Have you ever wondered why certain places have a “dark cloud” over them — why, for example, no business can prosper on a certain street corner, or why one neighborhood seems to attract all the wrong kinds of neighbors — or even how certain land is literally plagued by storms and untoward events?
Perhaps it is in need of the “Elisha blessing.”
Consider 2 Kings (2:18-24): “And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not? And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein.
“And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
“So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake. And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.”
The blessing with salt made barren land fertile!
This is a lesson not only in territorial strongholds that should be broken (they may be hidden impediments), but also the value of a neglected Catholic sacramental — Blessed Salt. During a week when salt is in every sermon, this would have made a good homily.
Though largely lost to the modernity of the current Church (wherein some priests do not even possess the full exorcism/blessing prayers), Blessed Salt is right up there with Holy Water. And from Elisha we see why, when a priest does a full blessing of water, he puts salt into it!
He is Elisha at the well. Use it if your land is barren. Praise God for the rich subtle wisdom, the historicity, of Catholicism.
And more so: praise God for this powerful sacramental, which should be periodically used in all parts of our homes, cars, land, neighborhoods, and even sprinkled around town, particularly in spiritually dark neighborhoods. [Below is the blessing prayer for your priest, in case he doesn’t have it.]
Noted the well-known expert Father John Hampsch, “Salt may also be blessed for use as a sacramental, using the same prayer as is used during the preparation of Holy Water. This salt may be sprinkled in a room, or across a threshold, or in other places as an invocation of divine protection. This will keep demons and possessed persons away from a home and crossing a line made of salt. It may also be consumed.”
For those who want the specific salt blessing:
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 (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 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.
[resources: Pardon Crucifix]