Exorcised Salt

 The Catholic Church is full of a seemingly endless variety of traditions, devotions and sacramentals.  I'd like to take a moment to talk about one that seems to have fallen out of disuse, blessed or more properly, exorcised salt.  Salt is very important biblically and spiritually, there's even a "Salt in the Bible" Wikipedia page, go, check.  

Salt goes back to being an ingredient in ritual prayer to our forefathers in faith, Leviticus 2:13 states, "You shall season all your cereal offerings with salt; you shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be lacking from your cereal offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt."  Ezekiel, Exodus, Ezra, Numbers, Chronicles, Psalms and other Old Testament texts reference salt.

The famous Salt & Light sermon in Matthew reads, "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?  It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men," (Matt 5:13).  Salt is also referenced in Mark and Colossians.  

Salt used to play a role in the Old Rite form of Baptism, which I highly recommended reading over.  The prayers are incredibly beautiful and much deeper than the new form.  Salt is still in important sacramental in exorcisms.  Exorcised salt can be sprinkled regularly around the home, workplace, etc. for protection.  It can even be used in cooking.

Shown in the pictures (typed out below) are the current prayer for exorcising salt as well as the old form, judge for yourself.  If you know of nay priests who love the traditions of the church, consider a copy of Roman Ritual or Parish Ritual.

Current Prayer

Any amount of salt may be presented to a priest for his blessing, using the following official prayer from the Roman Ritual:

   "Almighty God, we ask you to bless this salt, as once you blessed the salt scattered over the water by the prophet Elisha.  Wherever this salt (and water) is sprinkled, drive away the power of evil, and protect us always by the presence of your Holy Spirit.  Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen."

Exorcism Blessing for Water and Salt

(Priest vests in surplice and purple stole)

P. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made heaven and earth.

Exorcism of Salt (necessary for Exorcism of Water)
P. O salt, creature of God, I exorcise you by the living (+) God, by the true (+) God, by the holy (+) God, by the God who ordered you to be poured into the water by Elisha the prophet, so that its life-giving powers might be restored.  I exorcise you so that you may become a means of salvation for believers, that you may bring health of soul and body to all who make use of you, and that you may put to flight and drive away from the places where you are sprinkled, every apparition, villainy, turn of devilish deceit, and every unclean spirit; adjured by him who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire.

R. Amen

P. Let us pray, Almighty and everlasting God, we humbly implore you, in your immeasurable kindness and love, to bless (+) this salt which you created and gave to the use of mankind, so that it my become a source of health for the minds and bodies of all who make use of it.  May it rid whatever it touches or sprinkles of all uncleanness, and protect it from every assault of evil spirits.  Through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Placeat tibi

Image
I was really struck by the Placeat (Prayer to the Blessed Trinity after Mass) today.  A main critique of the TLM is that the priest doesn’t face the people.  Read this prayer.  Who is it directed to?  The people, no.  The Trinity, yes. From the start, to the end, the priest’s prayers are directed to God, we pray with the priest, gazing upon the cross as the sacrifice of Calvary is re-presented on the Altar.  The Placeat is just one of the many prayers ripped from the Missal by the reformers.  It impoverished the Mass and forced the faithful to lose focus.  The numbers speak for themselves, scores of churches and schools closed, pews are empty and shrinking belief in the true presence.  Study your faith, know your faith, defend your faith. Picture 1 is taken from the Fr. Lasance Missal.  Picture 2 & 3 are excerpted from Mass of the Ages Episode II.
Read more

Numquam solus eris

You will never be alone.  We know that God is omnipresent, and that nowhere in His creation can we escape Him.  “ The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good ,” (Proverbs 15:3).  From the start of creation, God’s presence is in everything as its creator, we can marvel at the wonders of the world at how God has graced us with such beauty and splendor.  So much, even beyond our own world that we know, all created by God shows us the reach and expanse of His creation.  With all the knowledge we have in the present day, the heavens above us are still an endless marvel we know so little about.  “ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have established ,” (Psalms 8:3).  Just think at how similarly man has sat in awe looking at the night sky in its expanse for age upon age and yet God’s brilliance in that one mere aspect of creation continues to draw us in.  ...
Read more

God's Mercy

Image
This a reflection on the Gospel reading for February 12, 2024 (Mark 1:40-45). How great is God's mercy? Greater than we could ever fathom. Often we can get caught up in our own downfalls and sinfullness and forget that, through it all, God loves us. A great point that was made in the homily at the Mass I attended was that some people stay away from Confession, Mass and the Eucharist, or the Church altogether because of their sinfullness. When asked "Why?" it can often be that "My sins are so bad, God could never forgive me." Now, we know that when we come before the Lord in true contrition to confession, truly desire to transform our lives away from that sin and do penance, our sins are forgiven. The point that was driven home in the homily, that God loves us unconditionally not because of who we are, but because of who He is. Often we get wrapped up in our side of things as it relates to our relationship with God, but we forget to think about the other ...
Read more