Jesus Malverde Scapulary

The Jesus Malverde scapulary consists of an amulet embroidered on both sides, suspended from a sturdy green-and-yellow cord. The elegant embroidery is quite detailed given the small surface area and is accented by a jagged green outline stitch. This protective scapular can be worn simply under clothing or over it. In Mexico, this type of Malverde Scapulario is often found on the inside of apartment doors, where it protects the home, or is frequently hung alongside other items on the rearview mirror of a car.

The embroidered amulet measures 5 x 3.5 cm.
The unfolded Scapulario is 37 cm long and fits over any head.

Jesus Malverde is one of Mexico’s most famous folk saints. According to legend, Malverde was a daring bandit who took from the rich and gave to the poor—a Mexican Robin Hood. The myth-shrouded bandit enjoys cult status across all social classes, quite comparable to that of Santa Muerte. Like the Saint of Death, however, he is not “officially” recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and is frowned upon as pagan. 

Although Malverde is unfortunately almost exclusively reduced to his role as the patron saint of drug cartels these days, he is much more to Mexicans: an icon straddling mainstream and subculture, and a symbol of patriarchal oppression, postcolonial abandonment, and the crime that characterizes the lives of the so-called “border people” on the cultural frontier between Mexico and the U.S. For most Mexicans, believing in both Jesús Malverde and the Catholic Church is not a contradiction at all, and so after Sunday Mass, a candle is also placed before the generous, white-robed bandit.