How to bless your home for the new years...Catholic Style!
http://fisheaters.com//customschristmas9.html
part of the article in the link:
1) On the morning of the Feast of the Epiphany, children in some households will wake to see what gifts had been left by the Magi (or La Befana) during the night. (I have a gift for JP on that morning!)
2) Take the blessed chalk and first write the initials of the three Wise Men, connected with Crosses, over the inside of your front door (on the lintel, if possible). Then write the year, breaking up the numbers and the year so that they fall on both sides of the initials. It should look like this, for ex.:
20 C+M+B 05
with the "20 "being the millennium and century, the "C" standing for the first Wise Man, Caspar, the "M" standing for Melchior, the "B" standing for Balthasar, and the "05" standing for the decade and year. It is also popularly believed that the Kings' initials also stand for "Christus mansionem benedicat" ("Christ bless this house").
2 comments:
The younger priest (parochial vicar) in our parish had never heard of a house blessing on Epiphany. A bunch of Catholic homeschoolers have asked priests to go around and bless houses on Epiphany, with a potluck afterward and a (generous) donation. Our priest fairly laughed at me when I asked him if he would do it. I didn't even bother asking the other one. I'd love to do this at home, though. I'm trying to think of something special to do for Epiphany. I have a recipe for "Kings Cake" that I think I'll make with my new (yes, brand new!) oven.
Wow, a new oven! Gas or electric? Did you get it as a gift for Christmas? What colour is it?
House blessings as a RC - each year around the 12th of Jan, my priest would show up at our home (after we cleaned it from stem to stern)and do the traditional house blessing with holy water. I liked this 'other' house blessing with the chalk because I think my hubby and I could do it just as well.
I can see the priest laughing at the idea - some of the younger priests don't have the benefit of those nice traditions that others have been doing forever.
I'd rather have a teachable priest than one that is rigid and forceful with tradtions, however! LOL!
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