Home altars

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Maybe a nightlight or low light instead of a candle could be nice to set the mood.
I went to moscompany.com (Mother of the Savior Church Goods) and bought glass sleeves in colors to match the liturgical seasons. I buy the disposable candle inserts from a parish across town. That way–

I support the parish financially

I burn the candle to remind me to pray for the souls in purgatory

I pray along with the spirit and times of the season

It reminds me of Jesus in the Tabernacle.

Joe
 
I am in the process of making myself a home alter. I was wondering if any other Roman Catholics had one and how they set theirs up. I know I made mine of many different household materials. I’m only in high school, so I can’t afford much!
Why not just set aside a small part of your room (on a night stand or on a chest) and place sacred objects on there? That is what I used to do. I used my chest of drawers. I had a large picture of the Sacred Heart on the wall, a blessed cloth, two candles, an incense holder, Rosary, and some pics of my favorite saints. It always gave me a sense of security in my own bedroom, and I always had the gaze of Jesus looking down on me.
 
Ah…deblette, I wish I had a prie dieu. = lol. Not enough room.
I had mine sitting in my living room and had no room for it there. The landing turned out to be perfect. The strange thing is that now that I have it up there, I start out on the prie dieu and end up on kneeling on the floor semi-prostrated. Trippy.
 
I had mine sitting in my living room and had no room for it there. The landing turned out to be perfect. The strange thing is that now that I have it up there, I start out on the prie dieu and end up on kneeling on the floor semi-prostrated. Trippy.
Do you have a picture?
 
I am sorry to make this comment probably out of ignorance, but I think that it would address this concept of the home altar. The altar is a place where the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass should be celebrated. Are you planning to have a Mass celebrated on that altar?

If so then I would say that for a Traditionalist Catholic, the individual should look for a portable altar like the ones used in the past. A portable or home altar used to be the size of a tile with the relic of a saint embedded in it, and Rome would have an list of all the portable/home altars that have been distributed.
You are correct. It technically would not be an altar; perhaps a ‘home shrine’ might be a better term?
 
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/Muffinsauce/PICT0095.jpg

I change the colored cloth based on the liturgical season- this one’s Easter/Christmas season.

(Crucifix is from EWTN, only like 60$, gorgeous, one of the best-looking, most economical standing crucifixes I’ve been able to find.)
I love this Crucifix, I’m planning on getting this exact one! It’s so brutal and moving, it really portrays the suffering our Lord endured for us. And for the price you really can’t beat it.

Hoping to put my home shrine together soon.
 
I’m really glad that we got this thread up and running again!

Well my mom finally fell through!!! 😃 We keep two candels burning while we’re awake and home. One in front of an Our Lady of Grace statue and one in front of a Sacred Heart statue.
 
I love this Crucifix, I’m planning on getting this exact one! It’s so brutal and moving, it really portrays the suffering our Lord endured for us. And for the price you really can’t beat it.

Hoping to put my home shrine together soon.
= ) My thoughts exactly. The only thing I really need/want is some real brass candlesticks. All I have is the four little weird ones, but I wish I could find somewhere(for less than like, 50$) six real brass hefty ones, to give it the ‘benedictine’ altar arrangment that I find so astheticly pleasing and soul-inspiring.

Just a thought, these crucifixes are bigger than they look or sound like on the web, and the corpus is quite hefty as well(in terms of size, not weight).
 
With the steady income of my over-buying at the Catholic book store 😛 and gifts, I now have three shrines in my room! One is to the Divine Mercy. One is to the Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. (I am getting a third class relic and novena booklet in the mail soon. 😃 ) And my major one. It has a standing crucifix, Sacred Heart and Mary Statues, Queen of Peace and St. Jude candles, and one votive candle in front of the crucifix.
 
Oh yea! I have FOUR!!! I forgot about my shrine to the holy family while I was typing.
 
SacredHeartFan, Thank you for starting this thread! You have inspired me to get organized!
 
Thanks for starting this thread!

I’m a convert, and I’ve been wanting to create some sort of shrine. I was worried about the expense, getting kneeelers, etc. Obviously, I was thinking bigger than necessary. The pictures and info on this thread have me very excited about the possibilitis, and I will discuss them with my wife.

We happen to have…
  • a semi-circle topped “console” that we just removed from the living room…perfect for a base.
  • a three-plaque set we purchased from our parish that has pictures of our parish’s crucifix and the murals on both sides (basically, each mural has three icons: Abraham, Melchizedek and Abel on one - St. Tarsicius, St. Clare of Assisi and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta on the other).
It is a good start, I think…add candles, family bible and voila. 🙂

BTW…I travel a lot for my job, and I bring a small benedictine crucifix, my bible and rosary…since I happen to have separate 3x5 saint cards from the same murals in our parish, I think I may start bringing them with me…sort of a mini-shrine for my hotel room. 👍
 
BTW…I travel a lot for my job, and I bring a small benedictine crucifix, my bible and rosary…since I happen to have separate 3x5 saint cards from the same murals in our parish, I think I may start bringing them with me…sort of a mini-shrine for my hotel room. 👍
that’s not a bad idea!!!
 
My altar has a crucifix above, I used a table that was already there. On the Altar I have a picture of the Sacred Heart, a picture of the Blessed Mother, a statue of the Sacred Heart, and icons of St. Maximilan Kolbe and St. John Vianney. It’s a nice place to end the day and give my thanks to our Lord and his blessed mother.
 
My home altar tends is located on top of a book case. In the center, I have a magnificent framed picture of Our Mother of Pereptual Help that was given to me by a very dear friend. On either side, I have my large statues of St. Benedict and St. Anthony and the Christ Child. I also have smaller statues of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, St. Therese, and St. Alphonsus Liguori in assorted places.

On the top of the frame, I have icons of Our Lady of Czestochowa, St. Elizabeth the Grand Duchess and Nun Barbara, and Sts. Anthony and Theodosius of the Kiev Caves. All of these I ordered from Russia. At the very top, I have a San Damiano crucifix.

I tend to keep my novena books, St. Benedict manual, and a breviary there. I used to have an eight day candle burning in front of the picture, but I don’t use it anymore.

As far as I know, home altars vary with the person that creates them. They can be elaborate or simple. It just depends on who you are.
 
Here is the beginings of my own little home altar (or shrine, or whatever you want to call it).
http://bp3.blogger.com/_AuoNfYLmbR8/SETFk2yuUUI/AAAAAAAAABc/qbpmu7Dc-M8/s400/room+002.JPG

The crucifix is hand carved that my mom gave me for Easter.
The white Rosary is from my First Communion, the middle one is Irish Connemara Marble, and the red is a Saint Michael Chaplet.
The Holy Cards are The Ten Commandments, my Guardian Angel, Saint Patrick and Saint Mark. The plaque is San Paschal (a patron of cooks) and the cards on the right are the Month of Mary prayer card from my parish and the other is what my priest gave me as penance when I came back to the Church (it has sentimental value). And on the left is my Bible and Missal as well as my Scapulars and handmade crosses on the bed post.

It is not finished yet, there is a St. Lawrence plaque and Holy Card (he is my patron saint) that my parents got me for Confimation that are on their way. And I’d like to get a picture or statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and maybe one of Saint Michael smashing Satan.
 
With the steady income of my over-buying at the Catholic book store 😛 and gifts, I now have three shrines in my room! One is to the Divine Mercy. One is to the Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. (I am getting a third class relic and novena booklet in the mail soon. 😃 ) And my major one. It has a standing crucifix, Sacred Heart and Mary Statues, Queen of Peace and St. Jude candles, and one votive candle in front of the crucifix.
I love it! I thought I was the only one that “paid” the local Catholic store’s utility bills with all my purchases!! 😃 We have 2 wide closets in our master bedroom and a few years back, I condensed everything into one closet, removed the doors from the other and made a “computer desk alcove” (where I’m typing this post right now). Last week, dh and I talked about making it into a tiny chapel. I already have a very large Immaculate Heart of Mary statue and a rather large St Gemma statue on the shelf above the desk, so I think I can just move the computer set-up, create a curtain, and add a Crucifix and some candles, and make a quiet place for prayer. Our home altar has various statues and a reliquary, so I may move some of those into the “chapel”, as well. Does anyone else have “closet chapel” or “prayer closet” in their home?
 
I am so sorry…as you can tell, I’m new to this forum and didn’t realize there was already a thread about “home chapels” when I posted my rather lengthy reply.
 
Bella Mama said:
I am so sorry…as you can tell, I’m new to this forum and didn’t realize there was already a thread about “home chapels” when I posted my rather lengthy reply.

**Dear Bella Mama,

You have not really made a mistake in where you have posted. This thread and the other thread really overlap in many areas and many of the postings on this one are just like yours…so read and enjoy both!!

DesertSister**

 
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