Catholic devotions are fantastic! Last night, after Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Night Prayer, we processed to the lobby by the front door of the seminary to bless the Epiphany Chalk. Then the Rector took the Holy Chalk, stood on the Holy Step-Ladder, and wrote on the Holy Lintel of the Holy Front Door.
OK, I’m getting carried away with the step-ladder, and I know how easily this could all sound a bit mad, or superstitious. But when you realise that it is about faith – that blessings and chalk and inscriptions above doorways can be an outward expression of faith in Christ, and in his power to work in this world and to work through the intercession of his saints – then it makes eminent sense.
Chalk, in itself, doesn’t have any power; but blessed chalk, through our faith in Christ, and in the blessing he gives through his ministers, can be a means for our hearts to be more open to him and our homes to be kept under his protection.
Here is the explanation we were given last night:
The Solemnity of the Lord’s Epiphany is associated with many traditions of popular piety. One such is the blessing of homes, through the intercession of the three wise men, using blessed chalk.
An inscription is made above the front door to entrust the home to God’s protection for the new year and ensure all who enter or leave may enjoy God’s blessing. It looks like this:
20 + C + M + B + 12
The number designates the new year, while the ‘CMB’ stands for the traditional names of the wise men – Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar – and also the prayer Christus mansionem benedicat which means ‘May Christ bless this dwelling’.
This blessing is common especially in Central Europe and is often accompanied by processions of children and their parents.
[Cf. Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, 118]
Often broken pieces of chalk are blessed at the end of the Epiphany Mass, using the traditional formula found in the Rituale:
O Lord God, bless this chalk that it may be used for the salvation of the human race.
Through the invocation of Thy most Holy Name, grant that whoever shall take of this chalk and write with it upon the doors of his house the names of Thy saints, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, may through their merits and intercession receive health of body and protection of soul. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The problem, when I got to my own room and made the inscription, was that the door-frame and the walls are all white. Oh well, it’s there for the angels to see.
My grand-daughter has lots of different coloured chalks – I’ll bring some to the Ordinariate meeting on Thursday if you wish!
What a great idea! But they will not have been blessed on Epiphany! And in fact I went to Plan B this afternoon, and chalked my inside wall by the door, which is light green – so I can see the marks when I leave if not when I enter.
One for the legal eagles: if blessed white chalk were to be later dipped in coloured ink would the ink become blessed by absorbtion. Would the ink and chalk be consubstantial? The answer could prevent problems next year.
Although I’ve been a Catholic for thirty years, I’ve never experienced this or even heard of it. That said, I do like the idea.
You have to ask in advance for coloured chalk! Mine is bright pink, selected from the basket by the eldest granddaughter.
When I read the story of Zacchaeus to the children, my little one climbed up on the trunk as if she were up the tree. Holy chalk that mummy has allowed herself to Graffiti a blessing on the front of the house with, is much sought after, breaking it equally in 3 (for the little ones) proved very tricky.
Sounds great! Popular piety and pretty much any public sign of religious practice or sentiment is fast disappearing. It would be great to see groups of Catholic children and their parents going door to door asking people if they’d like their door chalked with a blessing!
I once blessed a room in a shared house, and my friend suggested I knock on the other doors as well – and to my surprise the unexpecting resident in the room opposite was very happy to have their room blessed as well!
We introduced this practise at our Parish this year for the first time. After inviting Parishioners to express interest on Epiphany Sunday, I know have over 80 homes to visit and bless and doorways to chalk in the week ahead.
I have found the same problem, many white doors and lintels.
20 Homes down, 60 to go.
What a heroic burst of home visiting!
This is a nice reminder of when I lived in south-west Germany, where chalking doors on the Epiphany is absolutely the norm. I remember there was some debate as to whether C + M + B stood for the names of the Magi or the Latin blessing, so it´s good to discover that, officially, it stands for both!
First time I´ve commented on your blog, Fr Stephen, but I do enjoy reading it!
Good to hear from you Martin – keep commenting!
Father Stephen: This is so nice, and is new to me. Anything that reminds us of our faith is a blessing, and I do wish that we could have had our home blessed this year. Thank you for your blog; it is well received.
May we not send you some holy blessed chalk and the papers so that you can read out the prayers and do the blessing yourself?
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