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Sacramentals are things (sacramentalia) set apart or blessed by the Church of England or Catholic Church to manifest the respect due to the Sacraments, and so to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart to remit venial sin, according to the Council of Trent (Session XXII, 15). When the term is used in the singular it is preceded by an article ("a sacramental" or "the sacramental") as sacramental is also an adjective describing the Sacraments.

The Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches recognise two differences between the Sacraments and the sacramentals:

• The Sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ; most, but not all, of the sacramentals were instituted by the Church.
• The Sacraments give grace of themselves and are always fruitful when the faithful place no spiritual obstacles in the way; the sacramentals excite pious dispositions, by means of which the faithful may obtain grace. It is not the sacramental itself that gives grace, but the devotion, the love of God, or sorrow for sin that it inspires, and the prayers of the Church that render sacramentals efficacious against evil.

Although the Roman Church places restrictions on the reception by non-Roman Catholics of Roman Catholic Church-administered Sacraments, this is not true of the sacramentals. The pious use of sacramentals by non-Roman Catholics is permitted. As blessed objects or rituals that represent sacred beliefs and persons, disrespect to sacramentals is considered a form of sacrilege.