Epiphany House Blessings

Fr. Porter and his family traveled to 17 homes in Brevard County on the Feast of the Epiphany for house blessings. For centuries the Church has set aside the Feast of the Epiphany as a day for special house blessings and the "chalking of the doors." Epiphany house blessings take place at the front door with the priest praying a special prayer of blessing and then marking the door frame with a special inscription:

20+C+M+B+23

While it might look like scribbles at first glance, there is a logical symbolism behind each mark: C, M, and B have two meanings. The letters abbreviate the Latin words Christus mansionem benedicat, meaning “May Christ bless the house.” They also represent the initials of the traditional names of the three magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. While these are probably not actually the names of the magi (especially since we don't know the exact number of magi), these names have been commonly used since 500AD. The numbers on either side represent the year 2023. Next year the chalk will have 20 at the beginning and 24 at the end.

Since the Feast of the Epiphany marks the visit of the Magi to Jesus' home, we bless the homes on Epiphany, that Christ may dwell there. One blog puts it like this: "'Chalking the door' is a way to celebrate and physically mark the occasion of the Epiphany and God’s blessing of our lives and home. With time the chalk will fade. As it does we let the meaning of the written symbols sink into the depths of our hearts and be manifest in our words and actions."