Tiber River Cafe--Sacramentals

Hello, and welcome to the Tiber River Café.  My name is Dean Humphreys, and today’s topic are sacramentals.  The Catholic Church teaches that sacramentals are ‘sacred signs instituted by the Church to prepare us to receive the fruit of the Sacraments and to sanctify different circumstances of our lives (CCC 1677)’.

First let’s talk about the Sacraments.  The Catholic Church recognizes seven Sacraments: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony (marriage), Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick, and Reconciliation (also known as confession).  We believe that there is a sacred reality to each of the Sacraments and that each Sacrament points us towards Jesus.  Catholics believe that each of the Sacraments was instituted by Jesus himself, pointing to Biblical events in the life and ministry, as well as the stories and teachings, of Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord and Savior. 

Sacramentals are not the same as Sacraments.  The seven Sacraments were given to the Church by Jesus, to be administered by the Church, and the Sacraments provide graces absolutely necessary for our eternal salvation.  Sacramentals on the other hand have a resemblance to the Sacraments, but sacramentals do not give us the grace of God.  Sacramentals will include a prayer and an outward sign or symbol, symbols such as laying on of hands, making the sign of the cross, or sprinkling holy water. 

Sacramentals do not confer grace but they do prepare us to receive God’s grace and they help us to better cooperate with God’s grace.  We are able to weave the sacramental into our daily lives for we want to be closer to God.  Our Catholic faith becomes a way of life, a spiritual journey, and sacramentals allow us to use our five senses to fully experience our faith.  We touch the holy water, we smell the candles burning, we recite the prayers and devotions, we see the ancient icons and we hear the sacred music; the sacramentals are our tangible reminders of God’s never-ending love and forgiveness.

Sacramentals include religious signs, symbols, both public and private devotions and prayers such as the cross and crucifix, symbols such as the fish, prayers such as the Rosary, rituals, sacred music, pictures and icons, statues, as well as natural or made objects such water, palm branches, incense, candles, and sacred oil. 

Sacramentals also include our gestures during times of prayer and worship, such as standing, kneeling, prostrating, bowing, sitting, as well as making the sign of the cross.  They are the images, actions, and blessings that can often tell others that we are Catholic.  Sacramentals provide a uniqueness to our faith.

Sacramentals also include ritual words such as ‘amen’ which is the Hebrew word for ‘so be it’, the Hebrew word ‘alleluia’ which means ‘praise the Lord’, as well as the Hebrew word ‘hosanna’ which means ‘please, save us.’ 

There are a wealth of sacramentals that we can cherish and use to help us move closer to God, we can basically pick and choose which ones move us, which ones mean something special to us.  We can choose which of the sacramentals we may want to incorporate, many or few, whatever helps us in our spiritual journey.  Remember, the seven Sacraments are necessary for our eternal salvation, whereas sacramentals simply help point us in the proper direction.

So there you have it, a rather simple explanation of sacramentals, something to think about next Sunday at Mass.  I also encourage you to check out my pages on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook; as well as my blog on Blogger, where I have complete transcripts of all my videos.

Thanks for stopping by the Tiber River Café, where there is always plenty of room at the banquet table.  I hope to see you next time.  Peace be with you.