Holy-H2O Vs. H2O

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Fiat_Voluntas_Tua' date='10 December 2009 - 04:18 PM' timestamp='1260479905' post='2017795']
That makes somewhat sense...I think I am done... my only 'worry' is that when I as a lay member set aside 10 rocks to be used as the church intends a rosary to be used, are not the 10 rocks being used as the tool/instrument to confer grace to me as a blessed rosary is used...since a blessed rosary doesn't provide grace in and of itself, but only through its use...so why can't the use of something for the purpose/intent confer the same grace in the same way?[/quote]

I think it does...if you line up rocks to make a rosary garden or if you use your fingers, that is good and holy and confers grace, but the work of grace is the divinization of man, the making of man to be like Christ. The Church is the Body of Christ and using something that has the Church's blessing is to pray in accord with the Church in a particular way. The blessing makes the rosary more conducive to grace as using the blessed rosary is an even more perfect act of uniting oneself with Christ and His Church.

[quote]I can see the reasons for certain blessings (i.e., making objects to be used for a specific purpose) only come from a priest, but why can't I set an object aside in the manner that the church does? Perhaps the only reason is that it is fitting for a priest to do it, and that is how it is going to be done. period. That would make things much easier, but I am worries about whether blessed rosaries confer 'more' grace than unblessed rosaries...
[/quote]

I'm not an expert in this because it involves some things I can only assume are part of canon law and I don't have the time to look into it all, but it seems to me...

There are some blessings only the clergy have the authority to perform. Ultimately, only the Church may bless with the authority of Christ; only the Church can set something aside for God or place God's blessing upon it. Some of these things can only be done by the clergy [i]de facto[/i] because it is clear that God wills it such and He will not cooperate with a system that is not in accord with His Will (for instance, female "priests" cannot consecrate the Eucharist [which is more than a mere blessing anyway]...God has not set up a system for that, and so women could try to, but the consecration won't happen). Other things can be done only by the clergy [i]de jure[/i] because God doesn't specify and the Church has the authority to restrict the abilities of the laity. Those blessings that are not reserved for the clergy are available for the laity: baptisms (in case of emergency), simple blessings ("God bless you/us..."), etc.

Now it seems to me that the blessings of rosaries and sacramentals are [i]de jure[/i] reserved to the clergy, but for good reason that probably shouldn't ever change. Imagine if people could bless their own sacramentals...how many would be floating around with no owners? How many abuses would there be, etc.?

The Catholic Encyclopedia has an entry on blessings that discusses the ordinary minister of blessings, but I warn you, the entry was written before BOTH codes of canon law. Some things have clearly changed since the article was written: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02599b.htm .

[Fiat_Voluntas_Tua]

Raphael... I appreciate this discussion...it has been very enlightening, however, I have a epistemology final on tuesday and 3 papers on Immanuel Kant's [i]Critique of Pure Reason[/i] due Friday...so I am a bit busy to go browsing on things i want to (unfortunately)...

I am ok with saying that having the Church set aside (i.e., bless) a rosary is the proper/appropriate way that a rosary is said to confer grace as a sign and instrument, because it is the Church who is the ultimate instrument of grace, and so it seems proper that we receive blessings from the Church. However, using an unblessed rosary does not lessen the 'degree' of grace conferred, but it is merely not allowing the Church to set aside certain things such that they be used in a certain way. It seems reasonable that we should allow the Church to set aside certain things, for that is her purpose...to confer grace and to be a sign. Sound good? Thats all i got for now.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

I respect your opinion and acknowledge a lack of certainty about my own (I'm not sure the Church has a definitive answer about all the specifics involved here).

I say this as a man whose current rosary is not, to my knowledge, blessed (I rescued it from lost and found after it had been there for many months).

I maintain that when a rosary is blessed, the Church confers upon it a special dignity by virtue of its being set apart for this purpose by the Church which has the authority to do this. The effort of the pray-er may not be different, but the ability of the instrument of prayer is. Before a blessing, the rosary is secular, simply a collection of beads on a string, albeit designed and made for a specific purpose and use. After the blessing, the rosary gains the fact that it has been designated by God as a special way to pray. His has His favor, which is grace. It is similar to our praying to Christ through Mary or through a lesser saint. If I pray to Christ through St. Anthony of Padua, it is a great and strong prayer, but if I pray to Christ through the Blessed Virgin, the Church's teaching is quite clear that her prayers are the most powerful. As she is more meritorious in God's eyes because she is perfectly conformed to God's will, so an object similarly bound to God's will (something set aside for God and blessed by Him) is more meritorious as an instrument, which makes it a better instrument, and therefore more perfectly suited to its purpose, which in this case is prayer and the conferral of grace.

That's my argument, anyway.