Eucharistic ministers and throat blessing

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StEligius_fan

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Today our parish celebrated the feast of St. Blaise with the blessing of the throats by Eucharistic ministers. I was interested in participating, but my wife told me only a priest can give such a blessing. Is this true?
 
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I’d like to know too because last year I also got the blessing from a female EMHC.

This year I got it on Saturday from a deacon who I know is quite a holy person as I sometimes participate in his prayer services at Adoration and he also reposes the Host there, but I noticed that he was not making the sign of the cross when he gave the blessing, whereas the two priests giving the blessing were. This kind of bothered me so today, since the church I attended for Sunday mass was giving the blessings on Sunday, I got in another line and got the blessing again from a man I assume was a priest as he was making the sign of the cross.
 
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I’m pretty sure I saw some female EMHCs doing it at the two churches where I received blessings this year. I made sure not to get in their lines.
 
This is what I’ve found.
From the Book of Blessings
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.
 
That was my understanding. We had a priest, deacon and two EMHCs give the blessing today.
 
I think I’ve seen the EMHCs doing it before. Obviously it’s the priest that blesses the candles, but I’ve seen the EMHCs laying them on people’s throats.
 
In the General Introduction of the Book of Blessings it discusses in detail who should do particular blessings when they are present:
“18. … But whenever a priest or a deacon is present, the office of presiding should be left to him.”

So, for example, both a lay person and a Priest can do the blessing of a new home. But it would be wrong for a lay person to do this if a Priest is present.

But there seems to be an exception to this for the “Order for the Blessing of Throats on the Feast of Saint Blase”. It has a section “I. ORDER OF BLESSING WITHIN MASS”. So obviously a Priest is present. Within this section it has “1634 A lay minister touches the throat of each person with the crossed candles and, without making the sign of the cross, says the prayer of blessing.” The lay minister says the same words as the Priest, including “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.
 
Why is one’s throat in need of blessing? What are the benefits?
 
StEligius_fan said:
Today our parish celebrated the feast of St. Blaise with the blessing of the throats by Eucharistic ministers. I was interested in participating, but my wife told me only a priest can give such a blessing. Is this true?
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No.

There was a female EMHC giving the throat blessing at my cathedral during the Saturday morning Mass along with the priest. I had an interior inspiration and noticed that not very many people were going to her, so I made sure to.
 
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FiveLinden said:
Why is one’s throat in need of blessing? What are the benefits?
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It’s an ancient custom of the Church to bless the sick, rooted in the ministry of Christ and his apostles. According to the Pastoral Care of the Sick: Rites of Anointing and Viaticum, the annual blessing of throats is a traditional sign of the struggle against illness in the life of the Christian. The blessing is ordinarily given during Mass or a celebration of the Word of God on February 3, the memorial of St. Blaise, following Candlemas, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

While ailments of the throat are the main thing for which St. Blaise is invoked in the West, he is also considered a protector against wild animals, a protector of cities and a patron of veterinarians, wool-combers and the wool industry. His feast in the Eastern Church is celebrated on February 11.
 
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FiveLinden said:
Why is one’s throat in need of blessing? What are the benefits?
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I believe our Lord does the healing, it is nothing to do with the person who is doing the blessing, or whether they make the sign of the cross or not.

I had endured a very annoying cough for a couple of months, when my wife could no longer but up with my coughing, she booked a doctor’s appointment for the next day. The following morning she said, shall we go to mass? This was unusual for her to say that, so we went. Unbeknown to both of us, it was the feast day of Bishop Blaze and I had my throat blessed. After the blessing I sat down and asked myself, do I trust in the blessing, or should I still go to the doctors as well? I knew straight away that I should trust in our Lord and cancel the doctor, my cough had gone.
 
StEligius_fan said:
Today our parish celebrated the feast of St. Blaise with the blessing of the throats by Eucharistic ministers. I was interested in participating, but my wife told me only a priest can give such a blessing. Is this true?
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Yes. Only a priest/deacon can give a blessing of this nature. “Blessing” from an extraordinary minister is not something that is really sanctioned by the Church.
 
TK421 said:
There was a female EMHC giving the throat blessing at my cathedral during the Saturday morning Mass along with the priest. I had an interior inspiration and noticed that not very many people were going to her, so I made sure to.
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I have to say I generally avoid the Extraordinary ministers. Especially when there are several priests and they still insist on coming up.
 
AdamP88 said:
I have to say I generally avoid the Extraordinary ministers. Especially when there are several priests and they still insist on coming up.
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But who really does the blessing, the priest, the minister or our Lord?
 
Eric_Hyom said:
But who really does the blessing, the priest, the minister or our Lord?
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Our Lord, through the minister. But if you’re going to argue that a layperson has the same authority to bless as an ordained priest then you’d be arguing against Church teaching and tradition.
 
AdamP88 said:
I have to say I generally avoid the Extraordinary ministers. Especially when there are several priests and they still insist on coming up.
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I’m intrigued - how do you know that hey ‘insist’ on going up?

Could it not be possible that they have been told to? Why impute bad motivation?
 
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StEligius_fan said:
Today our parish celebrated the feast of St. Blaise with the blessing of the throats by Eucharistic ministers. I was interested in participating, but my wife told me only a priest can give such a blessing. Is this true?
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For your information the priest is the Eucharistic Minister. Lay people cannot be that. They may be Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHC’s) but they are NOT Eucharistic Ministers.
 
paperwight said:
I’m intrigued - how do you know that hey ‘insist’ on going up?

Could it not be possible that they have been told to? Why impute bad motivation?
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I have been at masses where I know for a fact they were not asked to come up and with seven priests on the altar and still a cohort of them swarm the altar. I’m not so much saying their motivation is bad as the formation they have.
 
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