The Level of Awareness of Youth on Sacramentals and its Implication

This study aimed to assess the awareness of Senior High School (SHS) students on sacramentals at San Sebastian College-Recoletos de Cavite. The research included 204 students in Grades 11 and 12 who were enrolled in the Christian Life Formation subject for the Academic Year 2021–2022. This addresses the declining religiosity among youth by evaluating their understanding of sacramentals. The study employed a descriptive quantitative survey design, utilizing stratified purposive sampling and statistical tools such as the t-test and F-test to examine significant differences in students' awareness of sacramentals and their demographic profiles. Most respondents are young students, with a higher number of females than males and an equal distribution across Grades 11 and 12. Many participants attended Catholic schools and reported being fully aware of sacramentals, although most were not affiliated with any religious organization. While students demonstrated strong awareness overall, with the highest levels being for holy water, the Sign of the Cross, and prayer before and after meals, lower awareness was noted for scapulars, images and icons, and medals. No significant differences were found in awareness levels across demographic profiles. The findings have implications for the Christian Life Formation subject, which plays a vital role in nurturing students’ Catholic identity and understanding of sacramentals. This study may serve as a reference for future research involving larger samples from public and non-sectarian schools. Providing CLF teachers with training focused on spirituality and sacramentals, along with implementing the proposed Sacramentals Module, could further enhance respondents' awareness of sacramentals.