Catholic Prayer: Roman Ritual: Blessing of Seeds and Seedlings and Flowers on the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Description:
This blessing is from the older Roman Ritual. On September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church traditionally blesses Seed and Seedlings, marking the end of the summer harvest and the new planting season for the fall and winter.
In the 1956 Rural Life Prayer Book edited by Alban J. Dachauer, S.J., this blessing was also referred to as the "Blessing of Seeds, Flowers, and Crops on the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary."
Immediately preceding the Mass, the priest stands before the altar and faces the people, who present the flowers and seeds. The following prayers are said and the flowers and seeds are blessed.
Prayer:
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Holy Lord and Father, almighty everlasting God, we ask and beseech you to look with merry countenance and fair eyes on these seeds and seedlings. And as you proclaimed to Moses, your servant, in the land of Egypt, saying: "Tell the children of Israel that when they enter the land of promise which I shall give them, they are to offer the first-fruits to the priests, and they shall be blessed"; so too at our request, O Lord, be merciful and pour out the blessing + of your right hand upon these seeds, which you in your benevolence bring forth to sustain life. Let neither drought nor flood destroy them, but keep them unharmed until they reach their full growth and produce an abundant harvest for the service of body and soul. We ask this of you who live and reign in perfect Trinity forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, sower and tiller of the heavenly word, who cultivate the field of our hearts with heavenly tools, hear our prayers and pour out abundant blessings upon the fields in which these seeds are to be sown. By your protecting hand turn away the fury of the elements, so that this entire fruit may be filled with your blessing, + and may be gathered unharmed and stored up in the granary; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Then the flowers and seeds are sprinkled with holy water and my be incensed.
Prayer Source: Roman Ritual, The, Complete Edition by Philip T. Weller, S.T.D., The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee, WI, 1964
