benediction

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A short invocation for help, blessing and guidance from God, said on behalf of another person or persons (sometimes at the end of a church worship service).

   “to pronounce / give / say the benediction”

   “the nuptial benediction”

   “a parting benediction”

   “O, look upon me, sir, And hold your hands in benediction o’er me.”

   “So saying, he [the angel] arose; whom Adam thus Follow’d with benediction.”

2. (countable, uncountable)In the Anglican church, the ceremony used to institute an abbot, analogous to the consecration of a bishop.

   “What Consecration is to a Bishop, that Benediction is to an Abbot; but in a different way: For a Bishop is not properly such till Consecration; but an Abbot being elected and confirm’d, is properly such before Benediction.”

3. (countable, uncountable)A Roman Catholic rite by which bells, banners, candles, etc., are blessed with holy water and formally dedicated to God.

   “[He] later liked to attend benediction in the chapel at Brideshead and see the ladies of the family with their necks arched in devotion under their black lace mantillas; [...]”

4. (countable, uncountable)Help, good fortune or reward from God or another supernatural source.

   “[…] they throng who should buy first, as if my trinkets had been hallowed and brought a benediction to the buyer:”

   “Homeward serenely she walked with God’s benediction upon her.”