Is it sinful to buy a blessed sacramental?
Question:
Is it sinful to buy a blessed sacramental?
Answer:
Yes, it is sinful, that’s what is called simony.
Simony is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things.53 To Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the spiritual power he saw at work in the apostles, St. Peter responded: “Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money!”54 Peter thus held to the words of Jesus: “You received without pay, give without pay.”55 It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods and behave toward them as their owner or master, for they have their source in God. One can receive them only from him, without payment. CCC 2121
Everything depends on the intention of the person. For something to be a mortal sin three things must be present:
- a grave matter
- full knowledge
- free choice.
In the case of buying a sacramental, if you didn’t know it was blessed, it cannot be sinful. However, if the intention is to acquire any spiritual good with money, this is what simony is. So, no one can buy a mass, an absolution, indulgence or any spiritual good. Not only a blessed rosary.
