Rosary from Medjugorje

[IPSB]

I recently received a Rosary from Medjugorje as a gift from a friend, I haven’t asked a Priest to bless it yet nor have I prayed with it. I feel uncomfortable having it blessed or using it to pray since Medjugorje is not approved by the Church (and I don’t believe in the alleged apparitions). Is there anything wrong in praying with a Rosary from Medjugorje? (It also has on it a badge with an image of Our Lady and Medjugorje written on both sides)

Thank you in advance!

 

[PTL]

If you don’t feel comfortable with it, don’t use it. I am sure you have other Rosary to use.
No one has to believe apparition not approved by the Church. Since it has not been blessed, I suggest not to have it blessed so you can put it aside without worry.

 

[pianistclare]

The power of rosary prayers can be found within the worthy prayers offered.
The place where it was purchased or manufactured has no effect on the prayers.
Use it if you wish, or give it away to someone who will use it.
We need not be superstitious or overly scrupulous about sacramentals.
Christ and Our Lady will hear your prayers even if you simply count on your fingers.
God bless.

 

[Antegin]

Any good that has come from Medjagory has come not from the alleged visions which have been found not to have a supernatural origin, but rather from the faith and devotion of the faithful who pray there. The same promises that Our Laden has ever made apply to saying a rosary on one thar comes from Medjagory.

 

[Elizium23]

Any good that has come from Medjagory has come not from the alleged visions which have been found not to have a supernatural origin, but rather from the faith and devotion of the faithful who pray there. The same promises that Our Laden has ever made apply to saying a rosary on one thar comes from Medjagory.

Incorrect. They have been consistently declared “non constat de supernaturalitate” which means “the event is not confirmed to be of supernatural origin”.

 

[Johann_du_Toit]

My Church sells a lot of rosaries in it’s repository and sponsors pilgrimages to Medjegorje as well as Lourdes in France and Ngome in Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa every year (although the last 2 are approved apparitions by the Church). It’s not a sin to go to Medjegorje as long as it is not held in the same esteem as an approved apparition. (Please correct me if I’m wrong).

A lot of rosaries and devotional medals are made in China, of all places (where the Church is persecuted by the Communist government). That doesn’t make the prayers offered with such rosaries any less valid.

 

[Memaw]

The power of rosary prayers can be found within the worthy prayers offered.
The place where it was purchased or manufactured has no effect on the prayers.
Use it if you wish, or give it away to someone who will use it.
We need not be superstitious or overly scrupulous about sacramentals.
Christ and Our Lady will hear your prayers even if you simply count on your fingers.
God bless.

To pass it on to someone else would be a way of promoting something not approved, and it looks to me like it never will be. I agree with PTL. Even if it has been blessed you can set it aside and maybe later find someone that can change the medal on it and then have it Blessed, Some claim that Mary Blessed their Rosary. which she cannot do, she is NOT a priest. God Bless, Memaw

 

[Used2beSherryG]

It really doesn’t matter who made the rosary or where it came from. Sometimes I forget to take my rosary with me and then I pray the rosary on my fingers instead. The rosary is an aid to helping us focus, that is really all it is. When we pray a rosary, we are meditating on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Lots of sacramentals are made under circumstances that have really nothing to do with our faith. Whether you use it or not is just your personal choice. I have attachment to some of my rosaries because of the circumstances under which I obtained them i.e.: One was my grandmother’s whom I dearly loved. One was my sister’s first communion rosary (she is a fallen away Catholic and now in her 70’s), One I bought at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, etc. It’s strictly your choice.

 

[IPSB]

Thank you for your replies!

I think I will put it aside and use another Rosary instead!

 

[eamonnroma]

I recently received a Rosary from Medjugorje as a gift from a friend, I haven’t asked a Priest to bless it yet nor have I prayed with it. I feel uncomfortable having it blessed or using it to pray since Medjugorje is not approved by the Church (and I don’t believe in the alleged apparitions). Is there anything wrong in praying with a Rosary from Medjugorje? (It also has on it a badge with an image of Our Lady and Medjugorje written on both sides)

Thank you in advance!

It will almost certainly have been blessed. All religious items bought in Medjugorge receive a mass, communal blessing

 

[otjm]

Any good that has come from Medjagory has come not from the alleged visions which have been found not to have a supernatural origin, but rather from the faith and devotion of the faithful who pray there. The same promises that Our Laden has ever made apply to saying a rosary on one thar comes from Medjagory.

The Church has not made that finding.

There are three findings the Church can make:

1. it is determined that the are approved.
2. it is not determined that the visions are approved.

3)It is determined that the visions are not approved.

Some time ago, the newspaper Our Sunday Visitor had the same mistake you are making; they mis-transated the Latin.

As far as I know, the Church has never found #1 above while visions were allegedly occurring.

The Church has spoken out on some other alleged visions and said they are not approved.

Medjugorje has not been approved by the Church; some years ago there was a dustup over the matter, and the authority to approve or disapprove was removed from the local bishop and is now handled by Rome.

Rome has said that it does not want priests or bishops leading pilgrimages there, but that is not a statement that the alleged visions fit under #3.

We are still in #2 status unless and until Rome determines otherwise. The laity is not restricted from going there, but obviously the Church counsels that it is not an approved site - which is not the same as saying it is a disapproved site.
And if Rome has said otherwise, please cite the actual source, not some article in some newspaper.

 

[Elizium23]

The Church has not made that finding.

There are three findings the Church can make:

That is not the language used by the Church. She does not say “approved” or not. The Church uses the following terms:

1. constat de supernaturalitate
2. constat de non supernaturalitate
3. non constat de supernaturalitate

(notice that I have used different numbering from otjm’s because I wish to follow that in the EWTN document I linked.)

EWTN FAQ on Medjugorje

Commenting on a statement by the Bishop of Mostar that the alleged apparitions were not simply lacking evidence of supernaturality but were in fact NOT supernatural (i.e. definitively so), the Archbishop [Bertone] writes,

The main thing I would like to point out is that the Holy See does not ordinarily take a position of its own regarding supposed supernatural phenomena as a court of first instance. As for the credibility of the “apparitions” in question, this Dicastery respects what was decided by the bishops of the former Yugoslavia in the Declaration of Zadar, April 10, 1991: “On the basis of the investigations so far, it can not be affirmed that one is dealing with supernatural apparitions and revelations.” Since the division of Yugoslavia into different independent nations it would now pertain to the members of the Episcopal Conference of Bosnia-Herzegovina to eventually reopen the examination of this case, and to make any new pronouncements that might be called for.

What Bishop Peric said in his letter to the Secretary General of Famille Chretienne, declaring: “My conviction and my position is not only non constat de supernaturalitate, but likewise, constat de non supernaturalitate of the apparitions or revelations in Medjugorje”, should be considered the expression of the personal conviction of the Bishop of Mostar which he has the right to express as Ordinary of the place, but which is and remains his personal opinion.

Finally, as regards pilgrimages to Medjugorje, which are conducted privately, this Congregation points out that they are permitted on condition that they are not regarded as an authentication of events still taking place and which still call for an examination by the Church. Letter to Bishop Aubrey

So as you can see, there are two judgements that have been made about the alleged apparitions: “constat de non supernaturalitate” by the Ordinary, but “non constat de supernaturalitate” by the higher authorities. So it will have to be kicked upstairs to the Holy See to make a determination. And if the Holy See also says “non constat” then we will just have to wait until the alleged apparitions cease (which probably means that all of the so-called visionaries will have to die first.)

 

[otjm]

That is not the language used by the Church. She does not say “approved” or not. The Church uses the following terms:

1. constat de supernaturalitate
2. constat de non supernaturalitate
3. non constat de supernaturalitate

(notice that I have used different numbering from otjm’s because I wish to follow that in the EWTN document I linked.)

EWTN FAQ on Medjugorje

So as you can see, there are two judgements that have been made about the alleged apparitions: “constat de non supernaturalitate” by the Ordinary, but “non constat de supernaturalitate” by the higher authorities. So it will have to be kicked upstairs to the Holy See to make a determination. And if the Holy See also says “non constat” then we will just have to wait until the alleged apparitions cease (which probably means that all of the so-called visionaries will have to die first.)

Maybe I should go back and check what I wrote, but I don’t recall saying that I was giving an exact translation. What I said was consonant with the language the Church uses specifically. And given that Our Sunday Visitor managed to et it wrong - not a paper that I consider to be on the causal side, I put it in layman’s language.
Thank you for posting the Latin; I a sure there others reading the thread who are literate in Latin and understand it without the need of paraphrasing,.

However, I was writing for those are not as sophisticated, and can understand what I said without having the need for the exact Latin phrase.

You are technically right - the Church does not use the word “approved” or its Latin equivalent; but the news does, because it talks to the unsophisticated reader. I have studied Latin in both high school and college, but I don’t have a need to throw it around in casual conversations.

 

[godisgood77]

I recently received a Rosary from Medjugorje as a gift from a friend, I haven’t asked a Priest to bless it yet nor have I prayed with it. I feel uncomfortable having it blessed or using it to pray since Medjugorje is not approved by the Church (and I don’t believe in the alleged apparitions). Is there anything wrong in praying with a Rosary from Medjugorje? (It also has on it a badge with an image of Our Lady and Medjugorje written on both sides)

Thank you in advance!

The CDF has asked us to refrain from engaging in public activities that present a favorable view of the Medjugorje. I would avoid it if it makes you uncomfortable… even more so if you will be with others as we are not to encourage any activity that takes for granted the credibility of Medjugorje.

 

[Mary_Ellen]

It will almost certainly have been blessed. All religious items bought in Medjugorge receive a mass, communal blessing

But one cannot purchase a blessing, or blessed object. That’s simony.

An object can be purchased, and THEN blessed. But not the other way around.

 

[Elizium23]

But one cannot purchase a blessing, or blessed object. That’s simony.

An object can be purchased, and THEN blessed. But not the other way around.

Blessed items can be bought and sold just fine. You simply can’t charge for the blessing.

According to EWTN and Jimmy Akin on Catholic Answers Live.

Father Z thinks that if you sell something with a constitutive blessing, it is lost and must be reblessed.

 

[eamonnroma]

But one cannot purchase a blessing, or blessed object. That’s simony.

An object can be purchased, and THEN blessed. But not the other way around.

Exactly. There is a mass blessing of all religious objects which have been purchased each day.