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Summary
- A simple house blessing: gather at the door, say “Peace be to this house” (Luke 10:5), read a short passage, pray in each room and close with the Lord’s Prayer.
- Catholics can ask a parish priest to bless a home, and on the Epiphany some write 20 + C + M + B + 26 above the door in blessed chalk; Orthodox priests bless homes with holy water each year around Theophany.
- The 1888 Catholic Manual of Prayers gives the night prayer “Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this habitation.”
- Short prayers cover looking for a place to live, signing, building, moving day, an apartment, a new city, neighbors, guests, money for the home and leaving an old home.
- Scripture on houses includes Psalm 127:1, Joshua 24:15, Deuteronomy 6:9, Deuteronomy 20:5 on dedicating a new house, and Jeremiah 29:5–7.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Deuteronomy 6:9; 20:5; Joshua 24:15; Psalm 4:8; 121:8; 127:1; Jeremiah 29:5, 7; Matthew 6:33; 7:24–25; Luke 10:5; Hebrews 13:2). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. Evening Prayers (Compline), p. 75. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888
- Diocese of Madison. “Bless Your Home for the Epiphany.” https://madisondiocese.org/news/epiphanyblessing
- Annunciation Orthodox Church (Orthodox Church in America). “Blessing of Homes at Theophany.” https://annunciationoca.org/blessing-of-homes-at-theophany/
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