On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics, a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.
What’s a sacramental? Do I need to be in state of grace to receive one? What about my other friends who are away from the Church?
While sacramentals aren’t sacraments, they help prepare us for sacraments. Blessings—of food, of people, of places, of ministries, of objects such as buildings or bells or vessels, and even of animals—are great examples of sacramentals. In blessings, we praise and thank God, and ask him to show us how we may best use the gifts he gives us.
Exorcism—the expulsion of demons or demonic possession—is another example of a sacramental.
Unless the Church specifically prohibits it, sacramentals are available to all. So, please come to Ash Wednesday Mass and bring your friends; all can receive the blessing of ashes on the foreheads. Indeed, sacramentals can even extend to animals; many parishes, for example, ask people to bring their pets for a special blessing on October 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi.
