Is it wrong to sell a Blessed object?

[Number 81]

I was just wondering, the Bishop is coming to our school to bless our class rings, and if it is blessed, does that mean that I have to treat it with all the respect of any other sacramental? I mean, does that mean that the ring will have to be kept in my family until it is buried or burned?

 

[Michie]

Yes.

It is wrong to sell any blessed object.

You can gift them but you cannot sell them.

 

[Carrye]

Well, the blessed object ceases to be blessed when it is sold. The person who purchased it, if he desired, would need to have it blessed.

 

[Michie]

My priest & deacon say that blessed objects cannot be sold.

They can be gifted but not sold.

It could possibly fall under simony depending on sellers & buyers motives in the transaction.

 

[BrRichSFO]

I was just wondering, the Bishop is coming to our school to bless our class rings, and if it is blessed, does that mean that I have to treat it with all the respect of any other sacramental? I mean, does that mean that the ring will have to be kept in my family until it is buried or burned?

Yes, it becomes a sacramental. You can sell it if you wish but the Blessing does not go with it if it is sold.

 

[Michie]

Yes, it becomes a sacramental. You can sell it if you wish but the Blessing does not go with it if it is sold.

Is there something I can read on this?

Both my priest & deacon said it was not to be done.

The reason it was brought up was because I was looking at antique rosaries on eBay.

I was concerned with the simony issue.

It's ok to buy religious items & used items but they said blessed items should not be sold at all.

But again, it depends on the intentions of buyer & seller that could make it fall under simony or not.

Who knows?

I never know what to believe anymore!

 

[RoseofLima]

Hmmm.. I thought the selling of blessed items was a great big no-no called simony...I'll have to go look it up now

 

[Mysterium_Fidei]

Attempting to purchase or sell the actual blesings themselves would be simony. Buying an old rosary would not be. Selling first class relics would be, however.

 

[BrRichSFO]

Is there something I can read on this?

Both my priest & deacon said it was not to be done.

The reason it was brought up was because I was looking at antique rosaries on eBay.

I was concerned with the simony issue.

It's ok to buy religious items & used items but they said blessed items should not be sold at all.

But again, it depends on the intentions of buyer & seller that could make it fall under simony or not.

Who knows?

I never know what to believe anymore!

Wedding rings are bought and sold all the time and are Blessed. Just remember that you are buying or selling a ring, NOT a Blessed Ring because no Blessing can be bought.

 

[BrRichSFO]

Hmmm.. I thought the selling of blessed items was a great big no-no called simony...I'll have to go look it up now

I would be committing simony if I tried to sell you a $20.00 Rosary with a Blessing from John Paul II for $300.00 because it was blessed by JPII. I would not if I offered the $20.00 Rosary, just a plain and simple Rosary to you for $20.00, with the understanding that no Blessing comes with it. Simony is the buying and selling of Spiritual things, not physical objects.

Now I could give you the the Blessed Rosary from JPII and the Blessing would go with it.

 

[Michael G]

My understanding from what I was taught in Roman Seminary is you may sell it, but you may not charge for the blessing. If the item is valued at x dollars, you may sell it for x dollars, but you can't add on to that price for the blessing. The topic came up because of my selling icons, many of which were already painted and blessed when I sold them. If the icon is worth $300 then I can only charge $300 for it, and not tack an additional $25 on for the fact the priest blessed it.

 

[WarriorAngel]

I am just observing and learning.

 

[Michie]

This is turning out to be an interesting thread.

I dunno.

I do buy old antique rosaries but not for the blessings.

Maybe it is the buying & selling of blessings that include simony.

But I do get a niggling feeling at times that simony is rampant on eBay.

I think I'm going to print this thread out & show it to my priest.

I just know that I brought it up & I was told that selling blessed objects was basically frowned upon.

I can gift someone with a blessed object & that is fine, even encouraged.

But selling is not something that should be encouraged.

 

[King of the Nations]

I was just wondering, the Bishop is coming to our school to bless our class rings, and if it is blessed, does that mean that I have to treat it with all the respect of any other sacramental? I mean, does that mean that the ring will have to be kept in my family until it is buried or burned?

For whatever this is worth, my current understanding is the same as Michie's. We are not supposed to be selling blessed objects. Period.

There are probably plenty of people out there who have, completely unaware of the prohibition against doing so, not realizing what it is they are doing. But the truth remains that, objectively speaking, this is simony. (The buying and selling of spiritual things.)

Some are suggesting that it isn't the blessing on an object that is being purchased, but only the object itself. The problem is that the two walk hand in hand once the blessing has been placed on the object. No, the blessing certainly does not "disappear" when and if the object is sold. ( Where are we getting the idea that it would??) As long as a blessed object remains that particular object, the blessing remains with it and one cannot then separate the sacramental grace from the sacrament.

Know what I mean? Jean?



I'm sure many people have bought and sold blessed items with entirely positive intentions. But...

Greg

 

[King of the Nations]

Wedding rings are bought and sold all the time and are Blessed.

After they're purchased, yeah...

Nothing wrong with buying an object and then having it blessed, obviously...

Greg

 

[BrRichSFO]

This is turning out to be an interesting thread.

I dunno.

I do buy old antique rosaries but not for the blessings.

Maybe it is the buying & selling of blessings that include simony.

But I do get a niggling feeling at times that simony is rampant on eBay.

I think I'm going to print this thread out & show it to my priest.

I just know that I brought it up & I was told that selling blessed objects was basically frowned upon.

I can gift someone with a blessed object & that is fine, even encouraged.

But selling is not something that should be encouraged.

I agree with your point about eBay. Buying and selling Relics is forbidden, which they allow. Even against their own policy of not offering for sale body parts. Many other Objects are offered with a blessing at exceptional prices. My example of a Rosary blessed by John Paul II.

 

[PetertheRock]

The interesting thing is when I went to the National Shrine in Washington DC I bought a crucifix. I took it home and had my priest bless it. He said most of the time they are already blessed when you buy it but he blessed it anyway in case it wasn't. So, are Churches allowed to sell blessed items?

 

[geocajun]

I would be committing simony if I tried to sell you a $20.00 Rosary with a Blessing from John Paul II for $300.00 because it was blessed by JPII. I would not if I offered the $20.00 Rosary, just a plain and simple Rosary to you for $20.00, with the understanding that no Blessing comes with it. Simony is the buying and selling of Spiritual things, not physical objects.

Now I could give you the the Blessed Rosary from JPII and the Blessing would go with it.

well said.

 

[geocajun]

CCC-2121 Simony is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things. To Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the spiritual power he saw at work in the apostles, St. Peter responded: "Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God's gift with money!" Peter thus held to the words of Jesus: "You received without pay, give without pay." It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods and behave toward them as their owner or master, for they have their source in God. One can receive them only from him, without payment.
​

Consider than Wesley considered the buying of Mass's to be simony, but the Church condemed that because the priest is only being paid for his support, not the spiritual good.
Similarly, one can be paid for somethings actual value, but not its spiritual value.

 

[winsome]

CCC-2121 Simony is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things. To Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the spiritual power he saw at work in the apostles, St. Peter responded: "Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God's gift with money!" Peter thus held to the words of Jesus: "You received without pay, give without pay." It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods and behave toward them as their owner or master, for they have their source in God. One can receive them only from him, without payment.
​

Consider than Wesley considered the buying of Mass's to be simony, but the Church condemed that because the priest is only being paid for his support, not the spiritual good.
Similarly, one can be paid for somethings actual value, but not its spiritual value.

I agree, and a certain amount of common sense is needed here. If you say that a blessed object could never be sold, then what would happen if a priest walked into a shop full of rosaries, statues etc and blessed the lot. Would that mean the shop would have to give them all away?