(N.B.: This was originally posted on my Facebook wall; but I decided to repost it here in my blog in order to encourage more of my fellow Catholics to take advantage of the gifts that the Church bequeaths upon the faithful as conduits of grace emanating from God and the sacraments He established.)
Recently, I have been sick. My flu symptoms became really evident last week (I think that was a Monday or a Tuesday) where my sore throat was getting worse and I began sneezing so bad. I tried taking turmeric tea twice a day; although it alleviated a burgeoning discomfort in my trachea, still the throat area was aching profusely. I was in the thick of my work and some chores so I never paid things much attention, so when Thursday came, I felt sick to my core. The tea was not working and although I had already been considering preparing a saline solution for my throat, I’ve always never responded perfectly to it ever since before so I usually resorted to cough syrups and other over the counter medications instead like Bactidol. Yet, I could not go out to purchase anything from the drugstore since I was not feeling that well anymore so I merely went on with a salt gargle.
One thing would be unique with the salt preparation though: I used exorcised salt instead of just regular salt. I was also still a little sceptical if it would work because of my previous experiences with salt gargles, except that those were just “regular” salt, i.e., without the blessings of the Church. “Lord, I just hope this works,” is what I thought I muttered at that time.
After the procedure, the result was almost instantaneous based on how I observed it: phlegm began to be mixed with the gargle which was something that I never experienced before. It really astounded me and kept telling myself, “this is weird.” I finished up the entire mug then went to bed.
The next day, I began coughing up a lot of those stubborn sticky phlegm as if I was taking antibiotics (and all I was preoccupied with were my prayers, consuming some exorcised salt grains before bedtime, turmeric tea, Biogesic, my usual hot or warm water). Yes, the cough and colds were really intense but I did not experience having my nose stuffed as if I’d have an asthma attack (a far cry from my usual experiences ever since childhood). The coughing itself was almost like persecution as well; however, despite no antibiotics, it was as if my lungs were being cleared slowly but surely. Fever was also present but it would subside quickly. Also, my SO began praying a chaplet to St Lazarus for my health since Saturday.
Today I feel more relieved. Yes, the cough and colds are still here but I can function a bit better now unlike last week.
This, I daresay, is evidence of how God uses ordinary objects, i.e., sacramentals, like blessed or exorcised salt to impart His healing power (and I speak about this as a person who has always been a natural sceptic). Those are not trivial superstitions nor charms, unlike what our Protestant brethren or many unbelievers would make everyone believe. Such objects, when consecrated to God for a noble and blessed purpose impart both physical and spiritual graces, ππ₯ πππππ πππππππ‘ππ or ππ₯ πππππ πππππππ‘ππ πΈπππππ πππ, aligned with the natural course of things, as a testament to how God’s omnipotence transcends time and space to reach out to us though how lowly we may all be.
In this regard, I leave everyone an excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church on this subject (par. 1668-1670):
The characteristics of sacramentals
1668 Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life, a great variety of circumstances in Christian life, and the use of many things helpful to man. In accordance with bishops’ pastoral decisions, they can also respond to the needs, culture, and special history of the Christian people of a particular region or time. They always include a prayer, often accompanied by a specific sign, such as the laying on of hands, the sign of the cross, or the sprinkling of holy water (which recalls Baptism).
1669 Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood: every baptized person is called to be a “blessing,” and to bless. Hence lay people may preside at certain blessings; the more a blessing concerns ecclesial and sacramental life, the more is its administration reserved to the ordained ministry (bishops, priests, or deacons).
1670 Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church’s prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. “For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God.”
That in all things, God may be glorified.