The Sacramental Key to the Coffers of Grace
Many, upon hearing about sacramentals such as blessed salt,
blessed oil, and blessed candles, wonder what the purpose is for these when we already
have Confession and the Holy Eucharist.
If the Holy Eucharist is Our Lord Himself, the “furnace of charity,” of
what necessity is blessed oil and blessed salt and holy water, all of which, in
addition to other uses, may also be consumed by the faithful?
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The purpose of these sacramentals is to sanctify every
aspect of our lives and impart special graces that will strengthen and advance
the spiritual liberation which the Holy Spirit began in us at Baptism.
Meandering through this pilgrimage, we often get stuck in
the mire of the valley of death, where serpents and lions prowl, seeking to
sting and to devour our souls.
It is the lot of all men to be stung, at times, by the evils
and temptations of this world. These
stings and wounds set us limping along on our journey to eternity. The race of salvation cannot be finished well
by one who is not equipped for the expedition, or by the one who fatally falls
along the way.
Wouldn’t it be great if the Lord would bestow upon man abundant
sacred remedies to strengthen him, defend him, protect him, and direct
him? It would be. For those who do not yet know, Our Lord has
already granted these through the authority of His Church. They are of varying orders of power and
effect, the chief being the Holy Eucharist itself, while all the lesser
ones, the sacramentals, like holy water and blessed crucifixes, are established to point
and lead us toward that most excellent and Divine Sacrament.
What must we do?
Seek His priests who can bestow upon you, from the coffers
of grace entrusted by Christ to His Church, healing oils, candles with
supernatural flames, water which extinguishes the fires of Hell, and salt which
drives away the devil’s legions.
NB: the following descriptions utilize the literal
wording of the blessings from the Roman Ritual.
The priests of Jesus Christ can give you lights which
cause the princes of darkness to depart in trembling from every place where
they reside, fleeing in fear, along with all their legions, never more to
disturb or molest those who serve Him.
In the process of making holy water, and distinct and
separate from it, the priests of Jesus Christ also bless and hallow salt, to be
used in like manner as did the great prophet Elisha (2 Kings 2:21). This salt is a means of health for those who
believe and a medicine for body and soul.
All that it touches is purified of uncleanness and the influence of the
diabolical, whose malice and cunning are thwarted and scattered by its
presence.
These same ministers of the Most High God can bestow upon
you oil, blessed and fortified by the power of His grace, with the promise of
deliverance from suffering and infirmity, and the renewal of health in mind and
body. Further, this blessed oil is
promised to deliver the one who uses it from all the wiles of the enemy,
dispelling and driving afar the adversary’s power, the devil’s legions, and all
Satan’s attacks and machinations. It
will be a means of averting from man any kind of adversity, that he may never
again suffer the sting of the ancient serpent.
Even the very homes of Christians can be elevated by the
grace of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of the Church. The blessing, which the ministers of Christ
can bestow, calls down from the Lord heavenly dew in good measure, sustaining health
and the virtues of chastity, self-conquest, humility, goodness, mildness,
obedience to His commandments, and thanksgiving to God in the hearts of those
who dwell therein. Through this blessing,
which remains always in the home and on those who live therein, angels of light
are commissioned to preside and stand watch, giving comfort and encouragement
to the faithful who live within its walls.
We must remember that the Eucharist is the “Sacrament of
Sacraments” and the entire orientation of the Christian Faith. Christians seek union with God, and the Holy
Eucharist is the source of that union while we remain away from our Heavenly
homeland.
The Holy Eucharist, though, is not given to those who
have not been made worthy, who have not been washed in the Precious Blood of
the Divine Lamb. It is only then, when
our souls are set in God’s will and hold the gift of sanctifying grace, that we
may approach the Altar and receive Our Lord’s Body and Blood.
To worthily and fruitfully receive Him, we must be
properly and deeply disposed to enter into that state of communion with
God. Every means must be adopted to
purify our souls and purge them of the dross of sin and selfish desires.
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A life of prayer, in particular the Rosary, which
purifies our mind and calls down from Heaven abundant graces, will steadily
align us more and more with God’s will.
But Our Lord also gave us these additional tools, called sacramentals,
which it would be wise to utilize in the pursuit of perfection.
Knowing now that these exist, who would not want to
receive them? God is faithful to His
word. If He promises to give you health,
dispel demons, guide you in all virtue, and commission angels to guard you, He
will do it. Then, further liberated from
the evils and weaknesses of this fallen world, we will more easily fly up to
Our Lord in prayer and in praise of His infinite love and goodness. Our Eucharistic communions, in this more lofty
state of purity and liberation, will then merit for us a much more powerful
share in the divine goodness.
Learn more about the beauty and power of sacramentals, particularly how effective they are in spiritual warfare, in the bestselling book, Slaying Dragons: What Exorcists See & What We Should Know.
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Get your copy of Slaying Dragons: What Exorcists See & What We Should Know. Available on Amazon.com, including Audible, and soon to be available in many more stores
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Also, keep an eye out for Swords and Shadows: Navigating Youth Amidst the Wiles of Satan,
the story of my own youth and conversion, told to youth and young
adults through the lens of spiritual warfare. Beneficial for parents as
well. This book will be back on sale via TAN Books sometime in the early summer!
Regarding John Lennon - I am copying from an article on Maria Simma, an Austrian mystic=========Recently we read a book called "Get Us Out of Here," which features an extended interview with the late Maria Simma, an Austrian woman who for God only knows why had the gift of being able to converse with the souls of those in Purgatory. - One of those souls that was now in Heaven, she was once told, was John Lennon. (Unfamiliar with most popular culture, she actually had to ask someone to find out how famous John was.) Maria says she was told that the murderer (Chapman) was suffering from demonic possession at the time of the shooting, and was relieved of his condition while in jail through an exorcism. Lennon, who had little religious training while growing up, was still a man who sought to see the good in his fellow human beings, and was the recipient, after his death, of countless prayers. God listened and had mercy.
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