This blessing for salt is sometimes used on the feast of Epiphany in some places in Europe. Bread, eggs and salt are taken to the church on this day to be blessed. In sections of Germany incense is taken also. These things are blessed after the morning service and may be taken home to be eaten with the holiday meals. In Germany, the bread and eggs are given to the poor, the salt is retained at home as a reminder that the people, as Christians, are to be “the salt of the earth,” and the incense is burned at the family altar to remind the whole family that, just as the house is filled with the odor of the incense, so should charity bind together all of the members of the family with Christ.
Almighty and everlasting God, you have created salt for the use of man, we ask you to bless this salt and grant that wherever it is sprinkled and whatever is touched by it may be set free from all impurity and the attacks of Satan; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer To Use With Blessed Salt
Prayer:
1. On Sundays, or whenever this blessing takes place, salt and fresh water are prepared in the church or in the sacristy. The priest, vested in surplice and purple stole, says:
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
2. The exorcism of salt follows:
God’s creature, salt, I cast out the demon from you by the living + God, by the true + God, by the holy + God, by God who ordered you to be thrown into the water- spring by Eliseus to heal it of its barrenness. May you be a purified salt, a means of health for those who believe, a medicine for body and soul for all who make use of you. May all evil fancies of the foul fiend, his malice and cunning, be driven afar from the place where you are sprinkled. And let every unclean spirit be repulsed by Him who is coming to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen.Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, we humbly appeal to your mercy and goodness to graciously bless + this creature, salt, which you have given for mankind’s use. May all who use it find in it a remedy for body and mind. And may everything that it touches or sprinkles be freed from uncleanness and any influence of the evil spirit; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace. (The Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church are Baptism, Confirmation, The Eucharist, Confession, Holy Matrimony, Anointing of the Sick, and Holy Orders.) A Sacramental is an external sign that the Church instituted to grant grace; in contrast to the Sacraments (7 fixed, automatic sources of grace), a Sacramental’s efficacy depends on the faith and work (prayer of blessing) of the Church and the user.
On a personal level, Sacramentals are a source of comfort, delight, and spiritual assistance in my own life. Non-Catholics might call them “unnecessary” (the way the Blessed Virgin Mary is “unnecessary” or the Pope is “unnecessary,”) but – in terms of the Catholic Mystery, the fullness and richness of our tradition that understands human nature, human longings and needs on every level, there’s an argument to be made for restoring the rich devotional use of Sacramentals. These beautiful and efficacious traditions are worthy of a reintroduction into a life of Catholic culture and piety. Today, I’d like to tell you more about salt as a Sacramental.
“Stay Salty, My Friends”
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot” (Matt. 5:13)
Salt adds flavor. Its very purpose is to make something more palatable, tasty, and interesting, as opposed to bland – who wants to be bland? Who has ever found blandness attractive?
C’mon, Catholics! It’s an adventure—the adventure of a lifetime and of LIFE itself—to be Catholic and to bring others to Christ—so many of our loved ones who don’t know Jesus and the beauty and awesomeness that are found in His Church! If we’re bored, milquetoast, bland, if we don’t get it, ourselves if we lack enthusiasm, how can we expect to attract others? And we KNOW that Christ is the answer to the questions on their hearts, the wounds they carry in their memories, their bodies, and their souls. We must flavor ourselourselvesthe faith and knowledge that the world needs Jesus and His Sacraments.
That is what He meant when He called His disciples “the salt of the earth.” It’s a charge He gives to us all, by extension: Stay salty! If you’re not salty, then GET salty! And if not from me, take it from St. Paul (in his warning to the Colossians 4:6): “Let your speech be always in grace seasoned with salt: that you may know how you ought to answer every man.”
Salt is of no use in and of itself. Its goodness is entirely for the sake of something else! We don’t eat salt by itself. We USE salt to flavor and preserve OTHER things. This is a metaphor for our spiritual lives—indeed, our entire lives. Out of context and autonomous, we are meaningless. I make no sense in the world without the reference point of all the other people around me and my various relations with and to them, just as Adam was unfulfilled in the Garden of Eden before the creation of Eve. The Catholic understanding of the human is the truest and fullest one: that we only make sense insofar as we live our lives for others and in reference to the other. Like salt.
How To Use Blessed Salt At Home
A Prayer for Guide
One of the Bible’s greatest truths is that God wants to guide us. He loves us and because He loves us, He wants what is best for us and is willing to show it to us. As your day progresses, it can be difficult to identify these blessings. Begin your day with this morning prayer for guidance:
Dear Lord, I don’t know who or what will cross my path today. But I do know that You are my rock and my fortress. You are my shield and my strong tower. Help me to anchor myself to You today. Teach me how to stand strong in You and choose only Your way today. Help me walk by Your truth and not my feelings. Help me to embrace anything that comes my way as an opportunity to see You at work and as opportunity to point others to You. Amen.
A Prayer for Family
Begin each day with a powerful morning prayer session with your family. Reciting these words and identifying our schedules early on, will provide a great deal of perspective for you and your family. Entrust each individual to God. Wherever they are in their relationship with God, pray that He draws them even closer. Think of morning prayer as exercise for each member’s spirit and soul. Working out these elements will help everyone plan for what is to come and better equip them with the tools to take on the new day. Start your day off with this prayer for family:
Dear God, thank you for the gift of family and friends. Holding them in my heart is one of the most precious things I can never get tired of. Bless everyone, for they deserve all goodness You have given to me. If I may do something wrong today, please forgive me. Amen.
A Prayer for My Career
Allow God to establish your priorities according to what Christ and the apostles said, including in the workplace. Have you submitted your career to God, including how you do your job? Do you ask God every day for His leadership and power to do your job while depending on Him? You should talk with God daily about His will concerning your career choices. Before you begin your day and embark on your duties, start your day off with this prayer for your career:
Dear God, I thank you for my job. You have provided me with steady income and I’m so thankful. I pray that You watch over me today at work and I pray that there are no accidents, so that everyone can go back to their homes. I thank you that my job has provided an income to support me and my family. I thank you for the provisions that You have given me. I pray for safe travels to and from work and I pray that You will use me as You see fit today for Your glory. Amen.
A Prayer for Opportunity
Our Heavenly Father has filled our lives with incredible opportunities. It’s important that we are always ready so that we can hear God’s voice when He is calling us. We don’t miss these opportunities when they come to us. Start your day off with this morning prayer for opportunity:
Dear Lord, I pray today that I will yield my spirit completely to You, that You may use me as You please. I pray that You will provide me opportunities to show people how much You mean to me. Give me discretion to know what to say and how to say it. Make me bold enough that I may proclaim salvation cheerfully and joyfully. I pray that the seeds You allow me to plant will grow and mature. I am forever grateful for the cross; may I proclaim it in a contagious way today. Amen.
A Prayer for Contentment
Contentment is a simple grace. It is certainly reasonable and logical. It is our Father’s world, so we should rest in His care. While many of us desire to be content, it is not easily attained or kept. For, no sooner than we begin to enjoy the grace of contentment, it is gone and dissatisfaction returns. Start your day off with the prayer for contentment:
Dear God, I pray that I will stay focused on You today. I pray that You will constantly remind me to be content in all of my circumstances. I pray that You will fill me up that I may be joyful all day, even if stress creeps in. I know that through my contentment, You will be glorified. I want to honor You, Father, in all that I do. Amen.
The morning is one of the best times to have an encounter with God. Pray the moment you wake up if you aren’t already doing so. When you wake up with God, His presence is carried with you wherever you go. May you be blessed on your journey today.
History and Use of Salt as a Sacramental
1. Salt is a precious commodity in the biblical context. The word “salary” comes from the Ancient Roman era when soldiers were paid in salt.
2. St. Remigius of Auxerre says,
“It should be known, that in the Old Testament no sacrifice was offered to God unless it were first sprinkled with salt, for none can present an acceptable sacrifice to God without the flavour of heavenly wisdom.”
3. The first biblical reference to salt as a sacramental comes in the Old Testament book of 4 Kings (2:19-22) when Elisha uses salt to restore the waters of a well:
“And the men of the city said to Eliseus (Elisha), 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.”
4. Salt was (and still is) used as a preservative, to keep food from spoiling.
5. Salt symbolizes friendship and hospitality.
6. Blessed salt protects against evil.
You can ask your pastor or any priest to bless salt for you.
Ask him to use this rite below, which includes exorcism prayers, and your salt will be a powerful sacramental that you can use for spiritual protection. I would recommend that you copy and print out these prayers and bring them to your priest along with the salt you’d like him to bless, since oftentimes he won’t have this ritual on hand or committed to memory.
Rite from the Roman Ritual
(Priest vests in surplice and purple stole)
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R: Who made heaven and earth.
Exorcism and Blessing of Salt
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 may 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.
Some uses for your blessed salt:
1. You can sprinkle blessed salt in your cooking.
2. You can sprinkle blessed salt under the bed, in corners of your home, etc., for spiritual protection.
3. You can carry a small vial of blessed salt while traveling or in your car – again, for spiritual protection.
4. A priest can use properly blessed/exorcised salt to make exorcised Holy Water. (If you keep some exorcised salt on hand, you can have it on hand if/when you ask a priest to bless Holy Water for you according to the Roman Ritual. This way, you save him time and make his job a little easier, since each blessing is particular and priests are busy men!).
*It’s important not to be superstitious about this, but, rather, in due deference, to make use of your blessed salt without becoming paranoid about it. That being said, if we admit that we are in spiritual warfare, why wouldn’t we want to make use of the tools and prayers of the Church which would better equip us to protect ourselves? So, there is a healthy, balanced approach you must take with the use of blessed salt, as with any other sacramental. Avoid scrupulosity and obsessive worry over these things, remain in a state of grace, stay close to the Sacraments and to Our Lady. These basics must always take precedence in your heart, your mind, and your prayer life, above and before your use of Sacramentals.\