ANSWER by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM on May 10, 2004

Dear Luis: A house blessing is a sacramental that blesses (or brings God's fingerprint) to the house, setting it aside for Godly purposes. Blessed medals and the like are like No Trespassing signs. Just like real No Trespassing signs we put on a fence in the back 40, some people will honor the sign, others will shoot a hole in the sign and cross over the fence anyway. There are many demons who will respect the No Trespassing sign of a sacramental because it is a sign with God's fingerprint. The sacramental in a sense radiates the presence of God like a radioactive rock by virtue of it being set aside for religious purposes. Many demons will be scared away by this. Then there are other more powerful demons who will "shoot a hole in the sign" and trespass anyway. The "power" of a sacramental is in its ability to be a sign to the spirit world (through God's fingerprint, radiation, on the item) and mostly as a sign of the faith of the person who uses the sacramental. A sacramental will have little effect if used by a person with no faith. The article in the Catholic Encyclopedia states: One of the most remarkable effects of sacramentals is the virtue to drive away evil spirits whose mysterious and baleful operations affect sometimes the physical activity of man. To combat this occult power the Church has recourse to exorcism and sacramentals. Another effect is the delivery of the soul from sin and the penalties therefor. Thus in the blessing of a cross the Church asks that this sacred sign may receive the heavenly blessing in order that all those who kneel before it and implore the Divine Majesty may be granted great compunction and a general pardon of faults committed. This means remission of venial sins, for the sacraments alone, with perfect contrition, possess the efficacy to remit mortal sins and to release from the penalties attached to them. St. Thomas is explicit on this point: "The episcopal blessing, the aspersion of holy water, every sacramental unction, prayer in a dedicated church, and the like, effect the remission of venial sins, implicitly or explicitly" (Summa III, Q. lxxxvii, a. 3, ad 1um). Finally the sacramentals may be employed to obtain temporal favours, since the Church herself blesses objects made use of in every-day life, e.g. the blessing of a house on which is called down the abundance of heavenly dew and the rich fruitfulness of the earth; so likewise in the benediction of the fields, in which God is asked to pour down His blessings on the harvests, so that the wants of the needy may be supplied by the fertile earth. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For Assistance with Spiritual Warfare problems please go to our How We Can Help You page. For a direct link to sample Spiritual Warfare prayers see our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog