Purchasing rosary on ebay = simony?

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mommyof4

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This just goes to show what can happen to a person who does not have their CA friends to give advise. They fall into a moral pit.

A few days ago, I got this sudden inspiration to go on ebay and see if I could purchase a few inexpensive rosaries to replace a few that are falling apart. After I placed a few bids, I got to wondering if this constitues simony?

I’ve already “won” one of the rosaries, and I paid for it, but I allowed myself to be outbid on the other ones.

I did not have the intention of purchasing the “graces” that go along with the rosary, just the rosary itself. I intend to get the new rosary blessed again.

Do I need to confess this purchase, or is it legit to purchase used rosaries?
 
I think what you’re asking is if it’s okay to buy or sell blessed items. Selling or buying blessed items is not in itself sinful. Otherwise you couldn’t sell your house if you had it blessed by a priest. 😉

What would be sinful would be selling the blessing. For example… $5.00 for this rosary. $15 dollars for this BLESSED rosary.

You’re ebay purchases are fine.
 
Jabronie said:
I think what you’re asking is if it’s okay to buy or sell blessed items. Selling or buying blessed items is not in itself sinful. Otherwise you couldn’t sell your house if you had it blessed by a priest. 😉

What would be sinful would be selling the blessing. For example… $5.00 for this rosary. $15 dollars for this BLESSED rosary.

You’re ebay purchases are fine.
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I don’t think that is quite correct. Having a house blessed for example does not make the house a sacramental, but blessed objects such as holy water, scapulars, medals, rosaries are sacramentals. The blessing cannot be separated from sacramental objects and as such it would be sinful to buy or sell a blessed rosary (assuming you knew it was blessed).
 
thistle said:
I don’t think that is quite correct. Having a house blessed for example does not make the house a sacramental, but blessed objects such as holy water, scapulars, medals, rosaries are sacramentals. The blessing cannot be separated from sacramental objects and as such it would be sinful to buy or sell a blessed rosary (assuming you knew it was blessed).
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Hmmm… You make good points. I’m not sure what to think there. Sounds like one for ‘Ask an Apologist’
 
I just avoid ebay altogether. They recently classified homeschooling manuals as “dangerous materials.” :rolleyes:

However, back on topic, I think you need to ask an apologist. I’ve always been a little confused about the selling of sacramentals and blessed objects.
 
mommyof4 said:
This just goes to show what can happen to a person who does not have their CA friends to give advise. They fall into a moral pit.

A few days ago, I got this sudden inspiration to go on ebay and see if I could purchase a few inexpensive rosaries to replace a few that are falling apart. After I placed a few bids, I got to wondering if this constitues simony?

I’ve already “won” one of the rosaries, and I paid for it, but I allowed myself to be outbid on the other ones.

I did not have the intention of purchasing the “graces” that go along with the rosary, just the rosary itself. I intend to get the new rosary blessed again.

Do I need to confess this purchase, or is it legit to purchase used rosaries?
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I do not buy blessed items on Ebay, however, i do buy rosaries there. If your that concerned, talk to your priest about it. He can better advise you than any of us can. :o
 
mommyof4 said:
This just goes to show what can happen to a person who does not have their CA friends to give advise. They fall into a moral pit.

A few days ago, I got this sudden inspiration to go on ebay and see if I could purchase a few inexpensive rosaries to replace a few that are falling apart. After I placed a few bids, I got to wondering if this constitues simony?
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Are you sure they are blessed? MANY Catholics who sell rosaries on ebay make it policy to not sell consecrated items because they may fall into the hands of those who wish to misuse them. I see buying a rosary on ebay as no different that buying one in a store.
 
Anything that is blessed loses it’s blessing when it is sold. So you’ll have to have the rosaries blessed by a priest. Buying an already blessed Rosary isn’t simony. Jacking up the price because it was blessed, is.
 
AquinaSavio said:
I just avoid ebay altogether. They recently classified homeschooling manuals as “dangerous materials.” :rolleyes:

However, back on topic, I think you need to ask an apologist. I’ve always been a little confused about the selling of sacramentals and blessed objects.
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I was shocked when I read your quote above, so I checked it out. Sounds like the publishers have convinced eBay to stop selling teachers editions. This prevents homeschoolers from purchasing last years books used at a discount instead of paying top dollar for new ones. My guess is either eBay owns a publishing company, or some publishing company execs are on its board. While I didn’t find the words dangerous materials associated with the books I did notice one interesting fact. EBay implies that they are trying to keep the answers to homework problems out of the hands of students. Yet they seem to have no problem selling pornography… I wonder which item most parents would rather find in their child’s bookbag?

Sorry, totally off topic, but it sparked my interest :cool:
 
Spooky7272 said:
Anything that is blessed loses it’s blessing when it is sold. So you’ll have to have the rosaries blessed by a priest. Buying an already blessed Rosary isn’t simony. Jacking up the price because it was blessed, is.
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I agree. Its not like you are trying to buy some spiritual benefit or buying the Rosary because it’s blessed. Also as far as I know ebay has changed its policy over the sale of holy objects after the incident with the communion host put up for sale.

boycottebay.org/

So i think you are ok over buying the rosary.
 
thistle said:
I . The blessing cannot be separated from sacramental objects and as such it would be sinful to buy or sell a blessed rosary (assuming you knew it was blessed).
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please don’t make such blanket statements without a source. it is not a sin to buy a sacramental such as a rosary which may or may not have been blessed on e-bay, or from any other venue, if the intent is not to traffic in blessings or profit from them.
 
mommyof4 said:
This just goes to show what can happen to a person who does not have their CA friends to give advise. They fall into a moral pit.

A few days ago, I got this sudden inspiration to go on ebay and see if I could purchase a few inexpensive rosaries to replace a few that are falling apart. After I placed a few bids, I got to wondering if this constitues simony?

I’ve already “won” one of the rosaries, and I paid for it, but I allowed myself to be outbid on the other ones.

I did not have the intention of purchasing the “graces” that go along with the rosary, just the rosary itself. I intend to get the new rosary blessed again.

Do I need to confess this purchase, or is it legit to purchase used rosaries?
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Well, you can always bid on the Rosaries Thann offered for the CAF Auction. 😃 They haven’t been blessed nor are they made yet, and the highest bidder gets to choose the color etc.

Come on over and browse the items we have gathered so far. Not sure when the real Auction will begin, but the Donations for the Auction are real nice so far.
 
puzzleannie said:
please don’t make such blanket statements without a source. it is not a sin to buy a sacramental such as a rosary which may or may not have been blessed on e-bay, or from any other venue, if the intent is not to traffic in blessings or profit from them.
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You are correct and I was wrong. However because of the time zone I’ve been sleeping while you’ve been posting so its only now I can correct myself. I spoke to a priest who confirmed its okay to buy/sell a material item for its own value, even if it has been blessed. He said charging extra for a rosary because it is blessed would be simony.
 
Thank you all for your advise. My scrupulosity was really kicking in there for a few days. I had this vision of me going up to my priest and asking, “Father, can you bless these rosaries for me? And by the way, I have to go to confession because I committed a mortal sin in the way I got them.”
 
AquinaSavio said:
I just avoid ebay altogether. They recently classified homeschooling manuals as “dangerous materials.” :rolleyes:
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I think the articles I have read regarding the eBay policy have been grossly misleading.

They classified all teacher’s editions and answer keys as items that cannot be bought/sold on eBay. Answer keys and teacher’s editions can be used for cheating, hence the policy. The fact that a book may be designated as “homeschooling” doesn’t mean that the teacher’s version should be allowed to be sold.

I agree with eBay on this one.
 
mommyof4 said:
Thank you all for your advise. My scrupulosity was really kicking in there for a few days. I had this vision of me going up to my priest and asking, “Father, can you bless these rosaries for me? And by the way, I have to go to confession because I committed a mortal sin in the way I got them.”
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:rotfl: :rotfl: Your safe…it’s not even a venial sin as far as I can tell.
 
Just an FYI to everyone - I went to confession and told my priest about this, and he assured me that what I did was not a sin. Whew!🙂
 
Just curious…why would buying it on Ebay–or any other venue–be any more of a sin of simony than buying it in a Catholic store? (although I think it’s been pretty well established that buying a rosary doesn’t constitute simony or else I’d be in trouble because I bought a beautiful celtic rosary from QVC 😉 )
 
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