Catholic Prayer: How Sacramentals Tie your Prayer to the Sacraments

Sacraments are the fonts of grace that Jesus gave us to draw us into the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. But from that font springs other outpourings of grace from our loving Lord.

The sacramentals are one of those smaller fonts of grace. These are ceremonies, rites, or blessed objects instituted by the Church for private devotion. Like the Sacraments, they are physical signs of an inward spiritual reality that give grace.

Each of the Sacraments includes a sacramentum – a sacred oath – that we are called to carry out in our everyday lives. These sacred oaths should be the source of our private prayer. Unfortunately, the connection between the Sacraments and our daily spiritual lives can sometimes be forgotten or overlooked. That’s why the Church gives us these much more direct connections between the Sacraments and our personal prayer.

Six Types

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13292d.htm)

The number of the sacramentals may not be limited; nevertheless, the attempt has been made to determine their general principles or rather applications in the verse: “Orans, tinctus, edens, confessus, dans, benedicens”.

• Orans indicates public prayer, whether liturgical or private;
• Tinctus, the use of holy water and the unctions in use at various consecrations;
• Edens, the eating of blessed foods;
• Confessus, the general avowal of faults which is made in the Confiteor recited at Mass, at Communion, in the Divine Office;
• Dans, alms; (the word means “giving” in Latin)
• Benedicens, papal and episcopal blessings etc., blessings of candles, ashes, palms etc. (the word means blessing in Latin)

How Sacramentals Tie Our Prayer to the Sacraments

The use of these special rites, actions, and blessed objects can greatly enhance our prayer. While the Sacraments are the main source of grace, other actions and objects can also be imbued with grace through Church’s power to “bind” and to “loose.”  This grace can even defend us against demonic influence.  In our private devotion, they unite our personal prayer to the Family of God, the Church. When you know the meaning and purpose of the physical signs being used, you can enter more deeply into the prayer of the sacramental and tap into their real power. Let’s take a look at each type of sacramental and see how to tap the power of each type.

Orans (meaning prayer)

My favorite sacramental is the ability of parents to bless their children. Normally a blessing is reserved for a member of the clergy. Why? Because an “official” blessing is an authoritative prayer that says, “The entire Church is joining in this prayer.” The only ones that have the right to pray in the name of the entire Church – including the Church Triumphant as well as the Church Militant – are those that God gives authority through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. So laity (not even extraordinary ministers of communion or leaders of prayer) are usually unable to give an official blessing. But parents are given the ability to bless their own children because they are the heads of the “domestic Church.” This right is given as a sacramental (an orans) and can be found in the Book of Blessings. So my wife and I bless our children every night before bed, and I bless them every morning before they leave for school.

This is also the power of praying the Liturgy of the Hours as part of my daily prayer routine. The Liturgy of the Hours is a liturgical rite, but it can also be prayed as a private devotion. Either way, it is considered a sacramental.

Tinctus (meaning to dip – such as dipping your fingers into holy water)

When we “bless ourselves” with holy water we are really renewing our baptismal promises – connecting our private prayer to the Sacrament of Baptism. When we use blessed oils, we make a connection to our Confirmation or to Anointing of the Sick, depending on the purpose of the oils we use.

Edens (meaning eating)

The eating of blessed foods reminds us that God is the source of all goodness. The “sacred feast” echoed throughout the Bible (the Garden of Eden, the Passover, etc.) represented God as the source of our sustenance, but also His desire to be in communion with His people. The Sacred Feast is fulfilled in the Holy Eucharist, which in turn is a foretaste of Heaven. So eating blessed foods draws us more deeply into the Holy Eucharist.

Confessus (meaning to confess)

The Sacrament of Holy Confession calls us to cooperate with grace in order to be transformed in heart and mind away from sin and toward God. The Church encourages us to make a daily examination of conscience, which is a sacramental that falls under this category. She also gives us many opportunities to seek the grace of forgiveness for venial sins as well as strength to combat mortal sins – through the Confiteor in the Holy Mass, through acts of contrition, and in the penitential rite in the Night Prayer (Compline) of the Liturgy of the Hours.

Dans (meaning to give)

Sacramentals in the dans category remind us that all Catholic prayer should result in our love for God flowing out to the love of our neighbor. While God calls us to serve others out of a sense of duty to justice, Dans goes beyond justice. It is an exercise in charity, which means that we participate in the Divine Life of God by participating in His love for others. Advent is one specific time in the liturgical year that calls us to participate in the dans sacramental, with its emphasis on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

The Heart of Catholic Prayer

Like the Sacraments, sacramentals speak to the heart in a very human way. God knows that human beings make spiritual connections through our bodies. So He gives us physical signs that draw us into the spiritual realities of His divine life. By tying our everyday devotion to the Sacraments, they connect us more firmly to the fonts of grace, giving our prayer power and efficacy. They offer us one way to make our prayer more meaningful.

Another great way to build a more focused, meaningful prayer life is to grow in the key spiritual virtues that make up a lay spirituality. From the Abbey can teach you these virtues and help you to learn and live your faith. I invite you to check out the special opportunity below to get more involved!