Blessed paper
Carta benedetta
- Known today as
- Paper blessed so that what is written on it may take effect.
- Kind
- Sacramental, in 1 older authority
- Earliest authority here
- The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York, 1907–1914)
- In the Canale glossary
- On the Manner of Discerning and Healing the Bewitched, Appendix A: Treatise Two: Blessed Objects and Materials
Revised October 1, 2026: An authority added from a text read in full. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.
Blessed paper: what did Canale use it for?
For writing holy names to place on the patient, to test for and repel spirits (Treatise Two).
Blessed paper: what does modern science say?
A rite of the older books of blessing.
Blessed paper: what did the older authorities say?
- The Catholic Encyclopedia
- The Catholic Encyclopedia divides blessings into two classes, “invocative and constitutive. The former are those in which the Divine benignity is invoked on persons or things, to bring down upon them some temporal or spiritual good without changing their former condition. Of this kind are the blessings given to children, and to articles of food,” while the constitutive “permanently depute persons or things to Divine service by imparting to them some sacred character.” The efficacy of any approved blessing “is derived from the prayers and invocations of the Church made in her name by her ministers,” and that of a private person's “will be commensurate with his acceptableness before God.”
Sources
- The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York, 1907–1914), “Blessing.” newadvent.org/cathen/02599b.htm Standard reference work
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Each quotation from the older authorities checked word for word against the text, read in full
- Sources
- 1 cited: 1 standard reference work.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026
- Chicago
“Blessed paper.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/blessed-paper.
- MLA
“Blessed paper.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/blessed-paper. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Blessed paper. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/blessed-paper
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See Also
Also in The Catholic Encyclopedia
Breve in The Catholic Encyclopedia · Blessed candles in The Catholic Encyclopedia · The Caravaca cross in The Catholic Encyclopedia · Blessed bread in The Catholic Encyclopedia · everything The Catholic Encyclopedia names →
Nearby in the alphabet
Bloodroot (the first flower of the spring woods from Canada to the South) · Blessed oil · Bloodstone (iron oxide, which streaks blood-red) · Blessed herbs (especially on the feast of the Assumption (15 August)) · Bogbean · Borage (Borago officinalis)
Historical description, not medical advice.