Sacramentals - Protection Against Evil

"Sacramentals are part of the Church's arsenal" - Fr. John Corapi

It is always a big shock to me when I learn that some of my fellow Catholics do not use, wear or have certain sacramentals. I am referring to wearing the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, wearing the Miraculous Medal, the use of Holy Water and Blessed Salt in the homes, the use of Holy Oil, etc. I do not understand their reasoning behind not doing so. I hope those who do not will begin to do make use of some sacramentals with their families and in their homes on a daily basis.

In my search for an easy to understand article on the importance of sacramentals for Catholics, I found an old article written by Catholic mom and author Regina Doman. EWTN Library - Sacramentals: What Are They?"

Practically speaking, the myriad of little things that are sacramentals are the parts of catholicity that jostle against us in our everyday life, those little extras that often tell others we are Catholic. They are the images, actions and blessings that are unique to our faith; those sometimes humble reminders of what the Catholic faith is all about, like the crucifix on our wall.

Sacramentals run the gamut from blessings of consecrated virgins to articles such as relics and rosaries. Some, such as holy water, are used by almost every Catholic. Others are more personal, such as devotionals to a particular saint.

You may recall a recent post I wrote regarding Sacramentals in the home. In that post I wrote about some of the kinds of sacramentals that every Catholic home should have Sacramentals in the Home: A Catholic Tradition

I direct your attention back to the quote at the beginning of this post. Fr. Corapi made it quite clear in his talk I heard last night on EWTN that we must protect ourselves against the Devil and evil in general. He stressed that sacramentals are an essential way of doing just that. Father Corapi knows that as a priest, he is constantly under attack by the evil one. He always asks people to pray for him. He also uses Holy Water and Blessed Salt on a regular basis. He sprinkles them around his house and car. Since Blessed Salt will not evaporate as Holy Water does, he makes sure to do both. I have been saving my Blessed Salt because I have been afraid that once the salt blessed by Father Duffy is used up,another priest will not bless salt for me. However, today I will sprinkle the blessed salt around our home and car...just like Fr .Corapi.