Blessed objects

[gambit]

I see many of them in things like Catholicism. Medallions, crosses, necklaces, whatever. Whats the point of them? Do you believe they strengthen your faith and keep Satan away? Are they like the religious equivelant of a good luck charm? Simply an accessory that you add fancy religious meaning too, so they make them more 'exclusive'? Are they a sign of respect towards God or whomever blessed them (or both)?

I'm not trying to bash people who wear/have them, just curious. I'm pretty sure most people with these 'blessed' objects aren't going to be exorcising anybody anytime soon, or going to hell to fend off demons. Unless your a crossbow wielding vampire hunter from the Victorian ages, I dont see whats so important about them.

[Ciabhán]

I would say that the underlying reason for people is that they give them some kind of concrete real world link to their beliefs. I am betting the reasons people give are much less psychobabble than that though.

[finsternis]

I see many of them in things like Catholicism. Medallions, crosses, necklaces, whatever. Whats the point of them? Do you believe they strengthen your faith and keep Satan away? Are they like the religious equivelant of a good luck charm? Simply an accessory that you add fancy religious meaning too, so they make them more 'exclusive'? Are they a sign of respect towards God or whomever blessed them (or both)?

I'm not trying to bash people who wear/have them, just curious. I'm pretty sure most people with these 'blessed' objects aren't going to be exorcising anybody anytime soon, or going to hell to fend off demons. Unless your a crossbow wielding vampire hunter from the Victorian ages, I dont see whats so important about them.

my entire family is catholic and they have statues and crosses everywhere. I think that they actually believe that it is to keep evil at bay. Kind of like god's outposts.

[Thanatos]

They serve to strengthen your faith by serving as a physical reminder, as well as driving Satanic impulses away.

[gambit]

So they're symbols and reminders. Do they need to be blessed by someone? Wouldn't the crucifex be just as godly as it is, without a priest touching it with some holy water and saying a few special words?

[finsternis]

So they're symbols and reminders. Do they need to be blessed by someone? Wouldn't the crucifex be just as godly as it is, without a priest touching it with some holy water and saying a few special words?

I do not think that they are blessed. The symbol itself is suppose to be enough.

[Thanatos]

I do not think that they are blessed. The symbol itself is suppose to be enough.

Let the Catholic cover this one, hmm? You don't seem to know what you are talking about.

[Ciabhán]

Let the Catholic cover this one, hmm? You don't seem to know what you are talking about.

I started life Catholic. The family are all Catholic. I gave it up decades ago when I was a child. One thing I never did understand.......wouldn't crosses, statues, the large cruciforms in the church, all the symbols that seem to serve as a focus of worship count as graven images and therefore break your God's laws?

[finsternis]

Let the Catholic cover this one, hmm? You don't seem to know what you are talking about.

My family is catholic and I doubt that they actually bless their object. They are made in a factory and I doubt that they pay a priest to go over there and say a blessing on every object they produce. I could be wrong, but there is something wrong with the image of a priest being paid to stand on a factory saying a blessing on every object that passes by. Besides, they always taught me that by putting you fingers in the form of a cross you can repel evil. So i assume that they believe that the symbol of the cross is what's blessed, not the actual object.

I could be completely wrong (catholics in different places act differently) as you said, I am not catholic, I am just observing my family which is entirely catholic (except for me).

[Adhamh Ashashi]

I just wear my Zuliqar to show people I amn't Christian. Also it looks cool.

[Thanatos]

It might be a Christian-referenced object, but it in itself is just a piece of metal or whatever.

A priest merely has to bless it, and it becomes blessed. You can also bless it with holy water, although this is nowhere near the power of a priest's blessing.

[Adhamh Ashashi]

Oh yeah a symbol doesn't ENHANCE your belief. It's just a way of showing people.

[gambit]

Always had me kind of confused. If it was just a symbol that you wear to show your faith and silently announce to the world what you believe, saying they were 'blessed' just seems like a way to say "It's better than you"

I could understand it holds satanic impulses at bay and reminds you of your conviction. I dunno about them actually being blessed though. Isn't it basically using Gods own power then, even if it is for good reasons?

[Thanatos]

Priests are appointed to be God's servants on earth, therefore they draw on His power. They in themselves don't have any power, but God lets His blessings go through them.

And no, blessed is blessed. Protestant crosses are for mere show, because they do not have priests.

Just because you've grown up Catholic doesn't mean you're knowledgeable about it either, Ciabhan.

And no, they are not graven images, because we do not worship them as idols.

[Ciabhán]

Priests are appointed to be God's servants on earth, therefore they draw on His power. They in themselves don't have any power, but God lets His blessings go through them.

And no, blessed is blessed. Protestant crosses are for mere show, because they do not have priests.

Just because you've grown up Catholic doesn't mean you're knowledgeable about it either, Ciabhan.

And no, they are not graven images, because we do not worship them as idols.

Mentioning that I was Catholic as a CHILD does not in anyway mean that I am claiming to have some special knowledge of it. That was meant to be a background focus for the fact that I do know the objects that are used and had a bloody question. Not to mention that I would not consider it having been brought up Catholic since the last time I attended a mass for anything other than a wedding or funeral I was 6.

[Thanatos]

Priests aren't paid to bless. You take your object and you take it to the priest at your local church, and he will bless it for you by performing the sign of the crucifix.

No, putting together two fingers doesn't repel anything.

[finsternis]

Priests aren't paid to bless. You take your object and you take it to the priest at your local church, and he will bless it for you by performing the sign of the crucifix.

No, putting together two fingers doesn't repel anything.

As I said, catholics in different places act differently. As far as I remember, my family never took objects to the churches to be bless. They think that the image itself is blessed, not the object.

To be sure I asked my mom if any of the statues and crucifix in my house and my grandmother house are blessed. She said no. There is no need for that (the image is blessed by god or something).

Maybe in Mexico they do it like that. But in the Dominican Republic they don't (or at least my family doesn't). My family could be he only exception (but I don't think that anyone in my street back in the Dominican Republic did that too).

[gambit]

Well we ARE the blessed 'sons' of God and all life is blessed, so my fingers forming the symbol of the cross should be.

[Thanatos]

No, it does no good unless you are Christian. And even then, you don't do two fingers. You take your hand, turn it sideways so your thumb is facing you, and you go up, move it down, move it to the left, then to the right.

That is how you do the sign of the cross.

[Thanatos]

My mistake, I meant finsternis.

Crap, my apologies, Ciabahn, I didn't mean you.

And no, Catholics act the same everywhere. That is what keeps us from being Protestants, each with their own creed and lifestyle. A Catholic in Korea is a Catholic in Mexico is a Catholic in the Netherlands.

Your mother is wrong.