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Good evening Father,
could you please explain to me what a sacramental is?
Many thanks

Answer of the priest 

Dearly beloved.
1. The code of canon law presents sacramentals as follows: “ Sacramentals are sacred signs by which effects, especially spiritual effects, are signified in some imitation of the sacraments and are obtained through the intercession of the Church” (can.1166).
Sacramentals are all those rites and ceremonies pertaining to the celebration of sacraments and they do not constitute the essence of the sacrament.
If we take baptism as an example, the essence of the sacrament is constituted by the pouring of water on the person being baptized with the minister pronouncing the appropriate words.
All the other rites such as the sign of the cross, the exorcism, the anointing with the sacred chrism, the final blessing, the white robe, the lit candle, the Paschal candle… are sacramental.

2. They are distinguished from the sacraments essentially for two reasons.
The first: because the sacraments were instituted by Christ, while the sacramentals are instituted by the Church.

The second: the sacraments are effective ex opere operato, while the sacramentals are effective ex opere operantis, or rather, ex opere operantis Ecclesiae.
Ex opere operato means that by their very celebration they produce an effect.

 Sacramentals, on the other hand, are effective depending on the devotion of the Church.

The intercession of the Church is particularly powerful although it is not infallible like that of the sacraments.

In the sacramentals the Church asks God for those who use them worthily for the spiritual effect for which they were instituted.

3.Sacramentals are divided into two classes: exorcisms and blessings.

Exorcisms consist of the laying on of hands and the recitation of some prayers with the aim of expelling the demon from those who are possessed by it.

The blessings, which are an outpouring of celestial gifts, are divided into constitutive and dedicatory blessings.

The constitutive blessings are applied to men and also to objects (for example chalices) for the purpose of consecrating them, that is, of dedicating them exclusively to the worship of God.

Invocative blessings are given to men to obtain some divine benefit.

They are also given to things so that their use benefits the health of the soul and body. For example, the blessing of the table is a sacramental.

4. About the sacramentals St Thomas writes: “Holy Water and other consecrated things are not called sacraments, because they do not produce the sacramental effect, which is the receiving of grace. They are, however, a kind of disposition to the sacraments: either by removing obstacles. thus holy water is ordained against the snares of the demons, and against venial sins: or by making things suitable for the conferring of a sacrament; thus the altar and vessels are consecrated through reverence for the Eucharist’’(Summa theologiae, III, 65, 1, ad 6). 

5. The objects that are blessed are also sacramental, such as the crucifix, the crown of the Holy Rosary, the medals…In this regard, the Dominican A. Sertillanges writes: “The effects we expect from them are those which the Christian life demands. The purification of the soul ; the satisfaction of justice for our faults; the expulsion of evil spirits; the alleviation of our sufferings, if our heavenly Father thinks it expedient ; the removal of evil influences on the same condition and the inner liberty of the children of God; such are those which theology enumerates.

Those little familiar actions, those unimportant things, an aspersion, a cross traced on the forehead or breast, a formula; such things, when they enter on the great current of religion, become efficacious. They become so by reason of our psychological make-up, wherein the sensible plays so great a part. They become so by reason of their institution, which has the power of winning over higher powers; the power of association, which is creative so far as the individual is concerned; the power of Christ, in whom the Christian association finds its centre ; the power of God, who is joined to Christ, and who is joined also to us through Him and through the Church” (L’Eglise, II, p. 4).

With the hope that the use of the sacramentals will be of great benefit to you and will introduce you more and more into the life of God, I bless you and remember you in prayer.

Fr Angelo