moses916 wrote:
I have been blessed by many priests in this way: \"God bless you\"; the name of our Lord Jesus Christ was not uttered, or is this \"un-orthodox\"? I have heard of many saints who blessed others saying \"May God save you\" without hinting at Christ's name. Perhaps it would be better to utter His name should the circumstances prefer it, yet nothing is wrong with the other blessings. (P.S. and the greeks are well known at least here in Toronto for nothing making the sign of the cross for the blessing, on the other hand the russian priests here make such a huge cross; i don't know if it is different in the states, if they usually make the sign of the cross then your point is stronger than mine nikola)
Those are valid points, It\'s also good to know that Holy Scripture was read. Personally, in terms of the conventions at least, I don\'t think this was simply a case of saying \\"God Bless you\\" as opposed to \\"May the Blessings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be upon you\\" - there is a place for a Priest to say God Bless you and a place where the name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ MUST be mentioned with no excuses. Although I kept saying \\"No, this can\'t be so\\" to myself, in the end it was plain to see that this was outright political correctness. The name of our Lord was not mentioned in a single Prayer and the Sign of the Cross was completely absent - from the beginning to end he did not Bless himself or the people. I\'ve yet to hear of a Prayer service, in Toronto or otherwise, that does not begin with and end with the Sign of the Cross and the invocation of the Holy Trinity, \\"In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen\\".
I\'ll have to watch video of the latter prayers but I am at least relieved that the Holy Gospel was read. Was the Sign of the Cross made before reading Scripture, was Jesus\'s name mentioned?
