BENEDICTION :    Vessels and Vestments

Benediction, from the Latin word benedicere, to bless, is the service of blessing of the people with the Blessed Sacrament.

   
The Monstrance,
from the Latin verb monstrare, to show, is the vessel used to display the Blessed Sacrament.

  
The Thurible
is used to contain burning charcoal, on which incense is sprinkled so that it gives off a sweet-smelling odour. Incense was used from early times to honour or reverence people or things. For this reason in church, on occasions, we incense the altar, the word of God, priest and people, or the dead. At Benediction the priest incenses the Host within the monstrance. The person using, or in charge of, the thurible is known as the thurifer.

The Incense Boat,
so called because it is the shape of a boat, is used as a container from which to draw incense.

The Cope 
is the full vestment, in the shape of a cloak, worn by the priest at Benediction.
 

The Humeral Veil
(umerus, shoulder)is worn on the shoulders of the priest at the moment of Benediction. The priest uses the veil to hold the monstrance aloft for the blessing of the people, or when he carries the Blessed Sacrament in procession.      

The Rite of Benediction

Mass Vestments