Orthodoxy and the blessing of weapons

A very interesting discussion of the Orthodox practice of blessing weapons is available from the blog OrthoCuban. Having had this discussion before with friends, the division among believers holds strong support for the practice on one side and strong dislike on the other side. No one seems opposed to blessing "spiritual weapons" such as bells, but Kalashnikovs were a different thing for even Kalashnikov himself (see here).

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(OrthoCuban) - Recently, there was a small discussion on a friend’s Facebook© page concerning Orthodoxy and the blessing of weapons. Below is an ancient service for the blessing of weapons. Above is a photograph of a Russian priest blessing weapons. It should be noted that the Great Book of Needs, published by St. Tikhon seminary in 1999 has no such service within its pages. And, though it says “book,” it is actually a set of four encyclopedia size volumes.

Blessing of Swords/Sabers and Soldiers

The Bishop or Priest comes out of the Altar to a table before the Ambon on which the weapons are placed, and he censes the weapons crosswise while the Reader begins as is common...

Complete post here.