Unhappy with the "Book of Blessings" - Can Older Rituals Be Used?

[ThuribleGuy45]

Most of the “blessing rituals” that appear in the current “Book of Blessings” seem overly-long, and more important, it’s rarely clear that the intended object ever actually gets blessed. The emphasis seems more on a communal approach and recitation rather than the distinct imparting of a specific blessing by the presiding minister (priest or deacon as appropriate).

Can older versions of the “Roman Ritual,” for example, still licitly be used for the blessing of specific objects? This comes up now because of the practice of blessing certain domestic objects (food, eggs, salt) around Easter.

 

[Andreas_Hofer]

You’re right on the new book. I haven’t done any extensive reading of it, but I did glance through and notice that it is typically the user of an object and rarely the object itself that actually gets blessed. I would say that the easiest recourse against the new book would be to approach a priest with an indult for the '62 missal because the indult covers all the books in force in '62, which would include the Benedictionale.

If you don’t know of any priest with an indult, I’m not sure how strictly sacramentals are regulated but I would think “official” blessings would have to conform to the books in force, so you might be out of luck.