A House Blessing for Epiphany
We are having a little Epiphany gathering tonight with another family where we will eat lasagna and king cake, bless our house, and maybe - who knows - do a little wise men scavenger hunt on the way to Bethlehem. It’s a plan I’ve developed in the last half hour. As promised, here is an order of service if you’d like to bless your house!
If you haven’t had a chance to listen to “Glimpse of Your Glory,” find it on Spotify at the button below.
This service is from the Episcopal Church’s Book of Occasional Services. Many thanks to my husband Will for putting this together for me. He says:
Blessing our homes is one of the ways we take our weekly worship home with us. Home and hearth become a kind of sacrament in the blessing, hallowing our domestic lives as a sign of God’s care for us. The names of the Magi on the door are a visible witness to our place in God’s history and the communion of the saints.
Blessing for Chalk on Epiphany Leader: Our help is in the name of the Lord. Response: Who made heaven and earth. Leader: The Lord be with you. Response: And also with you. Leader: Loving God, bless this chalk which you have created, that it may be helpful to your people; and grant that through the invocation of your most Holy Name that we who use it in faith to write upon the door of our home the names of your holy ones Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, may receive health of body and protection of soul for all who dwell in or visit our home; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Blessing of a Home The people gather near the entrance to the home or at the hearth with chalk on hand. Leader: God shall watch over your going out and your coming in. Response: From this time forth for ever more. Let us pray. O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the nations and the Glory of your people, bless (your names here) who dwell in this house. May it be for them a place of peace and health, that they may rejoice in the gifts and graces you have bestowed upon them and dedicate their talents for the good of those for whom your Christ came and gave his life, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. The door or the hearth of the home is now marked with the chalk. Traditionally, the chalking is done above the lintel or on the door with this form: 20+C+M+B+24 The letters are for the names of the Magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, as well as an abbreviation for the Latin phrase "Christus mansionem benedicat" - "Christ bless this house" The + signs represent the cross, and 20-24 is the year.
The evensong service for Epiphany will come on Monday. Subscribe to make sure you get it! Happy Epiphany friends! I hope you enjoy some feasting today. Love, Allie