Offerings/donations for blessing of large items

[UpUpAndAway]

Is it customary in your area to offer a donation when having a large item such as a car or house blessed? If so, about how much would be considered normal to give?

In the past when I’ve asked Father to bless small articles - rosaries, crucifixes, medals - I just thanked him afterward. Now I wish to have something significantly bigger blessed and I’d like to offer a donation but have no idea if this is generally normal, expected, discouraged, or even perhaps forbidden.

I’ve already asked Father to do the blessing and he has agreed, but it hasn’t taken place yet. Similar past inquiries I’ve made in the parish regarding donations in light of [insert action here] have yielded answers that were both non-authoritative and all over the spectrum of possibilities. I realize that no one can tell me the expectations in my own parish or Archdiocese, but if I had an idea of how these things go elsewhere at least I’d have something to go on

Thanks in advance for your (name removed by moderator)ut. God bless.

 

[Maximilian75]

No, it is not (for me) but I cannot believe that your pastor would dislike it… Just keep in mind the fact that you can be as poor as a church mouse and get all the same blessings.

 

[KevinK]

What is the expected impact on blessing an inanimate object like a car? What would be different if blessed or not blessed?

 

[pianistclare]

Kevin: The purpose of the blessing of a car for ex. is safety and thanksgiving.

UpUp: not it is not customary to give anything for any blessing. Now, if a priest is coming out to the house to bless a car or something, you might do well to offer him a nice sherry or a meal, but that’s just hospitality, not a stipend.

FWIW, people have largely forgotten what a stipend is, when to give them (you talking about you) or how much is appropriate. Especially here on CAF. Priests’ stipends are their “mad money” if you will.
SOme keep it for travel or necessary items, and some toss it in the collection or the retired religious fund. But it’s always appreciated.

 

[Xanthippe_Voorhees]

Is it customary in your area to offer a donation when having a large item such as a car or house blessed? If so, about how much would be considered normal to give?

In the past when I’ve asked Father to bless small articles - rosaries, crucifixes, medals - I just thanked him afterward. Now I wish to have something significantly bigger blessed and I’d like to offer a donation but have no idea if this is generally normal, expected, discouraged, or even perhaps forbidden.

I’ve already asked Father to do the blessing and he has agreed, but it hasn’t taken place yet. Similar past inquiries I’ve made in the parish regarding donations in light of [insert action here] have yielded answers that were both non-authoritative and all over the spectrum of possibilities. I realize that no one can tell me the expectations in my own parish or Archdiocese, but if I had an idea of how these things go elsewhere at least I’d have something to go on

Thanks in advance for your (name removed by moderator)ut. God bless.

For both my apartment and my home I offered the priest a from-scratch cooked meal with dessert–and sent some home with them. Honestly, I think they valued that more than if I had found a way to pay them.

 

[midori]

In my old parish, the priest went out into the parking lot and blessed the car after a weekday Mass. It took a few moments of his time, but it was right there by the church, and we made sure to ask him ahead of time, so he could tell us what day/time would be least impactful on his schedule. I don’t think there was a particular gift in gratitude for the blessing; we thanked him very much.

A house blessing involves the priest to physically come to your location. So the usual thank-you gift is a nice homemade dinner. Sometimes the blessing and the dinner may take place at different times, if the priest is able to fit in the blessing but not a meal afterwards. If the priest doesn’t want to join you for dinner, you can give him the option to decline— “Father, would you please bless my house some evening, maybe after Mass, and then you can stay for dinner?” And then he’s free to say, “Yes” to the blessing but “No” to the dinner if that’s not his thing, or “Yes” to the blessing and “Let me take a rain check on that dinner” another day.

Our small, rural parish has a shared priest, so he travels to us. Another parishioner was in the habit of bringing him dinner to eat after the evening Mass on “our” parish’s weeknight Mass. So he was able to fit in the blessing, but someone else was already feeding him, and he didn’t want to hurt their feelings by telling them, “Don’t bother bringing me anything, because I’m going to eat at so-and-so’s house.” I thought he had forgotten all about it, but I was finally able to give him his dinner about three years later. I knew he loved lamb chops, so that was what we served, along with six or seven sides. (When we just cook for ourselves, we’re kind of a meat-and-two-sides kind of a meal.) He was so happy. He was all, “This is wonderful! Nowadays, people just make a meat and maybe a side or two, but this was the sort of dinner that my mother made!” And I was laughing inside, because I was trying so hard to copy my Italian mother and Southern MIL’s hospitality… his mother was probably from the WWI generation.

 

[UpUpAndAway]

Thank you all for your responses. At least now I have an idea how to proceed. God bless!