If I give a St. Benedict Medal as a gift does it lose it's blessing?

[victrolatim]

I am planning to give a St. Benedict medal as a gift and want to have it blessed. The information I found on the background of the medals is a bit confusing:

After the blessing, the Medals cannot be sold; otherwise,
the blessing is lost. Medals must be bought before they
are blessed.

A personal medal, once worn or used by an individual if a
St. Benedict medal is given away it loses its blessing and
must be blessed again.

I am assuming since I am not selling, but giving the medals that I am OK but I wanted to get a second opinion.

 

[vallancec]

What does your priest say?

 

[Maxwell03]

Better ask a priest because I’ve never heard of that

 

[Seagull]

Never heard of that.

 

[Xanthippe_Voorhees]

I am planning to give a St. Benedict medal as a gift and want to have it blessed. The information I found on the background of the medals is a bit confusing:

After the blessing, the Medals cannot be sold; otherwise,
the blessing is lost. Medals must be bought before they
are blessed.

A personal medal, once worn or used by an individual if a
St. Benedict medal is given away it loses its blessing and
must be blessed again.

I am assuming since I am not selling, but giving the medals that I am OK but I wanted to get a second opinion.

You can’t sell or buy blessed items as this would be simony.

I do not think that an item “given away” loses it’s blessing. My priest recently bought a few hundred tiny crucifixes with medals on the back (miraculous? not Benedict) and brought them back from Rome where they were blessed by the Pope for the express purpose of taking home to loved ones to enrich the faith journeys of those who could not be there in person.

Perhaps it’s about intent?

Or is this a poor explanation of the enrollment in some kind of prayer/protection that the medal offers?

 

[ajg]

My priest blessed rosaries that he knew I had for the sole purpose of giving out to people.

 

[Melissa]

And my pastor blesses various objects that are purchased to be gifts. For example, when my children have been confirmed, I have given each a medal of the saint chosen for their confirmation name, and have asked him to bless those items before I wrapped them up to give to my child. Because I moved (very significant distance) there were priests in two different dioceses who blessed these medals.

So I think that items obtained specifically to be given to someone don’t count as “worn or used by an individual” as in the quoted text, at least not until the intended recipient receives it.

 

[rondirect]

Never heard of this either. Where did you see this information? It’s like taking blessed Holy Water home and sharing it with others and now it is just water again. The best is, “medals must be bought before they are blessed.” What happens if it is on sale? I see you are concerned about this and I shouldn’t poke fun, but it really sounds rather odd. I don’t get why something would “lose” its blessing under any circumstance. But, when in doubt, have it blessed again.

 

[TK421]

I am planning to give a St. Benedict medal as a gift and want to have it blessed. The information I found on the background of the medals is a bit confusing:

After the blessing, the Medals cannot be sold; otherwise,
the blessing is lost. Medals must be bought before they
are blessed.

A personal medal, once worn or used by an individual if a
St. Benedict medal is given away it loses its blessing and
must be blessed again.

I am assuming since I am not selling, but giving the medals that I am OK but I wanted to get a second opinion.

The idea of a blessing by an ordained minister is that the object will be used towards devotion. So blessing something and then giving it away like magical items is a bit hazy, although not so much if the people receiving it intend to use it.

Blessed items are also typically suppose to be treated in certain ways (not thrown out like other stuff), although I don’t know if that is pious tradition or something more than that. I never get stuff blessed unless I’m actually using it from time to time.