Program / Course 21: Liturgical Theology / Lesson 5.4
What you will learn
- Define blessing in Scripture as speaking well of God and asking God’s good for others.
- Explain how Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed and free-church Christians understand blessing a person, a house or an object.
- Distinguish a blessing from a consecration and from a sacrament.
- State who may bless and what a layperson can properly do alone, including the blessing of food and of children.
The big idea
To bless in the Bible has two directions. People bless God by thanking and praising him, and God blesses people by giving good. When the church blesses a person or a thing, it asks God to give good through that person or thing, or it gives thanks for them. Catholic and Orthodox churches have many blessings of homes, boats, fields and objects, while Protestants more often bless people and food and avoid blessing objects. In all traditions a blessing is a prayer, not a spell, and it does not make an object work by itself.
Key terms
- Blessing
- From the Latin benedicere and Greek eulogein, to speak well of. A prayer or act that gives thanks to God or asks God’s good for a person or thing.
- Benediction
- A blessing pronounced at the end of a service, such as the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:24-26.
- Sacramental
- In Catholic teaching a sacred sign, including many blessings, instituted by the church to prepare for grace. Lesson 5.5 describes it further.
- Consecration
- Setting a person or thing apart for sacred use permanently, as in the consecration of a church or of the Eucharistic elements.
- Euchologion (Trebnik)
- The Orthodox book of prayers and blessings for many occasions.
- Grace (before meals)
- A prayer of thanks said before or after eating, practiced in nearly all traditions.
- Superstition
- In Catholic teaching, attributing power to an outward act or object apart from God and the right disposition of the heart.
Background
God blesses Abraham and tells him that he will be a blessing (Genesis 12:2-3). The priests are told to bless Israel with the words, “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” (Numbers 6:24-26). Jesus blesses children (Mark 10:16) and, at his ascension, lifts up his hands and blesses the disciples (Luke 24:50). Paul closes letters with blessings, for example 2 Corinthians 13:14, and says that food is sanctified by the word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:4-5). James warns that it is wrong to bless God and curse people made in his image (James 3:9-10).
From early on Christians blessed food and used the sign of the cross. The church orders and collections of prayers contain blessings for oil, water, first fruits, houses and new things. Tertullian in the early third century mentions that Christians make the sign of the cross on the forehead at every step and at meals, which shows the practice was common.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: What a blessing is and is not
A blessing is a prayer. It does not force God and does not change an object into something with its own power. A blessing of a person asks God for their good. A blessing of an object asks God to make it a means of good, or gives thanks for it. A blessing differs from consecration, which sets something apart for sacred use, and from a sacrament, which in Catholic and Orthodox teaching is an act in which Christ gives grace in a special way. A blessing is much more common and flexible.
Step 2: Catholic practice
The Catholic Church has a Book of Blessings, published after Vatican II in the 1980s, with blessings of families, children, the sick, homes, fields, vehicles and objects such as rosaries. It distinguishes blessings that a layperson may give, such as parents blessing their children, from those reserved for priests and deacons. The Catechism (paragraphs 1667 to 1673) explains that sacramentals give no grace on their own but dispose a person to receive it, and that they depend on prayer and faith. It warns against superstition, defined as attributing the efficacy of prayers or sacred signs to the mere external act, apart from the dispositions they require (paragraph 2111).
Step 3: Orthodox practice
The Orthodox Church has a rich set of blessings in the Euchologion. A priest blesses with his hand in the form of the letters of Christ’s name, the faithful ask for a blessing with the words Father, bless, and many blessings are used for houses, on the feast of Theophany, for crops and for the start of work. The Great Blessing of water and the lesser blessing are important. The Orthodox teach that all creation is to be offered to God and that blessing recognizes this. Laity bless their children and make the sign of the cross over food.
Step 4: Lutheran, Reformed and free-church practice
Luther in the Small Catechism gave simple blessings for morning, evening and meals, with the sign of the cross, and the Lutheran service ends with the Aaronic blessing pronounced by the pastor. Reformed churches also end with a benediction, which Calvin and others understood as a real declaration of God’s blessing to those who believe, not only a wish. Reformed and free-church Christians generally avoid blessing objects, since they fear that it suggests that things carry holiness, though they bless food and speak of blessing homes in a general way. Many evangelical churches bless a new building or dedicate it in prayer, which they understand as a prayer of thanks and commitment.
Step 5: What a person can do alone
Every tradition allows a person to bless God by prayer, to say grace at meals and, for a parent, to bless a child, as in Mark 10:16. A person may pray over their home or their work, asking God for good. What a lay person should not claim is that their prayer makes an object holy, protects against evil by itself or turns it into a sacramental, which are matters of church authority in the traditions that use sacramentals. If someone is uncertain whether an object has been blessed in the church’s sense, a pastor or priest may be asked, and they will say whether a blessing is appropriate.
- Is this a blessing of God, of a person or of a thing?
- Who gives the blessing, and by what authority?
- What does the blessing ask for, and what does it not promise?
- Is the blessing a prayer or a pronouncement?
- What would the tradition regard as superstition in this case?
- What can a parent or layperson properly do?
Examples
Grace at a table
A family of any tradition says a short prayer of thanks before dinner. Some Catholic and Orthodox families make the sign of the cross. A Baptist family joins hands. In each case the prayer thanks God and asks that the food help them serve him.
Blessing of a house
A Catholic priest visits a new home, sprinkles each room with holy water and prays for the family’s peace and hospitality. In an Orthodox home, the priest uses a cross and basil sprig to bless each room at Theophany. A Baptist pastor may visit and pray for the family. The three acts differ but each asks God for good on a household.
A misuse
A seller says a medal blessed at a holy site will protect the buyer from harm without fail. A priest explains that the church teaches that a medal is a sign that reminds the wearer of faith and prayer and does not act on its own. (A constructed example of what the churches warn against.)
Different perspectives
Catholic
Blessings are sacramentals, by which the church sanctifies persons, places and things for her use. They depend on the prayer of the church and the faith of the person. Superstition is condemned.
Orthodox
All creation is made to be blessed and offered to God, and the church blesses many things. This is not magic but a recognition that the world belongs to God.
Lutheran
Blessings are prayers of the church, including the benediction at the end of the service. Objects are not made holy by a blessing, but God’s gifts are received with thanksgiving.
Reformed
God alone blesses, and ministers declare his blessing on his people. Blessing of objects is mostly avoided, since Scripture does not command it and it could encourage superstition.
Free-church and evangelical
Blessing means prayer for God’s good on people, food and homes. Many churches have personal prayers of blessing and dedication of children, which is understood as a prayer and a commitment, and not a sacrament.
Why it matters
Blessings are the most common religious act in daily life, and the line between a blessing and superstition is where many sincere believers struggle. A clear account of what the churches teach protects against both a cold dismissal of the practice and a magical misuse of it, and prepares the student for the lessons on popular piety and testing claims.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: A blessed object is protected or has power in itself.
Correction: No major church teaches this. In Catholic and Orthodox teaching an object serves as a sign and an aid to prayer, and the church warns against superstition.
Misunderstanding: Only priests can bless.
Correction: Parents bless children and everyone may bless God and pray for others’ good. Some blessings are reserved to the ordained in churches that so regulate them.
Misunderstanding: Protestants do not believe in blessing.
Correction: They bless food, people and congregations, and end worship with a benediction. They avoid or limit blessing of objects.
Misunderstanding: A blessing and a curse are equal and opposite powers.
Correction: Scripture treats blessing as a gift of God and as prayer. James teaches that the same mouth should not bless God and curse human beings, and the churches reject the idea that curses have power apart from God.
Knowledge check
What does blessing mean in Scripture?
It has two directions: people bless God by thanks and praise, and God blesses people by giving good, as in the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24-26. A blessing in the church asks God for good for a person or thing.
How does a blessing differ from a consecration and from a sacrament?
A blessing is a prayer asking God’s good, flexible and common. Consecration sets something apart permanently for sacred use, such as a church or the Eucharistic elements. A sacrament, in Catholic and Orthodox teaching, is a rite in which Christ gives grace in a special way.
What does the Catholic Church teach about the efficacy of sacramentals?
They give no grace on their own but dispose a person to receive it, through the prayer of the church and the faith of the person. The Catechism condemns superstition, which attributes power to the mere external act.
What can a layperson do alone?
A layperson may say grace, bless God, pray for others and, as a parent, bless a child. They should not claim that a private prayer makes an object holy or makes it protect them by itself.
Think it through
- What is the difference between asking God to bless something and believing it is blessed in itself?
- Why might a church limit blessing of objects, and why might another encourage it?
- How could a parent bless a child in a way that respects the family’s tradition?
- What signs would suggest that a practice of blessing has become superstitious?
Independent assignment
Write a blessing and a note on it
In your own notebook, write a short prayer of blessing for a home or a meal in about 80 words, using only biblical wording where possible. Then write 300 words explaining what the prayer asks, what it does not promise and which tradition’s teaching you drew on. Do not send this to anyone.
Further study
- Numbers 6:24 The priestly blessing.
- Mark 10:16 Jesus blesses the children.
- 1 Timothy 4:4 Food sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
- James 3:9 Blessing and cursing from the same mouth.
- Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church Read the section on sacramentals and the section on superstition.
- Martin Luther, The Small Catechism Read the morning, evening and table prayers.
- Timothy (Kallistos) Ware, The Orthodox Church Read selectively for Orthodox blessings.