Posts Tagged ‘prayer’

Epiphany Sunday, Some facts and Prayers for The Blessings of the Houses

Posted: January 7, 2024 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions
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Today is Epiphany Sunday where we celebrate the visit of the three kings/Magi/Wise men of the east who followed a star to the baby Jesus the newborn king of the Jews. 

The feast is traditionally celebrated on January 6th but is transferred to Sunday in the US. Depending on the vagaries of the Calendar the day can be celebrated as early as January 2nd (If Christmas falls on a Saturday) or as late as January the 8th (if Christmas falls on a Sunday).

Where it falls also determines how long the Christmas season lasts. The final day of Christmas is the movable feast of the Baptism of Jesus. 

  • If Jan 6th is a Sunday Epiphany is celebrated on its traditional date and the Christmas season ends on Sunday January 13th with the feast of the Baptism of Jesus on Sunday
  • If the 6th falls on a Monday to Thursday it is transferred to the previous Sunday moving making The Feast of the Baptism of Christ and the last day of Christmas anywhere from Jan 9th to Jan 12th.
  • If it falls on a Friday or Saturday as it did this year it is transferred to the following Sunday (the 8th or the 7th). That becomes the Last Sunday of Christmas and the 1st Sunday of Ordinary time and the feast of the Baptism of Christ transfers to Monday (the 9th or 8th) making Monday the final day of Christmas season.

Thus this year we get the shortest possible Christmas season ending tomorrow. Next year with the 6th falling on a Monday we’ll get four extra days of Christmas. (Of course in the old calendar Christmas officially ended on Feb 2nd the feast of the presentation but I digress…).

The feast of Epiphany is extremely significant in the history of Christianity in several ways:

  1. It’s another external confirmation of the message of the angel to Mary and the Dream of Joseph.
  2. It is the first example of Christ being “a light of revelation to the gentiles.” (non-Jews).
  3. The kings prostrating to Christ as Lord rather than as an equal signifies Christ as king of all.
  4. It shows Christ has come both for rich & poor as only the rich could make the trip of the wise men
  5. It sets the stage for the flight into Egypt as Herod, upon hearing of their coming attempts to slaughter the child in the murder of the holy innocents.
  6. The gifts of Gold and Frankincense note Christ Kingship
  7. The gift of Myrrh symbolizes his death

It has also led to a great Christian tradition the blessing and annual chalking of homes on the feast. 

If you’ve ever visited the EWTN studios you likely have noticed chalk over all the doorways, If you visit the studio after today you will see the following:

20 C + M + B 24 

The 20 and 24 of course representing this current year and the C + M +B representing St. Caspar (Feast day Jan 11th), St. Melchior (Feast day Jan 1st) and St. Balthasar (Feast day Jan 6th). It also (as Churchpop.com notes) stands for the Latin: Christus mansionem benedicat, which translates to “May Christ bless this house.”

This is traditionally done on the 6th but can be done on the feast day itself (I did my home yesterday). In order to do this properly you will need some white chalk which should be blessed an ordained Deacon, Priest or above and you may want some holy water than you can get at any Catholic Church.

There are also prayers to be said. These are the prayers from the conference of Catholic Bishops website the chalking is done at the conclusion of the prayers:

When all have gathered, a suitable song may be sung. The leader makes the sign of the cross, and all reply, “Amen.”



The leader greets those present in the following words:



Let us praise God, who fills our hearts and homes with peace. Blessed be God forever.

R/. Blessed be God forever.



In the following or similar words, the leader prepares those present for the blessing:



The Word became flesh and made his dwelling place among us. It is Christ who enlightens our hearts and homes with his love. May all who enter this home find Christ’s light and love.



One of those present or the leader reads a text of sacred Scripture, for example, Luke 19:1-9:



Listen to the words of the holy Gospel according to Luke:

Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way.> When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.”



The intercessions are then said:



Leader: The Son of God made his home among us. With thanks and praise let us call upon him.

R/. Stay with us, Lord.

Leader:  Lord Jesus Christ, with Mary and Joseph you formed the Holy Family: remain in our home, that we may know you as our guest and honor you as our Head.

We pray:

R/. Stay with us, Lord.

Leader:  Lord Jesus Christ, you had no place to lay your head, but in the spirit of poverty accepted the hospitality of your friends: grant that through our help the homeless may obtain proper

housing.

We pray:

R/. Stay with us, Lord.

Leader: Lord Jesus Christ, the three kings presented their gifts to you in praise and adoration: grant that those living in this house may use their talents and abilities to your greater glory.

We pray:

R/. Stay with us, Lord.



After the intercessions the leader invites all present to say the Lord’s Prayer.

The leader says the prayer of blessing with hands joined:



Lord God of heaven and earth,

you revealed your only-begotten Son to every nation

by the guidance of a star.

Bless this house

and all who inhabit it.

Fill them (us) with the light of Christ,

that their (our) concern for others may reflect your love.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

R/. Amen.



The leader concludes the rite by signing himself or herself with the sign of the cross and saying:



May Christ Jesus dwell with us,

keep us from all harm,

and make us one in mind and heart,

now and forever.

R/. Amen.



It is preferable to end the celebration with a suitable song, for example, “O Come, All Ye Faithful” or “We Three Kings.”

That’s the blessing I used this year. Last year I used this excellent blessing which you can find at Churchpop.com. As with the blessing from the USCCB the chalking takes place after the prayers 

Priest/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.



After these prayers are recited, journey throughout your home and sprinkle each room with holy water–you can get some from your parish.



Afterward, you may continue with the blessing:



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 Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. 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.

It is also traditional to sprinkle each room with Holy water at the end. Again if you don’t have holy water you can get some at your local church.

If you’re only hearing about this for the first time today and you have a blizzard blowing out there and can’t get it done today, you have one more day of Christmas to fall back on and get it done. I highly recommend it as it reminds of you of God’s presence every single day in your home.

It’s the final two days of our Days of Christmas and we still have $2345 to go help us make it over the line by donating here

The Easiest Way for Any Christian To Gain Admission to Hell Without Realizing It…

Posted: August 17, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, Church doctrine
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…is to wish and pray for God’s mercy on themselves while at the same time wishing and praying for God’s justice on others.

Because if you are doing that it means you are forgetting this key line from the Our Father/The Lord’s Prayer.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

I suspect that no line in general prayer is more consistently ignored by those pray it than this is.


July 4th Adoration for the Nation

Posted: June 19, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions, Church doctrine
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“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

Two weeks ago my parish priest approached me concerning our weekly adoration (Mondays 8:30 to 7 PM, Tuesdays 8:30 to 4 pm) at our parish. Because July 4th falls on a Tuesday and the parade would block one of the regular routes to our church he wanted to know if we (myself and the other person who organizes the Adoration schedule) wanted to call it off for the day, after all many of the adorers might be attending the parade and/or spending the day with family and may not be free to come.

Now my wife being a nurse doesn’t have the 4th off but I do so I figured I could cover anyone who didn’t make it but the more I thought about it, looking at things like Minnesota going all in on abortion to the date of birth, Maryland, a state founded by Catholics going all in on Transgenderism and stuff like the Dodgers embrace of an anti Catholic group that even the San Francisco Giants had backed away from in the past, it struck me that if there was ever a day that we needed to approach God in the Blessed Sacrament it would be the 4th of July.

So in addition to telling our priest that we will have adoration as normal, I am urging Catholics across the USA to find a church or chapel that has Adoration on the 4th or if there is no such church or chapel available go online to one of the many perpetual adoration live streams offered and spend an hour with Christ in prayer for the country.

We’ll call it Adoration for the nation.

After all Christ urges us to persistence in prayer, let’s trust his word and ask.

Six Quick Thoughts on the Upcoming Boston “Satancon” under the Fedora

Posted: April 19, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions, Uncategorized, under the fedora
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This week at mass father mentioned a letter sent by Bishop McMannus of the Worcester Diocese that echoes the letter from Bishop Mark speaking for Cardinal O’Malley of Boston suggesting that the faithful avoid going to Boston to pray in front of the location of the Satan convention but rather go to various shrines and churches to pray all this week.

I tend to agree, given what we see of today’s media we know which side they are serving here so why help the enemy out by playing into their hands.

One of the ironies here is that given the messages going out to all catholic churches in the state the Satan Con (like the black mass they were going to hold at Harvard years ago) is likely going to generate a whole lot more prayer, visits to shrines and devotions than normal over the next ten days. All of this is likely to be very good for souls.

As ever God takes lemons and makes lemonade

Concerning the Cardinal’s and the Bishops request to stay away from Satancon there is one exception I would make if I was Cardinal O’Malley in Boston. I would assign a priest to be in viewing distance of the hotel for all three days with instructions to be available for confession for anyone who attends this event who has a change of heart.

After all that’s the primary goal of all the prayers that will be going on and given the volume of prayer I would think that said priest might find himself busier than expected.

One other admonition that the Cardinal and the Bishop have made is that churches and shrines take extra security to protect the blessed sacrament and make sure that over the next ten days they make sure that people who receive the Eucharist at mass actually consume it as it is the practice of Satanists to attempt to get a consecrated host to defile it.

You might remember from Elizabeth Scalia’s excellent reporting at the time that this was a bid deal during the Black Mass business at Harvard.

It’s also one of the ironies that while most of our protestant brothers do not acknowledge the Eucharist as the body of Christ Satanists know what it is which is why make such an effort to obtain consecrated hosts rather than just buying the unconsecrated ones available at catholic supply stores.

After all there is a reason why they hold a black mass and not a black tent revival or a black meeting or go after protestant bread of remembrance and why they’ll desecrate a Bible but you never hear about them going after a koran..

It’s been suggested that the vast majority of those who are attending don’t actually believe in Satan and are just doing it for a lark. Given how it is sold out I’m not sure I agree but I must confess that what I would really like to see is somebody before the convention spread blessed and/or exorcised salt around the hotel or at least its entrance and then have a webcam film the people going in during the convention.

The ones who don’t react are either guests or people doing it for a lark. The ones who react, they’re the real thing.

But either way if I owned that Hotel I’d ask the archdiocese to have someone come in to bless the building and do what’s called a minor exorcism on the place once this convention is done, because frankly after hosting this thing there is no amount of money that could talk me into going in that place until that’s been done.

Finally I’m rather curious about how the various Protestant, Jewish and or Muslim congregations in the area are reacting to this event. Are they ignoring it? Opposing it? Being proactive about it? Praying about it like we Catholics. Are they even mentioning it to their congregations? I mentioned it to one Pentecostal friend and he had not even heard of it and was completely shocked that it was taking place.

And is TFP planning anything. They were VERY proactive during the Harvard business. Will they turn up in defiance of the Cardinal’s request or join in the prayers?

It’s going to be an interesting ten days.

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