It happened some years ago.
During a trip to Rome, I visited the Vatican and found
that close to St. Peter's, there were shops selling religious items. Some of them cater to the religious
professionals - selling clothes and other religious hardware. Some had racks and racks of rosaries.
Other shops catered for the interested tourist/pilgrim. Different stock, ranging from the cute to the tasteless and bizarre. There, I found what I can only describe as the Generic Blessing.
Imagine a sheet of parchment. On it, it says something similar to :
Pope John Paul the II. herewith blesses the home, family and whatever of
_____fill in the blank______
andsoonandsoon...
Vatican City, the _____fill in the date ____
The procedure is as follows:
You buy a Generic Blessing (different models to choose from), then
the shop staff fills in the blanks. It's then sent to the Vatican for something
like a shotgun blessing, returned and either handed to you or sent by mail.
Now the interesting bit :
The standard issue Generic Blessing that costs $20 will cost only $10 if bought
a couple of hundred yards further away from the Vatican. Identical material, identical
blessing - at half the price.