Question for Deacons about blessings

[FrDavid96]

Well, not quite. It depends on the individual blessing. We cannot say that any blessing in the book pertains to deacons.

The BOB expressly states that there is a blessing for “a catechetical or prayer meeting”.

BOB Chapter 3, I

So, I would think the answer is “yes”

Actually, it’s “no.”
Chapter 3 starts with this:

1. A priest is the celebrant for the orders of blessing in this chapter…

Therefore, not only do we have an absence of any mention that a deacon may do these blessings, the instructions specify that only a priest can celebrate them.

Having said that though, I would also add that a deacon could choose a different blessing, just not one from Chapter 3.
I’d suggest
“Students and Teachers” BB #525 or (Chapter 5)
“Catechetical or Prayer Meeting” BB #512 (Chapter 4)

So, yes, he could give a blessing, but just not one of the blessings from that particular Chapter 3. Right book, wrong chapter

 

[shawnbm]

It is amazing how technical it all is. I have frequented posts about deacons and clerical garb wherein the GIRM or canon law (can’t recall which) says (if I recall correctly) that deacons are not obligated like priests to don the collar, which means they can unless “particular law” says they cannot or restricts clerical garb to certain occasions of pastoral duty. So, you can have half the deacons in a nation donning clerical garb to attend to parishioners in hospitals and prisons or around the parish, while the other half could be strictly forbidden from doing so. It is amazing how technical and detailed some of the laws/rules are as to deacons. I should think that, as ordained clergy, the push in the modern church would be to teach more about them, make them more visible and to utilize them more so priests can celebrate mass, hear confessions and anoint the sick with more frequency.

 

[maryjk]

A deacon cannot bless missionaries (BB 453) but he can bless travelers (BB 618).

That was actually going to be my next question.

Many times people will come in before travel and ask for a blessing. Sometimes a priest just isn’t available.

I’ve never sent the people to the deacon, but now I know I can.

 

[AJB328]

A deacon can bless a rosary. There is a special blessing for a rosary, and deacons are specifically permitted to use it (BB 1465).

Thanks so much for the reply. As for the other part of my question, does the above mean that for a Deacon’s blessing to be licit it has to be the specific blessing? Is the rosary still considered blessed if he just makes the sign of the cross over it and makes something up on the spot?

 

[FrDavid96]

Thanks so much for the reply. As for the other part of my question, does the above mean that for a Deacon’s blessing to be licit it has to be the specific blessing?

In my opinion, no. I’ll write more at the bottom.

Is the rosary still considered blessed if he just makes the sign of the cross over it and makes something up on the spot?

In my opinion, yes.

The reason why I wrote what I did is that the Church does not strictly require specific words to be used in blessings—not in the same way that certain words are required for validity of the Eucharist or Absolution.

Most of the blessings (in their introductions) allow the priest or deacon to “adapt” the texts according to circumstances. In fact, BB # 1465 allows for exactly that in the blessing of a rosary. Therefore, since the Church allows the deacon to make an adaptation, I cannot see anything wrong if he chooses to do so.

What is required though is some verbal prayer. See Book of Blessings #27. “It is ordinarily not permitted to impart the blessing…merely through a sign of blessing…” So, simply making the sign of the cross would not constitute a blessing; however, making the sign of the cross when saying “May this rosary be blessed, in the Name of the Father…” would suffice.

 

[Lapey]

Thanks you Fr. David for your responses. You have helped in the discussion quite a bit.

After the comments this morning I had to visit the Chancery for some youth ministry business and I “just happened” to run into our Judicial Vicar for the diocese; yes it was more than just an accident.

I asked him specific questions dealing with the topics on this thread. I must say the Fr. David has answered all the questions before I got back to share what he explained.

First off, canon law basically states that the deacon has authority through ordination and not the office held or level of the hierarchy. in other words, it is by the ordination a person is authorized to validly bless items or people and not whether he is a deacon, priest or bishop. The commentary of Canon 1169 directs the searcher to two places for meaning, liturgical law which would be found in the rubrics of the “Rites” books (baptism, funerals, weddings, etc.) and the Book of Blessings or Roman Missal.

These are the very statements which Fr. David is making, the rubrics of the particular blessing will dictate whether a deacon can validly confer the blessing or not. But there are many instances where the deacon validly blesses both objects and/or people. On the other hand, there are many which he cannot validly bless; and furthermore, there are many in which the priest is prohibited from conferring unless he is a bishop.

An easy way to think of this is, the closer you get to the sanctification of a community rather than an individual, the less likely a deacon can validly confer the blessing. For instance, the items mentioned which are for worship in a Church or Oratory. In those cases the priest, probably the pastor will confer the blessing as he is charged by the Bishop with the responsibility to pastor the souls of the community, not the deacon. As it gets more complex and on a larger scale, the priest could not validly bless or dedicate; as in the dedication of a new Church building, the bishop of the territory would.

Secondly, the canon also directs a researcher to the restoration document of the Permanent diaconate from 1967, SACRUM DIACONATUS ORDINEM. Section V of this document plainly states that deacons will "administer sacramentals” amongst many other things.

There are many other items stated in the document but this one in particular pertains to the main question of this thread, can a deacon bless sacramentals; YES HE CAN!

In many cases he can also bless people. I just conducted a Communion Service where a priest is out on vacation; I blessed about 50 people at the end of the service; every one of them made the sign of the cross as though they knew it was valid.

 

[Lapey]

As for the other part of my question, does the above mean that for a Deacon’s blessing to be licit it has to be the specific blessing? Is the rosary still considered blessed if he just makes the sign of the cross over it and makes something up on the spot?

The rites in the book of blessings give the option to use the texts provided or similar words with in some cases several options from long to very short. So in a short answer, no the blessing does not have to follow the B of B and can be spontaneous. Furthermore, there is nothing I have found anywhere that would differentiate the priest’s blessing from the deacon’s blessing when both are allowed so if the deacon would be limited to the text, so would the priest.

Is the rosary blessed? Most definitely! I was also asked this question by a lay person while at the chancery, if it were blessed by a priest, would it be “more holy” than if it were blessed by a deacon? Simple and short answer is NO, there would be no difference.

Again, Fr. David has already answered and I just added an extra 2 cents.

 

[Lapey]

It is amazing how technical it all is. I have frequented posts about deacons and clerical garb wherein the GIRM or canon law (can’t recall which) says (if I recall correctly) that deacons are not obligated like priests to don the collar, which means they can unless “particular law” says they cannot or restricts clerical garb to certain occasions of pastoral duty. So, you can have half the deacons in a nation donning clerical garb to attend to parishioners in hospitals and prisons or around the parish, while the other half could be strictly forbidden from doing so. It is amazing how technical and detailed some of the laws/rules are as to deacons. I should think that, as ordained clergy, the push in the modern church would be to teach more about them, make them more visible and to utilize them more so priests can celebrate mass, hear confessions and anoint the sick with more frequency.

I agree all this can be confusing, sometimes I doubt myself. Which is why I talk to the one who is in authority, the Judicial Vicar. Some of this could be made much simpler by simply adopting norms for a specific conference of bishop; such as the USCCB. It should be one decision for the conference in the use of collars or the title Rev. Mr. for instance. My diocese prohibits permanent deacons from suing either the collar or Rev. Mr. while the neighboring diocese allows both. On occasion where the two come together like at large regional youth conferences, I’m not sure who I am talking to; Fr. Jack, Rev. Mr. Jack or Dcn. Jack. I’m a cleric and I don’t know; now what is causing confusion?

 

[Lapey]

Note that you can gain a partial indulgence by using a sacramental blessed by a priest, so the priest might be a good idea.

I also asked specifically about this issue. The answer I got backed up what I thought. If there is an indulgence involved with a devotion then there is a prescribed regiment which must be kept and completed as it is dictated for the accepted indulgence. If that devotion is broken by not fulfilling the regiment then it is broken and not received.

For instance, a novena which is required that the person go to Mass on the last day and in that Mass complete the prescribed consecration but there is no priest to say Mass, it is broken. Even if there is a deacon there to conduct a communion service it is broken because there is no Mass.

But to say that the sacramental must be blessed by a priest and not a deacon would break the requirement would be a stretch; unless it is an sacramental which holds a requirement to the blessing.

An example would be a scapular. I can validly bless a scapular for a person’s personal devotion; but I cannot bless a brown scapular which requires enrollment for the person into the Confraternity of the Brown Scapula of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. All priest have been given the privilege to enroll people in the confraternity, not deacons.

Now if a person already enrolled loses the scapular, I could then bless the replacement. Makes sense?

The Indulgence is dependent upon the completion of the requirements, not on who blessed what. If a priest is required for a process to be completed, then naturally the deacon cannot help you and he should tell you so. I have in the case of the brown scapula.

 

[Lapey]

Dcn. Jeff, what’s the temp over there in Pittsburg? We are complaining here in South Louisiana about 20 degree lows, I guess we are a little spoiled where it comes to winter!

 

[shawnbm]

I agree all this can be confusing, sometimes I doubt myself. Which is why I talk to the one who is in authority, the Judicial Vicar. Some of this could be made much simpler by simply adopting norms for a specific conference of bishop; such as the USCCB. It should be one decision for the conference in the use of collars or the title Rev. Mr. for instance. My diocese prohibits permanent deacons from suing either the collar or Rev. Mr. while the neighboring diocese allows both. On occasion where the two come together like at large regional youth conferences, I’m not sure who I am talking to; Fr. Jack, Rev. Mr. Jack or Dcn. Jack. I’m a cleric and I don’t know; now what is causing confusion?

Your post speaks volumes about such insanity. The easiest course is the obvious one; clerics are clerics and should dress as clerics and otherwise silently witness for Christ wherever they are–other than at their secular jobs, with wife and kids at movies or sporting events (if applicable) and things along those lines. The funny thing is that I have seen a great many priests walk around “off parish” in street clothes when, as I understand it, they are obligated to dress in clerical garb. As a convert, the mere presence of Catholic clergy in public witnesses for Christ and His Church powerfully and often leads to questions that lead others toward the Church and Jesus. It should become the norm rather than an exception, but I am not an ordinary.

 

[AJB328]

Fr. David and Deacon Lapey, thank you so much for clearing it all up. I’m usually pretty good at throwing another related question onto the thread after my other is answered, but I can’t think of a single thing that hasn’t been covered. :clapping:

-AJ

 

[FrDavid96]

I agree all this can be confusing, sometimes I doubt myself. Which is why I talk to the one who is in authority, the Judicial Vicar. Some of this could be made much simpler by simply adopting norms for a specific conference of bishop; such as the USCCB. It should be one decision for the conference in the use of collars or the title Rev. Mr. for instance. My diocese prohibits permanent deacons from suing either the collar or Rev. Mr. while the neighboring diocese allows both. On occasion where the two come together like at large regional youth conferences, I’m not sure who I am talking to; Fr. Jack, Rev. Mr. Jack or Dcn. Jack. I’m a cleric and I don’t know; now what is causing confusion?

Do you have any Eastern Catholic parishes in those diocese? If so, remember to address the deacon properly as “Father Deacon” or if you know his first name, add that too: “Father Deacon Stephen”

Back to the topic-at-hand though:
I think that much of this confusion is caused by the Book of Blessings itself. And I mean literally the actual book itself. The text is confusing, ambiguous, redundant… It’s a mess.
Sometimes, the chapter introduction says that a deacon can/cannot do the blessing, while other times, this is stated in the individual blessings. Sometimes it depends on whether or not the blessing happens within Mass.

In my copy of the Book of Blessings the “Order of Blessing of Rosaries” (since that was the original question, I picked that one) begins on page 625 and goes to 634. Ten pages, just for a blessing of a rosary! In contrast, my Roman Ritual (Weller translation of the 1962 text) lists 2 options: a long form that begins with the typical “Our help is in the Name of the Lord…” dialogue and goes for one paragraph, or a short form that consists of a single sentence. The real irony here is that the new “Book of Blessings” was done in response to the call by Vatican II to simplify the Church’s rites. Somehow “simplify” means take something that was one paragraph and make it 10 pages.

Truly, the Book of Blessings is so long, complicated, redundant and repetitive that it makes the people who design IRS tax forms turn green with envy.

 

[Lapey]

Do you have any Eastern Catholic parishes in those diocese? If so, remember to address the deacon properly as “Father Deacon” or if you know his first name, add that too: “Father Deacon Stephen”

How could I forget Father Deacon???

We have a Fr. Dcn. Greg who serves his people in our area, I don’t remember what Rite he belongs to though.

PS. He wears berretta and full clerics all the time by requirement…I can’t even wear a collar when standing in the crowd at the Right to Life march. But I will be obedient!

 

[FrDavid96]

How could I forget Father Deacon???

We have a Fr. Dcn. Greg who serves his people in our area, I don’t remember what Rite he belongs to though.

PS. He wears berretta and full clerics all the time by requirement…I can’t even wear a collar when standing in the crown at the Right to Life march. But I will be obedient!

Well, if you’re already wearing a crown so big that you have to stand within it, I don’t think you should be wearing clerical garb. Just my opinion though. Even the Eastern bishop’s crowns are small enough that they only cover their heads.

 

[Lapey]

Fr. David and Deacon Lapey, thank you so much for clearing it all up. I’m usually pretty good at throwing another related question onto the thread after my other is answered, but I can’t think of a single thing that hasn’t been covered. :clapping:

-AJ

Thank you for asking in the manner in which you did. You forced me to do the research I have been meaning to do and talk with my Judicial Vicar about this very issue. I have been told by many that a deacon cannot bless, you fill in the blank. It has even been said while I presided over a blessing of a building and a team of people preparing for a retreat that I was “shooting blanks.” I didn’t embarrass the lady who stated that, she was corrected by several in attendance.

Anyway, you’re welcome and again thank you.

 

[Lapey]

Well, if you’re already wearing a crown so big that you have to stand within it, I don’t think you should be wearing clerical garb. Just my opinion though. Even the Eastern bishop’s crowns are small enough that they only cover their heads.

Nice! Spell check does not catch something that is not misspelled!

 

[bben15]

I was thinking about this as well when I wrote the original question. Does anybody know if there is a difference between a Deacon’s vs Priest’s blessing? Is there any sort of literature on this?

In another thread that didn’t really get much of a response I also asked if there is a difference between the efficacy of an improvised blessing vs one that is recited from a book of blessings?

I hope I’m not sounding too nit picky or anything like that. I’m part of the RCIA group at my parish and a candidate brought up a question about sacramentals which lead to the deacon question, and none of us seemed to know for sure.

They are both equally blessed. I guess it gets more special the higher up it goes. However, you should read what Deacon Gary has posted. He is making sense. It would be nice if Rome clarified on this issue.

On the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, you can gain a plenary indulgence if your sacramental is blessed by a bishop, including the Pope.

 

[zab]

I agree all this can be confusing, sometimes I doubt myself. Which is why I talk to the one who is in authority, the Judicial Vicar. Some of this could be made much simpler by simply adopting norms for a specific conference of bishop; such as the USCCB. It should be one decision for the conference in the use of collars or the title Rev. Mr. for instance.** My diocese prohibits permanent deacons from suing either the collar or Rev. Mr.** while the neighboring diocese allows both. On occasion where the two come together like at large regional youth conferences, I’m not sure who I am talking to; Fr. Jack, Rev. Mr. Jack or Dcn. Jack. I’m a cleric and I don’t know; now what is causing confusion?

lol

 

[Lapey]

lol

I wonder if I could sue Microsoft Word for not catching this??? I’ve got to slow down a bit!:blush: