About the Sacramental Orders of the Lotus

In our Universalist "denomination" (The Church of Universal Science and Consciousness), these Orders are like associations that are dedicated to the intentional thinking processes and real life practice of each Order's sacramental principles and directives. They are intended to provide a positive, healing, and clarifying structure to a person's life and experiences. They are also like compasses, guides, landmarks, and maps - to both serve as reminders for us to live into our true nature and potential; to practice the continual manifesting of ourselves as enlightened human beings. We believe this is the true potential of what it REALLY means to be a HUMAN BEING: A fully REALIZED human BEING.

What is meant by the word Sacrament? Generally, a SACRAMENT is an object, ritual, or action that is set apart to represent or be the manifestation of something holy, blessed, beneficent, transforming and/or healing.

According to Wikipedia, the terms Sacrament and Sacramental are most commonly used among Christian Churches. From one perspective of Universalist thinking, and according to the doctrine or teaching of our own Denomination - The Church of Universal Science and Consciousness - the concept of a SACRAMENT is really, authentically a UNIVERSAL one.

The Christian Denominational Usages listed by Wikipedia:

(Such a convenient source! But it's not necessarily definitive or accurate, so any updates, ideas, corrections, proper sources, or expansions are always appreciated if you want to send anything in for consideration.)

Anglican[edit]

The Anglican Rosary sitting atop the Anglican Breviary and the Book of Common Prayer

A text of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America includes items such as the Anglican rosary, ashes, and palms among objects counted as sacramentals.^[5]

Catholic[edit]

The Catholic Church currently defines sacramentals as "sacred signs which... signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy." ^[6]

Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church’s prayer, they prepare one to receive grace and dispose a person to cooperate with it. "For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power."^[7]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church lists three types of sacramentals: blessings,^[8] consecrations/dedications,^[9] and exorcisms.^[10]

Rosary beads, scapulars, medals and religious images are more accurately termed “devotional articles"; non-liturgical prayers such as the rosary, the stations of the cross, litanies, and novenas are called "popular devotions" or "expressions of popular piety".^[11]

The Latin Church allows the reception of certain sacramentals by non-Catholics.^[12]

Pentecostal[edit]

A blessed prayer cloth and holy anointing oil distributed by the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association, a Pentecostal apostolate

Pentecostal theologian Mark Pearson states that the Bible speaks of sacramentals, sometimes referred to as points of contact, such as blessed prayer cloths.^[13] He states that God is the source of healing and that Pentecostal clergy "can confidently offer prayer, administer the various sacramentals, and lay hands on the sick".^[13]

References[edit]

Click on endnotes number in text to go to the reference on the Wikipedia Article.