The Blue Scapular Prayer Book

18 assistance to Poor Souls suffering in Purgatory because St. Stanislaus associated devotion to the Immaculate Conception with helping the faithful departed. Excited by the idea of giving himself into Mary’s bondage, he wished not only to live free of evil and sin, but to aid the purification from the stain of sin of all those who were suffering in Purgatory. The last chapter of The Rule of the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the B.V.M ., upon which the Holy See approved the Marian Order in 1699, commanded the Marian religious to wear the Scapular of the Immaculate Conception of the Most B.V.M. They wore it beneath their white habit. Committed by virtue of their calling to spread devotion to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mother, they wished also to popularize the scapular among the faithful. The Venerable Servant of God Fr. Casimir of St. Joseph Wyszyński (1700-1755) was the first among the Marians to approach the Theatine Fathers in Rome with the request for permission to bless the Blue Scapular and confer it upon the faithful. The permission was granted in 1733 with the obligation of its renewal every three years. The Servant of God resided then in Rome and held the office of Procurator General of the Marian Fathers.