Sacramentals in return for donations

  • Thread starter Thread starter JStoneham
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

JStoneham

Guest
In googling “where to get blessed salt”, I have run into the organization Precious Blood International, which offers a House Blessing Kit with 12 lbs of blessed salt and a bunch of blessed Benedict crucifixes, as a gift in return for a $150 donation. They also send out vials of exorcised/blessed water in return for smaller donations.

I’m tempted because I’d like to bless my house in this way, and yes, I know I can get my priest to bless salt and water (if I can convince him to do it in the traditional rite), but I’d also be supporting what seems to be a good organization. But does this gifts-in-return-for-donations policy actually equate to simony?

Thanks.
 
Yes, I know they can’t be sold. The question, to me, is whether a gift of token monetary value - salt and crucifixes are cheap - given in return for a large donation, constitutes a sale.
 
imo it would. You are specificially buying those items from them because they are already blessed as you say you’re not sure if you can convince your priest to bless them using the traditional rite of blessing. So to me, this would be wrong because you aren’t buying unblessed items in exchange for the donation, but specifically blessed items for the reason I gave above.

My advice is to just buy the items you want from elsewhere, print out the relevant prayers for the blessing of same and take all to your priest and respectfully ask him to bless them using those prayers.
 
Gift in return for donations is not simony.

Read their website. It’s very clear that that’s a very specific gift in thanksgiving for a donation meeting a very specific need.

They provide exorcised salt for a nominal cost covering regular salt and the package and shipping. You can always purchase the salt or water (or both) and find a priest who can perform the prayers according to the old Rituale, but it’s a matter of convenience really. I doubt these folk are making the big bucks on providing exorcised salt and water -.-

I also got some free holy cards the one time I bought the salt ^.^
 
Last edited:
lil_user said:
Gift in return for donations is not simony.
Click to expand...
It is if it is mandatory. Money exchanged for goods is a sale. It is irrelevant if it is called a donation. This is simply dressed up in a manner to try to disguise it being a sale.
 
Last edited:
Buy some salt, take it to Mass and ask Father to bless it. Costs about $3 plus the gas to get to Mass.

ETA 12 lbs of salt is a HUGE amount of salt! I have had a pound box of blessed salt, blessed by our Diocese Exorcist in September of 2011. MAYBE a quarter of it has been used, and I give salt away to people who ask for it! I find it hard to fathom using 12 lbs of blessed salt.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top