ChurchPOP
You’re probably already familiar with holy water. But how well do you know blessed salt?
Both holy water and blessed salt are sacramentals, or sacred signs that dispose people to receive grace (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium 60; not to be confused with Sacraments).
The use of salt for religious purposes by the people of God goes back thousands of years to the Jewish people before Christ. And it has been used by Christians since the early Church, especially in the Roman rite.
Today, the use of blessed salt in the liturgy is mostly in the Extraordinary Form, especially in exorcisms, baptism, the reconsecration of an altar, and the blessing of holy water. But even in the Ordinary Form, blessed salt may be used in the blessing of holy water.
Blessed salt is also traditionally used to bless homes. It can be sprinkled, or even laid down in a line, intended to act as a spiritual line of protection against evil spirits (you may have seen this in horror movies, but this is a real traditional Catholic practice!). Some people even use it in cooking.
If you’d like some blessed salt, simply take some ordinary salt to your priest and ask him to bless it!