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Blessed salt has been used in various forms throughout the history of Christianity. Among early Christians, the savoring of blessed salt often took place along with baptism. In the fourth century, Augustine of Hippo named these practices "visible forms of invisible grace".Tad W. Guzie, 1982 The book of sacramental basics page 46Everett Ferguson, 2009 Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy page 768 However, its modern use as a sacramentals remains mostly limited to its use with holy water within the Anglican Communion (1991). 9780962995507, Good Shepherd Press. ISBN 9780962995507 and Roman Catholic Church.
For centuries since Jesus, salt cleansed and sanctified by special and prayers, was given to before entering a church for baptism. According to the fifth canon of the Third Council of Carthage in the third century, salt was administered to catechumens several times a year, a process attested to by Augustine of Hippo (Confessions I.11). Two specific procedures, namely a cross traced on the forehead and a taste of blessed salt, not only marked the entrance into the , but were repeated regularly. By his own account, Augustine was “blessed regularly with the Sign of the Cross and was seasoned with God's salt.”William Harmless, 1995 Augustine and the Catechumenate page 80
Early in the sixth century, John the Deacon explained the use of blessed salt, “so the mind which is drenched and weakened by the waves of this world is held steady”.Aidan Kavanagh, 1991 The Shape of Baptism: The Rite of Christian Initiation ISBN page 59 Salt continued to be customarily used during the scrutinies of catechumens or the baptism of infants.
The earliest extant prayers for blessing salt and water date from Merovingian France, sometime between 600 and 751.
In the section on Occasional Offices of the Book of Common Prayer, the following prayer, given under the rite for Blessing of Holy Water is said before the holy water is blessed and “salt is put into the water in the form of a Christian cross”:
“Almighty and everlasting God, you have created salt for the use of man, we ask you to bless this salt and grant that wherever it is sprinkled and whatever is touched by it may be set free from all impurity and the attacks of Satan; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”"Occasional Offices", Book of Common Prayer, Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea, 2014,
The Roman Rite of the Catholic Church also mentions use of blessed salt. Mershman, Francis. "Salt." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. The 1962 Rituale Romanum includes salt as component in three rites:
An additional rite provides for the blessing of salt for animals.
Blessed salt is also used in prayer services of Pentecostal churches, such as the Apostolic Church Fullness of God's Throne in Brazil.
Current use
In recent times, the use of blessed salt is found within some Catholic and Anglican liturgies of Holy Baptism, and in the blessing of holy water, sometimes called lustral water.Michno, Dennis G. (1998) 1983. A Priest's Handbook: Ceremonies of the Church. "A Form for Blessing Holy Water". Harrisburg, PA; New York: Morehouse Publishing. p. 266. Notes that, "traditionally, a little salt is added to it." The Anglican Missal, used by some Anglo-Catholics, in The Order of Blessing Water, includes an English translation of traditional prayers for the exorcism and blessing of salt. The Collect reads:
Salt as sacramental
Salt may also be blessed for use as a Sacramentals, using the exact same prayer for it when preparing holy water. This salt may be sprinkled in a room, across a threshold, or in other places as an invocation of divine protection. This is believed to keep demons and possessed persons away and from crossing a line made of salt. It may also be consumed. 3 Powerful sacramentals to have in your home, Aleteia, 2017
Further reading
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