blessings
            QUESTION from Sandy on May 23, 2004

Hello Brother Ignatius,

In a quote in a previous post you said that the sacramental of oil lasted longer since it needed to be wipped off and that holy water evaporates.

Well a blessing of a house or object does that not just simply needs to be done in faith???? Is there really a question of time and how long it lasts attached to a blessing? I thought it was always a case of faith in every direction. The water may evaporate but to my understanding the prayer that we made to God is still there and always will be.

thanks for answering.

Sandy

             ANSWER by Mr. Joe Meineke on May 24, 2004

Dear Sandy:

The specific quote that you are referring to, which I copied with no problem from the Blessed Buildings post is as follows: "The oil will last until it is wiped off, whereas the Holy Water evaporates quickly. Thus the sacramental of the oil remains in effect longer than with Holy Water."

Note carefully what Brother is saying: "Thus the sacramental of the oil remains in effect longer than with Holy Water." He says the SACRAMENTAL - not the BLESSING - remains in effect longer than with Holy Water. Sacramentals should not be confused with blessings. Once an object is blessed, the blessing remains until the object that was blessed is destroyed or no longer serves its original purpose. This is why when we throw away a blessed object, the Church instructs us to destroy the object first so that the blessing is removed; otherwise we would be committing a sacrilege.

I hope that this helps.

God bless,

Joe Meineke
Assistant Director, SPCDC

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