Chalk It Up: Bless Your Door This Epiphany
BY CHRISTINA ANTUS JANUARY 3, 2022
Actual Epiphany is today, January 6
Several years ago, when I first started to tiptoe back into my faith, I read an article about the Epiphany door blessing. I loved the idea of declaring my faith in a cryptic kind of way. I remember climbing on a chair in my first apartment and chalking the letters and numbers on my door. At that time, it was my first “bold” declaration that I was Catholic.
The point of the Epiphany blessing over your door is exactly what you might think it is: to bless your house and everyone who enters it. It’s a centuries-old tradition (less common in the United States) that started shortly around the end of the middle ages. Priests would traditionally visit the members of their parish after the Feast of the Epiphany and bless their homes. As parishes grew, the responsibility was transferred over to household members.
