Altars at home

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silverwings_88

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Could someone explain to me what the Catholic Church would say about home altars which Filipino and Mexican Catholics seem to have prominently? Most Filipinos I know (I myself am Filipino) keep an altar in which to put religious articles, such as candles, prayer cards, holy images, and such on it. But I recently found that not many Catholics keep altars in their own homes, and supposedly they came from pagan influences.

So I’m unsure whether to keep it and pray on it or remove it.
 
since living here in sotex with our high population of Mexicans, and lately many more Filipinos, I have noticed that most homes have an altarcito in a the prominent place with always La virgen, crucifix, candles, photos of deceased loved ones, sometimes relics, holy pictures etc. It clearly proclaims this house and family are Catholic, “as for me and my house, we serve the Lord.”

Other homes copy the prevailing American practice of enshrining the TV in the place of honor in the center of the living or family room, clearly proclaiming the religion that is practiced there–conspicuous consumption.
 
I don’t know about specific Church teachings, but I think that this is a wonderful idea - having your house center on Jesus. Having most (of course not all!) of your prayer items in one place, I feel, shows them respect (plus they aren’t getting lost around the house!).

Puzzleannie, you are correct - there are people out there that surround their entertainment system with religious items - I am one of those people 🙂 I wish I would spend some more time on developing a special religious area. I guess I should have made that my Lenten promise!
 
I have a little altar of sorts in my bed room. I don’t think the orign of the practice is as important as the intention, which so often we are told by the saints is what God reads to determine if our actions are pleasing or offensive to him.

My “altar” is located on a dresser. Nothing fancy. Just a little space that includes a few icons of saints who inspire me, and whose virtues I seek (or need to be seeking more actively).

I have two statues of Mary that I took from my late grandmother’s house. I was hoping that one of my sisters might want one, but none did and for lack of a better home, she stay with me. Mary reminds me of many vitures; maternal chrity should not be confiend by blood relations, and having the courgae to say say yes without hesitation, when you know you are presented wiht a mission from God.

I have a very cheap picture of the Sacred Heart that I received for free in the mail, to remind me of the love of Jesus that I should be reciprocating and promoting.

I have a small icon of St. Jude, because I feel so hopeless right now in so many aspects, but also to remind me that depsite all the good he did, some people still think of the traitor Judas first when they hear his name.

I have an icon (the saints are all the same size as they all came from bridgebuilder.com) of Mary Magdalene to remind me that living a full Christian life entails obligations to both follow and lead. Again she, too is some one has been maligned by history depsite her virtues.

And I have an icon of Catherine of Sienna, because her Dialogue offered so much advice for living a life pleasing to God.

There are also candles and/or incense there depending on what I have on hand, which I light when formally praying.

And a icon of Catherine of Sien
 
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puzzleannie:
since living here in sotex with our high population of Mexicans, and lately many more Filipinos, I have noticed that most homes have an altarcito in a the prominent place with always La virgen, crucifix, candles, photos of deceased loved ones, sometimes relics, holy pictures etc. It clearly proclaims this house and family are Catholic, “as for me and my house, we serve the Lord.”

Other homes copy the prevailing American practice of enshrining the TV in the place of honor in the center of the living or family room, clearly proclaiming the religion that is practiced there–conspicuous consumption.
Click to expand...
:amen:
 
My spouse and I do baptismal prep and we encourage families to identify their house as Catholic. At the minimum have a crucifix displayed,a bible…etc. Having a shrine is a wonderful way for your children to imitate the importance that God plays in our lives.
Peace to you and yours
 
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serendipity:
I have a little altar of sorts in my bed room. I don’t think the orign of the practice is as important as the intention, which so often we are told by the saints is what God reads to determine if our actions are pleasing or offensive to him.

My “altar” is located on a dresser. Nothing fancy. Just a little space that includes a few icons of saints who inspire me, and whose virtues I seek (or need to be seeking more actively).

I have two statues of Mary that I took from my late grandmother’s house. I was hoping that one of my sisters might want one, but none did and for lack of a better home, she stay with me. Mary reminds me of many vitures; maternal chrity should not be confiend by blood relations, and having the courgae to say say yes without hesitation, when you know you are presented wiht a mission from God.

I have a very cheap picture of the Sacred Heart that I received for free in the mail, to remind me of the love of Jesus that I should be reciprocating and promoting.

I have a small icon of St. Jude, because I feel so hopeless right now in so many aspects, but also to remind me that depsite all the good he did, some people still think of the traitor Judas first when they hear his name.

I have an icon (the saints are all the same size as they all came from bridgebuilder.com) of Mary Magdalene to remind me that living a full Christian life entails obligations to both follow and lead. Again she, too is some one has been maligned by history depsite her virtues.

And I have an icon of Catherine of Sienna, because her Dialogue offered so much advice for living a life pleasing to God.

There are also candles and/or incense there depending on what I have on hand, which I light when formally praying.

And a icon of Catherine of Sien
Click to expand...
Here’s my altar. the writing on the top is ancient tagalog, bathala, meaning God, and it’s supposed to go with the bamboo for a Filipino feel. I may replace the bamboo with flowers and the word God in Tagalog with the Tetragrammaton, and I need a statue of Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha, but other than that, I like it! If anyone has an altar, I’d like to see it as well!
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/Kevyn/Mes%20Photos/catholicaltar01.JPG
 
When I was in grade school we were encouraged to make an altar at home. I remember that I used to have a May altar in my bedroom.
 
I am being picky picky picky but to be perfectly accurate, the shrine many of us have at home is just that, a shrine, not an altar. An altar is the table used for the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
 
Having home altars has long been a Catholic practice. It may not be prevalent in every home, but it has been a practice for a long time. It is not the altar as you are probably thinking - something where Mass is celebrated. But the custom has been around for years. There is nothing wrong with it.
 
A few years back, our pastor suggested that families set aside a place in their home. I don’t remember what he called it (shrine/altar whatever). He isn’t an ethnic priest but he has a strong devotion to the BVM. He said that we should start with a statue of the BVM and put it in a conspicuous place in our homes. It is nice that anyone comining in knows that it’s a Catholic home, but the main purpose, according to Father, was to remind you to say a quick prayer at different times throughout the day.

My husband is not very devout but to my surprize, he was all for this. So we used a shelf in our Breakfast room. It was supposed to be a cook book shelf. Almost everyone enters our house through the kitchen so it is quite visible.

I started with a nice statue of the BVM. I then added candles, some small pictures, a Lady of Guadalupe figure, a rosary. We put flowers there, especially in May.

We always had a May altar at home growing up. But only for May. 😦

Puzzleannie, I see what you mean about the terminology, but I think that other areas can be referred to as altars too. In the church, there are references to side altars where the sacrifice of the Mass doesn’t occur but a statue of the BVM or other saint is usually present. The term “May altar” is also a long standing usage for a devotional space for Mary whether in the church or the home. Does anyone know where the official word on this terminology might be?
 
I myself have an altar, (My grandmother and mother calls it an altar, so thusly, t’is an altar!) with ‘God’ in Tagalog (writing system) on the wall, (above it is “Through the mercy of God” in Tagalog writing… I’m a fan of the devotion to the Divine Mercy!) a crystal cross, a statue of an angel, bamboo plants on the side, a holy image of the BVM, a candle with the picture of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, white and purple candles, an incense burner with champa incense, my finger rosary and my crystal rosary, and a sprinkling of holy cards! (And two pennies, which I’ve been too lazy to remove :D) I hope to add some holy water soon…

I wanted to post a picture, but I don’t know how, so I’ll leave it at that. Since I had an altar, it never occurred to me that people outside the Filipino and Mexican community wouldn’t have an altar. When I found out that my Catholic friend (who has been Catholic ever since she was born) did not have an altar, nor did she know that Catholics kept altars, I became unsure whether this practice was doctrinally sound or not.

That is so awesome that others have such altars/shrines in their homes! Thanks, y’all! 🙂
 
mine is in the front hall, which is very spacious, facing the front door. It is worth it to see the looks on the faces of JWs and Mormons who knock at least twice a month. Painted wooden niche with La Virgen de Guadalupe, large candle in hurricane lamp, crucifix, vase of fresh flowers, and draped with large wooden rosary (6’ in diameter) which belonged to my English grandmother.
 
😃 Every Eastern Christian home has an ikon corner, usually on an eastern wall. The corner contains the family ikon(s), hanging vigil lamp, incense burner, prayer book(s), Bible, flowers, chotki or rosary, a cross or crucifix and often times an embroidered towel across that surrounds the ikon(s).

Family prayers are said gathered around the ikon corner and many families will change the central ikon with the Liturgical Season; i.e. the main ikon in my ikon corner during Great Lent depicts Our Blessed Mother craddling the Body of Her Divine Son after He was removed from the Life-giving Cross.

hope this helps…

Strandala Mati, pod krestom stajala,
 
here in our house, we have in the living room an image of the infant jesus with arms outstretched (like welcoming someone)this image can be dressed with clothes(small ones), a crucifix, some novenas, some rosaries, a statue of saint therese, and a picture of our lady of manaoag. upstairs, we have an altar on the bookshelf that has pictures of our lady of mount carmel,our lady of guadalupe, our lady of antipolo(we also have an extremely small statuette on this altar), the laughing christ,the infant jesus of prague, and the story of the lost hands. it also has a crucifix, an image of our lady of fatima, the sacred heart, our lady of the miraculous medal(2), and an image of the child jesus in a manger.
 
Silverwings,

I created a whole prayer room (when my eldest moved out). The former closet has become an area with a 2’+ crucifix and a table with candles, my family bible and a cross on it. Two walls have the stations of the cross, while the other wall has pictures of the SHJ and the BVM.

Our local priest has come and blessed my home and has totally approved of my “home chapel”. He even ‘joked’ that I should make a sign to hang on the door when it’s closed and I’m praying that says “SHHHH…I’m talking to God!!!”

If I can get DH to show me how to post them I’ll show you what it looks like.
 
We have had an “altar” in our home for several years—several moves. Like everyone else has mentioned, it’s where we gather to pray–it’s in a prominent place in our living area–(the tv is relegated to the basement!). I try to change our altar for the church season. During lent we take all the rocks we have collected from all over the world where we’ve lived and travelled and we make a path that winds back and forth across the altar until it reaches the foot of the cross. The kids add rocks when we’ve had a difficult time in our sacrifice of that day OR when we were able to complete the sacrifice (the giving up or good deed drawn that day out of our lenten jars). So rocks, small and large are added and then on Good Friday we put the cross up and lay it down on Holy Saturday then add the Risen Jesus statue on Easter. It’s a good visual for all of us.

Christmas season is fun too with the nativity—we place our “manger” there and add strips of “swaddling clothes” each day to comfort the baby Jesus–these strips are swaths torn from a sheet upon which we write the names of all our family and friends. We draw however many each day of advent and line the manger with love for Jesus by love for our friends/family–we pray special prayers for them too.

During Ordinary times we will feature a saint or as today we have a beautiful statue of Jesus and His Sacred Heart as well as an icon of St. Jude–the namesake of our youngest whose feast day is today.

We try to keep it fresh, different, changing with the season.

Thanks for the thread. I’m enjoying envisioning the shrines/altars in other homes where the love of Christ is the rule of the household!
 
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