Epiphany- January 5th-House Blessing

EPIPHANY HOUSE BLESSING It has been a tradition in the Catholic Church to bless chalk at the Masses for Epiphany, and then use the blessed chalk as part of blessing one’s home in the New Year. The home blessing can be done as follows: Using the blessed chalk, mark the current year and the initials of the Maji above the outside doorways of your home. Place a cross between each of the letters. It should look something like this: 20+C+M+B+XX (XX =last two digits of current year) After completing the above markings, pray the following prayer: May all who come to our home this year rejoice to find Christ living among us; and may we seek and serve, in everyone we meet, that same Jesus who is Lord of all people, forever and ever. Amen. The legendary names of the three Maji are: Casper, Melchior, and Balthasar. The initials C+M+B also stand for ther Latin words, “Christus Mansionem Benedicat” which means: “May Christ bless this dwelling.” The markings over the doors should be left all year round.