Q: A few years ago, I was blessed to receive from my church a scapular and I wear it almost all the time. On the scapular it says, “Whosoever dies wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” My question is this: Does this promise still apply if you die with unconfessed mortal sins on your conscience? Many thanks. — J.
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC
A: The short answer is no. The scapular wouldn’t save someone who dies in unrepentant mortal sin.
The reason is that the promise of scapular, understood in context, assumes that a person is living a life in accord with good Christian living.
Scapulars are modeled after the habits of monks. The earlier promise of salvation to those who wore the habits assumed that a person followed the rules about prayer and fasting and upright behavior.
In other words, the scapular isn’t a lucky charm that automatically gets a soul into heaven.
Catholic Answers has a related post on this topic that might interest you.
