Blessings from lay persons

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Is it acceptable for a layperson to bless something? I understand that only a priest can bless sacramentals, but can a layperson bless, say, their own child or other people?
 
Boulder257 said:
Is it acceptable for a layperson to bless something? I understand that only a priest can bless sacramentals, but can a layperson bless, say, their own child or other people?
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We Mexicans have the custom of asking our mothers or any maternal person to give us a blessing before going outside or getting married.
 
I meant to include with my question, but forgot, how is such a blessing conducted and given?
 
Here’s a Apologetics Forum response: forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=1714587&postcount=2

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Re: Can anyone other than a priest give a blessing?
Ordinarily speaking, the basic rule of thumb is that those who have spiritual authority over another person can give that person a blessing. That is why parents can give a blessing to their children. In the case of deacons, canon law says the following:
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Quote:
A deacon can impart only those blessings which are expressly permitted to him by law (canon 1169 §3).
This differs from priests in that while a deacon can only give those blessings expressly permitted to him, the rule for priests is that they can impart any blessings, except those reserved to the pope or to bishops (canon 1169 §2). In other words, the law appears to be more restrictive about the ability of deacons to impart blessings than it is about the ability of priests to do so.
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If a deacon is giving a blessing permitted to him to give, it would seem that the article or person he is blessing has been truly blessed and that the article would become a blessed sacramental.
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I haven’t seen any particular directions for blessing a child. I’m no expert, but I imagine that just a sign of the cross and a few simple words would do.
 
I think it’s something special when a parent blesses their child. My mother gives a simple blessing when I go to work and on big trips she says a longer version, sort of like this: “Por la señal” – ixeh.net/faith/Treasure/Prayerbook/by_the_sign.html

This past Sunday, I saw the lady in front of me bless her kids. They had been sort of ansty during the Mass, but they were very still when she did that.

One of my patron saints, St. Thomas More, would be blessed by his father, Sir John More:
Whensoever he passed through Westminster Hall to his place in the Chancery by the Court of the King’s Bench, if his father, one of the judges there, had been sat ere he came, he would go into the same court, and there reverently kneeling down in the sight of them all duly ask his father’s blessing.
fordham.edu/halsall/mod/16croper-more.html
 
In our church a lot of people receive a blessing from a lay person. Fr. Terry and our bishop seem to be okay with it…so I guess it’s not doing any harm. After all you’re asking God to bless that person, it’s a bit like praying for them. At least that’s how it seems in my mind. Might be wrong.

God bless

😛
 
I bless my children each morning before school. Simple sign of the cross with holy water from the font and a “may the Lord be with you.” It is a very old custom and one that I think would do so much for society if more parents took it up!
 
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