The ceremony of such a blessing is similar in some aspects to the consecration of a bishop, with the new abbot being presented with the mitre, the ring, and the crosier as symbols of office and receiving the laying on of hands and blessing from the celebrant.

Officially, the church does not prohibit clergy-performed blessing ceremonies for same sex unions, as long as it clear that the blessing ritual is not a marriage ceremony.

In 1997, Al Sharpton, a Christian minister and a candidate for the 2004 presidential election, who had also taken part in other Unification Church events and holidays, took part in a blessing ceremony at RFK Stadium, Washington, D. C., as a wedding-vow renewal with his wife.

In 2001, the Catholic Church archbishop Emmanuel Milingo was wed by Moon with a Unification Church member in a blessing ceremony against the will of the Pope.

In 2009, a blessing ceremony for 7, 000 couples was attended by the Vice Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and by the daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee.

In 1997, Louis Farrakhan, the leader of The Nation of Islam, an African American Islamic organization, served as a " co-officiator " at a blessing ceremony presided over by Moon and Han.

Most Christian churches give some form of blessing to a marriage ; the wedding ceremony typically includes some sort of pledge by the community to support the couple's relationship.

Today, Jewish Kohanim know their status by family tradition and DNA, and still offer the priestly blessing during certain services in the synagogue and perform the Pidyon Ha-ben ( redemption of the first-born son ) ceremony.

Belgium's monarchs are inaugurated without the blessing of the Catholic Church in a purely civil swearing-in ceremony.

Legends claim that even the lily itself appeared at the baptismal ceremony as a gift of blessing in an apparition of the blessed Virgin Mary.

The Conference of Bishops responded, " There is basis neither in Scripture nor tradition for the establishment of an official ceremony by this church for the blessing of a homosexual relationship.

Another variation says a lily appeared at Clovis ' baptismal ceremony as a gift of blessing from an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is often associated with the flower.

The Reverend Martin Dudley who officiated at the ceremony at St Bartholomew-the-Great maintained that the ceremony was a " blessing " rather than a matrimonial ceremony.

* Turun mandi-baby blessing ceremony

Since 1968, the Pope has officiated at a special ceremony in St. Peter's Square on Gaudete Sunday that involves blessing hundreds of mangers and Babies Jesus for the children of Rome, Italy.

It was also worn when a pope gave his traditional Christmas and Easter Urbi et Orbi blessing from the balcony of St Peter's, the only religious ceremony when the tiara was worn.

In the end, an agreement was found and the Catholic representatives opened the Zentralfriedhof with a small blessing ceremony, but refrained from too much ceremonial pomposity.

This is concluded by a special blessing ceremony given by resident Rinpoche to the general public followed by the world renowned Mask Dances performed by the monks.

While the ceremony itself is civil, many Buddhists obtain the blessing from monks at the local temple after the marriage is completed.

* Baraka, also berakhah, in Judaism, a blessing usually recited during a ceremony

The Blessing ceremonies attracted attention in the press and in the public imagination, often being labeled " mass weddings ", the one of such blessing ceremonies was held at Headquarters of the United Nations in 2000.

Other events include the May opener for rock cod fishing, blessing the fleet May 1, open house at Moss Landing Marine Labs held in April or May, and Nautical Flea Market held in May.

Robert Gordis held that " a rational dialogue conducted on the basis of knowledge and mutual respect between the two components of the religio-ethical tradition of the Western world can prove a blessing to our age.

Entering the sanctuary for no good reason or without a blessing is forbidden even if no religious service is being held at the time.

A blessing was held in Saint Tropez the following month.

The custom of decorating pysanky was observed with greatest care, and a pysanka, after receiving the Easter blessing, was held to have great powers as a talisman.

He held a few positions, namely those of Kapellmeister of Minden in 1786, and from 1788 to 1811 as Kapellmeister in Berlin with the blessing of King Friedrich Wilhelm II.

There are two rites for blessing holy water: the Great Blessing of Waters which is held on the Feast of Theophany, and the Lesser Blessing of Waters which is conducted according to need during the rest of the year.

Odin bestowed on Starkad the blessings of living three lifetimes, of possessing the most excellent of weapons, an abundance of riches, victory in battle, the gift of poetry and always to be held in the highest esteem among the rich and powerful. Thor, however, who hated Starkad because of his jotun origin, denied Starkad the blessing of having children and cursed him to commit a crime every lifetime he lived and never to possess real estate.

On his 130th birthday, a commemorative concert was held in Uspenskyi Cathedral of Kiev Pechersk Lavra by the best graduates of the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy under patronage of President Yuschenko and under blessing of Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Finally, there are additional items that must be placed on the spread, including a bowl of gold coins ( to represent wealth and prosperity ), a scarf / shawl made of silk / fine fabric ( to be held over the bride and groom ’ s head at certain points in the ceremony ), two sugar cones — which are grinded above the bride and groom ’ s head, thus symbolizing sweetness / happiness, a cup of honey ( to sweeten life ), a needle and seven strands of colored thread ( the shawl that is held above the bride and groom ’ s head is sewn together with the string throughout the ceremony ), and a copy of the couple ’ s Holy Book ( other religions require different texts ; but all of these books symbolize God ’ s blessing for the couple.

Eventually they found a female vicar who would help them, and they were united in a blessing ceremony held in Roy's Rolls on 23 April 1999.

Trikirion ( left ) and dikirion ( right ), being held by subdeacon s during the blessing of holy water.

To recite the blessing over the lulav and etrog, the lulav is held in one hand and the etrog in the other.

Should all the species be held in the direction in which they grew, the mitzvah would be fulfilled before the blessing is recited.

The grounds for the prayer are established in the first two stanzas ( alef and beth ): the Torah is held up as a source of blessing and right conduct, and the psalmist pledges to dedicate himself to the law.

The groom's parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, did not attend the civil wedding ceremony but were present at the service of blessing and held a reception for the couple in Windsor Castle afterwards.

In the afternoon a Miners ' service is held in Durham Cathedral which may include the blessing of any new banners.

The site has a significant issue in regard to the Biblical account of Joshua's altar, as it is located on the north side of the mountain, and not the south side facing Mount Gerizim, making a curse & blessing ritual held there and on Gerizim somewhat difficult to hold antiphonally ; the excavating archaeologist proposed that this could be resolved by identifying a mountain to the north as Gerizim rather than the usual location, though the suggestion was ridiculed by both the Samaritans, who found it offensive to move the centre of their religion, and by other scholars and archaeologists.

The agreement of a Patriarch is not binding over the whole Orthodox Church ( the Patriarchs are just considered first among equals among the local bishops of the patriarchy, and do not hold any power outside their bishopric-they cannot even do Sacraments outside their bishopric without blessing of the local bishop ).

In Yemenite Jewish synagogues and some Sephardi synagogues, kohanim chant the priestly blessing daily, even outside of Israel.

With the blessing of Robert Millikan, Caltech's president, Beckman began accepting outside consulting work.

Hallahan gives Torello's Strike Force his blessing to pursue Luca onto foreign soil, but warns that outside the U. S. their badges will mean nothing.

Following the precedents established by his two immediate predecessors for the granting of the urbi et orbi blessing since the 1870 invasion of Rome, Pius X gave his first Urbi et Orbi on a balcony facing into St. Peter's Basilica rather than to the crowds outside, so as to symbolise his opposition to Italian rule of Rome and his demand for a return of the States of the Church.

There are also loaves which are baked for blessing and distribution to the faithful outside of the Divine Liturgy.

* Having been sent with the blessing of the Queen of Imerina, they were asked to start working with an existing Imerina congregation located just outside the fort which was located in the midst of where the Imerina lived.