Jabronie said:
1. When and how did the Church begin the practice of blessing an object?
You need to properly understand what “blessing” an object really means. It does NOT mean that the object is changed in any way. No Grace or any sort of special property is imparted to the object in any way, and after the blessing, the object is in every way exactly as it was.
As Catholics, we do not believe that a blessing actually DOES anything at all to an object.
So what’s the point? Well, we live in a world of material objects. Sometimes we take objects and dedicate them to specific uses (the “good silverware,” for example). Sometimes we dedicate objects to religious usage. A “blessing” is our pledge to reserve the object to such use, and a prayer that it fulfills its intended purpose (which is to remind and inspire us to seek Grace). It would be improper to use blessed objects outside of a religious context - for example, we shouldn’t use a chalice for a drink of lemonade. This isn’t because there’s anything magical about a chalice, but because we have dedicated it for a special purpose (ie, we have made a promise to use it a certain way), and using it in a common manner is a violation of that promise to reserve the chalice to the dignity of the Mass (actually, I recall an OT story where God’s wrath was visited upon pagans who sacked the Temple and used the vessels for profane use, but I don’t recall the particulars).
When an object is blesed, it is improper for the deacon/priest to “make up” the prayer of blessing - the forms for blessings are perscribed by the Church (just as the forms of Mass, etc) and provided in the “Book of Blessings” which all Catholic ministers should have. If you read or listen to these forms, you will see that the “blessing” is simply a prayer that the object remind and inspire us to seek Grace.
The practice of setting objects aside for certain purposes and praying that they fulfill those purposes is VERY ancient - it is common to all ancient religions, including the Jewish faith from which the Catholic Church originates. So it never developed within the Catholic Church - it has always been a part of the Chruch.
- When and how did the practice of using Holy Water develop?
Again, this pre-dates the Catholic Church, so the custom developed long before the Catholic Church. When Jews entered the Temple, they purified themselves by immersion in a mikvah (some Jews still practice this custom). Holy Water is a continuation of this purification ritual, although Christians understand it as a reminder of our Baptism.
