Benedicaria - Practices of Benedicaria

Practices of Benedicaria

Benedicaria is catch-all term for a number of family-based spiritual traditions with a great deal of flexibility, and as a result, the practices found in Benedicaria may vary from family to family and from individual to individual. Amongst the more commonly known practices are the use of olive oil and/or eggs as a cure for the Malocchio or Evil Eye, the use of candles, the Rosary, herbs, and Novenas in honor of the various Saints. According to the information given at the Italian Benedicaria website, most of the prayers used in Benedicaria are taken directly from Catholic prayerbooks.

The same sacramentals used in the Catholic Church are used in Benedicaria, whereby the sacramentals are never disrespected. However they are also used, to a small degree in stregoneria, where there is more of a grey area and therefore a practitioner may find themselves walking the fine line between the sacred and the profane or, stepping right into sacrilege.

One example of the sacramentals being used in Benedicaria is in the so-called "Exorcism of Saint Anthony", wherein the practitioner holds a crucifix over the object which he or she wishes to exorcise, and says: "Behold the Cross of the Lord! Begone, ye hostile powers! The Lion of the tribe of Judah hath triumphed, he who is the rod of David!" This rite is found, in its entirety, within the pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic Rite of Solemn Exorcism, known as Ritus Exorcizandi Obssessos a Daemonio.

In fact, nearly all of the Sacramentals used by Benedetti come from the Church in times before the Second Vatican Council, and a number of practitioners care little or nothing for the changes that took place after that Council (which many Benedicaria-practitioners and even ordinary Catholics may have been a somewhat forced imposition of Northern European or Protestant ideologies on the rest of the world).

Another common practice is the use of eggs as a form of cleansing or to remove the Evil Eye. In this exercise, the egg is washed, dried, and then covered in Holy Water while the practitioner prays over it, saying an Apostles' Creed, an Our Father, and three Hail Mary's. The egg is then rolled over the alleged victim's body in a loosely prescribed pattern, paying especial attention to any area which may feel the most pain; the egg is believed to absorb any negative energy. After doing this with the egg for fifteen minutes, the egg is broken by throwing it in the toilet and flushing the remains.

This is very similar to a practice found in Mexican Curanderismo and Filipino Pagtatawas which has the same objective, and it is also an example of a Catholic Sacramental being combined with a possible pre-Christian practice, with the latter being subordinated to the belief-system of Catholicism.