Epiphany - January 6th

For by gold the power of a king is signified, by frankincense the honor of God, by myrrh the burial of the body; and accordingly they offer Him gold as King, frankincense as God, myrrh as Man.   
St John Chrysostom

 We had a beautiful High Mass for the Feast of Epiphany.

  After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we concluded with the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus and then the blessing of Epiphany Chalk.

We concluded with a postlude of the March of the Magi. That was a fun one to sing!

Blessing of Epiphany Chalk

For the Feast of the Epiphany, it is traditional for parish priests to bless chalk for each family, so that they may mark the names of the three Magi over their doors, in the blessing of homes as a witness of their faith and protection against evil. This blessing is from the 1952 version of the Roman Ritual, translated by Philip Weller.

The chalk is a type of memento mori, or literally, Memento homo ("Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return.") image, a reminder of the dust of the earth from which man was made.

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread ‘til thou return to the earth out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return. 
Genesis 3:19

P: Our help is in the Name of the Lord.   
All: Who hath made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.   
All: And with thy spirit.

P: Bless, † O Lord God, this creature chalk, to render it helpful to men. Grant that they who use
it in faith, and with it, inscribe upon the entrance of their homes the names of thy saints,
Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, may through their merits and intercession enjoy health of body
and protection of soul. Through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

The chalk is sprinkled with holy water.

We were able to take the chalk home for Holy Blessings.

Blessing of a Home at Epiphany
May Christ bless this House… All who dwell and pray in it… And All Whom they Welcome in His Name

V:  On entering the house the Magi found the child Jesus with Mary, His mother.

R:  They did Him homage and presented to Jesus symbolic gifts: gold to the great King, incense to the true God, and myrrh as a foreshadowing of His suffering and death.

Let us pray.
God, our Father, by the guidance of a star, you revealed your only Son as the Savior of all nations. Grant that we who already know you by faith, may be brought to the contemplation of your glory in our heavenly home. We ask this through Christ your Son Our Lord. Amen.

All may recite the Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary (The Magnificat) Luke 1: 46-55, by which Mary praised God 
at the time of her Visitation to the house of Elizabeth. 

All: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Because He
hath regarded the humility of His handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call
me blessed. Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me: and holy is His Name.
And His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him. He hath shewed might
in His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the
mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things:
and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His
mercy. As He spoke to our fathers: to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

V: Be enlightened, O Jerusalem, and shine forth for your Light has come.

R: And upon you is risen the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary.

V: All nations shall walk in your light and kings in the splendor of your birth.

R: And upon you is risen the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary.

Reading of the Gospel for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord. St. Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 2: 1-12.

V: Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, has appeared and been revealed to the nations. 

R: The prophets foretold His coming, and the angels and shepherds adored Him. 

V: The Magi rejoiced to find Him and they lay their treasures before Him.

R: All you nations and peoples, come and adore Him. 

All recite the Our Father as the rooms of the house are sprinkled with holy water. 

Let us pray.

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have received all benefits.

Come, visit and bless † this house so that it may be a shelter of health, chastity, self-conquest, 

humility, goodness, mildness, obedience to the Commandments, and thanksgiving to God, † the 

Father, † the Son, and † the Holy Spirit.              

May the love and blessings of God, † the Father, and † the Son, and † the Holy Spirit, descend 

upon this house,  all those who reside within it, and upon all those whom they welcome in the 

Name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.   And may God’s grace and peace remain with all of them 

forever.  Amen. 

The initials of the names ascribed by tradition to the Magi (Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar), and the numerals of the current year are written with the blessed chalk upon the entry doors of the house in the following manner:   

20 C + M + B  19 

Some interpret the letters to stand for Christus Mansioni Benedicat!  May Christ bless this house!