Catholic Home Altars

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DLedoux

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Are catholic home altars a bad thing and what is their purpose? I’m the only catholic in my home and I just want to be sure if its okay to build one. What kind of stuff should I place on there?
 
It’s definitely okay to make one. I know of many making them in their homes.
 
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Here’s mine. Pretty simplistic.
 
Thanks for answering my question guys! But what is it for and what should I place on it?
 
Mines is quite ornate
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That one is nice i like the simple ones better i used to have a simple one but my dad had to put in the AC so he had to take it down and I havent been able to put it back up
 
Here’s mine

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Also fairly simply. This is one of several spots in my home. This is in the place where I do morning and evening prayer.
 
I don’t have a home altar because I am not a priest and thus Mass is highly unlikely to be celebrated in our home.

What I do have is a small home oratory where I pray/chant the Liturgy of the hours. It was designed to conform with monastic notions of simplicity without being unattractive.

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Home altars can be used for prayer. They help some folks to find a proper state of mind when praying because they might contain candles, religious images, a Bible, etc. It’s not required that Catholics have them but it’s a valid option.
 
Altars can be consecrecated for the purpose of Mass. But unconsecrated altars can and do exist. In the home, for example.
 
Yes I understand that. I doubt Mass will ever be celebrated in our home and for prayer I prefer a prie-dieu. It has a shelf to hold my breviary and antiphonaries/hymnals, and a wood moulding to keep my antiphonary from sliding off so I can prop it up against the wall (the one I use for the LOTH is very big and heavy; when I do the monastic LOTH, it’s a more complex office so its divided into many more, but smaller, books), and I can sit, stand or kneel as required.

I agree with you on the need to be in the proper state of mind, and having it in a small semi-enclosed and purpose-built area free of other distractions has proven to be a real asset for perseverance in prayer.

I think what matters is having a designated area for prayer. However one organizes it is a very personal matter.

It’s somewhat inspired on the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of the monastery I’m attached to.

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DLedoux said:
But what is it for and what should I place on it?
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Well, it depends…
You can have either a home altar or an oratory and both will basically work the same way, as a place where you and/or your family can turn to pray.
A home altar usually mimetize a church altar, so you would need a pair of candles, a crucifix, and maybe some other things as well, and you can even call a priest to say mass.
An oratory is basically what @Sean have, and you can basically add whatever you want.
 
Love your icon wall! What is the scapular on your St. Benedict cross?
 
Your prayer altar c(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) an be as simple or elaborate as you wish. I wish all the best in setting up an altar and hope you will post pics of it here.

My prayer altar pic is in my post… Hope it goes through…

God bless 😊🙏
 
No, the word altar has a specific meaning. An altar is a platform used for a sacrifice. Sacrifice/altar they go together. So the only altar that can exist for a Catholic is for mass. These prayer locations people are displaying from their homes are not a bad thing, but they are not altars.
 
I really don’t care what they are called except that they are not called altars. For some reason, it is a my pet peeve of mine. Probably unjustified pet peeve, but it just seems to me that wording associated with the mass should be used very carefully in other contexts. It also seems to perhaps, unintentionally I admit, downplay the fact that the mass is a sacrifice. If anything can be called an altar, than the word is not associated with sacrifice, then perhaps the fact that it is called an altar in church has no significance. Finally, when I hear the word altar used in this context, I can’t help thinking that these people just don’t get the significance of an altar in the church. I know, its a stretch, just trying to justify my pet peeve.
 
Your pet peeve is likely to annoy you a lot, then, as multiple reputable Catholic sources use the term home altar.
 
I like to use the term “home shrine” for the reasons @tafan2 stated. Or perhaps “prayer corner.”
 
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