbol of what is in your heart--as an example, when your scapular wears out, you don't need to get the new one blessed. It was really the wearer's heart which was blessed and you must wear the scapular in faithful obedience. You just don't slap one on to ward off sins with your little brown ticket to heaven. ( )

If worn with faith, it can help you in the shortening of temporal punishment due to sins. The kissing of it comes from the love in your heart for the Blessed Mother and if you kiss it with love as if you are kissing her with love there is a partial indulgence associated with the act if done from the heart.

The Blessed Mother appeared to the founder of the Carmelites (as in Our Lady of Mount Carmel) in the 13th century and promised him that anyone who dies wearing the scapular habit of the order will be saved from hell. Todays brown scapular is a lay version of that larger habit. Those who wear it must wear it piously.

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TheListener said:

Is this one of those "belief in this is not necessary for salvation" things?

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Holy water is a sacramental.

First, let's explain a sacrament:

A sacrament is a sign instituted by Christ by which grace and sanctification are communicated to the soul.
The sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. Their efficacy relies strictly and solely on Christ Our Lord.

A sacramental is an object or action that the Church uses to achieve spiritually beneficial effects through the merits of the faithful. These objects or actions bear a resemblance to sacraments, but are not directly insitituted by Christ and have no effect in and of themselves---their efficacy relies strictly on the prayerful petition of the person receiving them or on the prayerful petition of others.

Holy Water is a sacramental blessed by a priest, who invokes God's blessing on all who use it. It is used as a symbol of spiritual cleansing and in moments of physical danger and against temptations of the enemy.

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