Now I preface this post with the notification that I have reviewed what is about to follow with a very trustworthy traditional priest and have obtained his imprimatur. Please let it be known that I am not advocating the fictitious non-blessings that occur at so many Novus Ordo Masses when the extraordinary monster places his or her hand on the head of a non-communicant. Or, as one person I know so affectionately refers to this novel modern phenomenon, I am not advocating the wanton "shooting of blanks" by a bunch of non-ordained laymen. I believe what is to follow is a beautiful old custom which may have significant merits and blessings solely in the realm of the intimate biological parent-child family bond. I pass this along to any other parent who might want to bring this tradion into their family home.


Now, with the above said, I came accross the idea of the Parental Blessing when one of Dostoevsky's characters in Brothers Karamazov gave one of his sons such a blessing. And then there was a disscussion of such a blessing on Fr. Z's blog the other day and one person quoted something Pope Benedict had written on the subject in one of his recent books about it being a custom which needed to be restored. So I looked it up on Fish eaters to find out more about it and this is what I found:

"Parents should also bless their children, at the least on the Lord's Day. The traditional way of doing this is for the children to kneel and for the parent to either place his hands on the child's head and/or trace a Cross on the child's forehead while saying: May Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, bless you, my child(ren), for time and eternity, and may this blessing remain forever with you. Amen.

St. Ambrose wrote of this practice: You may not be rich; you may be unable to bequeath any great possessions to your children; but one thing you can give them; the heritage of your blessing. And it is better to be blessed than to be rich."

It seems like such a beautiful tradition to me and it seems that with all the temptations facing our children if mothers and most especially fathers would take the time to reinstate this tradition in their homes, it just might be a formidable weapon helpful in protecting the Catholic family from the world and the enemy.