Ex opere... and sacramentals

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Leon_Bloy

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I think I recall some people saying on the forums that the efficacy of a sacramental might depend on the personal holiness of the priest saying the prayer and doing the blessing (i.e. in the blessing of a rosary or something like that). Like, a rosary blessed by a very holy, devout priest is better than one blessed mechanically by a priest who might not privately believe there is any point to blessing a rosary, even though he might agree to do it and follows all the rubrics in doing so.

Certainly this cannot be the teaching of the Church, right? I have read up on it and nothing is said about this. I know that the sacraments are ex opere operato, but sacramentals are not. It appears to be Church teaching that while the efficacy of the blessing upon the** thing** is always certain, and it always the same no matter what priest does the blessing, since it is done in the name of and by the power of the entire Church, how much we are personally getting out of that blessed thing depends on our own subjective state. My question concerns the certainty of the holiness invested objectively in the thing itself. Can the quality of the priest’s personal holiness, etc. ever affect this?

So, again, my understanding is that if the form and matter are present (a priest recites the prayer of blessing from a Church-approved book over a rosary, and makes the sign of the cross over it), then it is the Church as a whole that is blessing the rosary, and the grace available to a person who then owns it (of course how much they benefit from it depends on their personal faith and disposition) through this sacramental this is “guaranteed” by the Church, even if the priest who blesses it is unhappy to be doing so, or is, unknown to the layperson, in a state of mortal sin, or is halfhearted in performing the blessing, even if he follows the rubrics, etc.

I hope this makes sense. Am I right? Does anybody have any sources they could share on this?
 
I’m curious about this too, has the ex opere operato principle been modified or altered post-Vatican2? It does seem as if sacraments depend on the priest’s merit; on the recipient’s faith; which sounds similar to Protestant beliefs.
 
R_A said:
I’m curious about this too, has the ex opere operato principle been modified or altered post-Vatican2? It does seem as if sacraments depend on the priest’s merit; on the recipient’s faith; which sounds similar to Protestant beliefs.
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With sacraments - no, it never matters what the priest’s disposition is. The 7 sacraments are effective of themselves, since Christ instituted them and acts through them. The Church is and has long been very clear about that. I am wondering about sacramentals, though.
 
Can a moderator please move this to the Apologist section if they think that’s appropriate? I don’t know how to do this or request this, sorry - thanks!!
 
The power of the sacramentals does not come from the holiness of the person that blessed the sacrament but from the faith of the person that uses the sacramental, no real faith no graces. This is an oldie but goodie on sacramentals.

Sacramentals

Just click on the image of the linked web page. It is a PDF file.
 
Cristiano said:
The power of the sacramentals does not come from the holiness of the person that blessed the sacrament but from the faith of the person that uses the sacramental, no real faith no graces. This is an oldie but goodie on sacramentals.

Sacramentals

Just click on the image of the linked web page. It is a PDF file.
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Wow, what an excellent pamphlet! Thanks for sharing, Cristiano!

I am still wondering, though, if the priest blessing a sacramental is not a very good priest and is pretty casual about the whole thing, does that affect the blessing? Or is it always the same since he is just the instrument of the Church?
 
Leon_Bloy said:
Wow, what an excellent pamphlet! Thanks for sharing, Cristiano!

I am still wondering, though, if the priest blessing a sacramental is not a very good priest and is pretty casual about the whole thing, does that affect the blessing? Or is it always the same since he is just the instrument of the Church?
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My understanding is that if the blessing is done according to the intentions and form of the Church then it is valid even if done in what appears to be a casual manner.
 
Cristiano said:
My understanding is that if the blessing is done according to the intentions and form of the Church then it is valid even if done in what appears to be a casual manner.
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Thanks. I understand about validity, but can it be more or less efficacious depending on the priest?
 
Leon_Bloy said:
Thanks. I understand about validity, but can it be more or less efficacious depending on the priest?
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I honestly do not know what to say. If we were to apply the same rule of sacraments then the answer would be no, it either works or not. However, if we look at the sacramental of exorcism it appears that the piety of the priest could matter a lot. However, in the case of the sacramental of exorcism the priest is the one using the sacramental and so if he does not have a strong trust in God the sacramental does not work. Out of ignorance I stick with my personal belief that the power of the sacramentals used by me depends solely on my faith and not on the status of the priest that blessed them.
 
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