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29238. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 10/13/2008 8:12:39 PM 
29239. Jenerator - 10/14/2008 3:29:58 AM What exactly does 'blessing the animals' do? 29240. jexster - 10/14/2008 3:40:14 AM This is the prayer said over Sasha and William..priest made sign of cross on her forehead as he included her name at the blessing
Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless ______. By the power of your love, enable it to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.”
The American Catholic
29241. Jenerator - 10/14/2008 3:58:04 AM Sweet. 29242. wonkers2 - 10/14/2008 1:07:20 PM Does the blessing extend to the animals supporting McLame-Palin? 29243. jexster - 10/14/2008 7:29:25 PM IF you brought one of the creatures on Oct 4, they'd be blessed too.
Reminds me...I was at the Papal Mass at Dodger Stadium and whenever the Pope does anything audience or whatever, at the end, they announce that the Holy Father will now bless medallions etc of the faithful....
I had a crucifix around my neck but I didn't take it off and hold it up. So I asked a priest whether it was blessed
"John even your socks were blessed" 29244. jexster - 10/14/2008 7:31:11 PM the Miracle of YouTube
Jexie was there
29245. Jenerator - 10/14/2008 7:55:35 PM What do blessed socks do for the Kingdom of God? How do they edify Christ? 29246. jexster - 10/14/2008 8:10:35 PM "edify Christ"
Baylor education
Become a Catholic..and find out 29247. jexster - 10/14/2008 8:12:15 PM What does naming your daughter "Faith" do?
Some 17th Century Puritan throwback will probably be wearing the Scarlet Letter in a few years
What do you do? 29248. jexster - 10/14/2008 8:12:43 PM About as Christian as my socks 29249. Jenerator - 10/16/2008 2:24:38 AM What does naming your daughter "Faith" do?
Let's see... back in 2004, I wanted to have another baby, but my husband did not. He was pretty adamant about not having any more children, and it made me very sad. I tried to talk with him about it, and our discussions were peaceful, but brief. He simply didn't want any more kids.
I prayed to God that he would take the desire away from me to have more children or that he would give my husband the desire to have more. I just wanted to be in God's will. I prayed and prayed and prayed and fasted and prayed. Eventually I got to the point where I was resigned about not having another baby and was alright with it. I asked for God to give me more faith so that I could trust him more. Three months later, I found out I was pregnant despite using protection! I was scared to tell my husband, afraid that he would think I somehow sabotaged him. Again, I prayed about it.
I then broke the news to him and he was elated!
I decided to name the baby Faith if it was a girl, because she was a gift from God. My husband loves her dearly and is so tender with her. We both feel complete as a family now. 29250. Jenerator - 10/16/2008 2:32:25 AM I seriously do not understand the rationale behind blessing your medallions (or socks). Do you believe that the Pope imbues those inanimate objects with mystical power? 29251. jexster - 10/16/2008 2:43:15 AM Consecrates to God
Just like when you named your daughter Faith
(I prefer Charity)
And the Pope doesn't imbue with anything. God does. We get blessings and give them all the time! When Catholics enter/leave a church, we bless ourselves with Holy Water. Protestants, even evangelicals, are called to and give blessings - fishing fleets, very common.
In the liturgy dozens of times. The reason is essentially Incarnational and the understanding that salvation is a corporate act, that the Church is not a collection of individuals nor is it the Pope or other bishops and their priests.
We are Church..not "I"..not "him"
Catholic blessings
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ. ...
We're just responding to our Call 29252. jexster - 10/16/2008 2:59:08 AM The second aspect of the quality of the life of the beloved is that we are blessed. It is so important that you and I experience that we are blessed. The word benediction means blessing. Literally, bene means good and diction means saying. To bless someone means to say good things about them. "You are good." We need to know that good things are being said of us. We really have to trust that, otherwise we cannot bless other people. So many people don't feel blessed.
"The Life of the Beloved"
Henri Nouwen
There's no "magic" about it...just magical
Nothing "mysterious"....just Mystery 29253. Jenerator - 10/16/2008 1:16:20 PM Here's what I don't understand Jexster. What is the purpose of consecrating a cross? Isn't it *already* dedicated to a sacred purpose? Does the act of consecrating/papal blessing make it more 'real' or is it a symbolic gesture? 29254. Jenerator - 10/16/2008 1:17:46 PM For example, I would not feel the need to consecrate a Bible. I would not consecrate my shirt, etc. 29255. anomie - 10/16/2008 6:49:40 PM What's the "rationale" for blessing anything or anybody? I don't think of "rational" when considering religious or superstitious rituals. 29256. jexster - 10/16/2008 7:32:47 PM I thought I'd explained this Jen. No a cross isn't blessed just because it is a cross. A church building isn't consecrated just because it is built
It is consecrated because the Church, the Body of Christ, acts to "set it apart" 29257. jexster - 10/16/2008 7:43:12 PM Anomie has a good point as well
I remember going to my first Buddhist temple, the Asakusa Kannon Temple. The Temple, the oldest in Tokyo is dedicated interestingly enough to a Buddhist goddess of mercy who miraculously saved some fishermen in the 7th Century. Like Mary Star of the Sea
Anyway, out front of Buddhist temples or at least the non-Zen ones you'll find water for blessing/purification
I was very comfortable approaching this ritual washing just as I would a holy water stoop at a Church narthex...
It's, as I've said, incarnational Jen. An outward and visible expression of our response to the Incarnation.
My Rosary has been blessed. My cat. Me. My crucifix. My Icon of the Crucifixion. When I was 10 and went to a General Audience with Pope John XXIII, I remember holding up about 30 medals and crucifixes for the Papal blessing to give to my Roman Catholic relatives...they knew what they were getting and even then I knew what I was giving, not in a rational way, in a faith way.
Not quite sure why this is such a difficult concept at least to understand if not to believe in.
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