Patriarchal Blessings

What is a patriarchal blessing?

A patriarchal blessing has two main purposes. First, the patriarch will be inspired to declare your lineage—the tribe of Israel to which you belong. Second, guided by the spirit of prophecy, the patriarch will pronounce blessings and may also provide promises, cautions, or admonitions that apply specifically to you. Your patriarchal blessing may point out certain things you are capable of achieving and blessings you can receive if you exercise faith and live righteously.

Why is lineage important?

Every member of the Church belongs to one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Those who aren’t literal descendants are “adopted” into the house of Israel through baptism. Knowing your lineage can be a helpful guide in your life, because belonging to one of the twelve tribes brings the blessings and missions specific to each tribe. The blessings Jacob gave his sons (the heads of each of the tribes) can be found in Genesis 49 [Gen. 49].

Who may give a patriarchal blessing?

Patriarch is actually an office in the Melchizedek Priesthood, just like elder or high priest, and a patriarch is called and ordained specifically to give patriarchal blessings. You will receive your blessing from the patriarch in your stake or one nearby if your stake doesn’t have a patriarch. If you live where there are no stake patriarchs, your bishop or branch president will know how to help you make arrangements to receive a blessing. If you are a direct descendant of someone who is a patriarch (such as your grandfather), you may receive your blessing from him even if he doesn’t live in your stake.

Who may receive a patriarchal blessing?

All worthy members of the Church are entitled to and should receive a patriarchal blessing regardless of how long they have been members.

How old do I have to be for a blessing?

There is no set age. You should be old enough to appreciate the sacred nature of the blessing.

How is the blessing given?

The patriarch will place his hands on your head and give the blessing through inspiration. It will be revealed direction for you. The blessing will then be transcribed so that you can have a written copy to study throughout your life. The Church will also keep a copy of your blessing in case you ever lose yours.

How do I get a patriarchal blessing?

Make an appointment for an interview with your bishop. He will determine your readiness and worthiness and either give you a recommend or help you prepare to receive one. After receiving your recommend, you may contact the patriarch to schedule an appointment. Ask your bishop or the patriarch who may accompany you to your blessing, such as your parents. And bring your recommend to the appointment.

How do I know if I’m ready?

The desire to receive a patriarchal blessing should come from a desire to know and live God’s will for you. Curiosity or pressure from others isn’t the right reason to get a blessing. The bishop will help determine if you are ready for the blessing.

How can I prepare?

You should do everything possible to draw closer to the Lord. Prayer, fasting, scripture study, meditation, and repentance can help. Concerns about worldly things should be left behind for such a sacred occasion.

What should I wear?

You should wear Sunday clothes.

When will the promises in my blessing be fulfilled?

Occasionally patriarchal blessings reveal things from our pre-earth life. But mostly they are guides for present and future living. Because blessings are eternal in nature, they may include possibilities beyond mortal life.

Will all the promises in my blessing be fulfilled?

All blessings are based on your faithfulness and the Lord’s timing. Blessings may also be fulfilled in a variety of ways throughout your life, depending on your growth, capacity, and circumstances.

Should I let others read my blessing?

Your blessing is personal, between you and Heavenly Father. You might share your blessing with family members or others who are close to you. But blessings should be guarded and never compared with those of others.A patriarchal blessing can be of great value throughout your life. Preparing for and living worthy of the promises in your blessing can bring you closer to your Heavenly Father in this life and help you return to Him in the next.

The Patriarchs

I wish to pay tribute to the faithful men holding this great calling and ordination. They are often among the most humble and faithful of our brethren. These chosen men live lives that entitle them to the inspiration of heaven. Patriarchs are privileged to impart blessings directly rather than just solicit blessings to the individual, for the patriarchs are entitled to speak authoritatively for the Lord.

The office of patriarch is one of the great separate priesthood offices of the Melchizedek Priesthood. The patriarchal office is one of blessing, not of administration, nor of counseling. It is a sacred, spiritual calling that usually will continue the remainder of the patriarch’s life. However, due to health or other personal circumstances, he may be given nonfunctioning status. Our patriarchs give total devotion to their callings and do all they can to live in faith and worthiness so that each blessing is inspired.

The Blessing

When moved upon by the Holy Spirit, the patriarch makes an inspired declaration of the lineage of the recipient together with such blessings, spiritual gifts, promises, advice, admonition, and warnings as the patriarch feels inspired to give. It is in essence a prophetic utterance.

Patriarchal blessings should be read humbly and prayerfully and frequently. They are very personal but may be shared with close family members. A patriarchal blessing is a sacred guideline of counsel, promises, and information from the Lord. However, a person should not expect that the blessing will detail all that will happen to him or her or be an answer to all questions. The omission of the blessing of a great event in life such as a mission or marriage does not mean it will not happen. My own blessing is short and is limited to perhaps three quarters of one page on one side, yet it has been completely adequate and perfect for me.

When Are Patriarchal Blessings Fulfilled?

Elder John A. Widtsoe (1872–1952), an Apostle, had the following to say: “It should always be kept in mind that the realization of the promises made may come in this life or the future life. Men have stumbled at times because promised blessings have not occurred in this life. They have failed to remember that, in the gospel, life with all its activities continues forever and that the labors of earth may be continued in heaven. Besides, the giver of the blessings, the Lord, reserves the right to have them become active in our lives as suits his divine purposes. We and our blessings are in the hands of the Lord, but there is a general testimony that when the gospel law has been obeyed, the promised blessings have been realized.” ¹

This was well illustrated in my father’s patriarchal blessing. He was told in his blessing that he would be blessed with “many beautiful daughters.” He and my mother became the parents of five sons. There were no daughters born to them, but of course they treated the wives of their sons as daughters. This last summer when we had a family reunion, I saw my father’s granddaughters moving about tending to the food and ministering to the young children and the elderly, and the realization came to me that Father’s blessing had been literally fulfilled; he has, indeed, many beautiful daughters. The patriarch who gave my father his blessing had spiritual vision to see beyond this life. There was a disappearance of the dividing line between time and eternity.

The patriarch has no blessing of his own to give; the blessing is the Lord’s to give. God knows our spirits; He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He knows our capabilities and our potential. Our patriarchal blessings indicate what the Lord expects of us and what our potential can be. Our blessings can encourage us when we are discouraged, strengthen us when we are fearful, comfort us when we sorrow, give us courage when we are filled with anxiety, lift us up when we are weak in spirit.

Adoption into the House of Israel

There are many coming into the Church who are not of the blood lineage of a specific tribe of Jacob. No one need assume that he or she will be denied any blessing by reason of not being of the blood lineage of Israel.

Paul makes repeated references to adoption into the house of Israel through faith: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9). And again: “Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises” (Rom. 9:4).

King Benjamin refers to the faithful as “the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters” thus being able to be “spiritually begotten … through faith” (Mosiah 5:7), and thus coming into the family of Christ through a spiritual birth.

It really makes no difference if the blessings of the house of Israel come through the lineage or through the spirit of adoption. Elder John A. Widtsoe stated, “Whether this lineage is of blood or of adoption does not matter.” ²

In Abraham we are told, “And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father” (Abr. 2:10).

Lineage

Since families are of mixed lineage, it occasionally happens that members of the same family have blessings declaring them to be of different lineage. There has been an intermixture of the tribes one with another. One child may be of Ephraim, another in the same family of Manasseh, Judah, or one of the other tribes. The blood of one tribe, therefore, may be dominant in one child and the blood of another tribe dominant in another child, so children from the same parents could belong to different tribes.

The house of Israel, in the original sense, meant the literal blood descendants of the house of Jacob. The Lord said to Abraham, “I give unto thee a promise that this right [meaning the right to receive the gospel and the priesthood] shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee” (Abr. 2:11). By seed we mean the heirs of the body. In our time the Lord has said, “Thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers—

“For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, …

“Therefore, your life and priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage” (D&C 86:8–10).

Believing Gentiles, even though not of the blood lines or genealogical ancestry of Israel, become adopted into the house of Israel.

Joseph Smith taught that when “the Holy Ghost falls upon one of the literal seed of Abraham, it is calm and serene; … while the effect of the Holy Ghost upon a Gentile, is to purge out the old blood, and make him actually of the seed of Abraham. That man that has none of the blood of Abraham (naturally) must have a new creation by the Holy Ghost.” ³

I received my own patriarchal blessing when I was but a boy of 12. From that short blessing I learned something about my responsibilities and my labors in establishing the kingdom.

I pray that we will live worthily and seek the blessings that are promised us by the Lord through our family patriarchs and through our ordained patriarchs, and that we will strive to help conditions and circumstances so that these great promises can be realized.

Blackberry Honey Creams

Ingredients

1. 18oz Greek Yogurt
2. 2-3 tbsp runny honey
3. 10oz Blackberries
4. 8oz blackberry coulis

Activity

1- Play Flashlight Freeze Tag – One person is ‘it’ and the other people start with 10 lives. The ‘it’ person counts to 30 and everyone else hides in the dark. The person who is ‘it’ gets the flashlight and tries to find the others by touching them with the light from the flashlight. When a person is “found” with the light they must yell out their name and say they are caught. The person found with the light also loses a life but can hide again if they have more lives. Once a person has no more lives the game is over and they become “it”.

2- Make your own Kaleidoscope- instructions found here.