A Note from Father Harmon...

Dear Friends at Saint Mary’s Immaculate Conception Parish and Saint Frances Cabrini Parish:
The epiphany is the traditional time of the year to bless one’s home. Customarily this is done with chalk, a prayer, and a phrase written above the door. This year the phrase will be 20 + C + M + B + 23. The 20 and 23 are the year (2023). The ‘+’ sign recalls the Cross. The CMB stand for two things. First, they stand for Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. Tradition states that these were the names of the three Magi. Another interpretation is that CMB is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Christus mansionem Benedicat which means ‘May Christ bless this house’.

The spiritual significance of this chalking and blessing is manifold. First, by placing the chalking above the entrance one is asking God to enter into one’s home and dwell there. Likewise, one is asking God to ‘stand guard’ at the entrance and to protect the inhabitants. One may also be reminded of the command which God gave to Moses and Aaron to spread the blood of the lamb over the doorposts of the houses of the Israelites for protection. Secondly, there is an understanding in the tradition of the Church that after the Fall, through Adam being conquered by Satan’s temptation and by sin, Satan had been able to gain a foothold in the material world. Christ came into the world to drive out Satan and to renew the material world. Therefore, blessing objects is a way to snatch created objects from the kingdom of Satan and set them apart for Christ. Our home, as the center of our family lives and a microcosm of the Church, is one place which we want to be set apart for the worship of God and to be placed under his protection. If Satan is able to weasel his way into our homes, he can cause a plethora of trouble. Hence, we have this admirable tradition of blessing our homes on a yearly basis. Back in the day, priests would try to make the rounds and bless the homes of all their parishioners. This is now time prohibitive. Therefore, the chalking of the door is often done by the head of the house. Parishioners are asked to take a bag which has blessed chalk, a prayer, and instructions for how to chalk the door (above the main entrance of the home is the most suitable place for the chalking but any door will suffice). I pray that all of you and your homes may be blessed throughout this upcoming year.

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A Note of Thanks!

Dear Friends:
Praised be Jesus Christ!  I hope that everyone will please accept my sincere regrets that this winter I did not reply to everyone’s birthday and Christmas notes, or send a personal acknowledgement note for everyone’s gifts.  The small mountain of notes and items arrived right as I was moving and when I was without any office or home space that I could use to adequately respond.  Who in their right mind moves right during Christmas!  It’s a mess…. One wonders how the Holy Family did it.  

For this year anyway I hope you will all please accept this general note of sincere “thanks” for all of the many ways you kindly thought of me during the holiday season and also as you bid me farewell from the parishes.  Everyone has been so characteristically kind in the way that I know the West Bend parishes sincerely are.  Know of my continued prayers for all of you and of my gratitude!

I will offer a Mass for everyone who thought of me with cards, gifts, and prayers on February 8, 2023, in Galilee while I am leading the pilgrimage in the Holy Land.

My new residential mailing address is at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee:  
3257 S. Lake Drive, Saint Francis, WI 53235.  

Blessings!
Father Nathan