Book of Blessings is the Roman Ritual's collection of rites by which the Church praises God and asks his favor for people, places, objects, and human activities.
De Benedictionibus
The Latin typical book De Benedictionibus was issued in 1984, with approved vernacular editions such as the English Book of Blessings following for particular regions. Its rites ordinarily join proclamation of God's word, intercessions or praise, a prayer of blessing, and appropriate signs.[1]
Competent conferences of bishops may prepare adaptations and translations according to liturgical law, subject to the required action of the Apostolic See. An English edition is therefore not necessarily identical in every pastoral provision to another language's ritual.
Blessings as sacramentals
Blessings are sacramentals, not additional sacraments and not magical transfers of power into objects. By the Church's prayer they dispose people to receive grace and sanctify circumstances of life; their fruit presupposes faith and proper disposition rather than operating identically to the sacraments.[2]
Some blessings are reserved to ordained ministers because of their relation to ecclesial office or sacred use; others may be led by qualified laypeople according to the rite and local law.
References
- 1.Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy — Official guidance on the word of God, prayer, signs, and ministers in blessings
- 2.Catechism: Sacramentals — Paragraphs 1667–1673 on the nature and effects of blessings and other sacramentals