What Are Sacramentals?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that sacramentals are “sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church.” The Church’s Code of Canon Law says, “Sacramentals are sacred signs by which effects, especially spiritual effects, are signified in some imitation of the sacraments and are obtained through the intercession of the Church.”

The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy offers various sacramentals for the donation amounts suggestioned below. The sacramentals allow friends of the Order to join with us in our works and prayers. The scapulars are best used in an invenstiture ceremony carried out by any priest.

One type of sacramental is the scapular. The devotion of the scapular emerged in the Middle Ages as a way for the lay faithful to bind themselves to the spirituality of a particular religious Community. From the very beginning, the Mercedarian Scapular was an outward sign of one’s consecration and filial devotion to the Blessed Mother of Mercy and her call to work for the captive Christians. Furthermore, the laity are an integral part in the redemptive Mission, and thus clothed in the scapular, share in the spiritual benefits of the Order.

The Sodality of the Scapular is a spiritual organization of the lay faithful, who have a special devotion to Our Lady under the title of Our Lady of Mercy, and who desire to be spiritually united to the work of the Mercedarian Friars in the ransoming of Christian Captives in danger of apostasy. The Sodality brochure (front and back) is included in the Our Lady of Mercy and Jesus Scapular, which is pictured above.