United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

302 • Part II. The Sacraments: The Faith Celebrated

DOCTRINAL STATEMENTS • Sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the Church. “These are sacred signs which bear resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church” (CCC, no. 1667, citing SC, no. 60). • Among the sacramentals, blessings hold a major place. There are blessings for persons, meals, objects, places and ceremonial occa sions such as graduations, testimonial honors, welcomes, and fare well. All blessings praise God for his gifts. Most blessings invoke the Holy Trinity as expressed in the Sign of the Cross, sometimes accompanied by the sprinkling of holy water. • “Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the libera tion from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church” (CCC, no. 1673). • “Expressions of piety extend the liturgical life of the Church, but do not replace it. They ‘should be so drawn up that they harmo nize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some way derived from it and lead the people to it, since in fact the liturgy by its very nature is far superior to any of them’” (CCC, no. 1675, citing SC, no. 13 §3). MEDITATION A number of historical circumstances also make a revival of the Rosary quite timely. First of all, the need to implore from God the gift of peace. The Rosary has many times been proposed by my predecessors and myself as a prayer for peace. At the start of a millennium which began with the terrifying attacks of September 11, 2001, a millennium which witnesses every day in numerous parts of the world fresh scenes of bloodshed and violence, to rediscover the Rosary means to immerse oneself in contemplation of the mystery of Christ who “is our peace,” since he made “the two of us one, and broke down the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph 2:14). Consequently, one cannot recite