Posted on 11/29/2016 7:50:03 AM PST by Salvation
The old Roman Ritual (published in 1946) is a magnificent collection of blessings and prayers. It has some of the most amazing little blessings of things it would never occur to you to find in such a collection. Along with the blessings of expected objects (e.g., statues, religious medals) are blessings, often elaborately laid out, for things such as seismographs, typewriters, printing presses, fishing boats, fire engines, stables, medicine, wells, bridges, archives, lime kilns, automobiles, mountain-climbing equipment, and electric dynamos.
Thankfully, it is still permitted to use the old ritual, because as many priests will attest, the current Book of Blessings, issued back in the 1990s, is all but useless. It is also improperly named—there are really no blessings to be found in it! The newer version is based on the idea of blessing the user (or someone walking nearby?) of an object, but not the object itself.
It is an odd theology to say the least, especially for the Catholic faith, which is so incarnational and seeks to sanctify things as well as the people who use them. But I’ll let the theologians debate this. As a pastor, I (as well as most of my brother priests) know that people want their things blessed. They are looking for that sign of the cross, that holy water, those words somewhere in the rite that actually ask God to bless the item. The old Roman Ritual does this, and does it well. It also has prayers that go beyond the mere act of blessing and seek to put the object within God’s wider plan of sanctity for us.
In the old ritual, there is a remarkable prayer for a telegraph—yes, a telegraph. It quite elaborately lays out psalms and antiphons, but I will only present here the prayer of gratitude at the end, just before blessing it with Holy Water.
To my mind, it is also applicable as a prayer, expression of gratitude, and blessing for a computer or for the extended “cloud” of computers known as the Internet. The prayer is both thrilling and fitting. It is a minor masterpiece if you ask me. Though written sometime prior to 1945, and likely after 1830, its basic structure fits well what we do now with the Internet.
Without further ado, here is the prayer, first in the original Latin, and then translated by Father Philip Weller:
Deus qui ámbulas super pennas ventórum, et facis mirabília solus: concéde, ut per vim huic metállo índitam fulmíneo ictu celérius huc abséntia, et hinc álio praeséntia transmíttis; ita nos invéntis novis edócti, tua grátia opitulánte, prómptius et facílius ad te veníre valeámus. Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen.
O God, who walkest upon the wings of the wind, and alone workest wonders; by the power inherent in this metal, thou dost bring hither distant things quicker than lightning, and transferrest present things to distant places. Therefore, grant that, instructed by new inventions, we may merit, by thy bounteous grace, to come with greater certainty and facility to thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sign of the Cross + and sprinkling with Holy Water
Magnificent! It almost paints a picture in the mind. Yes, such beauty, and a picture of the swiftness of information going hither and yon, like lightning, or as on the wings of the wind. May this wondrous tool serve to draw us closer to God and not be corrupted by sinful curiosity, hostility, defamation, profanation, or prurient temptations.
One word, “metal,” may need adjusting in order to use it for a computer or the Internet. What word would you suggest? Perhaps simply “computer” would work, but more is in mind: the whole Internet is part of what we are grateful for and ask blessings for. Of course we may not be in a position to bless the entire Internet, and our blessing or prayer of gratitude is only to be directed to our computer, our one portal to the vast communication network. Anyway, this is just a thought.
I hope that you enjoy this prayer as much as I do. Encourage your priest to obtain a copy of the older Roman Ritual. For many years now, it has been my custom to use it instead of the Book of Blessings.
The video below of the history of the telegraph reminds us that the first telegraph message sent by Samuel Morse was “What hath God wrought?” This almost seems to have influenced the prayer in the ritual!
Monsignor Pope Ping!
What is old is new again.
Isn’t this wonderful? We DO tend to think “History” began the day we were born, and can’t even conceive of what the world was like before we lived it. I would urge those reading this thread to be sure to see the video.
Love the way Msgr Pope brings all these pieces into focus as gifts of God.
Litany for the conversion of internet thugs.
http://wdtprs.com/blog/litany-for-the-conversion-of-internet-thugs/
Great find. Leave it Father Z!
Salvation,
I have about had it with relying on God for things. I see His creation as very degraded and very little help from Him to prevent it. It would be so easy for Him, but instead He lets the good suffer and the bad prosper.
Anyway, my favorite blessing from the old ritual is this:
Bless, + O Lord, this creature beer, which thou hast deigned to produce from the fat of grain: that it may be a salutary remedy to the human race, and grant through the invocation of thy holy name; that, whoever shall drink it, may gain health in body and peace in soul. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
OK, y’all are going to think I’m nuts, but as a telegrapher (extra class ham, holder of an FCC Class 2 Telegraph license), I just sprung for volume 3 of the 1946 ritual on Amazon. So, in about a week, I’ll be standing by, in my official capacity as a chaplain, to bless any and all telegraph keys (-:
73
QBF imi (look it up)
Good will triumph over evil.
Keep praying.
It was humorous on several levels.
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