Sacramentals are things (sacramentalia) set apart or blessed by the Catholic Church to manifest the respect due to the Sacraments, and so to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart to remit venial sin, according to the Council of Trent (Session XXII, 15). When the term is used in the singular it is preceded by an article ("a sacramental" or "the sacramental") as sacramental is also an adjective describing the Sacraments.

The Catholic Church recognizes two differences between the Sacraments and the sacramentals:

• The Sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ; most, but not all, of the sacramentals were instituted by the Church.
• The Sacraments give grace of themselves when the faithful place no obstacle in the way; the sacramentals excite pious dispositions, by means of which the faithful may obtain grace. It is not the sacramental itself that gives grace, but the devotion, the love of God, or sorrow for sin that it inspires.

While the Church places restrictions on the reception by non-Catholics of Catholic Church administered Sacraments, this is not true of the sacramantals. The pious use of sacramantals by non-Catholics is permitted. As blessed objects, that represent sacred beliefs and persons, disrespect to sacramentals is considered a form of sacrilege. (A secular analogy of this concept is that vandalism of a George Washington statue would be considered unpatriotic by Americans.)

Examples

The chief sacramentals used in the Catholic Church include:

• The Sign of the Cross
• Holy water
• Blessed candles
• Ashes
• Palms
• Crucifixes
• Images of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the saints
• Rosaries
• Scapulars

References

• Baltimore Catechism No. 2, Lesson 27
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Sacramentals

External link

• Being Catholic: Sacramentals