SACRAMENTALS
1. MEANING OF SACRAMENTALS or abbess of a monastery, the consecration of
Sacramentals are sacred signs which bear a
resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects,
particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained
through the intercession of the Church. By them men
are disposed to receive the chief effect of the
sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered
holy (CCC,1667).
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
SACRAMENTALS
Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of
certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life, a
great variety of circumstances in Christian life, and the
use of many things helpful to man. In accordance with
bishops’ pastoral decisions, they can also respond to
the needs, culture and special history of the Christian
people of a particular region or time. They always
include a prayer, often accompanied by a specific
sign, such as the laying on of hands, the sign of the
cross, or the sprinkling of holy water (which recalls
baptism).
Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood:
every baptized person is called to be a “blessing,” and
to bless. Hence lay people may preside at certain
blessings; the more a blessing concerns ecclesial and
sacramental life, the more is its administration
reserved to the ordained ministry (bishops, priests or
deacons).
Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy
Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the
Church’s prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and
dispose us to cooperate with it. “For well-disposed
members of the faithful, the liturgy of sacraments and
sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their
lives with the divine grace which flows from the
Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death and
Resurrection of Christ. From this source all
sacraments and sacramentals draw their power.
There is scarcely any proper use of material things
which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification
of men and the praise of God.”
2. VARIOUS FORMS OF SACRAMENTALS
Among sacramentals, blessings (of persons, meals,
objects, and places) come first. Every blessing praises
God and prays for his gifts. In Christ, Christians are
blessed by God the Father “with every spiritual
blessing.” This is why the Church imparts blessings by
invoking the name of Jesus, usually while making the
holy sign of the cross of Christ.
Certain blessings have a lasting importance because
they consecrate persons to God, or reserve objects and
places for liturgical use. Among those blessings which
are intended for persons – not to be confused with
sacramental ordination – are the blessing of the abbot
virgins and widows, the rite of religious profession
and the blessing of certain ministries of the Church
(readers, acolytes, catechists, etc.). The dedication or
blessing of a church or an altar, the blessing of the
holy oils, vessel and vestments, bells, etc., can be
motivated as examples of blessing that concern
objects.
When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in
the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be
protected against the power of the Evil One and
withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism.
Jesus performed exorcisms and from him the Church
has received the power and office of exorcizing. In a
simple form, exorcism is performed at the
celebration of Baptism. The solemn exorcism, called
“a major exorcism,” can be performed only by a
priest and with the permission of the bishop. The
priest must proceed with prudence, strictly observing
the rules established by the Church. Exorcism is
directed at the expulsion of demons or to the
liberation from demonic possession through the
spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church.
Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very
different matter, treating this is the concern of medical
science. Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it
is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the
presence of the Evil One, and not an illness.
 
3. POPULAR PIETY
Besides a sacramental liturgy and sacramentals,
catechists must take into account the forms of piety
and popular devotions among the faithful. The
religious sense of the Christian people has always
found expression in various forms of piety surrounding
the Church’s sacramental life, such as the veneration
of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages,
processions, the stations of the cross, religious
dances, the rosary, medals, etc.
These expressions of piety extend the liturgical life of
the Church, but do not replace it. They “should be
so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical
seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some
way derived from it and lead the people to it, since in
fact the liturgy by its very nature is far superior to any
of them.”
Pastoral discernment is needed to sustain and support
popular piety and, if necessary, to purify and correct
the religious sense which underlies these devotions so
that the faithful may advance in knowledge of the
mystery of Christ. Their exercise is subject to the care
and judgment of the bishops and to the general norms
of the Church.
At its core the piety of the people is a storehouse of
values that offers answers of Christian wisdom to the
great questions of life. The Catholic wisdom of the
people is capable of fashioning a vital synthesis. It
creatively combines the divine and the human,
Christ and Mary, spirit and body, communion and
institution, person and community, faith and
homeland, intelligence and emotion. This wisdom is
a Christian humanism that radically affirms the dignity
of every person as a child of God, establishes a basic
fraternity, teaches people to encounter nature and
understand work, provides reasons for joy and humor
even in the midst of a very hard life. For the people
this wisdom is also a principle of discernment and an
evangelical instinct through which they spontaneously
sense when the Gospel is served in the Church, and
when it is emptied of its content and stifled by other
interests.
How important is so-called “popular piety”?
Popular piety, which is expressed in veneration for
relics, processions, pilgrimages, and devotions, is an
important way in which the faith becomes
enculturated. It is good as long as it is in and of the
Church, leads to Christ, and does not try to “earn”
heaven by works, apart from God’s grace.
RELICS
Relics (from Latin relictum = remains) are remnants
of the bodies of saints or else objects that the saints
used during their lifetime.
Is it permissible to venerate relics?
The veneration of relics is a natural human need, a
way of showing respect and reverence to the persons
who are venerated. RELICS of saints are properly
venerated when the faithful praise God’s work in
people who have devoted themselves completely to
God.
What is the purpose of a pilgrimage?
Someone who goes on a pilgrimage “prays with his
feet” and experiences with all his senses that his entire
life is one long journey to God.
 In ancient Israel people made pilgrimages to the
Temple in Jerusalem. Christians adopted this custom.
And so this developed, especially in the Middle Ages,
into a regular pilgrimage movement to the holy places
(above all to Jerusalem and to the tombs of the
apostles in Rome and Santiago de Compostela). Often
people went on pilgrimage so as to do penance, and
sometimes their actions were affected by the false
notion that one had to justify oneself before God by
tormenting and punishing oneself. Today pilgrimages
are experiencing a unique revival. People are looking
for the peace and the strength that come from those
grace-filled localities. They are tired of going it alone;
they want to get out of the rut of the daily routine, get
rid of some ballast, and start moving toward God.
WHAT ARE THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS?
Stations of the Cross, also called Way of the Cross, a
series of 14 pictures or carvings portraying events in
the Passion of Christ, from his condemnation
by Pontius Pilate to his entombment. The series of
stations is as follows: (1) Jesus is condemned to death,
(2) he is made to bear his cross,
(3) he falls the first time,
(4) he meets his mother,
(5) Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross,
(6) Veronica wipes Jesus’ face,
(7) he falls the second time,
(8) the women of Jerusalem weep over Jesus,
(9) he falls the third time,
(10) he is stripped of his garments,
(11) he is nailed to the cross,
(12) he dies on the cross,
(13) he is taken down from the cross, and
(14) he is placed in the sepulchre.
The images are usually mounted on the inside walls of
a church or chapel but may also be erected in such places
as cemeteries, corridors of hospitals and religious houses,
or on mountainsides. The prayer “We adore you, O Christ,
and we bless you. Because by your holy cross you have
redeemed the world” and with a reading from a relevant
passage of Scripture.
HOLY ROSARY
1. Make the Sign of the Cross saying “In the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”,
and say the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in God, the Father
almighty creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ,
His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy
Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius
Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended
into hell. On the third day he rose again from the dead. He
ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of
God, the Father almighty. He will come again in glory to
judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the
forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life
everlasting. Amen.”
2. Say the Our Father: “Our Father, who art in
heaven hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day
our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.”
3. Say three Hail Marys for Faith, Hope, and
Charity: “Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for
us sinners, Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” – 3
times.
4. Say the Glory Be: “Glory be to the Father, and to
the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.”
5. “The Sorrowful Mysteries – (Tuesday/Friday)
The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging at the Pillar
The Crowning with Thorns
The Carrying of the Cross
The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus
6. The Glorious Mysteries – (Wen/ Sun)
 The Resurrection of Jesus What is the purpose of a Christian funeral?
The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven
The Holy Spirit comes upon Mary and the Apostles A Christian funeral is a service performed by the
The Assumption of Mary Christian community for the benefit of its dead. It
The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth expresses the sorrow of the survivors, yet it always has
7. The Joyful Mysteries – (Mon/Sat)
a Paschal character. Ultimately, we die in Christ so as
The Annunciation to celebrate with him the feast of the Resurrection.
The Visitation
The Nativity of Our Lord  
The Presentation
Finding Jesus in the Temple

8. The Luminous Mysteries or the Mysteries of light

(Thurs)
The Baptism of the Lord
The Wedding in Cana
The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God and the call to
conversion
The Transfiguration
The Institution of the Eucharist”  

9. and then say the Our Father.

10. Say ten Hail Marys while meditating on the
Mystery.
11. Glory Be
12. Closing Prayers
Hail Holy Queen 
Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our Life, our
Sweetness, and our hope. To thee we cry, poor banished
children of Eve. To thee we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then
most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this, our exile, show unto us, the blessed fruit
of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet
Virgin Mary. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God, That
we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Amen.

Final Prayer
Let us pray. O God, whose only begotten Son, by His
life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the
rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech Thee, that
meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy
Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate
what they contain and obtain what they promise,
through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Make the Sign of the Cross.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy

Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall
be, world without end. Amen.

Oh My Jesus
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires
of hell. Lead all souls into heaven, especially those in
most need of thy mercy. Amen.

Following Jesus on his Way of the Cross by praying

and meditating on the fourteen Stations is a very
ancient devotion in the Church, which is practiced
especially in Lent and Holy week.