The Graces of a Home Blessing

Laura Steiner reflects on the graces conferred during her family’s home blessing by their military chaplain.

One Saturday afternoon this October, we had college football playing in the background — the Buckeyes, then the Irish — and a delicious array of home-cooked chicken sandwiches, charcuterie, and fall treats spread across our kitchen counters. Our children kept an earnest watch out the living room windows for a telltale black cassock to appear around the corner.

As soon as our base chaplain came into view, they started playing rambunctiously and set up a fort with all the fresh throw pillows I had just artfully arranged. They were so proud to show off their handiwork to our priest, and joyful chaos ensued.  

A Home Blessed: Inviting Christ into Our Daily Life  

After a while spent catching up and enjoying good food and company, it was time for our home blessing. Clothed in alb and stole and armed with holy water and the Book of Blessings, our chaplain recited prayers in Latin and English in every room of our house: to invite Christ’s presence into the daily life of our home, to sanctify and protect those who live within it, and to make it a place of unceasing prayer.

Every room of our house (and our cars!) received a healthy sprinkle of holy water. The Saint Benedict Crucifix in our daughter’s room received a special blessing and exorcism. Even our son’s prized train set from his great-grandfather received a special blessing for trains! And finally, the font that hangs by our front door was refilled with the leftover holy water from the rite, so that we might use it to bless ourselves upon leaving and returning home each day.   

After our priest left, my husband and I reflected on what we had just experienced. We both shared that our house just “felt” different. Improved, certainly. More peaceful, and imbued with grace. Whatever stressors we were experiencing in family life and work seemed so much more manageable in light of God’s power and protection made manifest through the rite we witnessed. Our home became a visible reminder of God’s presence in the ordinary.   

Reflecting on our very first house blessing by a dear Marianist priest friend a few years ago, we did not yet have children — only the joyful hope of them, mentioned in the prayers of the house blessing rite, but still a dream not yet realized. With this most recent house blessing, I have never felt more deeply connected with the idea of the family as the domestic church than when I watched our children merrily run around us as our spiritual father conferred God’s graces upon our family and home. What a holy, and deeply human, experience!    

Our only regret is that we were halfway through our current assignment and wish we had arranged our house blessing sooner. As an Army family we move every couple of years, and at times even more frequently. Having our house blessed is something we try to arrange soon after we arrive at our next duty station, as it gives us a fresh start grounded in prayer. It cloaks us with grace and protection and helps transform our home into the domestic church that we strive to be.    

In a similar way, the Epiphany house blessing every January is a beautiful tradition we have as Catholics. Rooted in the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus, it is a simple ritual that can be done as a family, without a priest. It is a humble, powerful way to renew our faith commitment as a family, and it is an opportunity to exercise our baptismal priesthood, which is a good and venerable thing.   

Sharing Prayer, Hospitality, and Grace with Your Parish Priest  

Yet, inviting your parish priest over for a nice meal and home blessing is something special you can do to build the domestic church as a family. It is spiritually nourishing, builds bonds of friendship and support between your family and your priest, and can bring your family closer together. It allows your priest to get to know your family beyond Sunday mornings, and gives your children a model of what spiritual fatherhood looks like.   

If you have not had your home blessed before, or even if it has been a few years since your last one, consider contacting your parish priest to set up one soon. You might offer to share a simple meal together, and if you are the social type, think about inviting a few friends or neighbors to join in prayer.  

A house blessing does more than consecrate the homes in which we live, work and rest. It helps reignite the flame of faith in our hearts, sanctifies the daily rhythms of our family life, and encourages us to rely ever more on God for protection and peace in this fallen world.  

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Copyright 2025 Laura Taylor Steiner
Images: Canva