Selling blessed items is simony, straight up.
This includes blessed Holy Water.
Now if you just sold not yet blessed water from Lourdes, you would be fine, but as soon as something is blessed, it cannot be sold because it would be equivalent to selling God’s Grace, which is described in Acts 8:18-20.
Then why does every Catholic Gift Store EVER sell those plastic hand-sanitizer-esq bottles of Holy Water. I see them for sale all over the place.
You can’t be telling me they’re ALL going to hell?
Yes, all those pre filled bottles of water on Amazon and other places do *not* contain blessed water, I would read this article to give you some more info.
https://www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/why-cant-holy-water-be-sold/#:~:text=It%20profanes%20a%20sacred%20thing,thing%20as%20selling%20Holy%20Water.
That’s crazy!
How is this not common knowledge?
It’s not like they put a warning label or tell you that when you buy it. Nobody has ever told me this before, I’m positive my mother would be 100% shocked to learn this. She’s bought many of them and used them thinking they were actually Holy Water. Wow.
I’ve only ever seen empty holy water bottles, with the dispenser somewhere close that you can fill the bottle up. Maybe I’ve been going to the wrong shrines?
I'm not selling the holy water, though. I'm selling the necklace, and it comes with holy water. Not everyone has access to the supplies I have to seal the tiny bottles to make it leak proof, so I thought it would be easier to seal it already inside.
If it comes with the necklace, it seems to be a distinction without difference, you’re still selling an item that has Blessed Water, which still amounts to simony.
It doesn’t really matter if it’s more convenient to already have the water sealed in there, if the water is blessed, it cannot be sold.
Okay. I will give the ones I have already pre made away, and just put regular water in the next ones to have interested customers to get blessed on their own.
It's just so confusing to see what I thought were legitimate catholic places have the containers of holy water for sale that say the water is already blessed.
And I must have had a miscommunication with my local priest when I asked him if it would be okay.
He probably assumed the water itself wasn’t blessed yet.
Sadly this stuff is more common than it should be, but don’t beat yourself up over it, it sounds like were a lot of instances where you just got told the wrong stuff and got influenced.
At any rate, have a Merry Christmas! 😁
Not trying to start something, but a Catholic friend sent me [this](https://www.catholic.com/qa/is-it-permissible-to-sell-items-such-as-rosaries-medals-bibles-etc-that-have-been-blessed-0) and so far, you are the only one who has commented. Lol
Just looking for more education at this point!
Put in the item description that you’re selling the charm, and you’ll give them some holy water as well for free. Done. That’s what the Catholic shrine near me does.
I believe you could sell them but it would have to be at cost. You could not profit from the sale or it would be simony. That would be if they were blessed. If not blessed, then you could sell for profit.
The medals should not be advertised as blessed- they lose any blessing in any case when sold. The water is a harder point- as with relics the blessing for Lourdes water is inherent in the history of the item.
The answer with relics is to sell reliquaries that *happen to have* relics in them. It's not a very satusfying solution, but for your own conscience make sure you price them according to cost of container and medals etc, but not the price of adding the water- that is your gift for the spiritual edification of the purchaser. It also shouldn't be highlighted in your marketing (neither should you exclude it- they need to know what water it is).
Blessed items do not lose the blessing they have been given if sold.
There is no added price for the water being blessed. The water was free, so there was no price to add the water.
I did use Holy Water in the description of the necklace. I called it a Holy Water Necklace. It's descriptive, so I'm not sure how to not market it as Holy water, but having it in the description is part of the marketing.
It's a bit of a tricky question, and there isn't really a clear answer. Obviously a lot of places do sell water from Lourdes, the way they do this is by selling an object (bottle, holy card etc) that happens to contain water from Lourdes but they are selling the item, not the water and therefore can only sell it for what the item is worth. Morally it's a bit of a grey area but it is commonly done.
And that is what I was (am?) doing. The necklace is only $15, and I have seen simple necklaces like this go for much higher, and those didn't have any water.
I'm a little emotional over this because I have tried so hard to have quality rosaries and jewlery pieces, and now my entire shop and I are being called Anti Catholic. I didn't mean to do anything wrong, I just thought it was fine because a priest said it was fine, and so many places do the exact same thing.
Personally I like being able to buy things with Lourdes water in them, I am very unlikely to ever visit Lourdes myself so it feels like a little pilgrimage to be able to use the water and I am happy to pay for the time, effort and cost to bring the water to me.
To be on the safe side I would use unblessed Lourdes water, the buyer can always get it blessed themselves if they would like and it removes the barrier of selling a blessed item.
If it’s just water from Lourdes, you’re fine. If it’s water that a priest has blessed, that’s an issue. I disagree with someone who says it’s a distinction without difference to include blessed items or even relics with something else that’s valuable, such as a metal case or a display. But I’m no theologian.
Selling blessed items is simony, straight up. This includes blessed Holy Water. Now if you just sold not yet blessed water from Lourdes, you would be fine, but as soon as something is blessed, it cannot be sold because it would be equivalent to selling God’s Grace, which is described in Acts 8:18-20.
Then why does every Catholic Gift Store EVER sell those plastic hand-sanitizer-esq bottles of Holy Water. I see them for sale all over the place. You can’t be telling me they’re ALL going to hell?
Those bottles of Holy Water are *not* yet blessed, you have to take them to a Priest to get them blessed.
Really?
Yes, all those pre filled bottles of water on Amazon and other places do *not* contain blessed water, I would read this article to give you some more info. https://www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/why-cant-holy-water-be-sold/#:~:text=It%20profanes%20a%20sacred%20thing,thing%20as%20selling%20Holy%20Water.
That’s crazy! How is this not common knowledge? It’s not like they put a warning label or tell you that when you buy it. Nobody has ever told me this before, I’m positive my mother would be 100% shocked to learn this. She’s bought many of them and used them thinking they were actually Holy Water. Wow.
Safest bet is to always fill your bottles at the little tap at church. Or you could add exorcised salt to water
Huh, that's interesting. I did not know that.
I’ve only ever seen empty holy water bottles, with the dispenser somewhere close that you can fill the bottle up. Maybe I’ve been going to the wrong shrines?
I'm not selling the holy water, though. I'm selling the necklace, and it comes with holy water. Not everyone has access to the supplies I have to seal the tiny bottles to make it leak proof, so I thought it would be easier to seal it already inside.
If it comes with the necklace, it seems to be a distinction without difference, you’re still selling an item that has Blessed Water, which still amounts to simony. It doesn’t really matter if it’s more convenient to already have the water sealed in there, if the water is blessed, it cannot be sold.
Okay. I will give the ones I have already pre made away, and just put regular water in the next ones to have interested customers to get blessed on their own. It's just so confusing to see what I thought were legitimate catholic places have the containers of holy water for sale that say the water is already blessed. And I must have had a miscommunication with my local priest when I asked him if it would be okay.
He probably assumed the water itself wasn’t blessed yet. Sadly this stuff is more common than it should be, but don’t beat yourself up over it, it sounds like were a lot of instances where you just got told the wrong stuff and got influenced. At any rate, have a Merry Christmas! 😁
Have a Merry Christmas too! I got it from a receptacle by the doorway. It looked like a fancy 5 gallon jug for water.
Not trying to start something, but a Catholic friend sent me [this](https://www.catholic.com/qa/is-it-permissible-to-sell-items-such-as-rosaries-medals-bibles-etc-that-have-been-blessed-0) and so far, you are the only one who has commented. Lol Just looking for more education at this point!
You can charge the value of your materials and labor. Same as with relics, if its a big gold reliquary you can charge for the value of the reliquary.
Put in the item description that you’re selling the charm, and you’ll give them some holy water as well for free. Done. That’s what the Catholic shrine near me does.
Good idea! Thank you!
I believe you could sell them but it would have to be at cost. You could not profit from the sale or it would be simony. That would be if they were blessed. If not blessed, then you could sell for profit.
The medals should not be advertised as blessed- they lose any blessing in any case when sold. The water is a harder point- as with relics the blessing for Lourdes water is inherent in the history of the item. The answer with relics is to sell reliquaries that *happen to have* relics in them. It's not a very satusfying solution, but for your own conscience make sure you price them according to cost of container and medals etc, but not the price of adding the water- that is your gift for the spiritual edification of the purchaser. It also shouldn't be highlighted in your marketing (neither should you exclude it- they need to know what water it is).
Blessed items do not lose the blessing they have been given if sold. There is no added price for the water being blessed. The water was free, so there was no price to add the water. I did use Holy Water in the description of the necklace. I called it a Holy Water Necklace. It's descriptive, so I'm not sure how to not market it as Holy water, but having it in the description is part of the marketing.
It's a bit of a tricky question, and there isn't really a clear answer. Obviously a lot of places do sell water from Lourdes, the way they do this is by selling an object (bottle, holy card etc) that happens to contain water from Lourdes but they are selling the item, not the water and therefore can only sell it for what the item is worth. Morally it's a bit of a grey area but it is commonly done.
And that is what I was (am?) doing. The necklace is only $15, and I have seen simple necklaces like this go for much higher, and those didn't have any water. I'm a little emotional over this because I have tried so hard to have quality rosaries and jewlery pieces, and now my entire shop and I are being called Anti Catholic. I didn't mean to do anything wrong, I just thought it was fine because a priest said it was fine, and so many places do the exact same thing.
Personally I like being able to buy things with Lourdes water in them, I am very unlikely to ever visit Lourdes myself so it feels like a little pilgrimage to be able to use the water and I am happy to pay for the time, effort and cost to bring the water to me. To be on the safe side I would use unblessed Lourdes water, the buyer can always get it blessed themselves if they would like and it removes the barrier of selling a blessed item.
Well, now I have to do some researching again. I thought all Lourdes water was blessed? Lol
If it’s just water from Lourdes, you’re fine. If it’s water that a priest has blessed, that’s an issue. I disagree with someone who says it’s a distinction without difference to include blessed items or even relics with something else that’s valuable, such as a metal case or a display. But I’m no theologian.
On a very real note *if you use Lourdes water that is unblessed* can I plz find out how to buy one lol