179. Blessed Objects of Devotion

The illustration (1) shows a girl wearing the blessed dress of Our Lady of Lourdes. It is white, with a blue sash tied in front. (2) shows one wearing the blessed dress of Our Lady Mary, Help of Christians. It is coral pink, with a powder blue sash tied in a bow at the left side. All blessed dresses must be modest, with long sleeves and closed necklines. The illustration (3) is a scapular of Our Lady of Carmel. After being imposed, it may be substituted by a properly blessed scapular medal. (4) shows the two faces of the Miraculous Medal. Our Lady herself revealed the design for it.

Which are the blessed objects of devotion most used by Catholics?

— The blessed objects of devotion most used by Catholics are: holy water, candles, ashes, palms, crucifixes, medals, rosaries, scapulars, and images of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, and the saints.

1. The blessing given by the Church makes holy water of special efficacy. We should always make the sign of the cross, whenever possible with holy water; by it we would gain one hundred days' indulgence.

Holy water is placed at the doors of all churches and chapels, for us to use when we go in and out. We should also have it at the doors of all our rooms in our homes. Holy water is used in many blessings of the Church, for the dead, for the consecration of churches, etc.

2. Candles are used in the Church as much as holy water. They stand for Christ, the "Light of the World." Candles are blessed on the Feast of the Purification or Candlemas Day, in memory of Holy Simeon's words, calling Christ the "light of revelation to the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32). Candles are an enduring prayer, raising their appeal to heaven in our behalf.

When we burn candles by the corpses or graves of our dead, we pray that they may be admitted soon into the light of heaven, the sight of God. We burn candles before images of the saints, as a symbol of the virtues with which they were endowed, and as a supplication for help through their intercession. The candle lighted at our Baptism denotes the light of the Holy Ghost, which we then receive, and recalls the words of Christ, "So let your light shine before men in order that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:16). On the altar, the candles signify the presence of Christ, the Light of the World, Who comes down on it at the consecration.

3. Ashes are blessed on Ash Wednesday, and marked on the foreheads of the faithful, to remind them of the words of God to Adam: "In the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread, until thou return to the earth from which thou wast taken; for dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return" (Gen. 3).

In crossing our foreheads with ashes on Ash Wednesday, the priest says: "Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return."

4. Palms are blessed on the Sunday preceding the Feast of Easter, in commemoration of the entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem before His Passion, when He was received with joy and acclaimed with Hosannas.

During the blessing of the palms, the priest prays that those who receive and keep them may be preserved from sin and danger. It is customary to hang up in some part of our homes the blessed palms we receive on Palm Sunday. The palm is a symbol of victory over sin, of triumphal entry into heaven.

5. No church, altar, cemetery, or Catholic institution is without the cross or crucifix; no home should be without it.

No Catholic dies without the crucifix; and no one should live without carrying it somewhere on his person. When we look at it we remember the infinite love of God for us; with the cross of Christ He proved this love. (See page 191.)

6. The most commonly-worn medals are the scapular medals and the Miraculous Medal. The scapular medals are substitutes for the cloth scapulars. The Miraculous Medal was revealed by Our Lady to Sister Catherine Laboure, a Sister of Charity. The Blessed Virgin appeared to her in the posture now shown on the medal, with the ejaculation, "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee" around her. The Blessed Virgin bade Sister Catherine have a medal made according to that model, promising those who should wear it great blessings.

The reverse of the medal, also revealed by Our Lady, has the letter M surmounted by a cross, the two Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and twelve stars. The many cures, temporal blessings and spiritual graces received in a few years by those who first wore the medal caused it to be known as the Miraculous Medal. The feast of our Lady of the Miraculous Medal is celebrated on November 27.

7. Most commonly worn scapulars are the brown scapular and the blue scapular. (a) The brown scapular is the badge of the Confraternity of Carmel. The members are supposed to say the office, but for lay people this may be changed to three Hail Marys, which may be part of their daily prayers. Only priests with the proper faculties can impose the brown scapular.

In the year 1250, the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Simon Stock, then general of the Carmelite Order. She gave him a scapular, promising that every one who wore it and lived piously should escape damnation, should have her protection in all dangers, and should quickly be released from Purgatory. The original scapular was designed to hang over the head, in front and behind, as many religious still wear it, forming part of their habit.

(b) The blue scapular is a devotion in honour of our Lady's Immaculate Conception. It requires the wearers to live a life of chastity according to their state, to pray for the conversion of sinners.

There are besides other scapulars as those of the Seven Sorrows, of the Holy Trinity and of the Passion. All these five scapulars may be substituted by a properly blessed medal one face of which has the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the other face Our Lady's image under whatever title. The medal can substitute only after the cloth scapular has been imposed.

8. An Agnus Dei is a disk of white wax stamped with the image of a lamb and cross (standing for Christ); it is solemnly blessed by the Pope and distributed in Rome on the Saturday after Easter.

Formerly the Agnus Dei was given only to the newly baptised who carried it on their persons, in honour of the "Lamb of God."

9. The most commonly used blessed dresses are those in honour of our Lady of Lourdes, our Lady of Sorrows, of the Immaculate Conception, of Carmel, of Mary Help of Christians, of St. Anthony, and of St. Joseph. These dresses are worn as a promise, or to obtain some special favour. Their use is not binding under pain of sin.

Although these blessed dresses are not exactly in the height of fashion, still their use should be encouraged, as a reminder to our girls to dress modestly always; everyone should be a member of this Legion of Modesty. The formula for blessing a dress is in the Roman Ritual: "Benedictio Vestis et Cinguli." Even if one who has promised to wear a blessed dress fails to fulfil her promise, she commits no sin. She merely loses the graces that otherwise she would have received by the faithful fulfilment of her promise.