Saints and Devotions
Saints and Devotions: Information for some of the items found on this site
We offer a number of Special Devotional items that are associated with different Religious Orders, Saints, and practices; Here is some information on a few of them; We are NOT affiliated with any groups! We just wanted to provide some background information:
The Green Scapular
The Green Scapular (also called The Badge of the Immaculate Heart of Mary) 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 development of the green scapular is based on visions reportedly experienced in 1840 by Sister Justine Bisqueyburu, a member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.
Divine Mercy
In Catholicism, the Divine Mercy is a devotion to Jesus Christ associated with the reported apparitions of Jesus to Faustina Kowalska.
The venerated image under this title refers to what Kowalska's diary describes as "God's loving mercy" towards all people, especially for sinners. Kowalska was granted the title "Secretary of Mercy" by the Holy See in the Jubilee Year of 2000.
In February 1931, in Płock, Faustina Kowalska had a vision of Jesus who tasked her with spreading the devotion to his Divine Mercy. Kowalska reported a number of apparitions during religious ecstasy which she described in her 1934–1938 diary, later published as the book Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul. The two main themes of the devotion are to trust in Christ's endless goodness, and to show mercy to others acting as a conduit for God's love towards them. The primary focus of the Divine Mercy devotion is the merciful love of God and the desire to let that love and mercy flow through one's own heart towards those in need of it. As he dedicated the Shrine of the Divine Mercy, Pope John Paul II referred to this when he said: "Apart from the mercy of God there is no other source of hope for humankind".
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Latin: Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practiced and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is predominantly used in the Catholic Church, followed by high church Anglicans, and some Western Rite Orthodox. In the Latin Church, the liturgical Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated the third Friday after Pentecost. The 12 promises of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus are also popular.
The devotion is especially concerned with what the church deems to be the long-suffering love and compassion of the heart of Christ towards humanity. The popularization of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a Roman Catholic nun from France, Margaret Mary Alacoque, who said she learned the devotion from Jesus during a series of apparitions to her between 1673 and 1675, and later, in the 19th century, from the mystical revelations of another Catholic nun in Portugal, Mary of the Divine Heart, a religious sister of the congregation of the Good Shepherd, who requested in the name of Christ that Pope Leo XIII consecrate the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Predecessors to the modern devotion arose unmistakably in the Middle Ages in various facets of Catholic mysticism, particularly with Gertrude the Great.
The Rosary
The Rosary; Latin: rosarium, in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the Franciscan Crown, Bridgettine Rosary, Rosary of the Holy Wounds, etc.), refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers.
For more information on The Rosary or how to pray it, review the information found on The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) website.
Red Scapular of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
The Scapular of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (The Scapular of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Agony and of the Most Loving and Sorrowful Heart of Mary) is a Roman Catholic devotional scapular approved at the request of the Archbishop of Marseilles, by the Congregation of Rites in 1900. The scapular owes its origin and spread to the Congregation of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart, founded at Antwerp in 1873. Their petition for the scapular was supported by the Bishop of Marseille and by Cardinal Mazzella, the congregation's Cardinal-protector. The front has an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary pierced with by sword. The second segment has a small red cross. Indulgences were granted for the wearing of this scapular in 1901, and increased by Pope Pius X in 1906.
ADMG - “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam”
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam or Ad majórem Dei glóriam, also rendered as the abbreviation AMDG, is a Latin quote which can be translated as "For the greater glory of God." It has been used as a rallying cry for Catholics throughout history, especially during the Thirty Year's War, and is currently the motto of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), an order of the Catholic Church.
The origin of the phrase is attributed to the founder of the Jesuits, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, who intended it to serve as a cornerstone sentiment of the society's religious philosophy. The full phrase attributed to St. Ignatius is Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem or "for the greater glory of God and the salvation of humanity." It is a summary of the idea that any work that is not evil, even one that would normally be considered inconsequential to the spiritual life, can be spiritually meritorious if it is performed in order to give glory to God.
God’s greater glory is the increased thriving of any one of us and all of us together, in communion with God and with each other in God.