Blessing service

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A blessing service or a blessing party is an independent service form in which a liturgical blessing action is central. Blessing services or celebrations are an old tradition of the church.

In practically all major churches today it is possible to hold blessing services on an ecumenical basis, whereby members of the participating churches as well as other Christians and non-Christians are welcome. Therefore, these celebrations are often seen by the churches as an opportunity to consciously open up to people who have little contact with the church or who are very far removed from the church.

Blessing services usually address a specific group of people. In the charismatic movement there are general blessing services to which everyone is invited who wants to be blessed for a personal reason, for example in a personal or health crisis or at the beginning of a new phase in life.

Blessings and benedictions be called, in the Roman Catholic Church to the sacramentals counted. Basically, blessings are “the priesthood responsibility of all baptized” people . However, the following applies: “The more a blessing affects the ecclesiastical and sacramental life, the more its execution is related to the ordained ministry ( bishops , priests and deacons ) [cf. Ben 16; 18] reserved. " . The Roman Catholic Church uses a liturgical book , the so-called Benediktionale , for blessings .

Blessing services in the church year

In many places, blessing services have also found a place in the church year , in some cases as a church response to secular occasions:

  • In rural areas there are prayer days , often on the days before Ascension , when the fields are blessed.
  • On Valentine's Day , blessing services are held in many places - also ecumenical - for loving people. This applies to married and engaged couples, but often also explicitly for all unmarried people in love, including people who cannot marry in church, such as divorced remarried or homosexuals, whereby the Catholic Church attaches importance to the fact that homosexuals are only blessed individually.
  • On the Day of the Sick in March, there are blessing services for the sick and their relatives
  • In some areas, blessing services for motorcyclists are traditionally held in spring as part of a motorcycle service
  • On Mother's Day there are blessing services for mothers and families
  • Around October 4th, the feast day of St. Francis can be blessed with pets and farm animals .
  • Around July 24th (St. Christopher's Day ) vehicles of the rescue services are blessed in many places .

Blessing services on special occasions

Many churches offer blessing services for life transitions or for formative life situations, for example

liturgy

Blessing services usually take place in addition to the normal services.

Suitable music is very important to get in the mood and to finish off, but often also take place during individual blessings, as well as songs that match the topic and whose style appeals to the target audience. As a rule, particular care is taken to ensure that the participants find the opportunity to get involved in their life situation. This can be done through songs or simple alternating prayers, but also through an opportunity to describe one's own experiences.

The basic structure of a blessing ceremony in most denominations consists of

  • Entrance music
  • Opening (greeting, introduction, prayer)
  • Scripture reading
  • speech
  • Blessing prayer (often followed by blessings of individuals by the laying on of hands)
  • Intercession
  • Our Father
  • Discharge
  • Output music

Often, after the greeting, scripture reading and address, songs are inserted that, in a sense, represent the participants' response.

Other acts of blessing

In addition to blessing services, there are also acts of blessing that take place outside of the service, for example:

literature

  • Blessing service , in: Service book. Supplementary volume for the Evangelical Church in Württemberg , 2005 edition, Stuttgart 2005, pp. 102–112, ISBN 3-438-06292-5
  • Benedictionals. Study edition for the Catholic bishoprics of the German by the International Working Group of Liturgical Commissions ed. from the liturgical institutes Salzburg, Trier, Zurich. Einsiedeln
  • Florian Kluger, Benedictions. Studies on church blessings . Studies on pastoral liturgy 31, Pustet-Verlag, Regensburg 2011. ISBN 978-3-7917-2384-6
  • The celebration of the partnership blessing in the Catholic Diocese of Old Catholics in Germany , developed for worship use by the Liturgical Commission and published by the Bishop and Synodal Representation, Alt-Katholischer Bistumsverlag, Bonn 2014, ISBN 9783934610-91-0

See also

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  1. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church (KKK) No. 1667 f.
  2. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church (KKK) No. 1669 f.
  3. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church (KKK) No. 1669 f.
  4. ↑ Example: Ecumenical Blessing Service on Valentine's Day , kathweb.de
  5. ^ A blessing also for homosexual couples (Waldkraiburg), OVB online, February 4, 2009
  6. ^ Catholic blessings on Valentine's Day (Vienna), religion.orf.at, February 12, 2007
  7. ↑ http://www.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/10/0,1872,2340938,00.html  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.zdf.de  

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