A sacramental is a sacred sign that signifies effects obtained through the Church's intercession. While the 7 Sacraments are Christ-instituted and do exactly what they signify ex opere operato  ("from the deed done"), sacramentals are Church-instituted and work chiefly ex opere operantis, that is, through the pious disposition of the one using them. When piously used, sacramentals remit venial sins.

The number of the 7 Sacraments can never change, and they work infallibly when offered using the proper matter, form, and intent by those properly authorized to offer them; sacramentals, on the other hand, can vary in number, and they work fallibly, through our beseeching God. While sacramentals work mostly ex opere operantis, they do have a value and efficacy in themselves, and are effective in driving drive away evil spirit.

Sacramentals can be material things (blessed objects, such as scapulars, Rosaries, Crucifxes, medals,  Holy Water, etc.) or actions (the Sign of the Cross, genuflection, prayers, etc.).

For the rest of this page, I will just reproduce the introduction to Fr. Arthur Tonne's "Talks on Sacramentals," published in 1950. He sums it up...

"Waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness. And that which was dry land shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water." Isaias, 35:6.

Some years ago two women were touring a desert region of our southwest. They wandered off from their party and were lost. For two full days they tramped and tramped in search of a road or dwelling. They found none. Completely exhausted, aching with thirst and hunger, they could not walk another step. One of them, in true womanly fashion, took out her compact to repair the damage done by sun and dust. The sun flashed off the mirror. She got an idea. Someone might see the reflected light. They flashed the mirror in all directions. Rescuers saw the flashes, hurried to the source, and saved the two ladies.

Who would have thought that such a simple thing as a mirror could save human lives? This essential piece of female equipment did not directly save their lives, but it was the means, the instrument for attracting attention and bringing help.

The sacramentals are something like that. Of themselves they do not save souls, but they are the means for securing heavenly help for those who use them properly. A sacramental is a sacred object or religious action which the Catholic Church, in imitation of the sacraments, uses for the purpose of obtaining spiritual favors especially through her prayer. A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to help devotion, and thus secure grace and take away venial sin or the temporal punishment due to sin.

Let us compare and contrast the sacraments and the sacramentals:

1. The sacraments were instituted by Christ Himself; the sacramentals were founded by Christ's Church.

2. The sacraments are limited to the seven instituted by Christ, namely, Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders and Matrimony; the sacramentals are numerous and varied, according to the directions of Mother Church.

3. The sacraments produce grace directly in the soul, if there is no obstacle on the part of the recipient; the sacramentals do not produce grace directly and of themselves--they produce grace indirectly by disposing and preparing the soul for this divine gift.

4. The words used in the sacraments, except in Extreme Unction, positively declare that God is producing certain effects in the soul; the prayers used in the sacramentals merely ask God to produce certain effects and to grant certain graces.

5. The sacraments give or increase sanctifying grace; and the sacramentals are the means to actual graces.

We might divide the sacramentals into prayers, pious objects, sacred signs, and religious ceremonies. Some sacramentals are a combination--they fall into two or more classes. The Rosary, for example, is a pious object and a prayer. The sign of the cross is a prayer and a sign. The crucifix, pictures and statues are pious objects. The ceremonies performed in the various sacraments are also sacramentals, like the extending of the hands in Confirmation.

How can mere material things help us on the way to heaven? How can water, metal, or a piece of cloth help save our souls? You must ever remember that these objects in themselves have no power to save or help us. It would be superstitious to say they had any such power. But things like a crucifix, a holy picture, a statue, a candle, do excite spiritual thoughts and feelings in those who use them correctly. They excite the fear and love of God; they arouse trust and hope in His mercy; they awaken sorrow and joy in the Lord. Their value lies in the fact that they have been set aside by the Church for sacred purposes, by the power of the Church's official prayer, and by the merits of Christ, preserved and distributed by His Church.

That Church not only sets things aside for a sacred use, she also attaches definite benefits and blessings to certain objects and good works. Many sacramentals have indulgences attached. An indulgence is the taking away, outside of confession, in whole or in part, of the temporal punishment due to sin which is already forgiven.

The sacramentals also try to express the supreme beauty and goodness of Almighty God. The words and language of the blessings are beautiful; the form and art of statues and pictures is of the best very often; the ceremonies of the sacraments are adapted to express the graces given.

Do we have to use sacramentals? Does a Catholic have to wear a scapular, or use holy water, or pray the Rosary? Strictly speaking, no. The sacraments are necessary for salvation; the sacramentals are not necessary. Nevertheless, the prayers, pious objects, sacred signs and ceremonies of Mother Church are means to salvation.

If you were lost in a desert, as were the two women of our story, you don't have to have a mirror to be saved. But that lifeless, senseless object was the means of saving their lives.

In a similar way the sacramentals, lifeless, helpless in themselves, are helps to winning life-giving graces. They must never take the place of the sacraments. You will find Catholics who place more confidence and trust in these material objects than they do in the reality of the sacraments.

For example, you may see a Catholic enter Church and go directly to the vigil light stand without seeming to pay any attention to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. That Catholic does not appreciate the difference between a sacrament and a sacramental.

It is with a desire and holy ambition to make you appreciate these aids to spiritual life, the sacramentals, that we propose to explain some of them on succeeding Sundays.

In the desert of daily life they are mirrors that will lead us to the fountains of spiritual help and spiritual life. Amen.

Numbers 5:17 "And he shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall cast a little earth of the pavement of the tabernacle into it."

When the Israelites entered the Temple, they had to undergo purifcation by immersion in a mikvah (modern Jews still make use of mikva'ot on Yom Kippur, on wedding days, for purification after menstruation or coming into contact with a dead body or semen, etc.). These ritual purifications by water prefigured Christian Baptism, which we recall when we bless ourselves (cross ourselves) using holy water upon entering our churches. Devoutly blessing one's self with Holy Water remits venial sins.

When you enter a church, you might find a holy water font ("stoup") attached to the wall at one or both sides of each door, or you might find a free-standing font. Simply dip the tips of the fingers of your right hand into the water and cross yourself while mentally contemplating the words, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Don't rush through this; make it meaningful, remembering the meaning of your Baptism and mentally expressing your gratitude to God. Many Catholics repeat this process upon leaving the church, too. (Note: you might see one Catholic dip his fingers into the Holy Water and touch fingers with another Catholic to share it if that second Catholic can't reach the font comfortably)

This holy water is also used by the priest to sprinkle the people before the beginning of Mass. This is called "Asperges" and the accompanying words (which should be chanted) are rooted in the Psalms, "Thou shalt sprinke me, O Lord, with hyssop and I shall be cleansed; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall become whiter than show. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy." ("Aspérges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbador. Miserére mei, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam."). Holy water is blessed on the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6).

 
Holy Water for Personal Use

Where to get it
To get holy water to use in your home, bring a clean flask to your parish church and look for a faucet that will probably be labeled "Holy Water." If there is no faucet, it might be kept in an urn of some sort. If you can't find it, don't be shy; just ask! Unlike votive candles, there is no real cost to the church in making holy water, so there is no offering expected.

How to use it
You can keep it in a nice flask, put it into little bottles made for this purpose to carry with you, or, as is most common, put it into holy water fonts.  

Holy water fonts for the home come in all sizes and shapes, some tacky and plastic, others quite lovely and made of alabaster, marble, porcelain, sandstone, or metals -- as inexpensive or as expensive as you like -- some resting on tables, most hanging on walls. One example is shown at left. You can buy one from most Catholic gift shops or make your own (consider using bivalve seashells as basins or the shell motif in design. The shells of large molluscs -- weighing up to 500 pounds -- have been used in churches as basins for holy water).

Catholics often keep a font near their front door, in their bedrooms' doorways, and near the family altar. Use the water in the same way you do at church. Bless your children with it as you tuck them in at night, using your thumb to sign them with a cross of holy water on their foreheads.

How to dispose of
Holy water is usually made with a touch of salt which is a preservative, but if your holy water were to go a little, um, green, the proper way to dispose of it is the same as for any sacramental: you want to return it to the earthly elements. You should dig a hole and pour it into the earth.
 

Easter Water

I can't leave this topic without mentioning a special kind of holy water: Easter water. This is the water that is blessed on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter) and is used to baptize Catechumens. This water receives a more solemn sort of blessing than "regular holy water," and the Easter Candle is dipped into it three times. (Mind you, any clean water can be used in Baptism, and often is, as in cases of emergency; but the use of Easter water is the normal way of doing things).

Holy Water was one of the first sacramentals of the Church

Its Blessing consist of exorcism, prayers and the mingling of salt with the water. the purpose of the exorcism is to banish the evil spirit and destroy his influence.

The prayer with which the salt is blessed implore God:

1. That it may be the means of salvation to souls;

2. That it may preserve from bodily harm;

3. That it may sanctify everything that which it comes in contact.

The prayer used in blessing the water implores God:

1. That it may drive away demons;

2. That it may cure diseases;

3. That it may free houses and their inhabitants from all evil, particularly from epidemics.

The Church wishes this sacramental to be used with faith. she desires that it should help wash away sin from the souls of her children by obtaining for them the grace of true contrition. She wishes also, that it should assist and preserve them from a relapse into sin through the efficacy of the blessing given to the salt, which by nature is a preservative.

In the natural order, water quenches fire and make things grow, so, too in the spiritual order, holy water helps to quench the fire of the passions and to promote the growth of virtues.

Salt, the symbol of wisdom, typifies divine wisdom, a Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Water represents human nature. The mingling of the two substances is a figure of the incarnation of Christ.

Effects of Holy Water

Theologians teach that holy water, when used with the proper intention and disposition: confers actual graces; remits venial sins; restrains the power of Satan; defends against temptations; secures temporal blessings, such as bodily health and protection against temporal evils; and obtains relief for the holy souls in purgatory.

Many examples could be cited of the wonderful aid derived from holy water in attacks from the evil spirits, and illnesses, storms, and misfortunes of various kinds.

To encourage its frequent use, the Church grants an indulgence of seven years each time the sign of the Cross is made with holy water, while pronouncing the words: In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Using the Sacramental

Every Catholic home should have a number of holy water founts, so that the members of the family may make good use of this precious sacramental. We should often bless ourselves with holy water, especially when rising in the morning when entering or leaving a room or the house, and upon retiring, the bed may also be sprinkled with it.

In Times of Sickness

When the priest brings Holy Communion to a sick member of the family or administers the last sacraments, holy water should be available so he may sprinkle the patient with it.

Holy water is also used to sprinkle the bodies and graves of the departed, as it is a source of refreshment for the souls, if suffering in purgatory.

Parental Blessing

A beautiful custom and a sacred bond uniting parents and children, whether young or more mature in age, is the parental blessing. The child kneels and the parent places his or her hand on the child's head, saying: "God bless you, my child," or  "I bless you, my child." Then making the sign of the cross with holy water on the forehead, lips, and breast the parent says: " In the name of the Father , and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The child answers, "Amen," and  "May God reward you."

A simple form is to make the sign of the cross in silence on the child's forehead and sprinkle him or her with holy water.

Give this blessing after morning and evening prayers, before the child leaves home for school, church, etc. Give it solemnly on the day of First Holy Communion, wedding day, entrance into the convent, and like occasions.

Imprimatur + Charles H. Helmsing

Bishop of Kansas City- St. Joseph

Not without reason has antiquity allowed the stories of saints to be painted in holy places. And we indeed entirely praise thee for not allowing them to be adored, but we blame thee for breaking them. For it is one thing to adore an image, it is quite another thing to learn from the appearance of a picture what we must adore. What books are to those who can read, that is a picture to the ignorant who look at it; in a picture even the unlearned may see what example they should follow; in a picture they who know no letters may vet read. Hence, for Barbarians [those who don't speak Latin] especially a picture takes the place of a book.

Icon writer, Leontius the Hierapolian, wrote about the Christian use of images:

I sketch and paint Christ and the sufferings of Christ in churches, in homes, in public squares and on icons, on linen cloth, in closets, on clothes, and in every place I paint so that men may see them plainly, may remember them and not forget them . . . And as thou, when thou makest thy reverence to the Book of the Law, bowest down not to the substance of skins and ink, but to the sayings of God that are found therein, so I do reverence to the image of Christ. Not to the substance of wood and paint – that shall never happen . . . But, by doing reverence to an inanimate image of Christ, through Him I think to embrace Christ Himself and to do Him reverence . . . We Christians, by bodily kissing an icon of Christ, or of an apostle or martyr, are in spirit kissing Christ Himself or His martyr.

Nonetheless, the iconoclasts raged on in the East, and Christians there begged the Pope to intervene, with St. Theodoret writing, "Whatever novelty is brought into the Church by those who wander from the truth must certainly be referred to Peter or to his successor . . . . Save us, chief pastor of the Church under heaven" and "Arrange that a decision be received from old Rome as the custom has been handed down from the beginning by the tradition of our fathers."

Eventually, with the popular help of Empress Theodora in A.D. 843, the iconoclastic nonsense was finally squelched, but not until after monasteries were trashed, icons were smashed, monks were tortured and killed, and relics and shrines destroyed.

 

2-D Icons

Though the word "icon" (also "ikon" or "eikon") refers to religious images of any sort -- 2-D, 3-D, made of any material, in this section, I will use the word to refer specifically to two-dimensional representations which have become highly stylized over time and which one typically associates with the word "icon." Like all religious images, an icon has as its purpose acting as a "window to Heaven," a portal through which one sees greater Truths than can be revealed by word alone.

Christ is the first icon in that He revealed the Father ("He who has seen Me, has seen the Father," John 14:8-9); we ourselves are creatures made in the image of God and who are to put on Christ in order to restore our likeness to Him. We are called to be iconic in that we are to reveal the Father in our Christian witness, through the grace of Christ and the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. And, of course, there is the Holy Shroud which was made without human hands...

While the first Icon Writer (one speaks of "writing icons," not "painting" them) is God -- Who begot the Son Who is God and Who reveals the Father, Who created us who are called to reveal Him, and Who miraculously formed the Holy Shroud, St. Luke is said to have created the first icon written by human hands: an icon called the Hodegetria -- a prototype of the Eleousa icon (Our Lady of Tenderness) which is an image of Our Lady holding her Son. Over time, icons came to be written according to very definite rules of design and system of symbols (see table below); the arrangement of elements, colors used, the manner of showing light, etc. are all governed by theological principles and ecclesiastical custom. Various schools and ages of icon writing arose, each with distinctive styles: the 6th c. Justinian period; the 10th c. - 12th c. rise of Russian icon writing; and the "Golden Age of Icons" in the 14th c. Throughout, the representations of persons were and are meant to capture spiritual realities, not earthly ones. They are not meant to be realistic portraits of their flesh, but portraits of their enfleshed spirits, as it were, as seen through the eyes of faith.

As you can see from where the great schools of icon writing arose, two-dimensional highly stylized icons are a more important phenomenon in the East than in the West, where statues, mosaics, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, etc., also had their place, and the treatment of images in the East and West also differ according to custom:

East:
prostrations (inside of Lent), bows (outside of Lent), kisses to the feet or hem of the one depicted, incense, processions, and burning candles before the image are used to show one's veneration for the Divine Reality presented by the image

West:
kisses to the feet or hem of the one depicted, touching the image, burning candles before the image, kneeling, incensing, processions, adornment with flowers, and crownings (esp. of Marian icons) are more the form.
 

Symbology in Icons

Reading Icons

Let's take a look at the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (also called "Our Mother of Perpetual Help" and "Virgin of the Passion") to get an idea of how to read icons. But first, a little history, because the story of this icon is so interesting.

No one is sure about the origins of the icon, but it came from Crete and is a "Hodegetria" style icon (see below). A merchant there heard of many miracles surrounding the icon and, wanting it for himself, stole it and took it with him in his travels. He ended up in Rome, and on his deathbed, told a local Roman about how he'd acquired the icon and asked him to take it to a church where it could be enjoyed by many. The Roman's wife, though, had other ideas and kept the icon in her bedroom.

Mary appeared to the Roman many times in visions, asking him to take the icon to a church. When this didn't happen, Mary appeared to the Roman's six-year old daughter and told her the icon should be taken to St. Matthew Church. The Roman family obeyed, and there the icon remained, venerated by many who came to contemplate its message, until 1798 when Napoleon's army invaded Rome and Napoleon (what else?) ordered the destruction of churches. The icon disappeared.

Around 50 years later, a sacristan in a church in France told an altar boy that the painting that had hung in their own church for almost a half-century was very old and used to hang at St. Matthew's church in Rome. It had been saved from destruction and secretly carried to their parish church, and he wanted the boy to remember this so someone would know the story.

More years pass, and the altar boy had become a Redemptorist in Rome. His Order took over an estate that just happened to include the old St. Matthew church, and while researching the history of the place, they learned of the beautiful icon that had disappeared. The former altar boy remembered what the sacristan had told him and relayed the story to his Brothers. The Redemptorists appealed to Pope Pius IX, reminding him that it was Mary's own wish that the icon be hung at St. Matthew's church. The Pope intervened, restoring the icon to its now rightful place, and telling the Redemptorists to make Our Mother of Perpetual Help their mission, spreading knowledge of her and her icon throughout the world. This they have done.

And now on to the icon itself:

Mary's gaze is aimed directly at you, as though she wants you to meet her eyes and ponder. The Greek letters above -- MR QU -- tell us that she is the Mother of God, and, against a background of gold (divine light), she wears a dark blue robe (faith, humility) with a green lining (Holy Ghost) and a red tunic (beauty).

Baby Jesus, identified by the letters "IC XC," doesn't look at His mother or at us in this icon; instead, He is looking away, having seen something that made Him afraid -- so afraid that He ran to His mother fast enough that He lost one of His little sandals. What does He see? His destiny, symbolized by the angels bearing the instruments of His Passion. The angel to the left, Michael, carries the lance that will pierce His side, an urn filled with gall, and the reed and sponge which will carry it to His lips. The angel to the right, Gabriel, bears a Cross and four nails. His earthly comfort, and ours, is in His mother, and as He clings to her, she, with her gaze, invites us to do the same.

Icon Styles

Below are descriptions and pictures of some of the most famous icon types. You will see the same artistic elements and schemes in icons from different eras and ritual Churches, in different styles, but with recurring themes and standardized types. The icons below can be purchased from Skete Icons.

 
Particular Icons You Should Know

We've already seen the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, but there are other particular icons that you should be familiar with:

 
Salus Populi Romani

St. Luke is said to have written the famous "Salus Populi Romani" ("Protector of the Roman People") Hodegetria-style icon, shown at right, which was brought from the Holy Land to Rome by Helena, Constantine's mother. It is housed in St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, a Basilica which was built in response to a miracle: in A.D.. 358., Our Lady appeared to Pope Liberius and a couple and told them to build a church at a place she would mark out with snow on Esquiline Hill. On an August night, she did just that -- a church-sized, church-shaped area of snow fell on the hill. The people staked out the area "Our Lady of the Snows" indicated, the Basilica was built, and Pope Liberius consecrated it. It has been rebuilt over the years, lastly by Pope Paul V (1605-1621). The Feast of the dedication of the (original) Basilica is August 5, and in commemoration of the miraculous snowfall, white rose petals are sprinkled down from the dome during the Mass that day.

In this icon, Mary, dressed in a red tunic and a dark blue mantle with gold trim, holds Jesus in her left arm. Jesus gazes as His mother as He holds a book and raises his hand in blessing. Unlike most Hodegetria type icons, Mary does not point to Christ.
 

Our Lady With Three Hands 

Another Hodegetria-style icon you should be familiar with is the icon known as "Virgin Tricherousa," or "Our Lady With Three Hands." St. John Damascene (ca. A.D. 676-754/87, Feast Day 27 March), a great fighter against the iconoclasts, was accused of being an enemy of the state in which he lived, and as punishment, the Caliph ordered that one of his hands be chopped off. Afterwards, St. John took the severed hand, prayed in front of an icon of Our Lady (one said to have been written by St. Luke), and then fell asleep, waking to find that his hand was healed. In honor of that healing, he made a hand of silver and added it to the icon. The altered icon has been duplicated ever since. You can see the silver third hand in the lower left of the picture.

This icon is at the Serbian Monastery of Chiliandari, Mt. Athos ("Holy Mountain"), near Ouranoupolis, Greece (in Orthodox hands).
 

Our Lady of Czestochowa

The icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa -- another icon in the Hodegetria style -- is another important image, and one with an important and miraculous History. One of the "Black Madonnas," she can be recognized by her dark skin tone (partly due to style, partly due to the effects of smoke from candles), the jeweled clothing, and the slash marks on the cheek (hard to see in the image at right, but obvious in person and in good reproductions). This icon is another said to have been written by St. Luke, and allegedly was brought from Jerusalem to Constantinople by St. Helena. It ended up in the hands of the princes of Ruthenia, then was taken to Poland by Prince Ladislaus, who kept it in the chapel of the Castle of Belz. When the Saracacens attacked the castle, one of their arrows scarred the throat of the image. Praying to Our Lady to discover where to place the icon to keep it protected, Prince Ladislaus had a dream in which he was told to leave the image on Jasna Gora (Bright Hill) in Czestochowa, where the icon remains today. He built a monastery and church there and, in 1382, asked Pauline monks to act as guardians of the icon.

In 1430, iconoclast Hussites attacked the monastery and tried to steal the icon -- but their horses wouldn't budge when they attempted to carry it away. In a rage, they broke the icon into three pieces and slashed the cheek of Our Lady's image three times; at the third slash, the swordsman died! These slash wounds cannot be repaired, though many had tried over the years.

In 1655, Swedish soldiers, said to have been 12,000 in number, went up against the monastery but were held off by the 300 religious who had Our Lady to protect them; in gratitude, King John Casmir declared Mary Queen of Poland.

In 1920, the Russians gathered in the area to prepare to attack the Polish people. But the people beseeched Our Lady, and the next day (15 August, the Feast of the Assumption), her image appeared in the skies, sending the Russians fleeing.

The golden crown that adorns the image today was a gift of St. Pius X (but Pope Clement XI crowned the image in 1717. Reproductions of the icon paint in the crown). Many, many miracles are associated with this icon, and it is quite dear to the Polish people.
 

La Bruna

I also have to mention the "La Bruna" ("The Brown One"), an icon that is of the Eleousa style but shows Mary with a star with one long tail on her right shoulder reflecting her purity. Again Our Lady is wearing a red tunic and blue mantle and veil, which Jesus clings to. Though it doesn't show up in this reproduction, Jesus and Mary are surrounded by large halos, hers with 12 rosettes representing the 12 Tribes and 12 Apostles, His with the Cross. This icon is a 12th c. Carmelite icon, the original of which is in the Basilica of Carmine Maggiore in Naples, Italy.

 
 

I Corinthians 1:23-24 "But we preach Christ crucified: unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness: But unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God."

 
Every Catholic home should have a Cruficix hanging over the bed in each bedroom, and, most importantly, at least one in a common area, such as the Dining Room, Living Room, or Family Room. In addition, Catholics should wear Crucifixes -- not empty Crosses (aside from stylized ones of significance) -- around their necks. Why Crucifixes instead of empty Crosses? Because, as did Paul, we preach Christ crucified, and know that it is His Blood that saves us, not His Resurrection, which is a wonderful fruit of His Sacrifice. We get to the Resurrection through the Cross, and we are called to pick up our own Crosses and carry them, offering up our sufferings in imitation of Him.

Crucifixes may be gotten at any Catholic gift shop and are the perfect gift for a newlywed couple as one can't have too many of them. You'll find Crucifixes to be worn around the neck, some to be hung on walls, some on stands to be placed on tables, etc.

You will see on some Crucifixes a skull and crossbones at the foot of the Cross. Aside from symbolizing victory over death, this skull more specifically represents the skull of Adam, said in Jewish and Christian legend to have been buried at Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. The Blood of Christ, the New Adam, redeems man, as symbolized by the skull of the First Adam. I Corinthians 15:22, 45: "And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive...The first man Adam was made into a living soul; the last Adam into a quickening spirit."

You also might see a representation of the titulus crucis -- the plaque marked with "I.N.R.I." which stands for "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum," the Latin initials for "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." This inscription was written in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek and placed at the top of Jesus' Cross according to Matthew 27:37, Mark 15:26, Luke 23:38 and John 19:19.

Crucifixes should be blessed by a priest and treated with great veneration. Kissing a Crucifix is an indulgenced act.

There are a few Crucifixes that stand out and should be mentioned individually. The first of these is the San Damiano Crucifix.

San Damiano Crucifix

The San Damiano Crucifix was written by an 11th or 12th c. Umbrian artist, and it came to adorn the chapel of San Damiano in Assisi, Italy. It was before this Crucifix that Saint Francis of Assisi was converted and received word from the Lord to repair His Church. The Poor Clares, an Order of nuns founded by Clare of Assisi, a good friend of St. Francis, took the Crucifix with them to San Giorgio in 1257, and it now resides at San Giorgio's Chapel in the Basilica of St Clare of Assisi. Now, look at the Crucifix more closely:

This Crucifix is full of the Gospel events of His Passion. At the top, we see Our Lord ascending into Heaven, toward the hand of His Father.

The Blessed Virgin and John, who was appointed to be her caretaker, stand to Christ's right (our left). To Christ's left (our right) are the Magdalen,  Mary Cleophas (mother of James), and the Centurion whose words we speak at Mass, "Dómine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo, et sanábitur ánima mea" (Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed). The little boy behind the Centurion is the Centurion's son whom Jesus healed.

Also present are two other Roman soldiers, Longinus, who pierced Jesus' side with a lance, and Stephen, who gave Him vinegar to drink (some say this second figure is that of Pilate).

Beside His right leg is Adam, biting into the apple, and above Adam is the rooster as a symbol of Peter's denial.

At the very bottom, under His feet, are 6 unkown Saints.

The transverse arm of the Cross is actually a tomb -- the empty tomb -- and at either end are Peter and John running toward it, being met by the two groups of two angels who let them know "He is not here."
 

The Pardon Crucifix

I have to mention this Crucifix because it is so lovely and is relevant to one of my favorite Popes, Pope St. Pius X, who granted these indulgences:
 

And there is this: Pontifical Rescript of June 1905, to M.M. the Abbes Lemann:

Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences

To the faithful, who devoutly kiss this Crucifix and gain these precious indulgences, we recommend to have in view the following intentions: To testify love for Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin; gratitude towards our Holy Father, the Pope, to beg for the remission of one's sins; the deliverance of the souls in Purgatory; the return of the nations to the Faith; forgiveness among Christians; reconciliation among members of the Catholic Church. By another Pontifical rescript of November 14 1905. His Holiness Pope Pius X, has declared that the Indulgence attached to the Pardon Crucifix are applicable to the souls in Purgatory.

On the back of the Crucifix, on the transverse arms, are the words, "Father, forgive them." On the long part of the Cross are the words, "Behold this heart which has so loved men." The Sacred Heart is shown where the two arms of the Cross meet.

Caravaca Cross or Crucifix
(a.k.a. "Cara Vaca" and "Cuernavaca")

This Cross takes its name from Caravaca (now known as Caravaca de la Cruz), Spain, a town in the province of Murcia where, in A.D. 1231, a priest was imprisoned by the Moors. Out of curiosity, his captors' King, Abu Zeid, asked him to say Mass, but as the priest began, he realized he didn't have the necessary Crucifix. As his captors grew angry, the Patriarch of Jerusalem's pectoral cross was transported to the priest through an open window, borne by two angels. Seeing this, King Abu Zeid converted to the true religion.

The "Caravaca Cross," then, is the two-armed Lorraine Cross that is used by Archbishops and Patriarchs. Some representations are Crucifixes, such as the one above, and may show the angels that carried the Cross, one on each side. The words "Caravaca" may appear on the second arm of the Cross such that "Cara" is on one side, and "vaca" on the other. This is a very popular Crucifix in Spain and Mexico.

Read also about the St. Benedict Medal for information on the Crucifixes with the St. Benedict Medal embedded -- a most powerful sacramental. See, too, see the page on Christian Symbols for the shapes of other types of Crucifixes (and Crosses)

 

And you shall take to you on the first day the fruits of the fairest tree, and branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook: And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.

Again we read of palms in the II Machabees 10:6-8:

And they kept eight days with joy, after the manner of the feast of the tabernacles, remembering that not long before they had kept the feast of the tabernacles when they were in the mountains, and in dens like wild beasts. Therefore they now carried boughs and green branches and palms, for him that had given them good success in cleansing his place. And they ordained by a common statute, and decree, that all the nation of the Jews should keep those days every year.

And in the 7th chapter of the Apocalypse, we see that those who were "sealed" are seen by John carrying palms:

Apocalypse 7:9-10:
After this, I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. And they cried with a loud voice, saying: Salvation to our God, who sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb.

The palms are blessed before the High Mass on Palm Sunday. Vested in red cope and standing at the Epistle side of the Altar, the priest recites a short prayer, and then reads a lesson from the book of Exodus which tells of the children of Israel coming to Elim on their way to the Promised Land, where they found a fountain and seventy palm trees. It was at Elim that God sent them manna.

After a few verses from the New Testament, the priest reads the story of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem the Sunday before His death, and about how the people put palms in the Savior's path and sang hosannas because, ironically, they expected a temporal victory by the One they thought would be the great military leader who would conquer the Romans..

Then we pray, begging God that we may in the end go meet Christ, that we may enter with Him into the eternal Jerusalem. The following preface and prayers ask God to bless the palms, that they may be sanctified and may be a means of grace and divine protection to those who carry them and treasure them with faith.

The palms are distributed to the people at the Communion rail. The priest will press the palm against your lips so you can kiss it, and then his hand. Alternatively, the palms may be handed out by the altar boys. In any case, Scripture and prayers follow, and then a procession of clergy, servers, and people through the church or outside around the church.

Some of these same palm branches are saved and burned the next year to make the ashes for the next Ash Wednesday -- the palms, which symbolize triumph, and the ashes, which sympbolize death and penitence, forming a great symbolic connection between suffering and victory.

The branches given to the faithful are held in the hand at the singing or reading of the Passion and the Gospel during the Mass, but when Mass is finished we take them home and hang them over crucifixes or holy pictures (I don't know how universal this is, but an Italian custom is to break off a piece of the palm and, while praying to St. Barbara for her intercession, burn it for protection against lightning storms). Another custom is to shape the palm into Latin Crosses (see below) ¹ before hanging them. A piece should also be placed with one's sick call set.

The next year, when we get new palms, the old palms are burned and their ashes buried.
 

 
How to make palm crosses to tuck into picture frames, hang on your walls, or keep on your family altars

1. Take a palm that is about 2 feet long and 1/2" wide (if it tapers at the top, this is good!).
2. Hold the palm upright, so the tapered end points toward the ceiling. Then bend the top end down and toward you so that the bend is about 5 or 6 inches from the bottom of the palm.
3. About a third of the way from the bend you just made, twist the section you've pulled down to the right, forming a right angle.
4. About an inch or inch and a half away from the "stem" of the cross, bend this arm of the palm back behind the palm so that it is now facing to your left. Make the bend at a good length to form the right arm of the Cross.
5. Folding that same section at a point that equals the length on the right side, bend it on the left side and bring the end forward over what is now the front of the cross.
6. From the very center of the Cross, fold that arm up and to the upper right (in a "northeast" direction) so that it can wrap around where the upright post of the Cross and the right arm intersect.
7. Fold this down and to the left behind the Cross, and then fold it toward the right so that it is parallel and under the transverse arms of the Cross.
8. Bring it up behind the Cross again, this time folding it up toward the "northwest" direction.
9. Tuck the tapered end into the transverse section you made in step 7.
10. Turn the Cross over; this side will be the front. Trim the tapered end if necessary, remembering that the palm is a sacramental and any part you trim away should be kept and respected as a sacramental! Use that piece for burning during storms.

Remember friends as you pass by,
as you are now so once was I.
As I am now so you must be.
Prepare for death and follow me.

They are a liturgical "memento mori."

In Genesis 3:19 we hear God tell us "for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return," but nowadays, when someone dies, they are rushed from deathbed to funeral home to be embalmed and to be worked over by a make-up artist so that that "dusty reality" is hidden from us. Their deaths are spoken of as almost an embarrassment; "he passed," they say, or "he is no longer with us." These comforting but sterile luxuries weren't an option in the past when plagues felled so many people that there weren't enough survivors to bury them, when bodies had to be stored all winter until the ground was soft enough to dig, when most of the children a woman bore died before they were able to grow up. In our culture, with our medicines and "funeral sciences," we are afraid to look at death, and we are a poorer people because of it. No matter how long science can prolong life, no matter how much embalming fluid is pumped into a corpse, Nature will have her way. This is the hideous Truth. And when Nature has her way, we can either rest in the knowledge that the ultimate Victor is Christ, Our Lord, who walked out of His tomb 2,000 years ago and offers resurrection to us, or we can believe that decay is all that is left. This is the meaning of Ash Wednesday.

Ashes are used, too, to express the penitence necessary to come to Christ so that we can experience bodily resurrection at the End of the Age.

Job 42:6
Therefore I reprehend myself, and do penance in dust and ashes.

The Blessing and Disposition of the Ashes

The ashes are made by the burning of palms from last year's Palm Sunday. The blessing of the ashes begins with an antiphon and a verse of a psalm begging God's grace and mercy. Then come four prayers which express what the ashes symbolize:

1. To be a spiritual help for all who confess their sins.

2. To secure pardon of sins for those who receive the ashes.

3. To give us the spirit of contrition.

4. To give us the grace and strength to do penance.

After the priest sprinkles the ashes with holy water and incenses them, he puts some on his own head, and then on the heads of those present, the head being the seat of pride. He puts them on our foreheads in the shape of a Cross to remind us of our hope, and as he does so, he says the words of Genesis 3:

Meménto, homo, quia pulvis es, et in púlverem revertéris (Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return).

4 Kings 2:19-22 "And the men of the city, said to Eliseus . Behold the situation of this city is very good, as thou, my lord, seest: but the waters are very bad, and the ground barren. And he said: Bring me a new vessel, and put salt into it. And when they had brought it, He went out to the spring of the waters, and cast the salt into it, and said: Thus saith the Lord: I have healed these waters, and there shall be no more in them death or barrenness. And the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Eliseus, which he spoke."

Brown Scapular
Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Carmelites)
A.D. 1251

"The Brown Scapular of our Lady of Mount Carmel," associated with the Carmelite Order, is the most well-known. In A.D. 16 July 1251, Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock in Cambridge, England after he prayed for help for his Order. She appeared to him with the scapular and said, "Take, beloved son this scapular of thy order as a badge of my confraternity and for thee and all Carmelites a special sign of grace; whoever dies in this garment, will not suffer everlasting fire. It is the sign of salvation, a safeguard in dangers, a pledge of peace and of the covenant."

Whether this happened exactly in this way or not (St. Simon's original descriptions of the vision are not extant and the wording may not be exact), the Scapular was given to St. Simon Stock, and the devotion spread and was well-known by the 16th c. What can be safely believed because of papal decree is the promise known as the "Sabbatine Privilege." The Sabbatine Privilege is the promise that Our Lady will intercede and pray for those in Purgatory who, in earthly life:
 

You can be enrolled in the Confraternity of our Lady of Mount Carmel by any priest. Just obtain a scapular, take it to him to have it blessed, and express your desire for enrollment.

Warning: Some falsely believe that wearing the Brown Scapular offers some sort of guarantee of salvation because of the legendary words attributed to Our Lady. This is against Church teaching, is superstitious and a grave error. Sacramentals are not magical ways to manipulate God; they are Church-instituted rituals/objects that remind us of what we are supposed to be doing/thinking of, that depend on the faith, hope and love of the user, and which help prepare us to receive God's saving grace. You can get well-made, wool, traditionally-designed Brown Scapulars from this traditional Carmelite Order of nuns. I don't know the cost:

Blue Scapular
Clerics Regular (Theatines)
A.D. 1605

Red Scapular
Priests of the Mission (Lazarists)
A.D. 1846

Black Scapular
Order of Friar Servants of Mary (Servites)
A.D. 1240

Black Scapular
Discalced Clerks of the Most Holy Cross and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Passionists
ca. A.D. 1720

White Scapular
Order of the Most Holy Trinity (Trinitarians)
A.D. 1198

Green Scapular
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (Paulists)
A.D. 1840

In 1840, Mary appeared to Sister Justine Bisqueyburu (a Seminary Sister of the Daughters of Charity) in Paris, France and commended the Green Scapular to her. It's known as "the Scapular of Conversion," and its promises are the strengthening of faith, protection against Satan, a happy death for Catholics, and, most of all, for conversion for those outside the Church. It's to be worn or carried by the faithful, or given to an unbeliever for their conversion. The following prayer is to be said daily by the wearer:

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death

Latin version:
Cor immaculatum Mariae, ora pro nobis nunc et in hora mortis nostrae

Scapular of St. Joseph
Capuchin
A.D. 1880

Five-Fold Scapular

Luke 12:34-35 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girt and lamps burning in your hands."
 

The cincture, like the one priests wear at Mass, is a sign of chastity, and has been since the Church's beginning -- and before. Old Testament priests wore cinctures, consecrated Virgins and religious wear cinctures, and the wearing of cinctures in honor of a particular Saint is ancient, first spoken of in the life of St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, and carried on by St. Dominic, who wore a cincture in honor of St. Francis. Certain Confraternities and Archconfraternities (groups of faithful devoted to a religious cause) also wear cinctures as signs of their affiliation and chastity.

The devotion of the Cord of St. Joseph originated in the City of Antwerp, Belgium, in the year 1639. Sister Elizabeth, a religious of the Order of St. Augustine, being dangerously ill, and given over to her physicians, prayed to St. Joseph to cure her; causing a cord to be blessed in honor of the holy patriarch, she put it on as a cincture and found herself suddenly restored to health.

The Cord of St. Joseph was approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, 1859, and enriched by Pope Pius IX with many indulgences, both plenary and partial. It is made of white thread or cottons, having at one end seven knots in remembrance of the Seven Joys and Seven Sorrows of St. Joseph.

The devotion of wearing this cincture spread, and soon became associated with the Archconfraternity of St. Joseph, whose headquarters were  at the Church of San Rocco in Rome. The American "branch" of this Archconfraternity, by decree of Pope Leo XIII in 1892, is at St. Joseph's Church in De Pere, Wisconsin, which was staffed by the Norbertines. In order to gain the indulgences attached to the wearing of St. Joseph's Cord, one must be attached to this Archconfraternity of St. Joseph.

Otherwise, and as is more common, one may wear the Cord simply in honor of St. Joseph and for the following graces:

Young people, especially, would benefit from St. Joseph's Cincture! We need to be reminded of the importance of chastity, especially now, when sexual decadence is all around us.

The Cord itself is simply a white cord of thread or cotton, knotted in 7 places -- one knot for each of the 7 Sorrows of St. Joseph and their related Joys, they being:

If your St. Joseph's Cord comes with only two knots, one at each end, then you should tie the other 5 into it. When you get your Cord, it must be blessed by a priest (see below), and then worn around the waist. One who wears the St. Joseph's Cord is to daily say a Gloria on each of the 7 knots, in honor of and while meditating on each of the 7 Sorrows of St. Joseph, and a prayer to St. Joseph for purity. These prayers are:
 

Prayer to St. Joseph for Purity to be said by the wearers of the Cord of St. Joseph

Guardian of virgins, and holy father Joseph, to whose faithful custody Christ Jesus, Innocence itself, and Mary, Virgin of virgins, were committed; I pray and beseech thee, by these dear pledges, Jesus and Mary, that, being preserved from all uncleanness, I may with spotless mind, pure heart, and chaste body, ever serve Jesus and Mary most chastely all the days of my life. Amen.

(100 days indulgence, once a day)

Recite this prayer each day, adding thereto, seven times, Gloria Patri (Glory Be)

Gloria

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

(A plenary indulgence, is gained on the first day the cord is put on. On the the principal Feast of Our Lord and Our Blessed Virgin, on the Feast of St. Joseph and on any of the seven following days those wearing the Cord may also obtain a Plenary Indulgence. For every day the cord is worn a Partial Indulgence of 60 days may be gained.)

Invocation to St. Joseph

Good St. Joseph, our guide, protect us, protect the Holy Church

(50 days indulgence, each time- Pope Pius IX,. Jan. 27, 1863.)

Optional: Devotion to the 7 Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph

Optionally, to increase one's devotion to the Blessed Spouse, one may meditate on the Seven Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph with the following prayers:


O chaste Spouse of Mary most holy, glorious St. Joseph, great was the trouble and anguish of thy heart when thou wert minded to put away privately thine inviolate Spouse, yet thy joy was unspeakable when the surpassing mystery of the Incarnation was made known to thee by the Angel! By this sorrow and this joy, we beseech thee to comfort our souls, both now and in the sorrows of our final hour, with the joy of a good life and a holy death after the pattern of thine own, in the arms of Jesus and Mary. (Say one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be)

O most blessed Patriarch, glorious St. Joseph, who was chosen to be the foster father of the Word made flesh, thy sorrow at seeing the Child Jesus born in such poverty was suddenly changed into heavenly exultation when thou didst hear the angelic hymn and beheld the glories of that resplendent night. By this sorrow and this joy, we implore thee to obtain for us the grace to pass over from life's pathway to hear the angelic songs of praise, and to rejoice in the shining splendor of celestial glory. (Say one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be)

O glorious St. Joseph, thou faithfully obeyed the law of God, and thy heart was pierced at the sight of the Precious Blood that was shed by the Infant Savior during His Circumcision, but the Name of Jesus gave thee new life and filled thee with quiet joy. By this sorrow and this joy, obtain for us the grace to be freed from all sin during life, and to die rejoicing, with the Holy Name of Jesus in our hearts and on our lips. (Say one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be)

O most faithful Saint who shared the mysteries of our Redemption, glorious St. Joseph, the prophecy of Simeon regarding the sufferings of Jesus and Mary caused thee to shudder with mortal dread, but at the same time filled thee with a blessed joy for the salvation and glorious which, he foretold, would be attained by countless souls. By this sorrow and this joy, obtain for us that we may be among the number of those, who through merits of Jesus and the intercession of Mary the Virgin Mother, are predestined to a glorious resurrection. (Say one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be)

O most watchful Guardian of the Incarnate Son of God, glorious St. Joseph, what toil was thine in supporting and waiting upon the Son of the most high God, especially in the flight into Egypt! Yet at the same time, how thou didst rejoice to have always near you God Himself, and to see the idols of the Egyptians fall prostrate to the ground before Him. By this sorrow and this joy, obtain for us the grace of keeping ourselves in safety from the infernal tyrant, especially by flight from dangerous occasions; may every idol of earthly affection fall from our hearts; may we be wholly employed in serving Jesus and Mary, and for them alone may we live and happily die. (Say one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be)

O glorious St. Joseph, an angel on earth, thou didst marvel to see the King of Heaven obedient to thy commands, but thy consolation in bringing Jesus out of the land of Egypt was troubled by the fear of Archelaus; nevertheless, being assured by the Angel, thou dwelt in gladness at Nazareth with Jesus and Mary. By this sorrow and this joy, obtain for us that our hearts may be delivered from harmful fears, so that we may rejoice in peace of conscience and may live in safety with Jesus and Mary and may, like thee, die in theri company. (Say one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be)

O glorious St. Joseph, pattern of all holiness, when thou didst lose, through no fault of thine own, the Child Jesus, thou sought Him sorrowing for the space of three days, until with great joy, thou didst find Him again in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors. By this sorrow and this joy, we supplicate thee, with our hearts upon our lips, to keep us from ever having the misfortune to lose Jesus through mortal sin; but if this supreme misfortune should befall us, grant that we may seek Him with unceasing sorrow until we find Him again, ready to show us His great mercy, especially at the hour of death; so that we may pass over to enjoy His presence in Heaven; and there in company with thee, may we sing the praises of His Divine mercy forever. (Say one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be)

Antiphon: And Jesus Himself was beginning about the age of thirty, being (as it was supposed) the Son of Joseph.

V: Pray for us, O holy Joseph,

R: That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let Us Pray.

O God, Who in Thine ineffable Providence didst vouchsafe to choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most holy Mother, grant we beseech Thee, that he whom we venerate as our protector on earth may be our intercessor in Heaven. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

 

Priest's Blessing of a Cincture
 

It is doubtful when the Medal of St. Benedict originated. During a trial for witchcraft at Natternberg near the Abbey of Metten in Bavaria in the year 1647, the accused women testified that they had no power over Metten, which was under the protection of the cross. Upon investigation, a number of painted crosses, surrounded by the letters which are now found on Benedictine medals, were found on the walls of the abbey, but their meaning had been forgotten. Finally, in an old manuscript, written in 1415, was found a picture representing St. Benedict holding in one hand a staff which ends in a cross, and a scroll in the other. On the staff and scroll were written in full the words of which the mysterious letters were the initials. Medals bearing the image of St. Benedict, a cross, and these letters began now to be struck in Germany, and soon spread over Europe. They were first approved by Benedict XIV in his briefs of 23 December, 1741, and 12 March, 1742.

The Jubilee Medal below was first struck in 1880 to commemorate the 14th centennary of St. Benedict's birth.
 

The Front of the Medal

We see St. Benedict holding his Rule; next to him, on a pedestal, is the cup that once held poison, shattered after he made the Sign of the Cross over it. The other pedestal is topped by the raven, who is about to carry away the poisoned bread. In very small print above these pedestals are the words: Crux s. patris Benedicti (The Cross of our Holy Father Benedict).

Underneath St. Benedict are the words: ex SM Casino MDCCCLXXX (from holy Monte Cassino, 1880).

Surrounding the entire face of the medal are the words: Eius in obitu nostro praesentia muniamur (May we at our death be fortified by his presence.)
 

Back of the Medal

In the arms of the Cross are the initials C S S M L - N D S M D, which stand for the words: Crux sacra sit mihi lux! Nunquam draco sit mihi dux! (The Holy Cross be my light; Let not the dragon be my guide.).

In the corners of the Cross are C S P D, which stand for the same words found on the front over the pedestals: Crux s. patris Benedicti (The Cross of our Holy Father Benedict).

Above the Cross is the word "Pax" (Peace), the Benedictine motto.

Surrounding the entire back of the medal are the initials to the words of the exorcism: V R S N S M V - S M Q L I V B, which stand for: Vade retro Satana! Nunquam suade mihi vana! Sunt mala quae libas. Ipse venena bibas! (Begone, Satan, do not suggest to me thy vanities — evil are the things thou profferest, drink thou thy own poison.)
 

Wearing the Medal

First, note that the above information pertains to the Jubilee Medal of St. Benedict only. There are, though, other St. Benedict Medals that are almost exactly like the above, but lack "Eius in obitu nostro praesentia muniamur (May we at our death be fortified by his presence.)" and a few other details. Either type, though, is indulgenced.

The medal is sometimes combined with a Crucifix -- a regular Crucifix, often inlaid and ornate, with the St. Benedict Medal behind Christ's Head (examples below from Catholic Shopper). This Crucifix is known as "The Cross of a Happy Death" not only because of the exorcizing properties of the Medal and the image of Christ's Body, but because of St. Benedict's particular patronage based on his death. Pope St. Gregory the Great (A.D. ca. 540-604) describes his passing in his Dialogue:

Six days before he left this world he gave orders to have his sepulchre opened, and forthwith falling into an ague, he began with burning heat to wax faint; and when as the sickness daily increased, upon the sixth day he commanded his monks to carry him into the oratory, where he did arm himself receiving the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ; and having his weak body holden up betwixt the hands of his disciples, he stood with his own hands lifted up to heaven; and as he was in that manner praying, he gave up the ghost.

A plenary indulgence is granted under the usual conditions to one who, at the hour of his death, kisses, touches, or otherwise reverences the Crucifix, and commends his soul to God.

God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world. Come to the foot of the altar. Graces will be shed on all, great and little, especially upon those who seek them. Another community of sisters will join the Rue du Bac community. The community will become large; you will have the protection of God and Saint Vincent; I will always have my eyes upon you.

Later that year, on 27 November, Catherine saw another vision of Mary. She describes her like this:

Her height was medium and her countenance, indescribably beautiful. She was dressed in a robe the color of the dawn, high-necked, with plain sleeves. Her head was covered with a white veil, which floated over Her shoulders down to her feet. Her feet rested upon a globe, or rather one half of a globe, for that was all that could be seen. Her hands which were on a level with her waist, held in an easy manner another globe, a figure of the world. Her eyes were raised to Heaven, and her countenance beamed with light as She offered the globe to Our Lord.

Mary told her that the globe represented the whole world, especially France, a country whose faithful had recently suffered horrible persecutions in the Revolution's Terrors and was still going through "Enlightenment" perfidy.

The vision changed to Mary, still standing on a globe, rays of light streaming from her fingers, enframed in an oval frame inscribed with the words, "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." The whole vision "turned" showing the back of the oval inscribed with the letter "M" entwined with a Cross, and the hearts of Jesus and Mary, the former surrounded with thorns, the latter pierced with a sword. 12 stars circled this oval frame, symbolizing the 12 Tribes of Israel and the 12 Apostles, and showing Mary as the Mother of Israel, per the Apocalypse (ch. 12). Mary told her to strike a medal in this form, and that all who wore it after having it blessed would receive graces.

4 Kings 13:20-21 "And Eliseus died, and they buried him. And the rovers from Moab came into the land the same year. And some that were burying a man, saw the rovers, and cast the body into the sepulchre of Eliseus. And when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man came to life and stood upon his feet."

Matthew 9:20-22 "And behold a woman who was troubled with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself: If I shall touch only his garment, I shall be healed. But Jesus turning and seeing her, said: Be of good heart, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour."

Acts 19:11-12 "And God wrought by the hand of Paul more than common miracles. So that even there were brought from his body to the sick, handkerchiefs and aprons: and the diseases departed from them: and the wicked spirits went out of them."

It's funny to me how a culture that is filled with autograph hounds and those who clamor to be around those glittered with "star dust" can consider the Catholic veneration of relics as a joke. A lovely dish is just a lovely dish, but one owned by your great-grandmother is a treasure. Some stranger's pocket watch is just a timepiece, but one given to you by your grandfather is something you'd literally mourn losing. We pay $20,000 for a $200 jacket worn by Jacqueline Kennedy, faint at Beatles concerts, engage in riotous behavior to get our hands on one of Elvis's scarves, but when a relic of St. Catherine is mentioned, people snicker.

As you can see, however, from the verses above, veneration of relics is strictly scriptural, and the earliest Christians saw things in the same way as the ancient Israelites and those in the New Testament accounts. St. Augustine wrote in City of God:

If a father's coat or ring, or anything else of that kind, is so much more cherished by his children, as love for one's parents is greater, in no way are the bodies themselves to be despised, which are much more intimately and closely united to us than any garment; for they belong to man's very nature,

St. Jerome clarified Catholic belief in his Ad Riparium:

We do not adore, I will not say the relics of the martyrs, but either the sun or the moon or even the angels -- that is to say, with the worship of "latria"...But we honor the martyrs' relics, so that thereby we give honor to Him Whose [witness] they are: we honor the servants, that the honor shown to them may reflect on their Master... Consequently, by honoring the martyrs' relics we do not fall into the error of the Gentiles, who gave the worship of "latria" to dead men.

When considering relics, it is to be remembered that the body and soul are forever one, even when they seem to be separated by death. The body of the saved will be resurrected and glorified (the bodies of the damned will also be resurrected, for that matter). Forever is there a connection between the remains and the soul that has departed from them -- and the great souls whose remains are left to us have a power described well by St. John of Damascus (a.k.a. "John Damascene"), ca. A.D. 676 - 754/87, in his "Exposition of the Orthodox Faith":

These [the bodies of the Saints] are made treasuries and pure habitations of God: For I will dwell in them, said God, and walk in them, and I will be their God. The divine Scripture likewise saith that the souls of the just are in God's hand and death cannot lay hold of them. For death is rather the sleep of the saints than their death. For they travailed in this life and shall to the end, and Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. What then, is more precious than to be in the hand of God? For God is Life and Light, and those who are in God's hand are in life and light.

Further, that God dwelt even in their bodies in spiritual wise, the Apostle tells us, saying, Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you?, and The Lord is that Spirit, and If any one destroy the temple of God, him will God destroy. Surely, then, we must ascribe honour to the living temples of God, the living tabernacles of God. These while they lived stood with confidence before God.

The Master Christ made the remains of the saints to be fountains of salvation to us, pouring forth manifold blessings and abounding in oil of sweet fragrance: and let no one disbelieve this. For if water burst in the desert from the steep and solid rock at God's will and from the jaw-bone of an ass to quench Samson's thirst, is it incredible that fragrant oil [see below] should burst forth from the martyrs' remains? By no means, at least to those who know the power of God and the honour which He accords His saints.

In the law every one who toucheth a dead body was considered impure, but these are not dead. For from the time when He that is Himself life and the Author of life was reckoned among the dead, we do not call those dead who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and in faith on Him. For how could a dead body work miracles? How, therefore, are demons driven off by them, diseases dispelled, sick persons made well, the blind restored to sight, lepers purified, temptations and troubles overcome, and how does every good gift from the Father of lights come down through them to those who pray with sure faith?
 

Classes of Relics
 

Relics in churches or chapels are usually kept in one of two places: in a cavity ("sepulchre") inside the Altar or in a "reliquary." Reliquaries have taken on a variety of shapes -- boxes, Noah's Arks, caskets, the shape of an arm, leg, head, etc.. -- and some are exquisite specimens of gold and silversmithing.

 
The Treatment of relics

Canon Law 1190
§1 It is absolutely wrong to sell sacred relics.
§2 Distinguished relics, and others which are held in great veneration by the people, may not validly be in any way alienated nor transferred on a permanent basis, without the permission of the Apostolic See.

While selling relics ("simony") is wrong, it is permissible to buy them if they will be marketed anyway and buying them would save them from desecration. This must be done only if the good that comes from buying the relic outweighs other uses the money spent could be used for -- and this should never be done at auction because bidding would only drive up the price, forcing others who simply want to rescue relics to pay more. This could also increase the likelihood of a market developing in the sale of relics.

Relics may be legitimately obtained from Church sources, i.e., the Vicariate in Rome, the religious Order of the Saint involved, the shrine of the Saint involved, etc. When this is done, a donation is usually expected to cover the cost of the metal container (theca) that contains the relic, but in any case, a profit cannot legitimately be made from the sale of relics by anyone.

Particular Relics

Where you can see some First Class Relics

Austria

Relic: St. Longinus' Lance (lance of the Roman soldier who pierced Christ's side)
Where: Hofburg Treasure House, Vienna, Austria. The shaft of the lance is at St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.

Relic: St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Where: Convent of St. Elizabeth, Vienna, Austria. Preserved here is St. Elizabeth's skull, crowned with the crown she wore in life.

 
Belgium

Relic: St. Dymphna
Where: Church of St. Dymphna, Gheel (province of Antwerp), Belgium

 
Canada

Relic: Kateri Tekakwitha (awaiting canonization)
Where: Saint Francis-Xavier Mission Church, Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada

Relic: St. Isaac Jogues, St. Jean de Brébeuf, and Companions
Where: The Martyrs' Shrine, Highway 12, Midland, Ontario, Canada

Relic: St. Anne
Where: Church of Ste. Anne de Beaupré, Ste. Anne de Beaupré, Montmorency county, Quebec, Canada (the majority of St. Anne's relics are in Apt, Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence, France).

Czech Republic

Relic: St. Wenceslaus, St. Vitus
Where: Cathedral of St. Vitus, Prague, Czech Republic

Relic: St. Ludmilla
Where: St. George's Basilica, Prague, Czech Republic

Note:
Though not a shrine in honor of canonized Saints, also of note in the Czech Republic is "Sedlec Ossuary" ("Kostnice") of the Cistercian All Saints chapel in Sedlec, a suburb on the outskirts of the town of Kutna Hora, about 45 miles East of Prague. In A.D. 1278, the abbot there went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and brought back some soil, which he poured over the cemetery ground. Christians, then, wanted to be buried in that soil when they died, but after a time the graveyard became too crowded, especially in A.D. 1318, when 30,000 people were buried after dying from the Plague. An ossuary was built so that the older bones could be dug up and new bodies buried. A woodcarver was later hired to decorate the chapel, and he used the bones decoratively. The ossuary came to be adorned -- literally -- with the bones of around 40,000 Christians.

Ecuador

Relic: Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres (incorrupt), and the miraculous image of Our Lady of Good Success
Where: Mother Mariana lies in a glass coffin at the cloistered Convent of the Immaculate Conception in Quito, Ecuador. The miraculous statue can be seen by the public at these times: during the novena anticipating the Feast of the Purification, from around January 24 to February 2; during the month of May; during the month of October.

 
Egypt

Relic: St. Mark, Evangelist
Where: St. Mark Church in Alexandria, Egypt. (Cenotaph in Church of San Marco Venice, Italy where his relics had been taken during the Crusades.)

 
England

Relic: The Venerable Bede
Where: Galilee Chapel, England

Relic: St. Edward the Confessor (incorrupt)
Where: Westminster Abbey, London, England

Relic: St. John Southworth
Where: Westminster Cathedral (Precious Blood Cathedral), London, England. St John was hanged, drawn, and quartered during the Protestant "Reformation" for celebrating the Traditional Mass. The quarters of his body and his head were recovered after the execution, reassembled and sent to the Catholic Seminary at Douai, where it was buried during the Napoleonic purges in France. The relic was re-discovered in the last century during construction work to build a new road, and is now contained within a silver effigy, dressed in red Mass Vestments and contained within a glass reliquary in the Chapel of Saint George and the English Martyrs.

Relic: St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher
Where: Church of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London (St. Thomas More's head, after it was removed, was boiled and displayed, after which it was to be thrown into the Thames River. His daughter rescued it by bribing the guard and allegedly buried it in her husband's family vault).

 
France

Relic: St. Francis de Sales
Where: Church of the first Monastery of the Visitation, Annecy, France (his incorrupt heart is preserved at the Monastery of the Visitation, Treviso, Italy).

Relic: St. John Vianney (incorrupt)
Where: Basilica at Ars, France

Relic: St. Simon Stock
Where: Carmelite monastery, Bordeaux, France (his skull is preserved at Aylesford, Kent, England).

Relic: St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Where: Chapel of the Convent of Carmel, Lisieux, France

Relic: St. Bernadatte (incorrupt)
Where: Convent of St. Gildard in Nevers, France

Relic: St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (unsure as to whether or not she is incorrupt; I've read that her relics are not incorrupt, but are kept in a figurine of her which makes her appear incorrupt)
Where: Shrine of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Paray-le-Monial, France

Relic: St. Genevieve
Where: Saint Etienne-Du-Mont, Paris, France

Relic: Crown of Thorns and a piece of the True Cross
Where: Kept, starting with King St. Louis IX, at Ste. Chapelle, Paris, France (on the Ile de la Cité, near Notre Dame) -- a chapel the sainted King built just for these relics. Removed during the French Revolution and placed in the Bibliotheque Nationale. They are now at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (but visit Ste. Chapelle anyway! It is stunning...).

Relic: St. Catherine Labouré (incorrupt)
Where: Chapel of the Sisters of Charity Convent, 140 Rue du Bac, Paris, France

Relic: St. Vincent de Paul (incorrupt)
Where: Church of St. Vincent de Paul, Rue de Sevres, Paris, France (his heart is at the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal)

Relic: St. Fiacre
Where: Cathedrale de Meaux, Seine et Marne, France

Relic: St. Thomas Aquinas
Where: Basilica of St. Sernin, Toulouse, France

Relic: St. Vincent Ferrer
Where: Cathedral of Vannes, Vannes, France

 
Germany

Relic: The Three Magi
Where: Discovered in Persia, brought to Constantinople by St. Helena, transferred to Milan in the fifth century and then to the Cathedral of Cologne, Germany in A.D. 1163, where they've been ever since.

Relic: St. Ursula
Where: Ursalaplatz (Church of St. Ursula), Cologne, Germany

Relic: St. Albert the Great
Where: Komdienstraße (Church of Saint Andreas), Cologne, Germany

Relic: St. Hildegaard von Bingen
Where: Parish church of Eibergen, Eibergen, Germany (originally buried at the graveyard of the convent of Disibodenberg. Translated to present location in A.D. 1642).

Relic: St. Walburga
Where: Church of St. Walburga, Eichstätt, Bavaria, Germany. Her relics exude a healing "oil of Saints" between 12 October and 25 February, her Feast in the Benedictine Breviary.

Relic: St. Boniface
Where: Cathedral of Fulda, Fulda, Germany

Relic: St. Mundita
Where: Peterskirche (St. Peter's Church), Rindermarkt 1 (near the Rathaus), Munich, Germany. I have no idea who this Saint it, but her skeleton is gilded, bejeweled, and kept in a glass case. Fitted with glass eyes, she seems to stare at you from the beyond...

 
India

Relic: St. Francis Xavier
Where: Basilica Bom Jesus, Goa, India

 
Italy

Relic: St. Andrew, Apostle
Where: Cathedral of Amalfi, Italy

Relic: St. Bernardine of Siena
Where: Basilica di S.Bernardino, Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy

Relic: St. Francis of Assisi
Where: Lower Church of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, Assisi, Umbria, Italy

Relic: St. Clare of Assisi, St. Agnes of Assis, and their mother, Blessed Ortolana
Where: Basilica of Santa Chiara, Assisi, Umbria, Italy

Relic: St. Nicholas of Myra
Where: Translated from Myra to the Church of St. Stephen in Bari, Apulia, Italy in A.D. 1087 to save them from Muslim desecration.

Relic: St. Dominic
Where: Church of St. Dominic, Bologna, Italy

Relic: Blessed Imelda Lambertini (incorrupt)
Where: San Sigismondo Church near the University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Relic: St. Rita of Cascia (incorrupt)
Where: Basilica of St Rita in Cascia, Italy

Relic: St. Gerard Majella
Where: Caposele, Italy

Relic: Eucharist whose accidents had turned also to Flesh in A.D. 700
Where: Church of Lagontial, Lanciano, Italy

Relic: St. Ambrose
Where: Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, Milan, Italy (crypt open on his Feast Day)

Relic: St. Charles Borromeo
Where: Cathedral of Milan, Italy

Relic: St. Veronica's Veil (?)
Where: Carthusian Monastery, Monoppello, Italy. If this is the true Veil of Vernoica, the history goes like this: the veil had been kept at St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy (there is a niche for it near the statue of St. Veronica there), but was removed from there when St. Peter's was being rebuilt, and taken to this monastery in A.D. 1608. There is either a copy of the veil at the Vatican today in the aforementioned niche, or the one at the Vatican is the original (all other copies of the Veil were prohibited by Pope Paul V in 1616).

Relic: St. Januarius (Genarro)
Where: Cathedral of Naples, Naples, Campania, Italy. A vial of St. Genarro's dried blood liquefies and "boils" when brought near his head 18 times a year.

Relic: St. Benedict and St. Scholastica
Where: Abbey of Monte Cassino, on a hill overlooking Monte Cassino, Italy

Relic: St. Maria Goretti
Where: Our Lady of Grace, Nettuno, Italy

Relic: St. Anthony of Padua
Where: Basilica of St. Anthony, Padua, Italy. When St. Anthony's coffin was opened 30 years after his disposition, most of his body was found to have returned to dust but for his tongue, which remained fresh as a sign of his gift of preaching. It is this that is kept at the Basilica.

Relic: St. Augustine
Where: San Pietro in Ciel D'Oro, in Pavia, Italy

Relic: St. Barbara
Where: Cathedral of Rieti, Italy

Relic: Titulus Crucis, a Crucifixion nail, relic of the True Cross, two thorns from the Crown of Thorns, the greater part of the sponge used to give Christ vinegar, a piece of the good thief's cross
Where: Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Holy Cross in Jerusalem) 12 Piazza di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Rome, Italy. The church, whose floor was packed with soil from the Holy Land, was consecrated about A.D. 325, in an older building that was rebuilt to house the Passion Relics brought to Rome by St. Helena, Constantine's mother. The "Titulus Crucis" is the sign that hung over Christ's Head, naming Him as "King of the Jews."

Relic: St. Agnes
Where: Sant' Agnese fuori le mura (St Agnes Outside the Walls), 364 Via Nomentana, Rome, Italy. The church is built over St. Agnes's tomb. Her head is preserved at the Sancta Sanctorum in the area.

Relic: Many Popes, including: St. Peter; St. Leo the Great; St. Gregory the Great; St. Pius X (incorrupt). Many Saints, including St. Gregory Nazianzen.
Where: San Pietro in Vaticano (St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Italy)

Relic: St. Jerome and St. Pius V (incorrupt)
Where: Santa Maria Maggiora (St. Mary Major) 42 Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, Italy

Relic: St. Bartholomew, Apostle (?)
Where: St. Bartholomew-in-the-Island, Rome, Italy

Relic: St. Lawrence and St. Stephen
Where: San Lorenzo fuori le Mura (St Lawrence outside the Walls, a.k.a. San Lorenzo in Campo Verano) 3 Piazzale del Verano, Rome, Italy. The church is built over the tomb of St. Lawrence. St. Stephen was brought from Constantinople by Pope Pelagius II

Relic: St. Paul
Where: Some of St. Paul's relics are kept at the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls (San Paolo Fuori Le Mura). At the Church of the Decapitation (Church of San Paolo Alle Tre Fontane), built over the site he was beheaded, you can see the marble column to which St. Paul was bound, the table on which he died, and three springs that sprang up at the spot where he was killed (the springs are now operated mechanically).

Relic: SS. Cosmas and Damian
Where: Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, Rome, Italy

Relic: St. Cecilia
Where: Basilica of St. Cecilia, Rome, Italy

Relic: St. Sebastian
Where: Church of St. Sebastian, Rome, Italy. (St. Sebastian's head is at Church of the Four Crowned Martyrs -- "Santi Quattro Incoronati)

Relic: St. Monica
Where: Church of St. Augustine in Campo Marzio, Rome, Italy

Relic: St. Ignatius of Loyola  and St. Robert Bellarmine
Where: Church of the Gesu, Rome, Italy

Relic: St. Catherine of Siena and Fra Angelico
Where: Altar at the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome, Italy (St. Catherine's head is in the Church of San Domenico, Siena, Italy)

Relic: St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)
Where: Padre Pio Shrine, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy

Relic: St. John Bosco (incorrupt), St. Dominic Savio, St. Maria Mazzarello (incorrupt)
Where: Basilica di Maria Ausiliatrice (Mary Help of Christians), Turin, Piedmont, Italy. In Valsalice, Piedomont, you can see the room where St. John Bosco died, kept exactly as it was when he went to his Heavenly reward.

Relic: The Holy Shroud
Where: Royal Chapel of the Holy Shroud, Cathedral of San Giovanni, Turin, Piedmont, Italy (since A.D. 1578)

Relic: St. Lucy
Where: Church of San Geremia Venice, Italy. Her remains, moved from Syracuse to Constantinople, were translated from Constantinople to Venice in A.D. 1204.

 
Northern Ireland

Relic: SS. Patrick, Brigid, and Columba (a.k.a. "Columcille")
Where: Cathedral of Down, Downpatrick, Northern Ireland

 
Peru

Relic: Bl. Martin de Porres
Where: Convent of the Holy Rosary, Lima, Peru

  
Spain

Relic: Venerable Mary of Agreda (incorrupt)
Where: Convent of the Conception, Agreda, Spain

Relic: St. Teresa of Avila (incorrupt)
Where: Convent of St. Teresa, Avila, Spain (St. Teresa's heart is in the Carmelite Convent in Alba de Tormes, Spain)

Relic: St. James the Greater
Where: Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Compostela, Spain

Relic: St. John of God
Where: Iglesia de San Juan de Dios, Granada, Spain. At the Museo de S. Juan de Dios. Calle Convalescencía, you can see the room in which he died, along with some of his belongings.

Relic: Sudarium of Oviedo (the second linen used to cover Jesus' Face at His entombment)
Where: Cathedral of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain

Relic: St. John of the Cross
Where: Segovia, Spain

 
Sweden

Relic: St. Birgitta
Where: Vadstena Cloister, Vadstena, Ostergotlands Lan, Sweden

 
In the 13th century, a Portuguese woman who'd been demonically oppressed resolved to do the unthinkable by taking her own life by drowning herself in the Tagus River. On her way to the river, she passed a shrine erected in honor of the great orator and miracle-worker, St. Anthony of Padua. She stopped to pray, one last time. As she prayed, she saw St. Anthony standing before her, saying, "'Arise woman, and take this paper, which will free you from the molestations of the Evil One." Then he gave her a parchment inscribed with what is now known as the "Brief (i.e., "Letter") of St. Anthony,"  and she was now free from demonic oppression and the desire to do away with herself.

News of this miracle spread, even to the King who asked the woman for the Brief. He placed it with the Crown Jewels of Portugal, which was fine for the King, but bad for the woman. After the Brief was no longer with her, she began to weaken and lapse, so the King made a copy for her that restored her to her healed state. Other copies of the Brief were spread to help the faithful fight the Evil One and remind them that Christ has conquered.

The Brief consists of a depiction of a Cross, and words which, forming a rhyme in the Latin, hearken back to Apocalypse 5:5, "And one of the ancients said to me: Weep not: behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof." The words of St. Anthony's Brief are:

English version:
Behold the Cross of the Lord!
Flee ye adversaries!
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah,
The Root of David has conquered, alleluia!

NOTE: Text and Imagery is courtesy of FISHEATERS.COM