Domestic Chapels

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Hello,

:christmastree1: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year:snowing:

I have just read an article about chapels and it includes a section on domestic chapels of royal families. I was wondering can we have one at our homes, a prayer room? a private chapel with altar for mass? Does any of you have one?

Thanks.
 
Will it be consecrated, and can you reserve the Eucharist? Short answer: No. However, anybody can set up a family prayer room or corner. We have a prayer nook in the hallway, with a devotional book, a Bible, a rosary, a statue of Mary holding baby Jesus, and a crucifx. We also have statues throughout the house.
 
We have an icon wall in our living room. We are Eastern Catholic, and it is traditional for Eastern Christians to have an icon corner or wall, preferably facing east, in their homes.

I have a small shelf mounted to hold a votive candle, and above it are the following icons:

The Holy Family
The Prodigal Son (we left the Catholic Church and then returned, like the prodigal.😃 )
The Sinai Christ
The Theotokos and Christ (Mary and Jesus)

We also have our family’s patron saints: St. Catherine,. St George, St. Nicholas, St. Gregory the Great, and St Josiah the Tenderhearted.

I keep holy water on the bookcases that are under the shelf, and candles nearby. I try to have a candle burning there every day. The room also serves as our library, so if the kids are in there reading they are near the icon wall.

We don’t hold services, though. The icon wall is strictly for private prayer and reflection, and not for a liturgy.
 
I remember staying with a family once that had a prayer room in their home. It had lots of statues and icons, and I think either a kneeler or a bench (it was a few years ago, so I don’t remember all the details). I thought it was a really cool idea - if I ever build my dream house, I think I will include a prayer room.
 
There are a lot of reasons why a diocese would refuse to allow a private chapel to built at one’s residence.
  1. Christ wanted us to worship together in unity or in communion with the body of Christ. If we each had our own little chapel, we wouldn’t be worshipping together.
  2. We barely have enough priests to say mass in our parish churches, it would be difficult and a bit selfish to have a priest say mass just for you and your family.
  3. The other thing is that every alter or chapel used to be required to have a saint’s relic. I would assume that this is still a requirement. Saints’ relics cannot be sold and are supposed to be given to the church if the owner cannot care for them properly etc.
All of that being said, I have known of a few private chapels in the U.S. There have been movie stars who would have caused such a distraction if they attended mass, that they had private chapels built in their homes where the priest would come to say mass. If I remember correctly, Bob Hope had one in his home. I know that Mel Gibson had a small chapel built on his estate in California where he had the Latin Mass said.

When I was a kid there was a lot of turmoil in the church and it was sometimes difficult to find a valid mass. I remember one where the priest “consecrated” tortilla chips and passed them out as the body of christ. There were many where the priest made up his own Eucharistic Prayer. Anyway, we were friends with a family who felt enough was enough. They built a chapel in their house. They received special permission. The alter was blessed. They found an old retired priest who had access to a saint’s relic. He brought it to the chapel when he said mass for them. I doubt that just anyone would be able to do this now. I think you would have to have a reason like your presence would cause a disruption in mass or something.
 
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