Blessing of the medal of St. Benedict

[Dolezal]

Once I visited a Benedictine monastery and there bought a Benedictine medal (an official one from Monte Cassino, Italy). I always carry it around with me. However I never bothered to ask whether it was blessed. In fact I did not know at the time they were supposed to be. I assume that it wasn’t blessed because the monk removed it from its new packaging.

Now I have read here that there is a special formula to bless the medal. The problem is that I do not not live in a very orthodox area, I am pretty sure that no priest in my province knows how to bless it. Now, I cannot find an official Dutch translation of the blessing, and giving a priest the Latin version of the formula would be awkward because he wouldn’t know what he is saying. So can I just ask a priest to bless the medal normally, as he would say a rosary. Would it count as a correct blessing of the medal? Or should I just ask a local priest to say the Latin formula?

 

[R_C]

The Book of Blessings should have it…and I think there is a blessing in the vernacular (in your case, English) that is perfectly valid…if you know a priest, you may simply print it out, bring it with you, and ask him if he can bless it with the special blessing meant for it…if he mentions that he doesn’t have the prayer on him, casually take out the printed one you have

Just a thought, though, I am not liable if it doesn’t work out

 

[Dolezal]

The Book of Blessings should have it…and I think there is a blessing in the vernacular (in your case, English) that is perfectly valid…if you know a priest, you may simply print it out, bring it with you, and ask him if he can bless it with the special blessing meant for it…if he mentions that he doesn’t have the prayer on him, casually take out the printed one you have

Just a thought, though, I am not liable if it doesn’t work out

Sorry if I wasn’t clear by but I am Dutch. I could ask my priest to use the English version, but that’s kinda awkward. I will ask him if he has a similar book. Maybe priests are supposed too. If he doesn’t, can anyone tell me if I can have the medal blessed normally like any other devotional object? Or is a special blessing needed to make the medal a sacramental?

 

[christofirst]

I’m no expert, but I’m sure any priest can bless the medal (and should if you ask). The Benedictines do a special blessing with specific wording and holy water (I had my Cross of St. Benedict blessed this way at the local abbey), and I think only the Benedictines offer this type of blessing. Are there no Benedictines near you?

 

[Dolezal]

I’m no expert, but I’m sure any priest can bless the medal (and should if you ask). The Benedictines do a special blessing with specific wording and holy water (I had my Cross of St. Benedict blessed this way at the local abbey), and I think only the Benedictines offer this type of blessing. Are there no Benedictines near you?

Thanks, I will just ask the priest next time. The closest Benedictine abbey I know of is 300 km away, where I bought the medal. This may be a good excuse to visit them again.

 

[jwinch2]

Medals of Saint Benedict are sacramentals that may be blessed legitimately by any priest or deacon – not necessarily a Benedictine (Instr., 26 Sept. 1964; Can. 1168). The following English form may be used.

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made heaven and earth.

In the name of God the Father + almighty, who made heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them, I exorcise these medals against the power and attacks of the evil one. May all who use these medals devoutly be blessed with health of soul and body. In the name of the Father + almighty, of the Son + Jesus Christ our Lord, and of the Holy + Spirit the Paraclete, and in the love of the same Lord Jesus Christ who will come on the last day to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire.
Amen.

Let us pray. Almighty God, the boundless source of all good things, we humbly ask that, through the intercession of Saint Benedict, you pour out your blessings + upon these medals. May those who use them devoutly and earnestly strive to perform good works be blessed by you with health of soul and body, the grace of a holy life, and remission of the temporal punishment due to sin.

May they also with the help of your merciful love, resist the temptation of the evil one and strive to exercise true charity and justice toward all, so that one day they may appear sinless and holy in your sight. This we ask though Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The medals are then sprinkled with holy water.

osb.org/gen/medal.html

As seen above, the medals can be blessed by a priest or deacon, but there is a specific manner in which it should be done.

 

[R_C]

Sorry if I wasn’t clear by but I am Dutch.

:imsorry: sorry, I missed the “I cannot find an official Dutch translation” part, somehow…

The Medal (or crucifix with medal) has its own special blessing. Here is the Latin form.

I am sorry I don’t know of a Dutch version, though there may be one.

 

[Damien88]

I printed the blessing from the internet and asked a visiting carmelite priest to bless few medals of st.benedict using the blessing. Maybe you should ask the priest if he ever heard of the medal before and ask him to bless it using the special blessing.