On the Feast of the Epiphany, it is customary to bless your home for the year with chalk blessed during Mass.

Please be sure to pick up a piece of chalk after Mass on the weekend of 4/5  January 2020 and use the Rite below.

 

 

Epiphany House Blessing

 

Leader:            Peace be to this house.

All:      And to all who dwell herein.

Leader:            From the east came the Magi to Bethlehem to adore the Lord; and opening their treasures they offered precious gifts: gold for the great King, incense for the true God, and myrrh in symbol of His burial.

During the Magnificat, the room is sprinkled with holy water

All:      My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For He hath regarded the humility of His handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His Name. And His Mercy is from generation unto generations upon them that fear Him. He hath shewed might in His arm, He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel, His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our Fathers, Abraham and His seed forever.

After this is completed:

All:      From the east came the Magi to Bethlehem to adore the Lord; and opening their treasures they offered precious gifts: gold for the great King, incense for the true God, and myrrh in symbol of His burial.

Leader:            Our Father …And lead and lead us not into temptation,

All:      But deliver us from evil.

Leader:            All they from Saba shall come

All:      Bringing gold and frankincense.

Leader:            O Lord, hear my prayer.

All:      And let my cry come unto Thee.

Leader:            Let us pray. O God, who by the guidance of a star didst on this day manifest Thine only-begotten Son to the Gentiles, mercifully grant that we who know Thee by faith may also attain the vision of Thy glorious majesty. Through Christ our Lord.

All:      Amen.

Leader:            Be enlightened, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee– Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary.

All:      And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light and kings in the splendor of thy rising, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee.

Leader:            Let us pray. Bless, O Lord God almighty, this home, that in it there may be health, purity, the strength of victory, humility, goodness and mercy, the fulfillment of Thy law, the thanksgiving to God the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. And may this blessing remain upon this home and upon all who dwell herein. Through Christ our Lord.

All:      Amen

After the prayers of the blessing are recited, walk through the house and bless each room by sprinkling with holy water.

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  20

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 “20” 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”).

1. Say the Morning Offering first thing after you get up, dedicate the day to the glory of God.
2. Fifteen minutes of quiet prayer, preferably before the Blessed Sacrament, but this can be done at home or outside. Join Mary (Lk 10:38) and just sit at the feet of Jesus and listen.
3. Fifteen minutes of spiritual reading. This could be a systematic reading of the New Testament/ the lives of the Saints/ Catholic Catechism/ etc.
4. Attend Holy Mass and receive Holy Communion in the state of grace (of course, this presumes a frequent trip to the confessional).
5. Pray the Angelus at noon or the Regina Coeli during the Easter Season.
6. Pray the Rosary as a family “sitting at the school of Mary and contemplating her Son.”
7. Make a brief examination of conscience each night before going to bed. Review the day… make an act of gratitude for the good done and an act of contrition for the areas in which you failed.