Can EMHCs bless throats?

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Sir_Knight said:
That is most disturbing because his OFFICIAL reply seems to IMPLY otherwise.
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I don’t understand what you’re trying to convey there.

The Book of Blessings tells us what may be done and how it is done. Why is this “disturbing”?
 
Because if you read the official reply that he gave in the link that I quoted above, one walks away with a completely different understanding.
 
Sir_Knight said:
Because if you read the official reply that he gave in the link that I quoted above, one walks away with a completely different understanding.
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I rather think that the Book of Blessings sould be considered “official.”

Have you read the relevant page in the Book of Blessings?
 
What is confusing to some people is that when you have lay people giving the blessing of throats along with a priest and/or deacon, the people in attendance get the impression that they are all receiving the same blessing unless they are specifically told that only the priest and deacon can give them a blessing. It would be misleading the people not to inform them that only the priest or deacon can actually give a blessing.

I’m wondering if the use of lay persons to give the “blessing of the throats” was intended for when a lay person leads a service in a prison or hospital when a priest or deacon is not available.
 
zab said:
What is confusing to some people is that when you have lay people giving the blessing of throats along with a priest and/or deacon, the people in attendance get the impression that they are all receiving the same blessing unless they are specifically told that only the priest and deacon can give them a blessing. It would be misleading the people not to inform them that only the priest or deacon can actually give a blessing.

I’m wondering if the use of lay persons to give the “blessing of the throats” was intended for when a lay person leads a service in a prison or hospital when a priest or deacon is not available.
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It’s one more example of an “extraordinary” function. Readers can fill in the blank on what that has come to mean today.
 
FrDavid96 said:
I rather think that the Book of Blessings sould be considered “official.”

Have you read the relevant page in the Book of Blessings?
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(Please click on underlined links provided)

Father, I’m not disagreeing with you. What I am trying to say is that Fr. Vincent Serpa was officially asked a question in the Ask an Apologist forum. His official reply to the question implied something different than what you are saying …

The Book of Blessings (#1626) states: “The blessing of throats may be given by a pirest, deacon, or lay minister who follows thte rites and prayers designated for a lay minister…”

… reading his answer, one would walk away with the impression that a blessing was also received from a layperson which is not what you had said …

The Book of Blessings itself says that a layperson delivers a “prayer” not a “blessing.”

… I have no reason to doubt you but I find the original reply disturbing because it seems to imply something different. That’s what I was trying to say. Sorry for the confusion and sorry for repeating myself. I will now bow out of this discussion.
 
Laity can pray that God may bless others but they cannot bless because they are not in persona Christi capitis.
 
Layity cannot bless? Perhaps not in an official liturgical or other rite setting…

…but I find this whole discussion interesting, in that we (laity) can bless the Lord himself, yet not bless others. 😉

I guess it depends on what one considers what “to bless” means.🤷
 
Newbie2 said:
Layity cannot bless? Perhaps not in an official liturgical or other rite setting…

…but I find this whole discussion interesting, in that we (laity) can bless the Lord himself, yet not bless others. 😉

I guess it depends on what one considers what “to bless” means.🤷
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Precisely! The word “blessing” has so many different meanings. We can “bless the Lord” but that doesn’t mean that we are making God into something holy–of course we all know this. When we say that we “bless” God we are realy saying that we are thanking Him for His blessings upon us. We even use the word “bless” (or its variants) in purely secular settings. “The boss gave his blessing to the new policy” doesn’t mean that someone put the paper on his desk and made the sign of the cross over it–we all know this, and take it for granted.

Laypersons can “bless” a person or thing in the sense of asking God’s blessings on that person or thing. A good example is Grace before a meal “Bless us O Lord…” Yet, this “blessing” the meal is different and distinct from imparting a blessing upon it. When we walk into a church, we “bless ourselves” with holy water, making the sign-of-the-cross. This again is distinct from the actual blessing that the priest imparts at the end of Mass. Catholics understand the differences here, but when it comes to something like the St. Blaise day ritual, that’s where we tend to lose our perspective because the external appearances of what is happening makes that distinction very difficult. The actual ritual for St. Blaise day makes a clear distinction between a blessing imparted by a cleric and a prayer said by a layperson. This doesn’t become clear until one actually looks at the two alternate rituals. If done by a cleric, the words are accompanied by the sign of the cross and invoking the Blessed Trinity–that’s a proper blessing. When it’s done by a layperson, both the cross and the Trinitarian formula are not done, making it a prayer rather than a proper blessing.
 
FrDavid96 said:
Precisely! The word “blessing” has so many different meanings. We can “bless the Lord” but that doesn’t mean that we are making God into something holy–of course we all know this. When we say that we “bless” God we are realy saying that we are thanking Him for His blessings upon us. We even use the word “bless” (or its variants) in purely secular settings. “The boss gave his blessing to the new policy” doesn’t mean that someone put the paper on his desk and made the sign of the cross over it–we all know this, and take it for granted.

Laypersons can “bless” a person or thing in the sense of asking God’s blessings on that person or thing. A good example is Grace before a meal “Bless us O Lord…” Yet, this “blessing” the meal is different and distinct from imparting a blessing upon it. When we walk into a church, we “bless ourselves” with holy water, making the sign-of-the-cross. This again is distinct from the actual blessing that the priest imparts at the end of Mass. Catholics understand the differences here, but when it comes to something like the St. Blaise day ritual, that’s where we tend to lose our perspective because the external appearances of what is happening makes that distinction very difficult. The actual ritual for St. Blaise day makes a clear distinction between a blessing imparted by a cleric and a prayer said by a layperson. This doesn’t become clear until one actually looks at the two alternate rituals. If done by a cleric, the words are accompanied by the sign of the cross and invoking the Blessed Trinity–that’s a proper blessing. When it’s done by a layperson, both the cross and the Trinitarian formula are not done, making it a prayer rather than a proper blessing.
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Not disagreeing with what you have said, but do you think God would deny blessing the persons whom the lay person has asked God to bless during the blessing of throats?
 
zab said:
Not disagreeing with what you have said, but do you think God would deny blessing the persons whom the lay person has asked God to bless during the blessing of throats?
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The point is that you could stay in your seat, make a prayer to St. Blaise and make the Sign of the Cross, and you would achieve the exact same effect.

The blessing from the priest and the deacon is a much different, much more powerful thing.
 
jmcrae said:
The point is that you could stay in your seat, make a prayer to St. Blaise and make the Sign of the Cross, and you would achieve the exact same effect.

The blessing from the priest and the deacon is a much different, much more powerful thing.
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If the Church has given permission for lay persons to assist in giving this blessing, then I trust that God will bless those who come forward for this blessing. One could stay in their pew if they want, but I wouldn’t be so proud as to assume that my prayer to St. Baise would be as powerful as that of a lay person who has been asked to assist in giving the blessing of throats. This is not to deny that the priest and deacon have special power to bless people that laity do not have. But I trust that God will bless those who come forward for this special blessing, even if a lay person has prayed for God’s blessing.

By the way, I received the blessing of throats from a priest, and I got a cold and sore throat the next day.🙂
 
jmcrae said:
The point is that you could stay in your seat, make a prayer to St. Blaise and make the Sign of the Cross, and you would achieve the exact same effect.

The blessing from the priest and the deacon is a much different, much more powerful thing.
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That is what I have been saying throughout this thread. It is a mistaken statement to say that EMHCs (or any other layman, for that matter) can bless throats. The BOB says that the laity can recite the prayer, but, that is about it.

If the numbers are too great for the priest and deacon to handle, then, they should, just as well, exercise the option of dispensing with the candles and simply bless everyone in masse. This would effectively take out the provision for the laity to help out since they aren’t imparting any blessings, just praying over the faithful, which is not the same thing.
 
jmcrae said:
Perhaps you were prevented from getting pneumonia. 😉
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My parochial vicar imparted the blessing of the throats at the hospital. However, I got pink eye that night. :eek: I hope I didn’t give it to him. Too bad St. Lucy doesn’t have any eye blessings associated with her.🤷
 
palmas85 said:
EMHC’s cannot bless anything. They are not members of the Clergy even if many of them think that they are.
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Many? I’m glad that the people who serve as EMHCs in my parish are humble people who know their place.
 
I found this from the Official Book of Blessings used in the U.S.A. : 1626 The blessing of throats may be given by a priest, deacon, or a lay minister who follows the rites and prayers designated for a lay minister. If the blessing is conferred during Mass, the blessing follows the homily and general intercessions, or, for pastoral reasons, the prayer of blessing may take the place of the final blessing of the Mass. When the blessing is given outside Mass, it is preceded by a brief celebration of the word of God. If the blessing is to be celebrated at Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer, it is given after the reading and responsory (and homily) and before the gospel canticle.
I respectfully suggest a careful reading of catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=733
 
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