Освящение автомобиля

Praying over the things we use

The blessing of a car is a short service in which the priest prays over a vehicle and over those who will travel in it, asking God to send down His blessing, to guard them and guide them, that they may make their journey in peace. He sprinkles the car crosswise, inside and out, with holy water.

The Church has prayers for the blessing of a great many ordinary things: a house, a field, a well, a boat, seeds before sowing, a new tool. A car simply belongs to that list. Nothing that we use is outside of God's care, and the Church does not divide life into a "spiritual" part that may be prayed over and a practical part that may not.

As with a house, the accurate word is blessing rather than consecration: a car is an ordinary thing, not something set apart for sacred use.

An old prayer for a new machine

This is not a modern novelty invented when cars appeared. The service is the Book of Needs' blessing of a chariot, and it came into the Book of Needs from the military service book — where a "chariot" meant a chariot of war. The Church has been praying over the vehicles people ride into danger for a very long time. Only the vehicle has changed.

It is not a charm

This is worth saying plainly, because it is the most common misunderstanding, and the Church's own answer to it is blunt. It is naive to think that a blessing guarantees the car's safety by itself, apart from our faith and our life. A blessed car can still be in an accident. Whether you arrive safely depends on your competence, your attentiveness, your alertness and your sobriety — and the blessing is no substitute for any of them.

The same goes for what people hang inside the car. An icon on the dashboard is a good thing; an icon, a cross, or a prayer rope treated as a lucky object is not. Holy things exist to remind us to pray to God, not to function as charms. That distinction is the whole difference between faith and superstition, and it is not a small one.

What the blessing actually does is ask God to guard the people who travel — the Church's prayers for travellers ask that an angel be sent as guardian and guide, as the Archangel Raphael was sent to accompany Tobias, to deliver them from every danger, visible and invisible. And it works in both directions: in asking God's blessing on the machine, the believer takes on the obligation to use it for what is good and not for what is not. The help is asked of God; the responsibility stays with the driver.

What happens

It is a short service. The priest says the appointed prayers over the vehicle and over those who travel in it, and sprinkles the car crosswise, inside and out, with holy water. The driver and passengers stand with him and pray. If you like, an icon to keep in the car can be blessed at the same time — most often of St. Nicholas, or of the Mother of God.

The natural time is soon after buying the car. Come as a family if you can; the prayer is for the people who ride in it as much as for the vehicle, and it is worth everyone praying it together. New drivers in a family are often brought for this, and it is a good moment to talk with them about what the prayer means and what it does not.

Practical notes

• Any vehicle can be blessed — a car, a truck, a motorcycle, a bicycle.
• Bring the car reasonably clean if convenient, though nothing depends on it.
• Bring the people who drive it.
• Before setting out on the road, cross yourself and ask God's blessing on the journey. That habit is worth more than anything hanging from the mirror.
• There is no fee; a voluntary offering to the parish is customary.

If you would like the blessing after a Sunday Liturgy rather than on a weekday, say so in your request and the office will arrange it.