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."