Blessed Chalk for the Feast of the Epiphany

[Gertabelle]

This morning at mass, Father blessed a basket of chalk and told us each family could take a piece to use to bless their homes for Epiphany. The bulletin had the directions for using the chalk to mark the lintel and/or front steps/porch of the house, as well as above each exterior doorway.

I’d never heard of this before.

A quick search yielded many hits, including this one from 2016:

http://www.carmelites.net/news/chalking-door-epiphany-house-blessing-2015/

Just wondering if anyone in CAF-Land has blessed their home this way on Epiphany?

God bless you!

 

[gracepoole]

This morning at mass, Father blessed a basket of chalk and told us each family could take a piece to use to bless their homes for Epiphany. The bulletin had the directions for using the chalk to mark the lintel and/or front steps/porch of the house, as well as above each exterior doorway.

I’d never heard of this before.

A quick search yielded many hits, including this one from 2016:

http://www.carmelites.net/news/chalking-door-epiphany-house-blessing-2015/

Just wondering if anyone in CAF-Land has blessed their home this way on Epiphany?

God bless you!

Yup! Never heard of it before having children we now incorporate it into our family’s traditions. You’re so fortunate to have a parish that hands out blessed chalk.

 

[ClearWater]

This is the first time I heard of this.

 

[pianistclare]

Yes. We also did it at the Catholic school over the classroom doors.

 

[Le_Cracquere]

This is the first time I heard of this.

I’d never heard of it either, but darned if we didn’t get a piece of chalk and a printout. On the one hand, my apartment’s lintels are painted white, so it’s not as if anything I scrawled actually ended up visible. On the other hand, I guess that means my rental deposit is safe.

 

[katy]

This morning at mass, Father blessed a basket of chalk and told us each family could take a piece to use to bless their homes for Epiphany. The bulletin had the directions for using the chalk to mark the lintel and/or front steps/porch of the house, as well as above each exterior doorway.

I’d never heard of this before.

A quick search yielded many hits, including this one from 2016:

http://www.carmelites.net/news/chalking-door-epiphany-house-blessing-2015/

Just wondering if anyone in CAF-Land has blessed their home this way on Epiphany?

God bless you!

Yes, our parish has done this for several years. I’ve got the chalk, but it’s too cold right now to stand out long enough to do it.:winter: Well, I suppose I COULD, but there’s supposed to be a warm-up to double digits soon.

 

[Gertabelle]

Yes. We also did it at the Catholic school over the classroom doors.

Oh, that’s lovely! I wonder if they’ll do this at my son’s school.

I’d never heard of it either, but darned if we didn’t get a piece of chalk and a printout. On the one hand, my apartment’s lintels are painted white, so it’s not as if anything I scrawled actually ended up visible. On the other hand, I guess that means my rental deposit is safe.

Eventually it will wear off anyway. And chalk is easy enough to wash off with just some plain water, if you were planning on moving any time soon.

My son took a piece of chalk to his dad’s house this afternoon. I told his dad about the tradition. I’m sure he’s fine with my son doing this at his home, even though my ex left the Church nearly 30 years ago. The question is whether or not my son will have the courage to do this on his own. Here’s hoping! (and praying )

 

[Gertabelle]

Yes, our parish has done this for several years. I’ve got the chalk, but it’s too cold right now to stand out long enough to do it.:winter: Well, I suppose I COULD, but there’s supposed to be a warm-up to double digits soon.

We’re climbing into the mid-50s tomorrow!!! :coolinoff:

My son and I will do the prayers and writing tomorrow evening when he’s back at my house. The front steps will be completely drive by then so we can write on them easily.

Stay warm!

 

[z_0101]

This morning at mass, Father blessed a basket of chalk and told us each family could take a piece to use to bless their homes for Epiphany.

I’ve done this myself for my house with the instructions from the Priest.

 

[Bonnie]

Yes, our parish has done this for several years. I’ve got the chalk, but it’s too cold right now to stand out long enough to do it.:winter: Well, I suppose I COULD, but there’s supposed to be a warm-up to double digits soon.

We did it inside the house. But the last time we did it was 2005 - it’s still visible above the door.

 

[Belshazzar]

My mother still has the blessing on the door of her house from 1975. If I’m not mistaken, our parish priest came and gave the blessing. I grew up thinking they were measurements for our doorway.

 

[Gertabelle]

My mother still has the blessing on the door of her house from 1975. If I’m not mistaken, our parish priest came and gave the blessing. I grew up thinking they were measurements for our doorway.

That’s hilarious! Until yesterday, I would have thought the same thing!

Now I’m wondering whether I might in fact have seen something like this written on the wood framing of the doors of each of the homes I’ve owned – when replacing doors or trim… Measurements are common, but I know I’ve seen writing that I couldn’t figure out. I always assumed the previous workers were figuring out multiple measurements or something.

 

[tawny]

I received the blessed chalk at Mass yesterday. I did the home blessing as with every Epiphany. My Parish blesses all of the Parish buildings as well as the Church.

 

[CB_Catholic]

We’re climbing into the mid-50s tomorrow!!! :coolinoff:

My son and I will do the prayers and writing tomorrow evening when he’s back at my house. The front steps will be completely drive by then so we can write on them easily.

Stay warm!

I do it on the inside, above the front door. I don’t know anyone who does it on the outside. Maybe it’s just this area. Anyway, that solves the cold problem.

 

[Godric2]

Here is a blog post showing how to do it from a UK site.