Lay people blessing?

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tractarian said:
I know for certain that lay people can bless objects, such as Rosaries or other sacramentals. In fact, if you bless water in the name of the Father-Son-and-Holy-Spirit, it is then considered to be holy water, not in any way different than if it was blessed by a priest!

However, if the tradition surrounding a particular sacramental prescribes a blessing from a priest, than a lay person cannot substitute. Example: a wearer of the Brown Scapular should have it blessed by a priest before wearing it for the first time.

:o As for blessing people, of that i am not sure.
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NO.

A lay person CAN NOT bless rosaries medals etc…or Holy Water!!!

(the nature of these sacramentals …and the offical book of blessings makes this clear)
 
davy39 said:
I don’t see anything wrong with an em (male or female) saying “God bless you” to anybody not able to receive communion. When somebody sneezes, I’ve heard to people say “God bless you” to them. Just my opinion, also. God bless you.
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You may not have a problem with a lay person blessing in the communion line but the church does. They are not permitted to do so.
 
of course any Christian can make good and frequent use of the sign of the Cross…in the various aspects of life…as we see even in the early Christians…but he can not bless objects to become sacramentals…such has holy water or medals etc
 
CD4 said:
Well…When my good friend opened her Catholic bookstore, we had invited the local pastor to come and bless the store. We gathered in a circle, and…much to everyone’s surprise…the priest handed her the Holy Water, and told her to bless it herself…She was so taken aback…So, why did we even need a priest, if he wasn’t going to bles the store?

The bookstore is being moved to another location, and another Blessing Party is being planned…Needless to say, a different priest will be invited…One we are certain will do the blessing himself…
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a lay person can ask for the Blessing of God …on a house or store…but if a priest is present…he should bless it…
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
Lay people can say a “Blessing” in this manner “May Almighty God Bless US, in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit”, they can say blesing over food, etc.

A Lay person should not say “May Almighty God Bless YOU…” I guess a good way of putting it that a lay person may say a blessing but may not give a blessing. Lay persons cannot Bless objects. Holy water must be blessed by a priest, the Book of Blessings would have the rules for the use of the Blessings and who can say which ones.

A person can purchase for personal use Blessed Oil, I don’t recomend going around blessing others with it, except maybe parents blessing their children. You could give it to others so that they may bless themselves.

The important thing is to keep a clear distinction between clergy and laity when blessing. By the way with Holy Water just add regular water to the Holy water container when about 1/3 has been used. As long as there is more Holy water than water being added it remains blessed, no need to have it re-blessed. (2/3 Holy water, 1/3 new water, you can repeat as necessary) I recomend refilling the Holy water container with water from the Easter Vigil each year.
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As to blessings during communion, apart from the issue of laity blessing, there is the Moratorium on Blessings during Communion(and the reasons why given there)
 
an example of use of the sign of the cross among early Christians:

“let us then not be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the cross our seal, made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in every thing; over the bread we eat and the cups we drink, in our comings and in goings; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are travelling, and when we are at rest”. St. Cyril of Jerusalem

on “brow” …at this time would have + been made on the forehead and of course one can still do it this way! 🙂 outside of the official usage in Liturgy
 
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