Ex opere operantis

[opusAquinas]

I read the below. So the blessing of a sacramental by a priest is more “efficacious” on the holiness of the priest? And the reception of grace based on the holiness of the person praying the use of sacramental.

*For example, because of the power the Church gives to a priest, there is a certain spiritual benefit in receiving a blessing from him. However, the power of a blessing or a prayer is also dependent upon the goodness or holiness of the priest or person offering it (James 5:16).

Driscoll, Fr. Mike (2015-04-30). Demons, Deliverance, Discernment: Separating Fact from Fiction about the Spirit World (Kindle Locations 864-865). Catholic Answers Press. Kindle Edition. *

 

[JapaneseKappa]

I read the below. So the blessing of a sacramental by a priest is more “efficacious” on the holiness of the priest? And the reception of grace based on the holiness of the person praying the use of sacramental.

*For example, because of the power the Church gives to a priest, there is a certain spiritual benefit in receiving a blessing from him. However, the power of a blessing or a prayer is also dependent upon the goodness or holiness of the priest or person offering it (James 5:16).

Driscoll, Fr. Mike (2015-04-30). Demons, Deliverance, Discernment: Separating Fact from Fiction about the Spirit World (Kindle Locations 864-865). Catholic Answers Press. Kindle Edition. *

Seems like an easy enough thing to test, just have a bunch of priests give some blessing or prayer and measure the power of the blessing or prayer. Then you could publish a graph of the blessing’s power vs the holiness of the priest who gave it to see if there is a clear trend.

 

[lmelahn]

I read the below. So the blessing of a sacramental by a priest is more “efficacious” on the holiness of the priest? And the reception of grace based on the holiness of the person praying the use of sacramental.

*For example, because of the power the Church gives to a priest, there is a certain spiritual benefit in receiving a blessing from him. However, the power of a blessing or a prayer is also dependent upon the goodness or holiness of the priest or person offering it (James 5:16).

Driscoll, Fr. Mike (2015-04-30). Demons, Deliverance, Discernment: Separating Fact from Fiction about the Spirit World (Kindle Locations 864-865). Catholic Answers Press. Kindle Edition. *

That is correct. The efficacy of sacramentals (unlike the Sacraments) depends on worthiness of the minister and the recipient. That is because they are instituted by the Church, not directly by Christ. Have a look at the , numbers 1667-1679Catechism, which explains the sacramentals very well.