What do you think of my home altar?

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SeanF1989

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Do you have a home altar? If so where do you have it? Mine is in my bedroom.
 
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Very nice. I don’t have a home altar, the best I have is pretty much all of my saint statues on one mantel in a room where my cats are not allowed so they don’t knock them over.
 
I particularily like the plate of Lourdes, and Jesus with the lambs. Is that bust of St Pope John Paul II
 
That is very nice. I have a home altar on top of my dresser, but I need more space.
You have some very nice items.
 
You have a great collection. Your Good Shepard statue is wonderful!

I have small children, so my “home altar” is mounted on my wall. There is a smaller oratory in my kitchen table with things the kids can handle.
 
This is very beautiful.
Because I am probably related somehow to Monk…
…the 4 icons surrounding the Crucifix …the central images in each are facing away from the Crucifix.
Consider rearranging those 4 icons so they face the Crucifix/each other instead the wall?
 
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SeanF1989 said:
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Do you have a home altar? If so where do you have it? Mine is in my bedroom.
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Very nice. I’d pop some more candles and pottery in there :ok_hand:t2:🕯️🏺
 
Very nice set-up. 👍

In my house, we have a nice corner cabinet in the corner of our dining room with statues, icons, etc. Of course, we have statues and icons all over the house, too, so it’s not really relegated to one place. 😝

Not to mention my office at work, which looks like a religious goods store. 😳

Just an aside, I would vote for calling it a “sacred space” or “prayer corner.” To me, an altar is very much connected with the sacrifice of the Mass, so it seems odd to me to think of a “home altar”.
 
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Just curious. What do you use your altar for, and what is the function of the various items that you have in your altar? Is there are reason you have a personal altar rather than going to the Church in corporate worship? I am interested in understanding the theology behind this practice.
 
The Catechism address these personal prayers spaces in CCC2691. Here is an except:
2691 The church, the house of God, is the proper place for the liturgical prayer of the parish community. It is also the privileged place for adoration of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. the choice of a favorable place is not a matter of indifference for true prayer.
  • For personal prayer, this can be a “prayer corner” with the Sacred Scriptures and icons, in order to be there, in secret, before our Father.48 In a Christian family, this kind of little oratory fosters prayer in common.
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“Home altar” is generally just another way of saying ‘prayer corner’ or ‘little oratory’. There are some people who have true altars in their homes where visiting priests can say mass, but those are few and far between.
 
Yes, “home altar” is a colloquial term and is harmless, if inaccurate. OTOH, the use of that term does, it seems to me, perpetuate a lack of appreciation of the mass being a sacrifice: sacrifices require an altar, prayer does not. There is a reason we have altars in our church buildings. That reason does not exist in our homes.

I can’t help but wonder if, in the old days when the mass was always referred to as a sacrifice, before the overuse if the word meal or banquet, came into being, people who had home prayer corners/oratories, ever used the term altar. I suspect not.
 
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Nope, I wish I did though! But I do have this above my bed: (Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Maybe I can expand upon it.
 
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If you don’t mind, what is the meaning behind each object for you?
 
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