The Blue Scapular Prayer Book

27 Carmelites required that the monks wear their scapulars even in their sleep as a source of spiritual protection through the night. In the Middle Ages, when many laypeople wished to participate in some way in the spiritual life of the religious orders, various religious associations like “Third Orders,” “Confraternities,” and “Oblates” were established. The sign of acceptance into the spiritual community was the vesting of the scapular to identify its members as belonging to each distinctive religious order. Types of Scapulars There are various types of scapulars depending on the religious Order with which they are associated. The origin of most of them is linked to an apparition of the Blessed Mother instructing a particular religious order to promote a certain type of scapular. The oldest among them is the “white” scapular of the Holy Trinity that dates back to 1200. The “brown” Carmelite scapular originated in 1251, while the “black” scapular of the Servites of the Blessed Mother of Sorrows— in 1255. The majority of the scapulars had a singular affinity with the Mother of God, not only because