What does the Priest say when a person goes up for a blessing

[Phemie]

Originally Posted by mburn16

However did we manage for decades when people didn’t go to receive Communion unless they’d just been to confession and we were all on our knees at that point?! I don’t remember anyone being injured in the confusion. It’s interesting how we’ll make up any excuse to justify a practice we like even if it’s one the Church has many rules against.

1. That it provides something for the children, not yet of age for their first communion, who must be in line with their parents ANYWAY…because no parent wants to leave their child behind in the pew.

If they’re young, they can always go up with Mom and Daddy and watch them take communion. It gives them something to look forward to!

AMEN!

 

[Julianah]

Our bishop has told priests to stop giving blessings at Communion. We all receive a blessing at the end of Mass so it is not necessary to receive one at Communion time.

Oh dear… that is a real shame. As an Eastern Catholic, I find the blessings for those not able to receive so touching and beautiful… I know everyone gets a blessing at the end, but still… it’s real encouragement to those who cannot receive to be blessed in a personal sense.

That’s really too bad.

Jules

 

[Seatuck]

Oh dear… that is a real shame. As an Eastern Catholic, I find the blessings for those not able to receive so touching and beautiful… I know everyone gets a blessing at the end, but still… it’s real encouragement to those who cannot receive to be blessed in a personal sense.

That’s really too bad.

Jules

Anyone can ask for a personal blessing outside of Mass. We may not add anything to Mass.

 

[zab]

This is one of many reasons why I have had doubts about joining the Catholic faith. There are just far too many contradictions for me to feel comfortable. There is also (it seems to me) to be this unmentioned, but very apparent system of almost snobbery or elitism - when it comes to the Eucharist. I noticed this when I first attended Mass and was asking questions on this board about it. It is just very peculiar to me and not something that I feel comfortable with. It goes against all that I believe - that elitism and people feeling that they are some how preferred in the eyes of God…
You say to stop going for a blessing, but every church I have been to within my area and in fact in France (which I visit frequently) say to receive a Blessing. In fact I have never come across a single Catholic Church in the UK that has refused to do so. I went for a Blessing in Scotland at the Cathedral about four months ago when I was visiting Edinburgh (as other people were doing) - yet again, there was no problem.
I would have emailed the Bishop’s office, to ask him what should be done as I do not really think that this sort of decision can made by others on the internet. But, in all honesty, I do not believe that I will be returning to the faith now for the reasons that I outlined above.

It is sad that this is the impression that we give to you. There is an explanation written on the inside cover of many of the missalettes that are in the pews that may help you to understand. I think it is written more charitably and easier to understand that what often comes across on these threads. What it comes down to is that we are not in communion with the other religions, that is, people of other beliefs do not share our Catholic belief in the Eucharist. The church would not ask a Methodist, for example, who came forward in the Communion line perhaps at a wedding or funeral to say “Amen” (Yes, I believe) that the Eucharist is not a symbol but is in fact Jesus.

As far as the practice of giving blessings in the Communion line getting started, we do not know exactly how or why this happened. From my recollection, the first time that I saw anyone getting a blessing in the Communion line was about 21 years ago. Our new pastor at that time blessed the small children comeing up with their parents. And he also blessed the pregnant women. This was at a time when abortion was accepted throughout the country. There was no internet where we could easily look up answers… I am certain that if my good pastor at that time had any inclination whatsoever that his giving these blessing to children would have become so controvercial today, he never would have done it. After all, our Holy Father blesses children in the Communion line, too. The problem was that the practice grew and it was not only the little children coming up with their parents who were being given a blessing but some priests were actually inviting non-communicants to come forward for a blessing particularly at funerals, weddings, Christmas and Easter Masses when there may be many non-Catholics or Catholics not in good standing present, some of which would come forward anyway. If the priest instructed the non-Communicants to fold their arms for a blessing , it would possibly make the priest’s job easier not having to question whether or not they were Catholic and should receive Communion. We know now, thanks to the lightening fast speed of the internet and through the fast correspondence with the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments that non-Communicants should not be invited to come forward for a blessing in the Communion line. If your friends are still telling you to go forward, they may be ignorant of the instruction on this or just don’t care. It would be better for you to just remain in your seat. I am sorry that this whole dispute has made you feel uncomfortable. But I hope that after reading the Church’s instruction on the matter it will make more sense to you.
catholic.com/tracts/who-can-receive-communion

 

[Julianah]

Anyone can ask for a personal blessing outside of Mass. We may not add anything to Mass.

I know… that’s the way it is with the Roman rite… Eastern rite is much different though. It’s very personal and community oriented… people surround the priest during the reading of the Gospel, and are offered the opportunity to kiss the Gospel after the reading… babies receive communion… and yes, our parishioners are not only invited, but encouraged to come up to the priest for a blessing, who says the blessing while laying the cup of the precious Blood on the top of the person’s head. It is a very intimate and personal experience, and it brings joy to all in the parish. The person approaching for the blessing is someone who has demonstrated humility and courage in doing so, and the parishioners know to pray for that person. It is a very important part of our liturgy.

[edited] I don’t understand this… was this really a directive from the Vatican? If so, could someone please link the source?

Thanks,
Jules

 

[Julianah]

So… shoot, it looks like no one knows of a directive from the Vatican to prohibit blessings to individuals who approach during Communion? That means that it is at the discretion of the diocese…?

I think just to put this into perspective, we have Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and human tradition. Whether or not someone receives a blessing during Communion from the priest is a human tradition. The Vatican gives us directives in all categories, but in the last category, I think it is fair game to have an open and honest discussion about how helpful those human traditions are. (and shoot, we don’t even know if the Vatican really DID forbid it! we are still waiting on a source…)

I personally think it is a terrible mistake to deny someone a blessing if they chose to be humble enough to approach in the first place. Being a convert myself, I know how hard it is to go up there to receive the blessing. I would just be REALLY careful about discouraging people to do so since, as you saw with changecomes, it can turn people away. This does real harm to people, and it’s not right. And like I mentioned before, with the Eastern Rite Mass being Heaven on Earth, where time stands still, no one would even dream of turning away such a humble and courageous individual. This is a person who wants to come into (or return to) the Covenant family. Why should we be so exclusive? This is a human tradition that the Roman rite should reconsider.

 

[Phemie]

[edited] I don’t understand this… was this really a directive from the Vatican? If so, could someone please link the source?

Thanks,
Jules

The question was asked of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the official reply pointed out that these rules already exist:

1. The Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio n. 84, “forbids any pastor, for whatever reason to pretext even of a pastoral nature, to perform ceremonies of any kind for divorced people who remarry”. To be feared is that any form of blessing in substitution for communion would give the impression that the divorced and remarried have been returned, in some sense, to the status of Catholics in good standing.
2. In a similar way, for others who are not to be admitted to Holy Communion in accord with the norm of law, the Church’s discipline has already made clear that they should not approach Holy Communion nor receive a blessing. This would include non-Catholics and those envisaged in can. 915 (i.e., those under the penalty of excommunication or interdict, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin).

Don’t the above two articles include almost everyone who would approach the priest in the Communion line?

Of course you will always find priests who ignore these rules. One such was our former pastor who, last New Year’s Eve, attended an invalid marriage at which he stood and blessed the couple and told them the Church was with them. I was at that family wedding and I knew the groom didn’t have his annulment and she didn’t have a dispensation for lack of form or disparity of cult. Those things were pending but hadn’t come in at the time of the wedding. He thought he was being pastoral, but he did the couple no favour since now they don’t really care if they get married in the Church because 'Fr. blessed our marriage".

 

[FullOfThought]

Haaaaannng on one second here!!

I don’t believe anything this thread says! My priest was trained in the vatican and did many many mass’s with the Pope. He ALWAYS encourages people to come up for a blessing and in RCIA he told us that the Pope loves to bless non-catholics, especially those entering into our faith!

I’ll see if I can get more info from him about this.

ALSO, there is spiritual communion for those, including myself, who can’t have the gltuen in the Eurcharist or the acid in the wine. A non-Catholic can most definately participate in this!

 

[Phemie]

Haaaaannng on one second here!!

I don’t believe anything this thread says! My priest was trained in the vatican and did many many mass’s with the Pope. He ALWAYS encourages people to come up for a blessing and in RCIA he told us that the Pope loves to bless non-catholics, especially those entering into our faith!

I’ll see if I can get more info from him about this.

ALSO, there is spiritual communion for those, including myself, who can’t have the gltuen in the Eurcharist or the acid in the wine. A non-Catholic can most definately participate in this!

Blessing non-Catholics is not forbidden. Blessing them in the Communion line in lieu of giving them Communion is.

Anyone can make a spiritual Communion, that doesn’t involve getting in the Communion line and getting ‘blessed’.

 

[FullOfThought]

Blessing non-Catholics is not forbidden. Blessing them in the Communion line in lieu of giving them Communion is.

Anyone can make a spiritual Communion, that doesn’t involve getting in the Communion line and getting ‘blessed’.

Again, I have to disagree. My priests do it all the time! I’m sure we have all had the immense feeling of power/love/safeness when being blessed by a Priest while he is holdng Christ in his hands! How and why would this possible be forbidden!

 

[Phemie]

Again, I have to disagree. My priests do it all the time! I’m sure we have all had the immense feeling of power/love/safeness when being blessed by a Priest while he is holdng Christ in his hands! How and why would this possible be forbidden!

You can disagree as much as you want but that was what was pointed out by the CDW when the question was asked. The official letter, including a protocol number is included here.

The letter clearly states that the CDW is studying the question but that for the time being these rules are already in effect.

 

[FullOfThought]

I was aware of that, but that was over 3 years ago. My priest has only ‘graduated’ after this. Like I said, I’ll see if I can get my hands on info for him for us to ponder over

 

[Phemie]

I was aware of that, but that was over 3 years ago. My priest has only ‘graduated’ after this. Like I said, I’ll see if I can get my hands on info for him for us to ponder over

Again, just because a priest doesn’t follow the rules doesn’t mean the rules don’t exist. Disobedience is not a virtue.

 

[TheMc]

Again, just because a priest doesn’t follow the rules doesn’t mean the rules don’t exist. Disobedience is not a virtue.

 

[FAB]

I am not a Catholic but attending RCIA classes.
Originally when I started attending Mass in April, the priest used to always say “May God Bless you” when I went up for a blessing. Now he says “May God keep you safe”,
Have I done something wrong. I am just wondering why the priest changed what he had said. I am uncertain what he says to other people who receive blessings and not the Eucharist.

First Welcome home to the Church.
Most priest and deacon give a simple blessing " I bless you in the name of the Father , and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" answer “Amen”

I add to it: " Bless you today and every day, in the name of the Father , and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" answer “Amen”

If going for a blessing during to Communion procession is done in your church, feel free to go. Just have your arms cross your chest.

Don’t worry about those on this site that say otherwise.

Peace and Blessings,
Deacon FAB

 

[TheMc]

First Welcome home to the Church.
Most priest and deacon give a simple blessing " I bless you in the name of the Father , and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" answer “Amen”

I add to it: " Bless you today and every day, in the name of the Father , and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" answer “Amen”

If going for a blessing during to Communion procession is done in your church, feel free to go. Just have your arms cross your chest.

Don’t worry about those on this site that say otherwise.

Peace and Blessings,
Deacon FAB

Deacon FAB, you say not to worry about those who say otherwise.
Does that include ignoring Rome?
The letter is quite clear:

In a similar way, for others who are not to be admitted to Holy Communion in accord with the norm of law, the Church’s discipline has already made clear that they should not approach Holy Communion nor receive a blessing.

What part of this is difficult to understand?

 

[anp1215]

Just to let everyone know, I am currently communicating via email with the OP, and she has left the forum and is no longer viewing this thread or any part of the site.

Just wanted to let everyone know so they didn’t type out a long answer which she won’t see.