Blessed salt

[1][2] However, its modern use as a sacramental remains mostly limited to its use with holy water within the Anglican Communion[3] and Roman Catholic Church.

[5] For centuries since Jesus, salt cleansed and sanctified by special exorcisms and prayers, was given to catechumens 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 catechumenate, but were repeated regularly.

[9]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 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.