Blessed Chalk?

  • Thread starter Thread starter saribee
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

saribee

Guest
I am reading Catholicism for Dummies right now and it mentions the Feast of Epiphany. I know about Epiphany, but did not know about the practice of having chalk blessed by a priest on that day in order to write the year and the first initials of the magi above the door to one’s home. I asked a few Catholics I know personally if they had ever done this or heard if it, and they haven’t. Do any of you celebrate Epiphany in this way?
 
We do at our parish. After Mass, there’s baskets of blessed chalk, little bottles of Holy Water, and instructions. I don’t remember the first initials of the Magi, but I do remember writing the year in roman numerals.
 
asia53 said:
We do at our parish. After Mass, there’s baskets of blessed chalk, little bottles of Holy Water, and instructions. I don’t remember the first initials of the Magi, but I do remember writing the year in roman numerals.
Click to expand...
I found the instructions, we wrote: 20+C+M+B+11

I didn’t remember the initials, and thought we wrote the year in roman numerals. OK, so much for my memory! 😛
 
saribee said:
I am reading Catholicism for Dummies right now and it mentions the Feast of Epiphany. I know about Epiphany, but did not know about the practice of having chalk blessed by a priest on that day in order to write the year and the first initials of the magi above the door to one’s home. I asked a few Catholics I know personally if they had ever done this or heard if it, and they haven’t. Do any of you celebrate Epiphany in this way?
Click to expand...
That is for Dummies…they’ve got to sell the boook. Read it and forget it.
Go for the next book.
Need help?
 
It is a sacramental practice that makes us mindful of offering gifts to the Lord.

The first time I heard about it (in my culture they had never done that), is when I had a 3-day visit to EWTN. They had those chalk marks over many doorways that we had gone through.

There is nothing dumb about allowing a sacramental practice to make us mindful of something holy. 🙂
 
Pfaffenhoffen said:
That is for Dummies…they’ve got to sell the boook. Read it and forget it.
Go for the next book.
Need help?
Click to expand...
I’ve found that the book is helpful and accurate. But this made me question. I am not afraid to question the book when it seems fishy. Now I have learned that the practice they describe is not all that common. There are many helpful things in this book and it is a good introduction. It certainly isn’t the book I’m relying on the most because it is a for dummies book after all…it was written by two Catholic priests who are co-hosts of EWTN programs.
 
saribee said:
I’ve found that the book is helpful and accurate. But this made me question. I am not afraid to question the book when it seems fishy. Now I have learned that the practice they describe is not all that common. There are many helpful things in this book and it is a good introduction. It certainly isn’t the book I’m relying on the most because **it is a for dummies book **after all…it was written by two Catholic priests who are co-hosts of EWTN programs.
Click to expand...
Well, I guess, I’m a dummy with you, chris138. 😦
 
It happens a lot in Poland, you can see K+M+B (year) on doors everywhere.

I had never heard of it until I first went over there and asked what was written.

I have never seen it in England and I doubt I ever will. 😦
 
This will explain the whys and hows. In the north and in the south it is a tradition in the Churches we’ve joined.

What I did not know is that because the chalk is blessed (at least the chalk they hand out at Church for this purpose is), it should be disposed of by burying in the ground, or returned to the parish for them to do this. (Things blessed do not go in the trash).

catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=49🙂
 
We have had a party at Epiphany for many years. Friends from another parish would bring over the blessed chalk and do it for us. Glad to know exactly what they wrote, since they have moved away and we didn’t know how to do it.
 
We use blessed chalk to write 20+CMB+12 over our front and back doors. It’s a beautiful reminder of Epiphany and all of the Christmas season all year long.

We also use Holy Water and other sacramentals. 🙂
 
I used to do it but I have neglected the practice in recent years. My landlady thought it was odd - all the more reason to keep doing it!

I was first introduced to the practice in a Byzantine-Ruthenian parish. They had it on all the doorways and I believe I looked it up after wondering a while. I think it is popular in Eastern Europe, possibly in both the Latin Church and Eastern Churches.

I believe you can just write it simply with blessed chalk, but there are some house blessings which can be said at the same time to make more of a formal rite out of it.
 
saribee said:
I’ve found that the book is helpful and accurate. But this made me question. I am not afraid to question the book when it seems fishy. Now I have learned that the practice they describe is not all that common. There are many helpful things in this book and it is a good introduction. It certainly isn’t the book I’m relying on the most because it is a for dummies book after all…it was written by two Catholic priests who are co-hosts of EWTN programs.
Click to expand...
Some people seem to be offended by the wor dummy. BUT the word DUMMY is there!!!
The book is accurate and it is not accurate. It is a good book but can you be accurate in 50 pages?

That collection is funny but it seems people here are taking it too serioulsly. Never heard of the custom, but is there any harm? I saw a priest blessing a car and the amn opened all the doors and the “capot” of the engine so that the blessing would go deep inside the engine !!! Shall I criticize him ? NOOOOO.

Religious customs are funy sometimes.

I went to Lourdes and there were this group of italian noisy ladies and two of them were going together aroung the rock of the grotto and one was passin the hand on the rock and the other prayed. And the first one said: “Staphanela, lo importante é la rocca!”, saying that the most important thing was to pass the hand on the rock !!!

Read and smile. It seems that that custom exists in the States. Go ahead that the world is BIG.
 
Pfaffenhoffen said:
Some people seem to be offended by the wor dummy. BUT the word DUMMY is there!!!
The book is accurate and it is not accurate. It is a good book but can you be accurate in 50 pages?
Click to expand...
Have you ever used one of the Dummy books? I’ve found the ones I’ve used a great resource, presenting down to earth, basic information on whatever topic I’ve been researching.
Catholicism for Dummies*** is 398 pages of information, updated for the new translation and comes with a Nihil Obstat & an Imprimatur.
 
Pfaffenhoffen said:
That is for Dummies…they’ve got to sell the boook. Read it and forget it.
Go for the next book.
Need help?
Click to expand...
Have you ever read a “… for Dummies” book? They are very good books and make what can be complex subjects comprehensible to everyone, not just those who are experts in the subject.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top