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PeaceBeWithYou
Guest
I love to pray the rosary. I feel very close to God when I do it. A friend said I should have a Priest bless it. Does having it blessed make it more effective or holier?
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Mtatum1958
Guest
No, having it blessed doesn’t make it more effective or more holy. It is a sacramental and doesn’t confer any grace on its own. I would have it blessed, as a sacramental may help you be open to receive grace an allow you to more devotedly pray the rosary. Just my thoughts.
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RedDuke
Guest
You can get a partial indulgence when you use a rosary that’s been blessed by a priest.
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s.cono
Guest
Having your rosary blessed certainly can’t hurt. I confess, I only had my rosary blessed a couple of weeks ago, after owning this set for a number of years. Just never got around to it.
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c1949
Guest
I’ve tended to lean away from having anything blessed because sooner or later the questions comes up, my rosary is broken but it was blessed, what do I do with it? Is it a sin to dispose of it?
Sometimes, even consecrated, blessed churches are torn down, e.g. after a fire or tornado. I don’t think we should be too scrupulous about such things.
Sometimes, even consecrated, blessed churches are torn down, e.g. after a fire or tornado. I don’t think we should be too scrupulous about such things.
Tis_Bearself
Patron
As the Catechism discusses, the rosary is a sacramental, but having it blessed is a second sacramental because blessings themselves are sacramentals, and in fact “among sacramentals, blessings come first”.
(CCC 1671, 1674)
Norm 15 of the Norms for Indulgences also provides that a faithful Catholic can earn an indulgence for using a properly blessed crucifix, cross, rosary, scapular, or medal.
Given that the blessing is an additional sacramental and carries an indulgence, most Catholics would like to have it on their rosary (or crucifix, cross, scapular or medal). It’s not so much that it makes the rosary more holy, as that it adds an additional sacramental and thus creates additional holiness in that way.
Disposing of blessed items is not a big problem if they are small, like rosaries. You can always bury them or give them to a priest to dispose of. Also, if they are sold they lose the blessing, it does not transfer to the next recipient.
(CCC 1671, 1674)
Norm 15 of the Norms for Indulgences also provides that a faithful Catholic can earn an indulgence for using a properly blessed crucifix, cross, rosary, scapular, or medal.
Given that the blessing is an additional sacramental and carries an indulgence, most Catholics would like to have it on their rosary (or crucifix, cross, scapular or medal). It’s not so much that it makes the rosary more holy, as that it adds an additional sacramental and thus creates additional holiness in that way.
Disposing of blessed items is not a big problem if they are small, like rosaries. You can always bury them or give them to a priest to dispose of. Also, if they are sold they lose the blessing, it does not transfer to the next recipient.
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Camehome4john6
Guest
If sold they lose their blessing. But what if they’re passed down? Does my mother’s rosary from Rome still hold St. John Paul II’ s blessing?
Tis_Bearself
Patron
There are two schools of thought on this.
One is, if the rosary is gifted, then yes it keeps its blessing. I tend to believe this, given the practice of people purchasing items for gifts, having them blessed (for example by the Pope) after they are bought, and then gifting them to another person. The Vatican allows very large shops to operate selling unblessed items at reasonable prices and then the shop representative has them blessed by the Pope after purchase and sends them to your hotel. People are obviously buying a lot of gifts to take home at this shop. If this was not proper then I can’t imagine the Vatican would be tacitly supporting such very large shops (which also sell all kinds of officially licensed Vatican logo stuff) by allowing them to continue the practice.
The other school of thought is that a blessing is actually for the person who obtains it only, and when the person dies or gives the item away, the blessing disappears. As the Catechism doesn’t say this and indicates that a blessing stays with the object and the blessed object has to be properly disposed, not just given away (in other words giving it away to Goodwill won’t make the blessing disappear and remove the disposal problem), I don’t tend to believe this view.
I had a rosary blessed by Pope Francis in Rome and gifted it to my mother, who used it for a year before she died, and then I took the rosary back. I presume that the Rosary has continued to carry Pope Francis’ blessing as we have not sold it since it was blessed.
One is, if the rosary is gifted, then yes it keeps its blessing. I tend to believe this, given the practice of people purchasing items for gifts, having them blessed (for example by the Pope) after they are bought, and then gifting them to another person. The Vatican allows very large shops to operate selling unblessed items at reasonable prices and then the shop representative has them blessed by the Pope after purchase and sends them to your hotel. People are obviously buying a lot of gifts to take home at this shop. If this was not proper then I can’t imagine the Vatican would be tacitly supporting such very large shops (which also sell all kinds of officially licensed Vatican logo stuff) by allowing them to continue the practice.
The other school of thought is that a blessing is actually for the person who obtains it only, and when the person dies or gives the item away, the blessing disappears. As the Catechism doesn’t say this and indicates that a blessing stays with the object and the blessed object has to be properly disposed, not just given away (in other words giving it away to Goodwill won’t make the blessing disappear and remove the disposal problem), I don’t tend to believe this view.
I had a rosary blessed by Pope Francis in Rome and gifted it to my mother, who used it for a year before she died, and then I took the rosary back. I presume that the Rosary has continued to carry Pope Francis’ blessing as we have not sold it since it was blessed.
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Camehome4john6
Guest
Thanks, _Bear!
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Francis
Guest
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c4a1.htm
1667 "Holy Mother Church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy."173
The characteristics of sacramentals
[1668] Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life, a great variety of circumstances in Christian life, and the use of many things helpful to man. In accordance with bishops’ pastoral decisions, they can also respond to the needs, culture, and special history of the Christian people of a particular region or time. They always include a prayer, often accompanied by a specific sign, such as the laying on of hands, the sign of the cross, or the sprinkling of holy water (which recalls Baptism).
[1669] Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood: every baptized person is called to be a “blessing,” and to bless.174 Hence lay people may preside at certain blessings; the more a blessing concerns ecclesial and sacramental life, the more is its administration reserved to the ordained ministry (bishops, priests, or deacons).175
[1670] Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church’s prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. "For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God."176
1667 "Holy Mother Church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy."173
The characteristics of sacramentals
[1668] Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life, a great variety of circumstances in Christian life, and the use of many things helpful to man. In accordance with bishops’ pastoral decisions, they can also respond to the needs, culture, and special history of the Christian people of a particular region or time. They always include a prayer, often accompanied by a specific sign, such as the laying on of hands, the sign of the cross, or the sprinkling of holy water (which recalls Baptism).
[1669] Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood: every baptized person is called to be a “blessing,” and to bless.174 Hence lay people may preside at certain blessings; the more a blessing concerns ecclesial and sacramental life, the more is its administration reserved to the ordained ministry (bishops, priests, or deacons).175
[1670] Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church’s prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. "For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God."176
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Horton
Guest
I have several rosaries blessed by Pope Francis while I was in Rome as well as other items I purchased. Some I gifted to others so I would agree with the presumption the blessing remains.
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PeaceBeWithYou
Guest
Thank you for all the responses, very helpful.
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