History
Ursula Benincasa
Consecrated by her parents to Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception, Ursula Benincasa (1547-1618), spent part of her youth and adult life as a hermit in the region of Saint Elmo (Naples). In 1583, she founded the Congregation of the Oblates of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. She also founded the Hermitage of the Contemplative Nuns of the Immaculate Conception. The rule of both communities was approved by Pope Gregory XV on April 7, 1623. [2] On August 7, 1793, Pope Pius VI recognized the heroic virtues of Ursula, and proclaimed her "Venerable".
Blue Scapular
According to legend, in 1617, in Naples, Benincasa experienced a vision in which Jesus promised great favors for her religious order. She then begged Jesus for the same graces to such people who, living in the world, would have a special devotion to the Immaculate Conception, observe chastity according to their station in life, and wear a small blue scapular. She stated that Jesus granted her petition and she began to make small blue scapulars. One part bears the image of the Immaculate Conception, the other has the name of the Virgin Mary. She had them blessed, and started to distribute them. [2] In January 1671, Pope Clement X approved the blessing and investing of this scapular. [1]
Confraternity
The confraternity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin and Mother of God Mary was erected in 1894 in the Theatine Church of Sant'Andrea della Valle at Rome. (However, according to the official Blue Scapular handbook's reference to historical documents, it was first established on June 26, 1734, at the Congregation's first monastery). [3] It later became an archconfraternity. According to the statutes of the archconfraternity, admission is effected by the blessing and investing with the Blue Scapular, the presentation of the small chaplet of the Immaculate Conception, and the enrolling of the name in the register of the confraternity. [4]
On June 3, 1992, [5] the Marians of the Immaculate Conception obtained a perpetual permission from the Superior General of the Theatine Fathers to bless and confer the blue scapular of Immaculate Conception. [6]
The Blue Scapular is also included in the Fivefold Scapular. The Fivefold Scapular is made of five of the most popular scapulars sewn together on the top and connected to a single shared string. [7]
The scapular is a Western Christian garment suspended from the shoulders. There are two types of scapulars, the monastic and devotional scapular, although both forms may simply be referred to as "scapular". As an object of popular piety, it serves to remind the wearers of their commitment to live a Christian life.
The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel belongs to the habit of both the Carmelite Order and the Discalced Carmelite Order, both of which have Our Lady of Mount Carmel as their patroness. In its small form, it is widely popular within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church as a religious article and has probably served as the prototype of all the other devotional scapulars. The liturgical feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16, is popularly associated with the devotion of the Scapular.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for her son Jesus Christ, and her motherly and compassionate love for all mankind. Traditionally, the Immaculate Heart is depicted pierced with seven swords or wounds, in homage to the seven dolors of Mary and roses, usually red or white, wrapped around the heart.
The Fivefold Scapular, also known as Redemptorist Scapular, is a sacramental made up of five best-known of the early scapulars in the Catholic Church: the Brown Scapular of the Carmelites, the Blue Scapular of the Immaculate Conception, the Black Scapular of the Servites, the Red Scapular of the Passion, and the White Scapular.
The Confraternity of the Holy Rosary is a Roman Catholic Archconfraternity or spiritual association, under the care and guidance of the Dominican Order. The members of the confraternity strive to pray the entire Holy Rosary weekly.
Anglican Marian theology is the summation of the doctrines and beliefs of Anglicanism concerning Mary, mother of Jesus. As Anglicans believe that Jesus was both human and God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, within the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglican movement, Mary is accorded honour as the theotokos, a Koiné Greek term that means "God-bearer" or "one who gives birth to God".
Three Hail Marys are a traditional Roman Catholic devotional practice of reciting Hail Marys as a petition for purity and other virtues. Believers recommend that it be prayed after waking in the morning, and before going to bed, following the examination of conscience at night. This devotion has been recommended by SS. Anthony of Padua, Alphonsus Liguori, John Bosco and Leonard of Port Maurice. Two saints, Mechtilde and Gertrude the Great, are said to have received revelations from the Blessed Virgin Mary regarding this practice.
Mary, the mother of Jesus in Christianity, is known by many different titles, epithets, invocations, and several names associated with places.
Located at 6, rue Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, Notre-Dame-des-Victoires is one of ten minor basilicas located in the Île-de-France region of France. The closest Metro station is 'Bourse'.
Throughout history, Catholic Mariology has been influenced by a number of saints who have attested to the central role of Mary in God's plan of salvation. The analysis of Early Church Fathers continues to be reflected in modern encyclicals. Irenaeus vigorously defended the title of "Theotokos" or Mother of God. The views of Anthony of Padua, Robert Bellarmine and others supported the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which was declared a dogma in 1850.
The Mariology of the popes is the theological study of the influence that the popes have had on the development, formulation and transformation of the Roman Catholic Church's doctrines and devotions relating to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The veneration of Mary, mother of Jesus, in the Catholic Church encompasses various devotions which include prayer, pious acts, visual arts, poetry, and music devoted to the her. Popes have encouraged it, while also taking steps to reform some manifestations of it. The Holy See has insisted on the importance of distinguishing "true from false devotion, and authentic doctrine from its deformations by excess or defect". There are significantly more titles, feasts, and venerative Marian practices among Roman Catholics than in other Western Christian traditions. The term hyperdulia indicates the special veneration due to Mary, greater than the ordinary dulia for other saints, but utterly unlike the latria due only to God.
Catholic Marian movements and societies have developed from the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary by members of the Catholic Church. These societies form part of the fabric of Mariology in the Catholic Church. Popular membership in Marian organizations grew significantly in the 20th century, as apparitions such as Our Lady of Fátima gave rise to societies with millions of members, and today many Marian societies exist around the world. This article reviews the major Marian movements and organizations.
The Red Scapular of the Passion of Our Lord and the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary is a Roman Catholic sacramental scapular associated with the Vincentians. It is often just called the Scapular of the Passion or simply the Red Scapular but it should not be confused with other similarly-termed scapulars described below.
The Green Scapular is a Roman Catholic devotional article approved by Pope Pius IX in 1870. It is called a scapular due to its appearance, but is not descended from the scapulars that form part of the habit worn by religious orders. It can be more accurately described as a "cloth medal". It is unique among Catholic scapulars, as it the only scapular which has only one badge of cloth, while all others have at least two.
The exact origins of both the rosary and scapular are subject to debate among scholars. Pious tradition maintains that both the rosary and the brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel were given by the Virgin Mary to Dominic and Simon Stock respectively during the 13th century. Historical records document their growth during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe. By the early 20th century, they had gained such a strong following among Catholics worldwide that Josef Hilgers, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1914, stated: "Like the Rosary, the Brown scapular has become the badge of the devout Catholic."
The Scapular of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic devotional scapular bearing an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the front panel, and an image of the Virgin Mary as Mother of Mercy on the panel which hangs at the wearer's back. In its current form, the design and the formal church approval for its use are due to Estelle Faguette, a French domestic servant, who in 1876 claimed to have received a series of apparitions during which the Virgin Mary showed this scapular and spoke about its use.
Worldwide The Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the oldest lay apostolates still operating in the Roman Catholic Church, having been part of the Congregation of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception founded by Saint Stanislaw Papczynski. "The Blessed Marian Founder fervently encouraged his spiritual sons to establish confraternities of the Immaculate Conception at Marian churches. 'The first laws of the Order of 1694-1698 speak of this already."
Our Lady of Pellevoisin is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary which refers to a series of Marian apparitions in Pellevoisin, in the province of Berry, in the department of Indre, France. Pellevoisin is west of Châteauroux in the Catholic Archdiocese of Bourges.
Ursula Benincasa,, born around 1550 and died in Naples on 20 October 1618, was an Italian nun and mystic, declared venerable, founder of the Oblate Sisters and Hermitage of the Contemplative Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, later the Theatine Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
