28 May 2010

God bless you!

When I was a kid growing up in the Catholic faith in Chicago, the priest was the one who did most of the blessing. Yes, we did say "God bless you!" whenever somebody sneezed and people did ask their parents for a "blessing" when they wanted to get married but mainly it was the priest who made the Sign of the Cross over anyone else other than their own selves. Here in Mexico, however, it is a little different story. I see people blessing each other rather frequently, especially older folks. In fact, my wife Gina and I bless each other whenever we are going to be separated. Whenever one of us leaves the house the other holds their right hand upright with palm facing to the left in front of the others person's face. Then as the giver of the blessing recites the prayer below and comes to the words of the Sign of the Cross, they make the sign over the other while at the same time saying the words. At the end of the prayer they keep holding the hand upright and the recipient of the blessing kisses the edge of the upright hand and then we give each other a sweet kiss on the lips before we part. If it is the will of God that something should happen to one of us after we part then this is how we would like to remember our parting moment.

Here is the prayer:

Yo te bendigo y que Dios te cuide y proteja por donde quiera que vayas, que te aleje de envidias y peligros, que San Pedro te cubra con su manto. Que vayas y regreses con bien a casa en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo. Amén.

I give you my blessing that may God watch over and protect you wherever you go, and keep you away from jealousy and danger, and that Saint Peter will cover you with his cloak. May you go and return home safely in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Now, before I get comments from conservative Catholics with their copies of "De Benedictionibus" in hand claiming that only a priest is authorized to make the Sign of the Cross in blessing, let me say that I am sorry if we step outside the rules once in awhile but I don't think that God is going to send me to Hell or extend my time in Purgatory for blessing my wife in His name. Not only that but after you read all the rules involving blessings you begin to wonder if people curse so much because it is less complicated. In any case let me take this opportunity to bless all of my readers in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and I take full responsibility for the consequences.

10 comments:

GlorV1 said...

May God Bless you Bob, you are definitely one of his children. Of course we all are, but you are really blessed.
Have a great weekend.

Brenda Maas said...

What a nice thing to do.
By the way, today I asked the landlords grandson to show me his muscles ("A ver tu conejo"). He seemed a bit surprised; but totally understood what I wanted and made a muscle for me and told me that his muscles are bigger than another neighbors grandsons. lol. Too funny! Boys!!!
Thanks for that little phrase.

norm said...

Sweet post Bob, your a lucky man.

Don Cuevas said...

Bob is one of the nicest, kindest people I know in the blogosphere.
Gracias por tu bendicíon, Roberto.

Saludos,
Don Cuevas

PS: My secret word was "habifi". Isn't that some sort of shredded phyllo pastry?

Rosas Clan in Tulum said...

I agree with Don Cuevas- Bob you are a ray of light. Do not worry about breaking any rules- it is hard adherance to any one set of rules that begins to look like fundelmenatism.

My favorite line in a movie " Oh Honey- God don't care which church you go to... so long as you show up" As a buddhist hippie- raised mormom- married to a catholic wiccin lady- This rings true for me.

I like to say all religions are right unless you are sooooooo wrong you are not in the club anymore. not sure- makes sence to me.


PS- Thank you so much

Leslie Harris said...

Bob, que Dios te bendiga, hoy y siempre!

Theresa in Mèrida said...

This post brought a smile to my face. Blessings on your house too. Nameste.

regards,
Theresa

Angie said...

Gracias por la bendicón...que Dios te bendiga a ti y tu esposa también!

1st Mate said...

Gracias, amigo for this useful and beautiful prayer. Don't know if I can persuade the Capt to use it, but I'm going to print it out and memorize it. We need all the help we can get, no?

bordersaside said...

Bob as you know I am not Catholic but I think this is one thing I see here in the church that I like better than in the States. Why shouldn't you be able to bless your wife, you are after all a Saint as we all are who have accepted Christ as our Lord. I see it as much similar to interceding for people in prayer. I have a close friend here who I even saw once bless her children over the phone and did the sign of the cross over the receiver. This blessed me just watching.

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I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. I have been living in Mexico since January 6th, 1999. I am continually studying to improve my knowledge of the Spanish language and Mexican history and culture. I am also a student of Mandarin Chinese.