Images are representations; the finished product may vary slightly.
St. Francis Spiritual Salt
Spanish name: Sal Espiritual San Francisco de Asís
For asking St. Francis to watch over a home and its animals
- Item
- SL-010
- Size
- 1.5 oz (42 g) bag
- Intention
- Saints & Devotion
Note. For spiritual use and sold as a curio and novelty only. No specific result is claimed or guaranteed.
Ingredients: Sea Salt, Lavender, Fragrance, FD&C Blue No. 1.
Colored and scented; not a food. Keep out of reach of children. Keep dry.
About this salt
St. Francis of Assisi is the saint people go to for their animals. Families pray to him when a new dog or cat comes home, when an old one is getting on in years, and when one is buried in the yard. Others come for the saint himself: the poor friar who preached to the birds, called the sun his brother and made peace between the wolf of Gubbio and the town. The prayer “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace” carries his name.
In a house with animals, the salt goes where they can't get to it. Many keep a small dish of it up high, beside his statue or holy card, and sprinkle a little at the front door and the gate to the yard, where the animals come and go. Some keep a pinch under the outside doormat. Keep it away from their bowls and their beds, and sweep it up if a dog or cat starts sniffing at it.
Change the dish and sweep the doorway once a week. On his feast, October 4, many parishes bless animals, that day or the nearest Sunday, and families put down fresh salt when they come home from the blessing. His candle is brown, like his Franciscan habit, or blue for the peace he prayed for.
Ways to use
- Beside his statue
- Set a small dish of salt next to his statue or holy card, on a shelf the animals can't reach. Change it every week.
- At the door and the gate
- Sprinkle a little at the front door and at the gate to the yard, where the animals go in and out.
- When a new animal comes home
- The day it arrives, lay a thin line across the doorway and light a brown or blue candle with its photo beside it.
- After the blessing of the animals
- When you come home from the parish blessing on October 4, sweep out the old salt and put down fresh.
Goes with
Put a few drops of St. Francis oil on a brown or blue candle beside the dish of salt. Add Bless This Home when a new animal comes to live with you, and many pray his peace prayer with a Peace candle burning beside his.
