Is it true that sacramentals will only work when used by the faithful?

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For example, if you are not a man of faith, even when you use holy water on a possessed person, it wont have any effects?
 
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I don’t think that is so.

If you consider a person that is an unbeliever simply praying then that prayer is heard. It may even be answered in some way too. If unbelievers weren’t helped then they would never develop spiritually only mentally.

If a sacramental is blessed and used then the person using it will benefit from it regardless of their belief as long as the sentiments are in accord with Gods wishes.
 
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Sacramentals don’t “work,” the way sacraments do. People very often ask questions on here about whether such-and-such a sacramental is a “valid” one, as though validity applied in the way it does to sacraments. But with Sacramentals, they “work” by the faith of the person using them. They’re meant to help dispose us to the working of grace, but they do not themselves impart grace. So many, many things are sacramentals–prayers, actions, words, physical objects. A person who isn’t Catholic praying the Psalms, for instance, would be more disposed to divine grace through doing that than a person who is Catholic using a scapular superstitiously.

-Fr ACEGC
 
I think Johnette Williams calls them “Holy Reminders”. I think that is a good way to keep sacramentals in proper perspective.
 
I’m not impugning anyone’s spiritual practice, but the Green Scapular seems to be something that makes a lot of people cross the line from devotion to superstition.
 
edward_george1 said:
A person who isn’t Catholic praying the Psalms, for instance, would be more disposed to divine grace through doing that than a person who is Catholic using a scapular superstitiously.
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Yes, it is more efficacious to listen open-heartedly to God, even prior to baptism, than for someone to cling to the idea after baptism that one can use a ritual to dictate directions to the Almighty. Personal control over the results of their actions is what too many people (baptized, spiritual or neither) mean by whether or not something “works.”
 
Sacramentals are not magic.

Only a Bishop or a priest given permission by his Bishop has any authority to exorcise people.
 
You do seem to believe that such things are like pagan “charmed objects”. If so this is superstitious and magical thinking which Christians should have no truck with.

The only change in such objects is their history of use or dedication…which is either known to others or not.
 
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Nelka said:
So why do people use sacramental medals?
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I wear my St. Benedict medal as a reminder that I’m an Oblate, that I aspire to a certain way of life, that I’m called to more than just the ins and outs of daily life.
 
I assume to provide a daily reminder and help get themselves in the right frame of mind to be receptive to grace, not because the medals themselves are magic.
 
Nelka said:
So why do people use sacramental medals?
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I wear my Miraculous Medal as a reminder to be open to and respond to grace. My Crucifix is a reminder to walk in the light of Christ.

Sometimes people ask me about them, and that gives me an opportunity to evangelize. 🙂
 
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The sacramental has to be combined with personal faith and a state of grace, to be effective.
 
The miraculous medal promised that “Those who wear it will receive great graces. They should wear it around the neck.” The Medal had originally been called the “Medal of the Immaculate Conception”, but so many remarkable graces and favours were soon granted through it that it quickly became known as the “Miraculous Medal”. Is this superstitious?
 
It’s superstitious if you believe that the medal is a magic talisman with the power to bestow grace of its own accord.

Instead, the medal is an inanimate object with no power of its own. It reflects the personal piety and interior disposition of the person wearing it. The wearer must have faith in God, be in a state of grace, and resolved to be open to and responsive to grace. The medal is a holy reminder for the wearer.
 
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