When does a sacramental lose its blessing?

[jtodisco]

I ordered a miraculous medal from the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, which stated that the medal has been blessed at the shrine. However, I’ve heard that sacramental objects lose their blessing when they’re sold or mailed. Is this correct? The selling part makes sense to me to a certain degree, but I don’t know if my purchase of this medal counts as it being sold or if it is considered a donation to the shrine? Also, the site doesn’t make it clear if the medal was blessed prior to be being sold or afterwards, which it seems would make a difference.

Basically, I find myself a little confused and would appreciate if someone could show me an official statement made by the Church on these issues (i.e. somewhere in canon law, etc.). I don’t want to ask my parish priest to bless this medal if it has already been blessed, but if it has somehow lost its blessing then I would like to have it blessed.

Thanks in advance for any help any of you may be able to give me on this matter.

 

[bzkoss236]

I wouldn’t think that a sacramental would loose it’s blessing if it’s simply mailed. Because that cost goes toward getting the sacramental to you, which contains no impediments (that I can see) that would cause it to loose it’s blessing. I have heard, though, that when a blessed item is sold that it looses its blessing. Though, if an item was blessed after purchase, that might be different.

As for official Church teaching on the matter:

**2118 **“God’s first commandment condemns the main sins of irreligion: tempting God, in words or deeds, sacrilege, and simony.”

**2139 **“Tempting God in words or deeds, sacrilege, and simony are sins of irreligion forbidden by the first commandment.”

**2121 **“Simony is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things. To Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the spiritual power he saw at work in the apostles, St. Peter responded: “Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money!” Peter thus held to the words of Jesus: “You received without pay, give without pay.” It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods and behave toward them as their owner or master, for they have their source in God. One can receive them only from him, without payment.”

 

[Bookcat]

I ordered a miraculous medal from the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, which stated that the medal has been blessed at the shrine. However, I’ve heard that sacramental objects lose their blessing when they’re sold or mailed. Is this correct? The selling part makes sense to me to a certain degree, but I don’t know if my purchase of this medal counts as it being sold or if it is considered a donation to the shrine? Also, the site doesn’t make it clear if the medal was blessed prior to be being sold or afterwards, which it seems would make a difference.

Basically, I find myself a little confused and would appreciate if someone could show me an official statement made by the Church on these issues (i.e. somewhere in canon law, etc.). I don’t want to ask my parish priest to bless this medal if it has already been blessed, but if it has somehow lost its blessing then I would like to have it blessed.

Thanks in advance for any help any of you may be able to give me on this matter.

Being blessed after the purchase is what is likely intended there.

One will certainly find it said by many that an article looses its blessing upon being sold.

Not sure if one will find current documents to that effect --but it may be “supposed” and the article should be reblessed.

Now it is certain that something which is blessed with an indulgence attached to it (medal, scapular, rosary, cross or crucifix) --does certainly loose the indulgence if it is sold.

As the Norms on Indulgences from the Church states:

N16 .2 “An indulgence attached to the use of an article of devotion ceases…if the article is destroyed or sold.”

(such is from the Holy See)

usccbpublishing.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=705

 

[jtodisco]

So should I just err on the side of caution and have the medal blessed by my parish priest? Is it wrong to have something “re-blessed” in a situation like this? Or maybe I should just email the shrine and ask them when they bless the medals they sell?

 

[Bookcat]

So should I just err on the side of caution and have the medal blessed by my parish priest? Is it wrong to have something “re-blessed” in a situation like this?

No I would not say it is not wrong.

 

[MarcusAndreas]

When you’re doing something like this and trying to sell blessings.

 

[jtodisco]

When you’re doing something like this and trying to sell blessings.

That’s disgusting. I don’t know who’s worse, the people who sell these items or the people who buy them thinking that they can purchase God’s blessings.

But I’m not talking about an extreme example like that. This is a shrine that is “selling” the medals at cost (from what I can tell) and doesn’t even charge to mail them. I just don’t know if they blessed the medal before or after I bought it. Either way I think I might just play it safe and have my medal blessed by my priest.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I have read that there are sources in Rome which will sell you the scroll for a Papal Blessing. They will then have it appropriately blessed before sending it to you. This would seem to be a similar process.

 

[Vico]

I ordered a miraculous medal from the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, which stated that the medal has been blessed at the shrine. However, I’ve heard that sacramental objects lose their blessing when they’re sold or mailed. Is this correct? The selling part makes sense to me to a certain degree, but I don’t know if my purchase of this medal counts as it being sold or if it is considered a donation to the shrine? Also, the site doesn’t make it clear if the medal was blessed prior to be being sold or afterwards, which it seems would make a difference.

Basically, I find myself a little confused and would appreciate if someone could show me an official statement made by the Church on these issues (i.e. somewhere in canon law, etc.). I don’t want to ask my parish priest to bless this medal if it has already been blessed, but if it has somehow lost its blessing then I would like to have it blessed.

Thanks in advance for any help any of you may be able to give me on this matter.

Ask if the price with a blessing is any different than the price without the blessing?

 

[jtodisco]

Ask if the price with a blessing is any different than the price without the blessing?

No, no. It’s nothing seedy like that. Every medal they sell is blessed at the shrine. “All items are blessed at the National Shrine.” It is a shrine in honor of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. The whole purpose of the shrine is to spread devotion to Our Lady under that apparition.

Here’s the link so you can see for yourself:

amm.org/

 

[Bookcat]

No, no. It’s nothing seedy like that. Every medal they sell is blessed at the shrine. “All items are blessed at the National Shrine.” It is a shrine in honor of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. The whole purpose of the shrine is to spread devotion to Our Lady under that apparition.

LIkely then – it is blessed prior to shipment.

One shrine I got to has a Priest on Sundays --blessing items in the hall outside of the giftshop. It is outside so people would not come to get them blessed prior to buying them.

 

[Leon_Bloy]

It is OK to have things blessed again, I think it seems clear from everything I know, at least, unless it becomes some kind of irrational idea of piling up additional blessings, which would not do anything, and could perhaps be a sign of disrespect.

Examples where it is clearly OK:
-since a special indulgence is attached on a certain day to using an object blessed by the pope, having a rosary or something that was already blessed by a priest blessed again by the pope is understandable.

-you inherit an old rosary from a relative, and since they are dead, nobody knows if it was ever blessed, so you have it done just to be sure.

-you can’t remember whether or not something was blessed

-you have a blessed scapular you have been wearing, but were not yet enrolled in the scapular by a priest, and he blessed it again during the ceremony (which is in the rubric for the ceremony).

If you have any doubt, go ahead and have it blessed again. That shrine - which I have visited - I think means well, and I think they’re just trying to make things more convenient for themselves and others, and they probably want people to have blessed things for good reason. However, this runs the risk of a)the blessing being lost or b)people having doubts about the blessed status, neither of which are good.

If I had to guess, I would think it’s OK, because they are not charging more for the blessing, but go ahead and have it done again.

 

[jtodisco]

-you inherit an old rosary from a relative, and since they are dead, nobody knows if it was ever blessed, so you have it done just to be sure.

This actually just recently happened to me. My grandfather passed way and I was given his rosary. When I approached my parish priest asking if he could bless it he told me that he wouldn’t bless it because “we should assume it was blessed already since back then people never got anything like this without having it blessed”. I’m not sure why the priest said this. But I know my grandfather, while my parish priest never met him. And I can’t say for certain he ever had his rosary or other religious items blessed or not.