Blessing of religious articles QUESTION from Patrick Bell on July 4, 2002 Recently I went to Saint Anne de Beaupre Qc. Before going on this trip, a parishioner asked me if I would pick her up a fifteen decade rosary, and have it blessed, which I did. At a later date, she told me that she was taking the rosary to the Parish Priest to have it blessed. She said that she believed that it had been blessed but she wanted our Priest to bless it too.
Can a priest bless the rosary a second time? (the priest knew that the rosary had been blessed)
Patrick Bell
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, OLSM on July 15, 2002 Dear Patrick:
Yes. This is a sacramental of the Church that can be repeated.
I would assume that having the rosary blessed by her pastor was significant to her. It is okay.
Although the blessing of the Church is the same, I suppose that a blessing by one priest as opposed to another priest may have some effectual difference theoretically. The bible tells us that the prayers of a righteous man availeth much.
A blessing by a particularly holy priest I suppose may have some effectual difference than a priest of ordinary sanctity.
But we must be VERY careful about such speculation not to begin thinking superstitiously or magically.
The bottom line is that a priestly blessing is done in the name of the Church and the priest public ministry. If there were any lacking in the priest, the treasury of the Church would compensate for it.
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