Blessing of the House

  • Thread starter Thread starter chrisb
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

chrisb

Guest
Grace and Peace,

What is the modern rubrics of the Blessing of the House? Do Priests even do this anymore?
 
There is a blessing for houses along with almost everything else in the Book of Blessings. If you ask a priest to do it most of them will. A good idea is to invite him over to bless your house and before hand you can have dinner with him. Make sure you let him know before he arrives that you want him to bless the house.

God Bless,
Matt
 
I’m afraid that I lost my two Rituals when I moved out of Michigan. I had an old Latin Ritual and a newer English Ritual. Both contained the blessings for an amazing range of situations. There was of course the blessing for a house, but also a blessing for a mother… both ante partum and post partum. Blessings for animals, etc were also there. I’m not sure, but I assume that the English ritual is still available at Catholic book stores like McDevitt’s in Detroit and Royal Oak, MI.

Matthew
 
chrisb said:
What is the modern rubrics of the Blessing of the House? Do Priests even do this anymore?
Click to expand...
Today the emphasis in on blessing the familiy, rather than the house.

From the 2002 Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy at vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html :
“Eastertide
*The Annual Blessing of Family Homes
*152. The annual blessing of families takes places in their homes during Eastertide - or at other times of the year. This pastoral practice is highly recommended to parish priests and to their assistant priests since it is greatly appreciated by the faithful and affords a precious occasion to recollect God’s constant presence among Christian families. It is also an opportunity to invite the faithful to live according to the Gospel, and to exhort parents and children to preserve and promote the mystery of being “a domestic church”.”

There is a footnote to this, which is in Latin, but which refers to the ceremony in: Book of Blessings, Liturgical Press, Minnesota, 1989, ISBN 0-8146-1875-8, page 13 “Order for the Annual Blessing of Families in Their Own Homes”, n. 68 - 89.

The ceremony is lead by a priest or deacon. The rubrics give considerable latitude regarding how it is to be celebrated:
“74 While maintaining the structure and chief elements of the rite, the celebrant should adapt the celebration to the circumstances of the place and the families involved.”

Here is the structure:
Community gathers
Greeting
Celebrant says introductory words, preparing people.
Reading, by one present or celebrant, (eg. Matthew 7:24-28).
Psalm or other song.
Intercessions, introduced by celebrant, intentions by another.
Prayer of Blessing (by celebrant, with hands outstreched).
Sprinkling of those present and the home with holy water. (Perhaps with a prayer said).
Concluding rite: prayer said by celebrant.
Preferably a song is sung to conclude the celebration.

Another blessing is “Order for the Blessing of a New Home”. A lay person can lead this. It also gives the minister scope to change the ceremony. The structure for this:
Family, relatives and friends gather.
Sign of the Cross
Greeting by minister
Minister says words of introduction
Reading, by minister or another person (eg: Luke 10:5-9)
Psalm or other song
Intercessions, introduced by minister, intentions by another.
Prayer of Blessing (If by lay minister, with hands joined. Otherwise hands outstreched).
Sprinkling of those present and the home with holy water. (Perhaps with a prayer said).
Concluding rite: prayer said by minister.
Preferably a song is sung to conclude the celebration.
(Book of Blessings, Liturgical Press, Minnesota, 1989, ISBN 0-8146-1875-8, pages 237-242, n. 660-677).

So very similar structures, but different prayers and different rules about lay ministers leading it.
 
I am a music director for a church. My pastor and associate pastor came over and celebrated Mass, along with my musician friends playing music, and my family attending. It was great.
 
When we purchased a new house last Sept, we had a priest friend come and bless the house before we moved in.

And he did it up right.

First he did an excorcism of the house.

He blessed each room and every closet and cupboard with holy water, blessed each room with incense and a relic of the True Cross. He annointed all the door frames (inside and out) with holy oil

Then he sprinkled blessed salt all around the house and on the four corners of the property.
 
If have found a third blessing in the Book of Blessings. This is only for the USA. “Order for the Blessing of Homes During the Christmas and Easter Seasons”. (Book of Blessings, Liturgical Press, Minnesota, 1989, ISBN 0-8146-1875-8, page 601). It can be led by a layperson.

The structure:
Community gathers.
Song may be sung.
Sign of the Cross
Greeting
Introductory words by minister.
Reading, by minister or another.
Psalm or other song
Intercessions
Prayer of Blessing
Sprinkling of water (as circumstances suggest)
Concluding Prayer by minister
Blessing
Preferably, conclude with a song.

Similar to the Annual Blessing of Families in Their Own Homes. Except a lay person can lead it.

There is also a shorter version, with this structure:
Minister says “Blessed be the name of the Lord” while all make the Sign of the Cross and reply: “Now and for ever.”
Reading, by minister or another.
Prayer of Blessing, said by the minister.
(Book of Blessings, Liturgical Press, Minnesota, 1989, ISBN 0-8146-1875-8, pages 609-610).

So one liturgical book, with four similar home blessings. Each introduction has something about maintaining the structure, but being allowed to make changes to suit the circumstances.
 
I had my house blessed before I got married. It was supposed to be a family event, but my family copped out on me. 😦 So it was just me and Father. He blessed the house and then sat to visit for a few moments, then he left. It was a bit akward being just the two of us and I think he felt uncomfortable.

I’m glad I did it, but was sad that it wasn’t what I hoped it to be. I was hoping to make it a nice event with my Dad and uncle and cousins - oh well. Guess folks have better things to do sometimes. 🤷

~Liza
 
We had our house blessed and it is very good and important to do so. We had the family and Father come over did the blessing and dinner. It is a great reassurance to me that as a family we live the faith, receive the sacraments, cherish the sacramentals and be on guard …because the devil and his minions prowl around this earth and it is a war…God Bless you all!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top