Relic and Sacramental - Church of Holy Family

Explaining Relic and Sacramental

In Brief – Significance – *Relic* and *sacramental* overlap, but they’re not the same thing. Here’s the difference:

How the “spiritual help” is understood

Relics: understood within the Church’s practice of honoring saints and (in devotion) asking for their intercession; the faithful do not treat the material as an independent source of grace.
Sacramentals: understood as effects “obtained through the Church’s intercession,” through prayer and disposition toward the sacraments (not the same manner of grace as the sacraments).

How the Church “authorizes” the use

Relic: validity in practice depends on authentic relic connection and appropriate ecclesiastical recognition/sanctions; relics are not treated as automatically authentic without sufficient basis.
Sacramental: are signs by institution/blessing of the Church, and their use belongs to the Church’s sacramental economy.

Practical takeaway

If you’re venerating relic, keep the focus on reverence for the saint (and faith-filled prayer for the saint’s intercession), not on treating the oil as a talisman or as automatically granting grace by itself.
If you’re using a sacramental, use it as a Church-given sign of prayer that helps you be disposed for God’s grace—never as a substitute for the sacraments or as a “guarantee” independent of repentance and faith.

Relic veneration honors the saint through the Church’s relic tradition, while sacramental use is the Church’s prayerful sign that disposes you to receive the grace proper to the sacraments.

What is a relic?

*Relic*: A physical object connected to a saint or blessed person.

– *1st class*: Part of their body – bone, hair, blood – cannot be sold

– *2nd class*: Something they owned or used – clothing, rosary, book – cannot be sold

– *3rd class*: When an item such as cloth, a medal, or holy oil has been touched to a 1st‑ or 2nd‑class relic, any price reflects only the production and handling costs (e.g., printing, materials, shipping). The relic itself is never for sale.

Significance: comes from the person it’s connected to. A bone of St. Therese is a relic because it was part of St. Therese. The Church doesn’t “make” it a relic – it just recognizes what it is.

Use: To honor the saint and seek their intercession. You venerate the relic _because_ of the saint it represents. The grace comes from God through the saint’s intercession.

What is a sacramental?

*Sacramental*: A sacred sign instituted by the Church to dispose people to receive grace and sanctify daily life.

Examples: holy water, blessed rosary, crucifix, scapular, blessed salt, medals, ashes on Ash Wednesday.

Significance : It comes from the Church’s blessing/prayer. A rosary isn’t a sacramental until a priest blesses it. The blessing sets it apart for sacred use.

Use: To prepare you to receive grace and to sanctify ordinary actions. They don’t cause grace directly, but they dispose you toward it. Blessed water reminds you of Baptism and helps you pray.

Overlap and Distinction

A 3rd class relic is often _both_.

Example: A cloth touched to St. Padre Pio’s tomb is a 3rd class relic. If a priest then blesses it, it’s also a sacramental. That’s why most 3rd class relics you get from shrines come mounted on a card and already blessed.

*Key distinction in practice*

– If you lost the blessing, the *relic* is still a relic. The physical contact already happened.

– If you lost the blessing, the *sacramental* reverts to being a regular object until it’s blessed again.

*Bottom line*: All blessed relics are sacramentals, but not all sacramentals are relics. A blessed rosary is a sacramental. A bone of St. Paul is a relic, blessed or not.

⭐ How someone can “lose” the blessing of a sacramental

A sacramental remains blessed as long as it is used reverently for prayer and devotion. It loses its blessing only when it is deliberately treated in a secular, improper, or disrespectful way or if it is sold as a commodity — never through normal wear or accidental damage.

The Church is very practical and pastoral about this.

✅ 1. Normal use does NOT remove the blessing

A blessed item remains blessed even if:

it becomes old
it fades
it breaks accidentally
it is worn out from devotion

The blessing is tied to its intended sacred use, not its physical condition.

❌ 2. A blessing is lost when the item is used in a non-sacred or disrespectful way

A sacramental loses its blessing if someone:

uses it for a non-religious purpose (e.g., wearing a blessed medal as fashion jewelry)
treats it irreverently or contemptuously
intentionally desecrates it
repurposes it for something secular (e.g., using a blessed rosary as decoration or craft material)

In these cases, the Church considers the blessing nullified because the object is no longer being used for its sacred purpose.

⚠️ 3. Selling a blessed item can also remove the blessing

If someone sells a blessed item as a commodity, the blessing is considered lost because:

blessings cannot be bought or sold
the Church forbids trafficking in blessed objects

If the item is sold simply as a used item (not “selling the blessing”), the blessing is considered morally set aside.

🕊️ 4. Intent matters – The blessing is tied to:

the purpose of the object
the devotion of the user

If the owner no longer intends to use it as a sacred object, the blessing is effectively relinquished.

References:

Vatican – full documentation (66 pages): DIRECTORY ON POPULAR PIETY AND THE LITURGY – PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES