Gifting religious items to fellow Catholics. Have them blessed first, or not?

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AlbertDerGrosse

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Title says it all.

A friend who serves daily Mass with me is going to be a father again and I have some gifts for him, his wife, and (soon to be born) daughter. Should I have them blessed prior to giving them to him or should I let him take care of that? What’s the SOP among y’all when giving religious gifts to fellow Catholics?
 
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I think that it’s better to have them blessed before, and inform your friend, so that he can fully enjoy the objects as soon as you gift them to him and his family and take away the worry about getting them blessed from him.
That way you make a full gift methinks.
 
Agreed; I’ve always found this to be the common practice among people I know as well.
 
I would not, because it can be very personal to take the object to the priest and experience the blessing. Just my preference.
 
I bless religious items before I gift them.

-Fr ACEGC
 
I can see both sides to this. I’d have to say it’s a personal choice, much like the gift itself. So it probably depends on you and the person you are buying it for and what you think they’d prefer. Maybe a little knowledge on that front, like if they are the sort of person who likes the personal touch or who never gets around to doing things? etc. also perhaps what kind of person your priest is, will he bless the item quickly after Sunday mass or have and or take the time and/or have the opportunity to make it really personal. I usually get it blessed before giving it to someone but it would depend on the person and their preference. I hope that helps rather than making it harder for you
 
If the person is non~Catholic or nominal Catholic, yes, I would have the item blest before I give it to the person. Now, if the individual is a devout Catholic, I wouldn’t worry so much since I know he or she can have it blest anytime, but I’d still do my best to have it blest prior to me giving it to the person.
 
Mary888 said:
as you gift them to him and his family and take away the worry about getting them blessed from him.
That way you make a f
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I can see both sides
  • if you have them blessed before hand, it makes the Gift that more special.
  • but if you have them blessed before hand, and the person receiving the gift doesn’t care, they might mistreat a blessed object. This can especially be true of little children. I recently gave some religious books to a child (who I didn’t know at the time has trouble reading) and she was upset and actually threw the books at one point. Had I given her something that was blessed, who knows what she may or may not have done.
 
I usually have the gifts blessed before and I tell the one receiving the gift who blessed the religious item. One started crying when I mentioned our old parish priests name.
 
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