BLESSED

In the language of the Church, "blessed" refers to the just in heaven, those who after a life here below enjoy eternal happiness. St. Paul in 1 Cor 2.9 considers their happiness a mystery. Theologians treat the happiness of the saints in heaven as an aspect of the supernatural, beatific vision, which consists essentially in seeing and loving God without fully comprehending Him. According to Scripture and tradition this happiness is substantially the same for all, but varies according to the merits of the individual.

The title blessed is given by the Church to those whose cause has successfully passed through the process of beatification. After completion of these proceedings it is established that a person practiced heroic virtue and that this fact is miraculously confirmed. The blessed may be venerated. However, the cult given them is restricted.

As the translation of the Greek μακάριοι, blessed means happy, fortunate, blissful, and is the opening word of the eight solemn blessings, the Beatitudes (Mt 1.5–10), which are the first part of the Sermon on the Mount.

See Also: heaven (theology of); canonization of saints (history and procedure); beatitudes (in the bible).

[o. a. boenki]

bless·ed / blest; ˈblesid/ • adj. 1. made holy; consecrated. ∎  a title preceding the name of a dead person considered to have led a holy life, esp. a person formally beatified by the Roman Catholic Church: the Convent of the Blessed Agnes. ∎  used respectfully in reference to a dead person: a gracious lady of blessed memory. ∎  endowed with divine favor and protection: blessed are the meek. ∎  bringing pleasure or relief as a welcome contrast to what one has previously experienced: he half stumbled out of the room up to his bed and blessed, blessed sleep. ∎  (blessed with) endowed with (a particular quality or attribute): a beautiful city, steeped in history and blessed with huge sandy beaches.2. inf. used in mild expressions of annoyance or exasperation: there wasn't a blessed thing anybody could have done.DERIVATIVES: blessedly / ˈblesidlē/ adv.

blessed blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed often used as a warning against overconfidence. The saying is recorded from the early 18th century, and the poet Alexander Pope (1688–1744) described this in a letter of October 1727 as ‘a ninth Beatitude’, with ironical reference to the blessings listed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.
Blessed Virgin Mary a title given to Mary as the mother of Jesus.
single blessedness a humorous expression for the state of being unmarried, originally a quotation from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.

See also blessed are the dead that the rain rains on, Blessed Sacrament at sacrament.