Can rosaries be blessed from afar?

[Xandria]

I have just stumbled upon a live web camera in the chapel of Fatima. There you can watch the Holy Mass and prayers like the rosary live. The Mass had just ended and one of the priests asked the people to hold up rosaries and other religious objects. He then blessed them. I, at home in front of my computer, did the same with a few rosaries I have not had blessed yet. I held them up as the priest spoke the blessing. Can I now consider these rosaries to be properly blessed or do I have to go to a priest to have them blessed in person?

 

[jasphair]

I’d be interested to know the same thing, but with my Brown Scapular. It has yet to be blessed, so I have yet to wear it. I’m too nervous to approach a priest at church, for fear he may be put off or something at my request - don’t ask, it’s probably me being shy and not really a people person, I know the priest wouldn’t tell me off or something. I still find it hard to approach them, from conventional pastors and whatnot that I’ve had in other churches.

 

[steboyz]

I know your feeling about priests however any priest should be willing to bless a religious object at any time. No parish priest should be unwilling to talk to you if you have a problem.Ger

 

[MarieVeronica]

As long as the blessing is done LIVE… yes, it is valid. This is why the priests at EWTN, give LIVE blessings on their shows. They bless their viewers. It is NOT a valid blessing, if you are watching a TAPED program. Only if given LIVE (if you are watching a LIVE program).

Specifically in regards to blessing holy objects… I have also heard, that it must be the INTENTION of the priest to bless the holy object. So… you can’t take a Rosary to Mass… for example… and have it blessed during the final blessing. It must be the intention of the priest, to do so.

This was pointed out, while the Holy Father was visiting in the United States. I was watching a LIVE Papal Mass on TV… and the commentator mentioned, that after the Mass… the Holy Father had expressed his intention to bless any holy articles LIVE for the people in the United States and at the Papal Mass; so if we had a special Rosary, etc… go get it, and be ready.

Thankfully, he made the announcement well before the Holy Father gave the LIVE blessing… and I was able to get several statues and other holy objects blessed, too!

Hope this answers your question. God bless.

 

[Xandria]

Thank you so much for your answer. The blessing was definitely live and not taped but I don’t know, of course, if it was the intention of the priest to extend the blessing to people who might be watching (assuming he even knew about the camera). Do you think it’s still valid?

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Thank you so much for your answer. The blessing was definitely live and not taped but I don’t know, of course, if it was the intention of the priest to extend the blessing to people who might be watching (assuming he even knew about the camera). Do you think it’s still valid?

Wouldn’t it be simpler to ask your priest to bless your rosary and know that it’s blessed rather than speculate about whether or not some priest who was caught on a webcam meant to bless it?

 

[MarieVeronica]

Wouldn’t it be simpler to ask your priest to bless your rosary and know that it’s blessed rather than speculate about whether or not some priest who was caught on a webcam meant to bless it?

Xandria… I agree with SuscipeMeDomine. Go ask your priest to have it blessed. My post was intended as a general “criteria” for LIVE blessings.

If you are unsure about the priests intent… (Did he know the camera was there. Did he intend to bless holy objects)… if you have these questions in your mind… then it would be better to just have your priest do a blessing.

Don’t ever hesitate to ask our own priests for a blessing! They are happy to do so. However, the LIVE blessing (with intention of priest, to bless) is valid.

Hope that’s not too confusing. God bless.

 

[Xandria]

Ok, so they are probably blessed but just to be sure I should ask my priest to bless them as well. I don’t mind asking but he already blessed a few for me before. In my enthusiasm I went a bit overboard with the rosary buying and it’s a bit embarassing. :blushing:

 

[mary1173]

I’d be interested to know the same thing, but with my Brown Scapular. It has yet to be blessed, so I have yet to wear it. I’m too nervous to approach a priest at church, for fear he may be put off or something at my request - don’t ask, it’s probably me being shy and not really a people person, I know the priest wouldn’t tell me off or something. I still find it hard to approach them, from conventional pastors and whatnot that I’ve had in other churches.

You shouldn’t be afraid to ask the priest to bless your scapular. I’m sure e would. It would be good people skills if you CAN make yourself go up to the priest and ask him to bless the scapular. You could ask him to in any setting. I’m sure he has a small container of holy water he carries with him for such occasions. [the priests where I live carry flasks of holy water so when they run to give last rites they have it on them to bless the person]

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

I have just stumbled upon a live web camera in the chapel of Fatima. There you can watch the Holy Mass and prayers like the rosary live. The Mass had just ended and one of the priests asked the people to hold up rosaries and other religious objects. He then blessed them. I, at home in front of my computer, did the same with a few rosaries I have not had blessed yet. I held them up as the priest spoke the blessing. Can I now consider these rosaries to be properly blessed or do I have to go to a priest to have them blessed in person?

No.​

Sacraments - and sacramentals, of which the Rosary is one - require the attendance, bodily and psychological, of the would-be recipient. They are human acts, so they are done by persons, as is all worship. For anything that a priest seen on a PC knows, the rosary held up by the person using the computer could be hanging on a nail gathering dust in an empty house - and that is not worship; nails and dust can’t have intentions to worship God; only persons can have those.

There is also the dignity of the Church’s worship to consider - we can’t treat blessings of sacramentals as though they were pretty much the same thing as going to a drive-in movie; they have to be treated with a respect that befits their character as sacred actions. The importance of this can hardly be exaggerated.

A priest has to absolve a person directly - absolution otherwise is not allowed, for he could be absolving a dictaphone, or an iPod; the only exception is when there are too many penitents to absolve individually; so in certain cases, general absolution is permitted.

 

[mary1173]

No.​

Sacraments - and sacramentals, of which the Rosary is one - require the attendance, bodily and psychological, of the would-be recipient. They are human acts, so they are done by persons, as is all worship. For anything that a priest seen on a PC knows, the rosary held up by the person using the computer could be hanging on a nail gathering dust in an empty house - and that is not worship; nails and dust can’t have intentions to worship God; only persons can have those.

There is also the dignity of the Church’s worship to consider - we can’t treat blessings of sacramentals as though they were pretty much the same thing as going to a drive-in movie; they have to be treated with a respect that befits their character as sacred actions. The importance of this can hardly be exaggerated.

A priest has to absolve a person directly - absolution otherwise is not allowed, for he could be absolving a dictaphone, or an iPod; the only exception is when there are too many penitents to absolve individually; so in certain cases, general absolution is permitted.

when I said any setting I meant with that person in the room with the priest, not at a computer. Sorry to confuse you Mike I’ve been absolved in hospitals and houses too. As long as the priest is rpesent, and even on live t.v., it is legitamate, otherwise the Pontifs blessing on the world on Christmas Eve would be of no benefit. As long as it is live t.v. it’s a blessing the same as being in the room with that priest, bishop, archbishop, cardinal or His Holiness.

 

[Xandria]

Okay, thanks for answering my question. It could have been. I will bring them to church, not a problem. I was thinking about the blessing the pope gives on TV and thought maybe this works, too. But I’m still new at this.

 

[MarieVeronica]

No.​

Sacraments - and sacramentals, of which the Rosary is one - require the attendance, bodily and psychological, of the would-be recipient…

Very respectfully, I have learned that LIVE televised blessings… with INTENT of the priest ARE valid. The priests at EWTN do this all the time. They give blessings, over the airwaves to all their viewers, watching LIVE. (The blessing is only valid… if you are watching LIVE; not taped).

Also… as I mentioned above, during the Popes visit to the United States… they said, during the broadcast… that it was the Holy Father’s intention to bless holy items… at the end of the LIVE Papal Mass.

If this is wrong, than someone had better call EWTN and ask for clarification. Or maybe Fr. Serpa (here at Catholic Answers). Because they give a lot of televised blessings at EWTN. I’ve come to trust what they tell us, at EWTN. They are very orthodox.

God bless.