Chalk Blessing Prayer:
P: Our help is in the name of
The Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: And with your spirit.
Bless, + O Lord God, this creature chalk to render it helpful to men. Grant
that they who use it in faith and with it inscribe upon the entrance of their
homes the names of thy saints, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, may through
their merits and intercession enjoy health of body and protection of soul.
Through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
It is sprinkled with holy water.
Prayer
Source: Roman
Ritual: Volume III, The Blessings by Philip T. Weller, The Bruce
Publishing Company, 1952
Home Blessing Prayer:
On entering the
home,
Leader (Priest, if present,
or father of the family): Peace be to this house.
All: And to all who dwell herein.
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.
All Pray: The Magnificat. During the Magnificat, the room is sprinkled
with holy water and incensed. 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 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 to You.
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, each room of the home is sprinkled with Epiphany water
and incensed. The initials of the Magi are inscribed upon the doors with the
blessed chalk. Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, or the initials, C, M, B, can
also be interpreted as the Latin phrase "Christus mansionem
benedicat" which means "Christ bless this house".)
Example: 20 + C + M
+ B + 14
