The Red Scapular of the Passion​

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In 1846, a nun of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, named Sister Apolline, received two apparitions of Jesus in which she received the red scapular. The front of the scapular showed Christ on the Cross and contained the words “Holy Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ save us.” The back held images of the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary being adored by angels. It read “Sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary protect us.”​

After hearing about the apparitions, Sister Apolline’s spiritual director told her to relate them to the Superior General of her order, Father J.B. Etienne. Fr. Etienne was so impressed by the apparitions and the message they contained, he eventually traveled to Rome to seek the approval of Pope Pius IX. On June 25, 1847, Pope Pius IX gave is approval to a new red scapular, to be known as the Scapular of the Passion of Our Lord and the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

According to the revelation claimed by Sister Apolline, to wear the blood-red scapular was to be "clad in the livery" of Christ's passion and that it "will prove to us a strong armor against infernal assaults, an impenetrable buckler against the arrows of our spiritual enemies and, according to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all who wear it with faith and piety it will be a pledge of pardon, a source of grace."​

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