What is the difference between Consecrated and Blessed?

[Blessedwithfive]

I am thinking that priests are consecrated at Holy Orders (made holy, set apart) and people are blessed (given grace, made holy?) at Baptism…but then I was thinking that maybe both are consecrated…

and what about Confirmation. Are we blessed or consecrated?

I can’t believe I don’t know the difference…maybe I am overthinking it.

 

[CRM_Brother]

Many people use the terms consecrated and blessed interchangeably, but there is actually a difference. Blessing is the bestowal of grace upon a person, or in the case of an object, the prayer that the use of the object may allow grace to be bestowed upon the person using it. Consecration is not about an external bestowal of grace, but a solemn dedication of the entirety of the person being consecrated towards God. It is a binding placed upon reality by the Church concerning a certain person. In the case of Holy Orders, the Church uses its authority to change the person on a spiritual level. Their souls are now inherently ordered to a specific duty, that is, service in the ministry of the deaconate, presbyterate, or episcopate.

In Confirmation, people are both blessed and consecrated. They are sealed with the Holy Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit comes down upon them in the form of grace. Their lives are also consecrated to God in the process of the sealing. When the bishop gives the Confrimand a light slap it is meant to be an awakening to the change in the reality of their lives. It is as if the Bishop is saying, “Wake up! Your life is now God’s. You belong to him.”

God Bless,
Br. Ben, CRM

 

[Blessedwithfive]

Thanks, that is what I was looking for.
Let me just verify that I got this:

We are blessed and consecrated at Baptism, and Confirmation
Men are consecrated at Holy Orders
Blessed at Anointing of the Sick.
Marriages are blessed
Father blesses you at the end of Mass and Confession

And lastly, would it be fair to say consecration is a higher form of a blessing? (keep in mind I am teaching 6th graders so I have to have it make sense to them…)

Thanks

 

[CRM_Brother]

Almost everything is correct. The only point that is incomplete is the Anointing of the Sick. The sick who receive this sacrament are both blessed and consecrated. They are blessed with grace to endure their sufferings, but their sufferings are consecrated to God. They are united to Christ’s passion and it allows them to share in the sacrifice for the salvation of the world. A good rule of thumb is that any time one of the three oils of the Church are used (Oil of the Sick, Oil of Catechumens, or Sacred Chrism) there is consecration taking place. In the Old Testament, every time a person was consecrated they were anointed with oil. Today, any sacramental consecration is also accompanied with anointing.

 

[Blessedwithfive]

Perfect, thanks. The part about the oils is just what I need to know to explain it to the kids…I can’t believe my “teachers guide” didn’t cover that. And now I can keep it separate in my mind as well. Peace.

 

[ChemicalBean]

Hi Blessed!

A caveat: the part about oils is great, but not all consecrations use them. One example are the ordination (consecration) of deacons. It is truly Holy Orders, and there is a consecratory prayer, but there is no physical anointing like the hands of priests or the heads of bishops.

Another example is Consecration of Virgins. Its Rite parallels an ordination, yet there is no anointing of the body of the sacred virgin. There is an epiclesis (calling down the Holy Spirit) for an out pouring of graces as a mystical anointing. As a side note, only women can be called to this consecration, which makes her Bride of Christ!