Chapter V. On Sacramentals

"Besides the sacraments properly so called," say the Fathers of Baltimore in the Second Plenary Council, "the Church has other sacred things also, which formerly, indeed, in a broader and less proper sense were also called sacraments, but for many centuries it has come into custom that they be called sacramentals. The origin of the name is from this, that although they are far inferior to the sacraments in power and merits, nevertheless they imitate them in some way by their effects." Now concerning these sacramentals we shall here briefly say three things, namely what they are, how many and which they are, and what effects they produce. - Cf. Konings, nn. 1244 and seq.

I. Sacramentals are things or actions which the Church, in some imitation of the Sacraments, is accustomed to use for obtaining, by her impetration, effects especially spiritual (Can. 1144).

II. Only the Apostolic See can constitute new Sacramentals, or authentically interpret those received, or abolish or change any of them (Can. 1145).

Concerning the number of sacramentals theologians do not agree; for some assign more, others fewer. Yet more commonly they are reduced to six heads, according to the little verse:

Praying, wetted, eating, confessed, giving, blessing.

1st. Praying signifies the daily prayers of the faithful, but especially the Lord's Prayer and the public prayers of the Church, as are those which are made on the days of Rogations.

2nd. Wetted denotes the use of lustral water, which must be traced back to the first centuries of the Church. It also denotes all other anointings which do not constitute some sacrament properly so called.

3rd. Eating expresses the devout eating of blessed bread, which in the ancient Church, when the former fervor of charity was gradually failing, was given to the baptized, and sometimes to catechumens, in place of the Eucharist. This custom is still preserved today in some Churches, where fragments of blessed bread are offered to the faithful within the solemnities of Masses before or after the time of Communion. The aforesaid word also expresses the eating of blessed fruits, especially if they are new, for which a special blessing exists.

4th. Confessed designates the public confession of faults to be made in a general manner by the prescription of the Church, whether in Mass or in reciting the Canonical Hours. It also designates the suppliant and humble striking of the breast, and also the sprinkling of ashes upon the heads of the faithful customarily done on the first day of Lent.

5th. Giving comprehends first of all almsgiving, and secondarily any other work of mercy, whether spiritual or corporal, specially designated by the Church as to be furnished by the faithful in some public calamity or in the Lenten season.

6th. Blessing comprehends first of all all blessings which are ordinarily given either in writing or by voice by the Pope, Bishops, and priests; then those solemn blessings described in the Roman Ritual as to be given to virgins, kings, queens, etc.; and finally blessings of things and animals. Now of these blessings some are papal, or reserved to the Pope, for example, the blessing of Pallia or of the Golden Rose; others are episcopal, which by right pertain to Bishops alone, such as consecrations of churches, altars, chalices, bells, priestly vestments, altar-cloths, corporals, the first stone of a church or cemetery, the tabernacle, a new cross and images, if however the blessing of the cross and images is done publicly with solemnity; finally others are priestly, namely those which regard priests, with this distinction, however, that every priest can give some, while some can be given only by a Parish Priest or another delegated by him. - I said that some blessings are episcopal by right, but it must be observed that Bishops cannot delegate a simple priest to impart all of them without a pontifical indult.

III. The effects of sacramentals are numbered differently by different persons, but the principal ones are the following two:

1st. The remission of venial sins, not indeed immediately and by force of the sacred rite itself, which pertains only to the sacraments properly so called, but by means of the pious movements of contrition which certainly are customarily excited more easily and more frequently through the use of sacramentals. To this point belong those words of St. Augustine: "This prayer (the Our Father) wholly destroys minimal and daily sins." And elsewhere the same holy Doctor bears witness: "sins without which one does not live here are cleansed by works of mercy and pious prayers."

2nd. The repression and flight of the demon; and this not only by way of impetration but also by way of command. Hence St. Alphonsus admonishes the priest that, when agony is pressing, he should more often sprinkle the sick person with holy water and fortify him with the sign of the cross.

Question 1. Who is the legitimate minister of Sacramentals?

Resp. The legitimate minister of Sacramentals is a cleric to whom power for this has been conferred and who has not been prohibited by competent ecclesiastical authority from exercising the same (Can. 1146).

§ 1. No one who lacks the episcopal character can validly perform consecrations, unless either by law or by apostolic indult this is permitted to him.

§ 2. But any presbyter can impart blessings, excepting those which are reserved to the Roman Pontiff or to Bishops or to others.

§ 3. A reserved blessing which is given by a presbyter without necessary permission is illicit, but valid, unless the Apostolic See has expressed otherwise in the reservation.

§ 4. Deacons and lectors can validly and licitly give only those blessings which are expressly permitted to them by law (Can. 1147).

Question 2. What rites are to be employed in confecting and administering Sacramentals?

Resp. § 1. In confecting or administering Sacramentals, the rites approved by the Church are to be accurately observed.

§ 2. Consecrations and blessings, whether constitutive or invocative, are invalid if the formula prescribed by the Church has not been employed (Can. 1148).

Question 3. To whom can Sacramentals be conferred?

Resp. Blessings, to be imparted first of all to Catholics, can also be given to catechumens, indeed, unless a prohibition of the Church stands in the way, even to non-Catholics for obtaining the light of faith or, together with it, health of body (Can. 1149).¹

It is not necessary to add more concerning sacramentals, but it is altogether useful to place before the eyes this most wise admonition of the Fathers of Baltimore:

"Let preachers and rectors of souls take care first of all to explain to the faithful the nature, signification, and right use of these things, and to inculcate them more often. Let them persuade those who rely too much on their own wisdom and talent that these things, although they may seem light and small, are not to be contemned, since they profit not a little for living piously and attaining salvation. But let them again and again admonish the more untaught common people, who are swept away by the contrary error, lest they attribute too much efficacy to the things themselves, nor preserve them with a certain blind and immoderate confidence and pursue them with superstitious veneration, as though they themselves, by themselves, without a pious disposition of mind, could do very much. But let them most sharply rebuke those who have sacred things of this kind, as was the custom among the Heathen, as though in place of amulets, which would keep them immune from the wrath of God and vengeance even when they are involved in the most foul filth of vices." - Cf. Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, n. 350.

¹ Cf. Addenda, p. 1088, n. 9.