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A Catholic priest blesses the Boston Marathon Bombing Memorials on Boylston Street. In the Catholic Church, a blessing is a rite consisting of a ceremony and prayers performed in the name and with the authority of the Church by a duly qualified minister by which persons or things are sanctified as dedicated to divine service or by which certain marks of divine favour are invoked upon them.
The custom, referred to in many places as the "Churching of Women", was retained in the Church until very recent times, and still is in the old rite. [12] The official title of the Rite was actually Benedictio mulieris post partum (the blessing of a woman after giving birth), and focused on blessing and thanksgiving.
This rite may be done on solemnities and feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or other festive days, and offers the Church a chance to reflect on Mary’s role in the history of salvation. [15] In some countries, it takes place on or about May 1, however, in many United States Catholic parishes, it frequently takes place on Mother's Day.
In the Roman Catholic Church, the laying on of hands has been and continues to be used in some of the rites for the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church. First, it is the essential gesture (or "matter") for the Sacrament of Holy Orders (diaconate, priesthood, and episcopacy).
An aspergillum is used in Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican ceremonies, including the Rite of Baptism and during the Easter Season. [3] In addition, a priest will use the aspergillum to bless the candles during Candlemas services and the palms during Palm Sunday Mass. [4] At a requiem, if a coffin is present, the priest will sprinkle holy water on the coffin.
Women constitute the great majority of members of the consecrated life within the church. Catholic women have played diverse roles, with religious institutes providing a formal space for their participation and convents providing spaces for their self-government, prayer and influence through many centuries. [181]
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Within the Roman Catholic Church, the sign of the cross is a sacramental, which the Church defines as "sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments"; that "signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church"; and that "always include a prayer, often accompanied by a specific ...