SCAPOLARE. — From the Latin scapula = shoulder. An integral part of monastic religious dress, worn over the tunic, consisting of two long strips of cloth hanging from the shoulders, one on the chest and the other on the back, provided with a hood; at the top there is an opening through which the head is passed.
It is characteristic of the monastic Orders: Benedictines, Camaldolese, Cistercians, Carmelites, and Dominicans, and has also been adopted by some newer congregations. It varies in color: black for the Benedictines and Cistercians, white for the Camaldolese, Olivetans, and Dominicans; brown for the Carmelites. St. Benedict (Reg., chap. 55: « scapulare propter opera ») refers to the original form, which was to be merely a band or strap, in the form of a cross, placed on the chest and shoulders (analogous to the Greek ἀνάλαβος), in order to adjust or raise the habit during work; or else an apron to protect ordinary clothing. A century after St. Benedict, its meaning changed. The present form seems to derive from the « cucullus », that is, a hood elongated to the shoulders to protect the head and shoulders from rain, cold, and snow. At the time of the reform of St. Benedict of Aniane (d. 821), it was lengthened to the knees; this « cuculla s. » came to be identified, as Ardo (d. 843), the biographer of St. Benedict of Aniane, writes, with the « s. » of the Benedictine Rule. Around the year 1000 it began to be lengthened to the heels. Around 1200 the present form was reached.
To express their adherence to their respective monastic Order, oblates and those enrolled in the Third Order of St. Francis wear beneath their clothing a reduced form of the s., namely, two small pieces of cloth in the color of the Order’s habit, joined by two ribbons. The s. of tertiaries is called « grande », in contrast to the « piccolo » worn by religious confraternities, which have the s. as their distinctive sign. The most celebrated and widespread is the brown or black one of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, often joined with the other s.: with the white one bearing the red and cerulean cross of the Most Holy Trinity, of the Order of the Trinitarians (granted in 1200); with the black one of the Servites (since 1255), in honor of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady; with the cerulean one of the Immaculate Conception, granted in 1691 and 1710 to the Theatines; and with the red one of the Passion, approved in 1847 for the Lazarists. Besides these five s., there are others, e.g., the violet-yellow one in honor of St. Joseph, approved in 1893 for the Capuchins; the red one in honor of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, approved in 1900; the white one in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, approved in 1900; etc.
To gain the spiritual benefits, the s. must actually be worn continuously, day and night; they must be made of wool and blessed for the first time on the day of enrollment. A decree of Pius X (16 December 1910) permits the wearing of a medal (bearing on one side the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and on the other that of Our Lady) in place of the s. (AAS, 3 [1911], pp. 22-23).