Do you use sacramentals and how do they help?

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Rob2

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A CNA website mentions the following as sacramentals - - - - - - - beside the sign of the cross and holy water there are many other sacramentals, such as blessed candles, ashes, palms, crucifixes, images of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints, rosaries, and scapulars.


Have you found any particular sacramental to be especially beneficial ?

Do you use sacramentals regularly ?

Why do you use them ?

Please just share some of your thoughts about them .
 
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I have holy water. At first I had it in a nice bowl before a sister gave me a fountain with one of the saints.

The candle from my confirmation is placed in an honor place on top of a bookshelf and I light that on the day of my confirmation and baptism days.

Palms are placed on the painting with Ave Maria that I made when I prepared to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church.

On the walls beside my bed there is a crucifix and two icons and in the kitchen I have Rublev´s icon “the Trinity”.

I should add, that I have kept the cross on the balcony door my parish priest made, when he came to bless my home, after I had a thief break into my apartment via the balcony. That one gets comments from deacons, priests, friends and family. 😁

It looks like a “Catholic” home now. 🤣
 
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I wear a Miraculous Medal.
It reminds me to be a Christian
 
I just love the rosary. I had mine blessed by a very holy priest.
 
Brown Scapular I wear constantly as a sign of my devotion to the Blessed virgin Mary, Rosary I pray daily and carry with me at all times (the crucifix of which is a pardon crucifix with a St Benedict medal and Miraculous medal either side of the crucifix) , blessed candles I light when I am praying at home, blessed salt I use in cooking, holy water I bless myself with when I get out of bed, at various times through the day and before I go to bed , blessed oil I make the sign of the cross on door lintel and window lintels to protect against the diabolic , crucifixes I pray in front of, these remind me to always appreciate the sacrifice made for me to have the ability to have eternal life
They all really help me try to live life as I ought too.
 
Yes. Have a lots of them.

Part and parcel of my spiritual life.
 
I had never thought of the Sign of the Cross as a sacramental until I read the piece in the OP.

The first sacramental I can remember was one given to me by my aunt , sister of my mum , who was my Godmother . It was like the one in the picture below and was made of red cloth with a paper image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus stuck to it . My aunt fastened it to my vest with a safety pin , and told me to pray often “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus , I place all my trust in you” .

I had been baptised in a church dedicated to the Sacred Heart .

I taught for 20 years in a school dedicated to the Sacred Heart .

When I first became involved with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal a Benedictine priest with some friends prayed over me for a release of the Spirit in front of the Sacred Heart altar in his church .

So the Sacred Heart of Jesus is precious to me , and that sacramental must have benefited me in some way .

P.S. I forgot to say the only sacramental statue I have is the Sacred Heart , and the miraculous medal I wear has the Sacred Heart on it

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Every good Catholic uses numerous sacramentals daily. I was always taught as a child that a Catholic home has a crucifix and statues, including a Mary statue. My mother wore the Sacred Heart League badge pinned to her bra inside her clothes, along with some medals. I had a holy water font in my room as a child and was taught to cross myself every night. I also received my first rosary and medals while in grade school. We always stuck the annual blessed palm behind the crucifix.

I love sacramentals and I have to be careful about not getting too many. I currently wear a Miraculous Medal and a Brown Scapular daily and use one of my Rosaries every day. Have lots of saint statues and medals. I like to put the saint medals on my rosaries. Also have some relics of saints and people on the path to sainthood. I try to get the relics myself by touching something to the person’s grave or collecting some dirt from their grave.
 
I use a rosary and have bought many medals, statues, images and other rosaries as presents for other people at Christmas but don’t actually own any personally for myself other than the rosary. I should really look into getting some though as I think they are great reminders of faith and honour as well as usually being visually beautiful to behold.
 
In the same way a College student and their family may begin displaying things that tell the world they are fans of XYZU!!, I have various religions themed items in my home, car, etc, some of which are Sacramentals.
 
When my computer goes nuts, I sprinkle it with a few drops of holy water. Then it behaves.
 
I never sprinkle it too much. Just a couple of drops is all it takes. I swear my computer is possessed sometimes. It just does whatever it wants.
 
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Holy water which I use as a reminder to give glory for my Baptism .

Rembrandt’s painting The Return of the Prodigal Son as a reminder of the greatest short story ever told , and of the Father’s forgiveness (picture below)

A photo of the face on the Shroud of Turin which , whether the Shroud is valid or not , speaks of the majesty of Jesus .

A painting of Our Lady Untier of Knots , a devotion I learned from Pope Francis . (picture below)

A miraculous meda which I wear . It has several symbols , the hearts of Jesus and Mary , a Cross , an M , a figure of Mary surrounded by a prayer .

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Rob2 said:
A photo of the face on the Shroud of Turin
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My mother and sister have venerated the Shroud. They brought me a small rosary, and a couple images of the Shroud. I treasure these things.
 
Presently, my most efficacious sacrament is my miraculous medal. It definitely reminds me to keep God first and remember to preach Christ with my life.

I’m testing out a new sacramental. It’s a pocket oratory I made:

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So far, I really like it. It helps to put myself in a prayerful state of mind.
 
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The last few years of her life my mother suffered from dementia .

She had always been one who started off her day with the Rosary .

I noticed she had stopped doing that . I wondered whether she was praying at all .

On a table near her bed she had one of those grotty , transparent holy water containers made like a statue of Mary which you buy in Lourdes to carry Lourdes water in . There was also an icon of the Sacred Heart of Jesus .

One night she had gone upstairs for bed . I went up for something and as I passed my mum’s bedroom I saw her pick up the icon and the plastic statue and kiss them . I thought “What a beautiful way of praying !”
 
That’s really nice work on that pocket oratory, you must have put a lor of time into making that. I think the time spent making one’s own sacramental is a prayer in itself.
 
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Lillypilly said:
Sacramentals have no intrinsic power.
They are aids to developing a stronger interior devotion.

It is the interior devotion that is beneficial.
One does not actually need sacramentals to develop stronger devotion as this can be fostered without them.

But if it helps you then why not?
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I have been thinking quite a bit about what you said @Lillypilly .

And I agree when you say “One does not actually need sacramentals to develop stronger devotion as this can be fostered without them.”

I remember a friend who used to go on retreat to a Carthusian Abbey . He would tell me that on the walls of his room there was only a simple wooden cross . I used to think that a little odd for a Catholic monastery . That was until I went to stay for a few days in a Dominican priory and in my room there was only a simple wooden cross .

There are a couple who live in my parish . The husband is one of the most committed Catholics in the parish . He is at Mass every day . He is a Grand Knight in the Knights of St Columba . He spends much of his time promoting the Catholic teaching on abortion . He is one of the best . Yet when I go into his house I see no sacramentals .

So as you say one does not actually need them .

One of the problems on social media like this forum is that one can talk about something which one finds helpful , and there is the danger of going from there to saying that every one of you has got to find that this certain thing is helpful for you too .

Thanks for teaching me a little lesson by your post .

By the way your favourite sacramental is very elaborately adorned and beautiful . But one thought at the back of my mind is how can one be sure it is wood from the true cross ? 😉
 
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My religious vows of chastity, poverty, obedience, and not seeking ecclesiastical dignities are classified as sacramentals. They are that which binds my personal vocation within my community to the public salvific action of the Church. My vows raise my call personal call to sanctity to a call which bestows upon me a responsibility to raise those around me above myself to our Lord.
 
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