Sacramentals are powerful and blessed objects that can be a means to express your faith in God and they are instruments of grace that God uses to draw us closer to Him and to work through our lives to protect and sanctify us. Sacramentals come in different forms like rosaries, medals, pictures, statues of saints, scapulars ,crucifixes, incense, salt, water, oil etc. Many saints have spoken on their thoughts on the strength of Sacramentals. Such as St. Teresa: “From long experience I have learned that there is nothing like holy water to put devils to flight and prevent them from coming back again. They also flee from the Cross, but return, so holy water must have great virtue."
When a Sacramental is blessed they have the power to bring down God's graces upon the user, they protect one from diabolical attacks of Satan and the evil spirits by driving them away, they have the power to bring a soul to conversion and lead them to the Sacraments, they can bring spiritual and physical healing to a soul, they can remove venial sins, give you the grace to fight temptations, deliver you from many dangers and much more.
We must continue to have recourse to the abundant graces granted through such powerful Sacramentals as the Holy Rosary, the Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, the Miraculous Medal, the Saint Benedict Medal and so many others that have found favor with God. In these dawning years of the 21st century, in days of increasing compromise and capitulation that come from embracing the world, we must protect our authentic Catholic patrimony. A significant and invaluable part of that patrimony is found in Catholic Sacramentals and since they are blessed objects they should be treated with reverence.
So use them to sanctify and protect your life, those of your family and friends, your loved ones and help lead souls to the kingdom of heaven.
Caring of Sacramentals
To Keep your medals and scapulars looking good and so you can get longer use out of them you need to take care of them and to avoid certain things.
For some medals tarnishing and corrosion is a normal process, this will result to a loss of brightness and dullness in colour. Exposure to air, moisture, humidity, environment and chemicals such as perfumes, shampoo, hairspray and deodorant will effect their appearance.
Do not exercize in your medals and scapulars.The salt in your sweat can tarnish and corrode your medals and cause your scapulars to wear away quickly. Do not shower in new or good sacramentals, but i recommend wearing and old Miraculous Medal, Saint Benedict medal, or Scapular, etc. For some people their wearable sacramentals will just wear away quickly even if they do not shower in them, this is because they have acidic skin. Even from general wear they will pick up moisture and oil from your skin so from time to time get a soft cloth and give your medals a wipe down and a gentle handwash for the scapulars.
Disposing of Sacramentals and Old Consecrated Material
When a sacramental becomes so worn that it can no longer be used a Catholic should not place them into the trash. To prevent desecration, the sacramental should be returned to the earthly elements. Holy water, for example, should be poured into a hole dug in the earth, in a spot no one would walk over. Combustible sacramentals, such as scapulars and holy books, should be burned and then buried. Larger sacramentals that don't burn should be altered so that their form no longer appears to be a sacramental (ex., a statue should be broken up into small pieces) and then buried. Objects made of metals can be melted down and used for another purpose.
Items lose their blessing or consecration if they are desecrated, if they are substantially broken such that they can no longer be used for their sacred purpose, or if they are publicly sold. If an item is sold by one individual to another for only the price of the material itself, that is, if no profit is made, the blessing remains. For example, if you were to give someone a blessed rosary or sell it to him at cost, he would not have to have it re-blessed. If you were to sell a blessed rosary to someone for profit, he would need to take it to a priest to be blessed.
TWO INTERESTING SACRAMENTALS FOR PLAGUES AND DISEASES
1.THE CROSS OF FORGIVENESS
Words of Our Lord to Marie Julie Jahenny ( July 20,1882 ) " My little beloved friends, you will bear on yourselves My Adorable Cross that will preserve you from all sorts of evil, big and small and later i shall bless them." Note : that on the Cross of Forgiveness it carries the words "Cross of Holy Protection and Cross that Calms Plagues."
2.THE SAINT BENEDICT MEDAL
This medal will serve as an efficacious remedy for bodily afflictions and a means of protection against contagious diseases.
These are just two sacramentals that i have noticed are useful for protection against plagues and diseases. More on these
sacramentals can be read on their pages from the navigation menu.
