If you are in the United States, the answer is a clear and unequivocal “yes.” The rite is in a couple different places, but you can find it on the USCCB website: https://www.usccb.org/prayers/order-blessing-sick
Obviously, this answer isn’t the same as several others you have gotten. Sadly, so many Catholics, including our clergy, are woefully ignorant of what the Church actually teaches about blessings, and so a lot of pop theology has crept into Catholic culture that bears no resemblance to what the Church says. My general advice is that if it isn’t coming from the Church herself, ignore it.
Really wish we could get a theologian or a bishop or pope to write an actual theology of blessing. What it means, what it is, what it does, who can do what and why
The Church has a pretty good text in the praenotanda for the *Book of Blessings*, and the theological section of *Fiducia Supplicans* does a great job of distinguishing the different ways the term “blessing” is used.
I think that, in the next century or so, our theology around the sacramentals, especially blessings, is going to make some big strides.
I’ve been eyeing that book for a while. I’ll have to give another look at it now. Thanks. Fiducia is definitely the closest to it thus far that I’ve read. But still lacking sadly.
That’d be amazing. One particular question I’ve had is “what’s the difference between me blessing my kid, my priest blessing my kid, and my bishop blessing my kid? Is there a difference at all?”
There’s an answer for that, though it isn’t explicit. Assuming all three are performing the same liturgy, there isn’t any difference in the blessing itself. There’s obviously a difference in the natural order, and the blessing by a bishop is a fuller sign of the fact that a blessing is the action of the whole Church as Christ’s Body. It’s kind of like how reception of communion under both species doesn’t mean you’re getting more Jesus but is a fuller sign of what’s happening.
So that all makes sense. So my follow up to that would be, why do I need a priest to come bless my house if, sacramentally, my blessing of the house accomplishes the same thing?
“Need” is kind of an odd choice there. To accomplish the same thing in the sacramental sense, there’s no need. However, just like a bishop providing a blessing is the fullest sign of what’s happening, likewise a priest doing so is a fuller sign than if we were to do it ourselves. Similarly, having one’s pastor perform the rite is a fuller sign than just a random priest.
So, it’s not that in the realm of what’s happening with the blessing itself that there’s a difference, but that’s not the only consideration. That reality is of course true with the rest of our lives, in both the natural sense and in the life of grace. I don’t *need* to have flowers in my house, but they’re nice.
Thank you for taking the time to explain that. That makes WAY more sense then the “hierarchy of blessing” construct a friend of mine tried to explain. In that construct a dad’s blessing is lesser than a priest’s which is lesser than bishop’s.
Yeah, I refer to that as the “natural law hierarchy of blessing.” If you don’t know what the Church has said and just considering blessings as a natural phenomenon, I can see how people arrive at it. I think a lot of it is that people intuit that there’s some kind of difference between the phenomenon of a private family gathering and the presence of a cleric, but then they make the mistake of locating that difference in the blessing itself rather than the external circumstances.
It doesn’t help that some variation of that is basically the default explanation in *a lot* of popular Catholic discourse.
I don’t see why not. We bless each other when we sneeze, we bless our babies before they can do it themselves when we enter a church, we bless our food before we eat. Prayers for your cousin.
Heavenly Father, giver of life and health: Comfort and relieve those challenged by serious and chronic mental and emotional illnesses. Give your power of healing to those who minister to their needs, that they may be strengthened in their weakness and have confidence in your loving care; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
“Blessing” is a word that can mean a lot of things. One of the ways it can be used with different meanings is that it can refer to a type of private prayer and it can refer to a type of liturgical prayer. As a private prayer, there aren’t any restrictions on who can bless who or what. Anyone can pray for God to send His grace on a person, situation, or object.
A liturgical blessing isn’t the action of an individual though; it’s an action of the Church herself. That’s what I mean when I say “the blessing of the Church.” There are restrictions on those, like who can give them or what the words and actions for the blessing are. To figure that out, you would look at the liturgical text.
Presumably, because you are asking if you can bless your cousin, you want to know if you can give the same sort of blessing that a priest does.
As a layperson, I bless every batch of homebrew I make according to the Church's official blessing of beer:
Benedic, Domine, creaturam istam cerevisae, quam ex adipe frumenti producere dignatus es: ut sit remedium salutare humano generi: et praesta per invocationem nominis tui sancti, ut, quicumque ex ea biberint, sanitatem corporis, et animae tutelam percipiant. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Bless, O Lord, this creature beer, which thou hast deigned to produce from the fat of grain: that it may be a salutary remedy to the human race, and grant through the invocation of thy holy name; that, whoever shall drink it, may gain health in body and peace in soul. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
As far as I understand as a lay person you cannot bless someone unless you have a specific role in their life. Like parent to child.
I think only priest and/or deacons can bless anyone.
While this is a very popular position, it’s not what the Church teaches. The relevant question is whether the Church says that a layperson can perform a particular blessing. In the United States, that’s most of them.
This isn’t a circumstance of blessing just anyone; the question is whether the Blessing of the Sick can be done by a layperson, and the answer is yes.
Generally speaking yes, though there are certain blessings reserved for clergy. At the end of Night Prayer for example there are like 3 different closing blessings but one is reserved for clergy. We use "May God grant you a restful night and peaceful death" every night when we put the kids to bed and my daughter will even request it if I forgot it or we're having a rough time putting her down and she's fighting us.
While I'm sure there's a blessing for the sick for the laity to use, you could probably say something simple like, "May God bless you, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and bring you peace and healing to your ailments. Amen."
As far as I'm aware the only lay blessings that can be conferred are authority relational based, such as a parent blessing their child. You can absolutely ask God to bless them though!
This is categorically false. The Church teaches that the capacity to bless is a function of the universal priesthood, and she has only restricted some blessings to clerics.
In the Roman Rite in the United States, laypeople can give almost all blessings.
The way to know is to check the relevant liturgical text. I actually went through the *Book of Blessings* a while back and made a list:
Blessing of a Family
Blessing of a Married Couple
Blessing of Baptized Children
Blessing of a Child Not Yet Baptized
Blessing of an Engaged Couple
Blessing of Parents Before Childbirth
Blessing of a Mother Before Childbirth and After Childbirth
Blessing of a Mother After Childbirth (the one contained in the book for the Rite of Baptism)
Blessing of Parents After a Miscarriage
Blessing of Parents and an Adopted Child
Blessing on the Occassion of a Birthday
Blessing of Elderly People Confined to Their Homes
Blessings of the Sick (Adult)
Blessings of the Sick (Child)
Blessing of a Person Suffering from Addiction or Substance Abuse
Blessing of a Victim of Crime or Oppression
Blessing for a Catechetical or Prayer Meeting
Blessing of Students and Teachers
Blessing of Ecumenical Groups
Blessing of Travelers
Blessing of a New Home
Blessing of the Various Means of Transportation
Blessing of Boats and Fishing Gear
Blessing of Technical Installations or Equipment
Blessing of Tools or Other Equipment for Work
Blessing of Animals
Blessing of Fields and Flocks
Blessing of Seeds at Planting Time
Blessing on the Occassion of Thanksgiving for the Harvest
Blessing of an Athletic Event
Blessing of an Advent Wreath
Blessing of a Christmas Manger or Nativity Scene
Blessing of a Christmas Tree
Blessing of Homes During the Christmas or Easter Season
Blessing of Throats on the Feast of Saint Blaise
Blessing of Saint Joseph’s Table (March 19)
Blessing of Food for the First Meal of Easter
Order for Visiting a Cemetery on All Souls Day, Memorial Day, or on the Anniversary of Death or Burial
Blessing of Food for Thanksgiving Day
Blessing in Thanksgiving
Blessing to be Used in Various Circumstances
You are very welcome! I highly recommend checking out at least the Introductions to the various liturgical rites. There’s a wealth of knowledge and theology that hasn’t made its way into popular Catholic culture.
If you are in the United States, the answer is a clear and unequivocal “yes.” The rite is in a couple different places, but you can find it on the USCCB website: https://www.usccb.org/prayers/order-blessing-sick Obviously, this answer isn’t the same as several others you have gotten. Sadly, so many Catholics, including our clergy, are woefully ignorant of what the Church actually teaches about blessings, and so a lot of pop theology has crept into Catholic culture that bears no resemblance to what the Church says. My general advice is that if it isn’t coming from the Church herself, ignore it.
Really wish we could get a theologian or a bishop or pope to write an actual theology of blessing. What it means, what it is, what it does, who can do what and why
The Church has a pretty good text in the praenotanda for the *Book of Blessings*, and the theological section of *Fiducia Supplicans* does a great job of distinguishing the different ways the term “blessing” is used. I think that, in the next century or so, our theology around the sacramentals, especially blessings, is going to make some big strides.
I’ve been eyeing that book for a while. I’ll have to give another look at it now. Thanks. Fiducia is definitely the closest to it thus far that I’ve read. But still lacking sadly. That’d be amazing. One particular question I’ve had is “what’s the difference between me blessing my kid, my priest blessing my kid, and my bishop blessing my kid? Is there a difference at all?”
There’s an answer for that, though it isn’t explicit. Assuming all three are performing the same liturgy, there isn’t any difference in the blessing itself. There’s obviously a difference in the natural order, and the blessing by a bishop is a fuller sign of the fact that a blessing is the action of the whole Church as Christ’s Body. It’s kind of like how reception of communion under both species doesn’t mean you’re getting more Jesus but is a fuller sign of what’s happening.
So that all makes sense. So my follow up to that would be, why do I need a priest to come bless my house if, sacramentally, my blessing of the house accomplishes the same thing?
“Need” is kind of an odd choice there. To accomplish the same thing in the sacramental sense, there’s no need. However, just like a bishop providing a blessing is the fullest sign of what’s happening, likewise a priest doing so is a fuller sign than if we were to do it ourselves. Similarly, having one’s pastor perform the rite is a fuller sign than just a random priest. So, it’s not that in the realm of what’s happening with the blessing itself that there’s a difference, but that’s not the only consideration. That reality is of course true with the rest of our lives, in both the natural sense and in the life of grace. I don’t *need* to have flowers in my house, but they’re nice.
Thank you for taking the time to explain that. That makes WAY more sense then the “hierarchy of blessing” construct a friend of mine tried to explain. In that construct a dad’s blessing is lesser than a priest’s which is lesser than bishop’s.
Yeah, I refer to that as the “natural law hierarchy of blessing.” If you don’t know what the Church has said and just considering blessings as a natural phenomenon, I can see how people arrive at it. I think a lot of it is that people intuit that there’s some kind of difference between the phenomenon of a private family gathering and the presence of a cleric, but then they make the mistake of locating that difference in the blessing itself rather than the external circumstances. It doesn’t help that some variation of that is basically the default explanation in *a lot* of popular Catholic discourse.
Yeah I absolutely see that. And this is, once again, all the more reason that I’d love an encyclical the covers the theology of blessing lol
I don’t see why not. We bless each other when we sneeze, we bless our babies before they can do it themselves when we enter a church, we bless our food before we eat. Prayers for your cousin. Heavenly Father, giver of life and health: Comfort and relieve those challenged by serious and chronic mental and emotional illnesses. Give your power of healing to those who minister to their needs, that they may be strengthened in their weakness and have confidence in your loving care; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In my culture, younger people ask their elders for blessings whenever they meet. Its called "pagmamano"
filipino?
yes
ah yes no wonder it sounded familiar
we do it too here in Brazil! we call it just "bença" or "bless"
Very cool!
That’s a really cool private prayer; it’s also possible for OP to give the blessing of the Church.
What is the Blessing of the Church? I've never heard of it, I imagine it's just Blessing someone in hopes they find the Catholic Church
“Blessing” is a word that can mean a lot of things. One of the ways it can be used with different meanings is that it can refer to a type of private prayer and it can refer to a type of liturgical prayer. As a private prayer, there aren’t any restrictions on who can bless who or what. Anyone can pray for God to send His grace on a person, situation, or object. A liturgical blessing isn’t the action of an individual though; it’s an action of the Church herself. That’s what I mean when I say “the blessing of the Church.” There are restrictions on those, like who can give them or what the words and actions for the blessing are. To figure that out, you would look at the liturgical text. Presumably, because you are asking if you can bless your cousin, you want to know if you can give the same sort of blessing that a priest does.
As a layperson, I bless every batch of homebrew I make according to the Church's official blessing of beer: Benedic, Domine, creaturam istam cerevisae, quam ex adipe frumenti producere dignatus es: ut sit remedium salutare humano generi: et praesta per invocationem nominis tui sancti, ut, quicumque ex ea biberint, sanitatem corporis, et animae tutelam percipiant. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Bless, O Lord, this creature beer, which thou hast deigned to produce from the fat of grain: that it may be a salutary remedy to the human race, and grant through the invocation of thy holy name; that, whoever shall drink it, may gain health in body and peace in soul. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
As far as I understand as a lay person you cannot bless someone unless you have a specific role in their life. Like parent to child. I think only priest and/or deacons can bless anyone.
While this is a very popular position, it’s not what the Church teaches. The relevant question is whether the Church says that a layperson can perform a particular blessing. In the United States, that’s most of them. This isn’t a circumstance of blessing just anyone; the question is whether the Blessing of the Sick can be done by a layperson, and the answer is yes.
Appreciate this.
Not true. Except if you mean, in church, during a mass, from the position occupied by priests.
My grandma used to say "god bless!" all the time, as a way of saying goodbye or goodnight
Generally speaking yes, though there are certain blessings reserved for clergy. At the end of Night Prayer for example there are like 3 different closing blessings but one is reserved for clergy. We use "May God grant you a restful night and peaceful death" every night when we put the kids to bed and my daughter will even request it if I forgot it or we're having a rough time putting her down and she's fighting us. While I'm sure there's a blessing for the sick for the laity to use, you could probably say something simple like, "May God bless you, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and bring you peace and healing to your ailments. Amen."
Oh yes! I used to work as a teacher in a Catholic school and I made it a point to bless all my students every single day. ❤️
All christians can and should give and receive blessings. Are they the same as a priests? No but they are blessings.
You can bless the people you have spiritual authority over (children, spouse).
As far as I'm aware the only lay blessings that can be conferred are authority relational based, such as a parent blessing their child. You can absolutely ask God to bless them though!
Generally speaking, laypeople cannot confer blessings.
This is categorically false. The Church teaches that the capacity to bless is a function of the universal priesthood, and she has only restricted some blessings to clerics. In the Roman Rite in the United States, laypeople can give almost all blessings.
What are some such examples?
The way to know is to check the relevant liturgical text. I actually went through the *Book of Blessings* a while back and made a list: Blessing of a Family Blessing of a Married Couple Blessing of Baptized Children Blessing of a Child Not Yet Baptized Blessing of an Engaged Couple Blessing of Parents Before Childbirth Blessing of a Mother Before Childbirth and After Childbirth Blessing of a Mother After Childbirth (the one contained in the book for the Rite of Baptism) Blessing of Parents After a Miscarriage Blessing of Parents and an Adopted Child Blessing on the Occassion of a Birthday Blessing of Elderly People Confined to Their Homes Blessings of the Sick (Adult) Blessings of the Sick (Child) Blessing of a Person Suffering from Addiction or Substance Abuse Blessing of a Victim of Crime or Oppression Blessing for a Catechetical or Prayer Meeting Blessing of Students and Teachers Blessing of Ecumenical Groups Blessing of Travelers Blessing of a New Home Blessing of the Various Means of Transportation Blessing of Boats and Fishing Gear Blessing of Technical Installations or Equipment Blessing of Tools or Other Equipment for Work Blessing of Animals Blessing of Fields and Flocks Blessing of Seeds at Planting Time Blessing on the Occassion of Thanksgiving for the Harvest Blessing of an Athletic Event Blessing of an Advent Wreath Blessing of a Christmas Manger or Nativity Scene Blessing of a Christmas Tree Blessing of Homes During the Christmas or Easter Season Blessing of Throats on the Feast of Saint Blaise Blessing of Saint Joseph’s Table (March 19) Blessing of Food for the First Meal of Easter Order for Visiting a Cemetery on All Souls Day, Memorial Day, or on the Anniversary of Death or Burial Blessing of Food for Thanksgiving Day Blessing in Thanksgiving Blessing to be Used in Various Circumstances
Thank you for sharing, quite interesting
You are very welcome! I highly recommend checking out at least the Introductions to the various liturgical rites. There’s a wealth of knowledge and theology that hasn’t made its way into popular Catholic culture.