Blessing (Roman Catholic Church)
Encyclopedia
Blessing in Roman Catholicism, in the narrow liturgical sense, is a rite consisting of a ceremony and prayers performed in the name and with the authority of the Church by a duly qualified minister by which persons or things are sanctified as dedicated to Divine service or by which certain marks of Divine favour are invoked upon them. In a wider sense blessing
has a variety of meanings in the sacred writings:
emerged from the Ark, he received God's benediction, which he transmitted through his sons Shem
and Japheth
to posterity. The Old Testament
shows that, in the patriarchal ages, heads of tribe and family seem privileged to bestow blessings and priests, when directed by God, administered it to the people. "Thus shall you bless the children of Israel
... and the Lord will turn His countenance and give them peace". The great value attributed to blessings is seen in Rebecca
's effort to secure Jacob
's blessing for her son. It was regarded as a sure way to secure God's benevolence, peace and protection.
and his followers ensured its adoption at a very early stage in the Church's history. Blessings, in the sense in which they are being considered, are entirely of ecclesiastical institution: the Church has confined their administration to those in sacerdotal orders. Priests are ordained "that whatsoever they bless may be blessed, and whatsoever they consecrate shall be consecrated". The only case in which one inferior to a priest may bless is when the deacon blesses a candle on Holy Saturday, acting as a deputy and employing incense already blessed by the celebrant.
Some blessings are reserved to the Pope
, some to bishops and some to parish priests. The first class includes the right to bless the pallium
for archbishops, Agnus Deis, the Golden Rose
, the Royal Sword and persons to whose blessing an indulgence
is attached. He may depute others to give these. To bishops belongs the privilege of blessing abbot
s at their installation, priests at their ordination
and virgins at their consecration; of blessing churches, cemeteries, oratories and all articles for use in connection with the altar, such as chalices, vestments and cloths, as well as military standards, soldiers, arms, and swords, and of imparting all blessings for which Holy Oils are required. Some of these may, on delegation, be performed by inferiors. Of the blessings which priests are generally empowered to grant, some are restricted to those who have external jurisdiction, like rectors or parish priests, and others are the exclusive prerogative of persons belonging to a religious order. An inferior cannot bless a superior or exercise ordinary powers in his presence. The priest, for instance, who is the principal celebrant of a Mass
at which a bishop
is present but is not the principal celebrant, is still not to give the final blessing without permission from the bishop.
When laymen and women are represented as blessing others this is considered an act of will on their part, a wish or desire for another's spiritual or temporal prosperity, an appeal to God which has nothing to recommend it but the merits of personal sanctity. Ordinary greetings and salutations, mutual wishes for a share of heavenly grace, are not liturgical blessings. The value of a blessing given by a private person in his own name depends upon individual merits and sanctity while a church blessing has an authority that reaches to Mary (mother of Jesus)
: its efficacy is derived from prayers and invocations made in the name of, and by ministers of, the church.
s; they are not of Divine institution; they do not confer sanctifying grace; and they do not produce their effects in virtue of the rite itself. They are sacramentals
and, as such, they are held to produce the following specific effects:
All these effects are not necessarily inherent in any one blessing; some are caused by one formula, and others by another, nor are they infallibly produced. It depends altogether on the Church's suffrages that persons using the things blessed derive supernatural advantages. There is no reason to limit the miraculous interference of God to the early ages of the Church's history, and the Church never accepts these wonderful occurrences unless the evidence in support of their authenticity is absolutely unimpeachable.
Instances are alleged in the lives of the saints where miracles have been wrought by the blessings of holy men and women.
Theologians distinguish blessings of an intermediate sort, by which things are rendered special instruments of salvation without at the same time becoming irrevocably sacred, such as blessed salt, candles, etc.
The Roman Ritual is a treasury of ecclesiastical blessings. The Missal, besides the blessing given at the end of Mass, contains only blessings associated with functions incidental to certain days of the year such as the blessing of palms and ashes. In the Pontifical are found the blessings that are performed de jure by bishops, such as blessing persons, kings, emperors, and princes at their coronation and the above-mentioned episcopal prerogatives.
There follow blessings of persons with Holy Water before Mass, an adult who is sick, a number of sick people, a woman on the approach of confinement and another after childbirth, infants, children come to the use of reason or arrived at years of discretion, children on their presentation in Church, that they may lead good Christian lives and for boys and girls on the Feast of the Holy Infancy that they may grow up to imitate the virtues of the Saviour and reach salvation under His guidance.
Blessing
A blessing, is the infusion of something with holiness, spiritual redemption, divine will, or one's hope or approval.- Etymology and Germanic paganism :...
has a variety of meanings in the sacred writings:
- Synonymous with praise; thus the PsalmistPsalmsThe Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
, "I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall be always in my mouth". - A wish or desire that all good fortune, especially of a spiritual or supernatural kind, may go with the person or thing, as when King David says: "Blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee".
- The sanctification or dedication of a, person or thing to some sacred purpose; "Christ took bread and blessed, and broke".
- A gift, as when Naaman addresses Eliseus: "I beseech thee, therefore, take a blessing of thy servant".
The Old Testament
In the morning of Creation God blessed the living creatures that came from His hands, bidding them increase and multiply and fill the earth. When NoahNoah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
emerged from the Ark, he received God's benediction, which he transmitted through his sons Shem
Shem
Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each...
and Japheth
Japheth
Japheth is one of the sons of Noah in the Abrahamic tradition...
to posterity. The Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
shows that, in the patriarchal ages, heads of tribe and family seem privileged to bestow blessings and priests, when directed by God, administered it to the people. "Thus shall you bless the children of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
... and the Lord will turn His countenance and give them peace". The great value attributed to blessings is seen in Rebecca
Rebecca
Rebecca a biblical matriarch from the Book of Genesis and a common first name. In this book Rebecca was said to be a beautiful girl. As a name it is often shortened to Becky, Becki or Becca; see Rebecca ....
's effort to secure Jacob
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
's blessing for her son. It was regarded as a sure way to secure God's benevolence, peace and protection.
Priestly blessing
The adoption of this rite by JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and his followers ensured its adoption at a very early stage in the Church's history. Blessings, in the sense in which they are being considered, are entirely of ecclesiastical institution: the Church has confined their administration to those in sacerdotal orders. Priests are ordained "that whatsoever they bless may be blessed, and whatsoever they consecrate shall be consecrated". The only case in which one inferior to a priest may bless is when the deacon blesses a candle on Holy Saturday, acting as a deputy and employing incense already blessed by the celebrant.
Some blessings are reserved to the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
, some to bishops and some to parish priests. The first class includes the right to bless the pallium
Pallium
The pallium is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has always remained unambiguously...
for archbishops, Agnus Deis, the Golden Rose
Golden Rose
The Golden Rose is a gold ornament, which popes of the Catholic Church have traditionally blessed annually. It is occasionally conferred as a token of reverence or affection...
, the Royal Sword and persons to whose blessing an indulgence
Indulgence
In Catholic theology, an indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the Catholic Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution...
is attached. He may depute others to give these. To bishops belongs the privilege of blessing abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
s at their installation, priests at their ordination
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
and virgins at their consecration; of blessing churches, cemeteries, oratories and all articles for use in connection with the altar, such as chalices, vestments and cloths, as well as military standards, soldiers, arms, and swords, and of imparting all blessings for which Holy Oils are required. Some of these may, on delegation, be performed by inferiors. Of the blessings which priests are generally empowered to grant, some are restricted to those who have external jurisdiction, like rectors or parish priests, and others are the exclusive prerogative of persons belonging to a religious order. An inferior cannot bless a superior or exercise ordinary powers in his presence. The priest, for instance, who is the principal celebrant of a Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
at which a bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
is present but is not the principal celebrant, is still not to give the final blessing without permission from the bishop.
When laymen and women are represented as blessing others this is considered an act of will on their part, a wish or desire for another's spiritual or temporal prosperity, an appeal to God which has nothing to recommend it but the merits of personal sanctity. Ordinary greetings and salutations, mutual wishes for a share of heavenly grace, are not liturgical blessings. The value of a blessing given by a private person in his own name depends upon individual merits and sanctity while a church blessing has an authority that reaches to Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
: its efficacy is derived from prayers and invocations made in the name of, and by ministers of, the church.
Efficacy
Blessings are not sacramentSacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
s; they are not of Divine institution; they do not confer sanctifying grace; and they do not produce their effects in virtue of the rite itself. They are sacramentals
Sacramentals
Sacramentals are material objects, things or actions set apart or blessed by the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Churches, and Old Catholic Churches to manifest the respect due to the Sacraments, and so to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these...
and, as such, they are held to produce the following specific effects:
- Excitation of pious emotions and affections of the heart and, by means of these, remission of venial sin and of the temporal punishment due to it
- Freedom from power of evil spirits
- Preservation and restoration of bodily health
- Various other benefits, temporal or spiritual
All these effects are not necessarily inherent in any one blessing; some are caused by one formula, and others by another, nor are they infallibly produced. It depends altogether on the Church's suffrages that persons using the things blessed derive supernatural advantages. There is no reason to limit the miraculous interference of God to the early ages of the Church's history, and the Church never accepts these wonderful occurrences unless the evidence in support of their authenticity is absolutely unimpeachable.
Instances are alleged in the lives of the saints where miracles have been wrought by the blessings of holy men and women.
Types
Blessings may be divided into two classes, invocative and constitutive. The former are those in which Divine benignity is invoked to bring some temporal or spiritual good without changing their former condition. Of this kind are the blessings given to children, and to articles of food. The latter class permanently depute persons or things to Divine service by imparting to them some sacred character, by which they are held to assume a new and distinct spiritual relationship, conferring a sacredness so that they cannot be divested of their religious character or turned to profane uses. Such are the blessings given churches and chalices by their consecration.Theologians distinguish blessings of an intermediate sort, by which things are rendered special instruments of salvation without at the same time becoming irrevocably sacred, such as blessed salt, candles, etc.
Liturgy
Before a minister gives any blessing he should first satisfy himself that he is qualified, either by his ordinary or delegated powers. For the simple blessings of the Ritual, a soutane, surplice, and stole of the requisite colour will usually be sufficient. A clerk should be at hand to carry the Holy Water or incense if required or to prepare a lighted candle. The blessings are ordinarily given in a church but if necessary they can be administered elsewhere and without any sacred vestment.The Roman Ritual is a treasury of ecclesiastical blessings. The Missal, besides the blessing given at the end of Mass, contains only blessings associated with functions incidental to certain days of the year such as the blessing of palms and ashes. In the Pontifical are found the blessings that are performed de jure by bishops, such as blessing persons, kings, emperors, and princes at their coronation and the above-mentioned episcopal prerogatives.
Blessing people
There is a blessing for the departure and return of pilgrims to the Holy Land, containing prayers and allusions to the Magi's journey, to Abraham setting his face towards the distant land of Canaan and to the Angel companion of the younger Tobias before an appeal to God to send solace on the journey, shade from heat, shelter in storms and a haven of safety.There follow blessings of persons with Holy Water before Mass, an adult who is sick, a number of sick people, a woman on the approach of confinement and another after childbirth, infants, children come to the use of reason or arrived at years of discretion, children on their presentation in Church, that they may lead good Christian lives and for boys and girls on the Feast of the Holy Infancy that they may grow up to imitate the virtues of the Saviour and reach salvation under His guidance.
Blessings for things
The Catholic Church holds that things used in daily life, particularly in the service of religion, should be rescued from evil influences and endowed with a potency for good. The principal liturgical blessings recognized and sanctioned by Church are contained in the Roman Ritual and the Pontifical.- In addition to blessings for articles destined for the altar the Roman Ritual has formulæ for blessing crosses, images of Jesus, Mary and the saints, church organs, processional banners, new bells for church uses and for other purposes, dress and cinctures worn in honour of the saints, monstrances, reliquaries, vessels for Holy Oils, church ornaments, clerical habits, medals, pictures, crosses for the Stations, rosaries, water, candles, the Trisagion of the Holy Trinity, various scapulars. Most receive an "indulgenced" blessing, by which the pious employment and use of them may gain an indulgence.
- There are benedictions for; paschal lamb, eggs, oil, wine, lard, cheese, butter, dripping, salt, and water used as antidote to rabies as well as the fruits of the earth, seeds that are put into the earth, wine and the vintage, herbs and grasses: all may be "sanctified by the word of God and prayer".
- Animals may have blessings invoked upon them in order that their usefulness may be increased. Birds, beasts, bees, horses and oxen broken to the yoke and other beasts of burden are included in the formularies. The Creator is invoked to grant to the brute strength, health and protection from sickness or plague.
- The Ritual has blessings for houses and schools and for the laying of their foundation stones; for stables and every other building of any description for which no special formula is at hand. There is also a special blessing for the bridal chamber.
- Inanimate things that serve society may receive benediction. Such are new ships, railways, trains and carriages, bridges, fountains, wells, cornmills, lime-kilns, smelting-furnaces, telegraphs, steam engines and generators.
Further reading
- Cross, F. L. (ed.) (1957) The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford U. P.; p. 80
- Eisenhofer, L. (1933) Handbuch der katholischen Liturgik; pp. 447–74
- Franz, A. (1909) Die kirchliche Benediktionen im Mittelalter
- Westermann, Claus (1992) Der Segen in der Bibel und im Handeln der Kirche. Chr. Kaiser, München ISBN 3-459-01945-X.