SACRAMENTALS
1. MEANING OF SACRAMENTALS Certain blessings have a lasting importance because
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.
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 or abbess of a monastery, the consecration
of 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.
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.

4. Say the Glory Be: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.” shall be, world without end. Amen.

5. “The Sorrowful Mysteries – (Tuesday/Friday) Oh My Jesus

The Agony in the Garden
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires
The Scourging at the Pillar
of hell. Lead all souls into heaven, especially those in
The Crowning with Thorns
The Carrying of the Cross most need of thy mercy. Amen.
The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus
Following Jesus on his Way of the Cross by praying
6. The Glorious Mysteries – (Wen/ Sun)
The Resurrection of Jesus
and meditating on the fourteen Stations is a very
The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven ancient devotion in the Church, which is practiced
The Holy Spirit comes upon Mary and the Apostles especially in Lent and Holy week.
The Assumption of Mary
The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth
What is the purpose of a Christian funeral?
7. The Joyful Mysteries – (Mon/Sat)
The Annunciation A Christian funeral is a service performed by the
The Visitation Christian community for the benefit of its dead. It
The Nativity of Our Lord expresses the sorrow of the survivors, yet it always
The Presentation has a Paschal character. Ultimately, we die in Christ
Finding Jesus in the Temple
so as to celebrate with him the feast of the
8. The Luminous Mysteries or the Mysteries of light (Thurs) Resurrection.
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