United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

Chapter 22. Sacramentals and Popular Devotions • 297

cism strictly. “Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church” (CCC, no. 1673). One needs to distinguish psychological illness from demonic possession. Illness is the domain of psychological and medical care, whereas demonic possession requires the pastoral care of the Church through exorcism. POPULAR DEVOTIONS The faith of the Christian people has developed numerous forms of pop ular piety and devotions. The religious instincts of the Christian people have always found ways to surround sacramental life with helps to ben efit more effectively from them. Popular devotions have proven to be powerful forms of prayer and to be of spiritual benefit to many. These forms of piety include praying at the Stations of the Cross; making pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Rome, Marian shrines, and shrines of other saints; lighting candles in church; having throats blessed on the feast of St. Blaise; joining in Corpus Christi processions; wearing medals of the Blessed Virgin and the saints; and honoring sacred relics. Some materials that form part of the Church’s liturgical rites, such as the ashes received on Ash Wednesday and the palms distributed on Palm Sunday, are also sacramentals. Devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Divine Mercy of Jesus, and the Blessed Mother are frequently part of parish life and often include a novena , nine days of prayer associated with the devotion. Prayer groups such as those sponsored by Charismatic Renewal, Cursillo, Marriage Encounter, and Teens for Christ have both a strong liturgical foundation as well as a vibrant devotional component. The praying of litanies (a series of invocations of the Blessed Mother or the saints) and the use of icons, holy pictures, and statues as supports for prayer are also forms of popular devotion. The faithful do not wor ship pictures and statues; they venerate or honor the Virgin Mary and the saints and worship and adore only God. The veneration of Mary and the saints ultimately leads to God. Among the forms of popular devo-