AmericanPapist Comments
Hmmm. I dunno. The current Book of Blessings Ch. 58 is a blessing for food on Thanksgiving. No mention of beer per se. BB Ch. 59 offers blessings for several foods, including wine (which makes emminent sense of course) insofar connected with devotions. Again no beer per se. Do I overlook something? Still, maybe beer should be blessed, it might acquire some taste thereby.
That's why I only drink beer made by Belgian monks. Plenty of taste to start with.
I miss the Blessing on Salt. I have an old Breviary that has most of these in it. Excerpts from the Missal of prayers for priests before and after Mass and excerpts from the Roman Ritual with commonly used blessings.
Ed,
Perhaps it is found in the 1962 edition. The reference to the "Rituale Romanum" seems to imply that.
I havenīt seen a codified edition of the "Roman Ritual" published after the liturgical reform. Iīm no expert in liturgy, so perhaps Iīm wrong about this, or missing something.
I understand that now (after the reforms) we have separate publications "rite of marriage", "rite of baptism", rite of this, rite of that, and a "book of blessings". All this, before the liturgical reform, used to be consolidated in the Rituale. As I said, I may be missing something, but I donīt think that a consolidated rituale currently exists. If Iīm right, then the reference quoted by Thomas must be to the pre-Vatican II rituale.
As a winemaker and homebrewer, I find this great. By the way, the word "cerevisae" is part of the species name for ALL major winemaking, brewing, and breadmaking yeast: "Saccharomyces cerevisae".
I'd actually never seen it before a little while ago and I think I posted it on my blog. Which makes me think it may not be in 1962 edition OR just didn't make it to the ones I'd seen in depth.
Yes, that blessing is from the old rituale. Unfortunately, that prayer was jettisoned in the revision of the rite, as was just about any prayer of exorcism within a blessing, and many other blessings of specific things.
Many of the prayers in the old rituale were beautiful, but people liked that so they had to stop it. :P
That last line was a joke, btw. :)
I was told by a Cardinal member of the Congregation for Divine Worship that since the rituale dealt with sacramentals rather than sacraments one could use the old ritual still.A young priest of my diocese used the new house blessing when parishioners complained of demonic happenings. he blessed the house and was called back later because nothing had changed.The second time he usedthe old ritual and the strange happenings ceased. Read about the ineffectiveness of the new blessings in the interview with the official Roman exorcist. I love that blessing of beer and have used it at Kof C St.Patrick parties.They loved it.
Most priests I know still use the old Rituale. The "Rite of" series and the "Book of Blessings" which were required purchases collect dust in the Sacristy.
Ah, the blessings that are beer and wine--yet another reason to rejoice that we're not fundamentalists, kids! :-D
The old Ritual also has a blessing for chalk, grain, oats, metal for bells, and suchlike. It's so comprehensive. Also petitions for rain, good weather, etc.
Fr Franklyn, I suppose that since the use of the Ritual would be rather private, it would be similar to the practice of saying Tridentine masses privately. There isn't anyone to see (besides the interested parties, who are presumably in support), and wouldn't cause scandal. The bishop doesn't need to get involved.
Yes it seems that it woulkd be for private use.The Book of Blessings leaves alot to be desired.Did you ever notice that at least in the English edition there are no crosses in the blessings! I wonder if the same is true in the Latin editio typica. With alldue respect when someone asks for a rosary tobe blessed ,who has the time for scripture readings and hymns and petitions? I believe that whoever put it together had no pasroral experience.It reads like it was drawn up by a group of graduate students. The old ritual is rich in the number of things to be blessed and in its biblical references e.g. the mention of the ethiopian eunochin his carriage in the blesseing of cars.Here is another exmple of reform gone off the track.Instead of updating the blessings and increasing their numbers they gutted them.Believe me many priests that I know use the old ritual.
Dr. Peters,
Sorry for calling you "Ed". Itīs a Brazilian habbit of calling people by their first names.
Roman Sacristan,
I especially miss the exorcism in the rite of Baptism.
****
Although the prayer was removed from liturgical use, it can still be used as a private prayer. However, since it is a blessing, I have doubts about whether laymen can recite it.
If we can, then the sign of the cross when saying "Benedic" must certainly be omitted. The same is valid for several other blessings that can be said by laymen.
I remember an instruction to that effect in the rubrics of the rite of marriage for when it is not celebrated by a priest. It regarded the final blessing.
Fr.Rene Laurentin in his book on the devil(not available in English)mentioned a speech By Pope Paul VI in which he lamented the loss of the exocisms in the rite of baptism.When Laurentin got a copy of the Acta the criticism of the exorcisms had been removed.I found an article reporting on the talk and the criticism was rather sharp.Who would erase the Pope's words? And Pope Paul approved the changes didn't he? The Pope is Sovereign Pontiff butthat does not mean he rules.People who criticize the Popes for not doing enough should reflect on this.How often do we hear the state department has to be brought in line? The Preseident is in charge but the bureuacracy still pursues its own agenda.Same with the Pope and his bereaucracy.Pray for the Pope.Bring back poison!
Juan,
That is true unless your bishop has forbidden priests, whether privately or publicly, to celebrate an indult mass... as is the case in Spokane, I believe.
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