Blessing

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ADiosgracias

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Has the same value the blessing made by a layman than by a priest? Can I bless my house?
 
Many blessings are explicitly reserved to the Priest. A lay person cannot bestow most formal blessings.

The Deacon, Priest, or Bishop is explicitly ordained by God, and granted the special ordinary Grace to bestow Gods Blessings in many situations. That is a significant part of their funcion.

Some blessings are reserved to higher orders, so a Bishop may bestow any blessing, a Priest can bestow most, and there are several that the Deacon cannot normally bestow.

The blessing of a house is an area where there are “Grey Spaces”.
As a lay person, you can ask God to bless the house. You can sprinkle with Holy Water, you can pray for the protection of God,and the intersessions of his Saints and Angles.
A Priest however can perform specific prescribed rites that are not proper to the Lay person, and if necessary perform an exorcism on the place. he might also say Mass at the house, which is an extraordinary blessing.
 
From the CCC:
1669 Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood: every baptized person is called to be a “blessing,” and to bless.Hence lay people may preside at certain blessings; the more a blessing concerns ecclesial and sacramental life, the more is its administration reserved to the ordained ministry (bishops, priests, or deacons).
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There are 13 blessings a layman can do listed in some book of blessings. Some info was in another thread about laymen giving blessings…but I can’t find it! We were not able to determine what the specific blessing are however.
 
Certain blessings can only be done by decons, priests, bishops, cardinals and the Pope.

As a layperson you can bless yourself (with Holy Water when entering the church, for example), you can bless your child, spouse, others, etc…You may also do this with objects such as your home, car, and so on … as long as you understand that what you are doing is asking God to bless these people or objects. You are not acting as a priest would. This is the key difference. Priests have the power to bless people and objects from when they are ordined through the process of apostolic succession, which is the passing down of this divine power that can be traced back to the original twelve apostles and eventually to Jesus.

So when you do the blessing, you are actually asking God to bless that person or object.

When a priest or decon, does it, they are actually doing the blessing **In persona Christi **(in the person of Christ).
 
thistle said:
I thought that embedded in a house blessing is an exorcism. This would mean it can only be done by a priest.
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In the Book of Blessings it provides for a lay person to preside over the Order of Blessing for a New Home. I do not see any reference to an exorcism in the Rite.
 
DCNBILL said:
In the Book of Blessings it provides for a lay person to preside over the Order of Blessing for a New Home. I do not see any reference to an exorcism in the Rite.
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I just found this in the Catholic Encyclopedia:

"The chief things formally exorcised in blessing are water, salt, oil, and these in turn are used in personal exorcisms, and in blessing or consecrating places (e.g. churches) and objects (e.g. altars, sacred vessels, church bells) connected with public worship, or intended for private devotion. Holy water, the sacramental with which the ordinary faithful are most familiar, is a mixture of exorcised water and exorcised salt; and in the prayer of blessing, God is besought to endow these material elements with a supernatural power of protecting those who use them with faith against all the attacks of the devil. This kind of indirect exorcism by means of exorcised objects is an extension of the original idea; but it introduces no new principle, and it has been used in the Church from the earliest ages.
 
ADiosgracias said:
Has the same value the blessing made by a layman than by a priest? Can I bless my house?
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Bless your home on a regular basis.

I don’t know if a lay blessing has the same value as a blessing from a priest, but it is still pretty good. 👍
 
thistle said:
I just found this in the Catholic Encyclopedia:

"The chief things formally exorcised in blessing are water, salt, oil, and these in turn are used in personal exorcisms, and in blessing or consecrating places (e.g. churches) and objects (e.g. altars, sacred vessels, church bells) connected with public worship, or intended for private devotion. Holy water, the sacramental with which the ordinary faithful are most familiar, is a mixture of exorcised water and exorcised salt; and in the prayer of blessing, God is besought to endow these material elements with a supernatural power of protecting those who use them with faith against all the attacks of the devil. This kind of indirect exorcism by means of exorcised objects is an extension of the original idea; but it introduces no new principle, and it has been used in the Church from the earliest ages.
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Good find! 👍
 
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