Why we do home blessings
Why do we bless homes? Our homes are the site of much of our spiritual struggle and labor, so we need them properly prepared for our spiritual lives. A home blessing also functions as a sort of “spiritual house cleaning” that renews our home and washes away the accumulated spiritual dirt. Why do we do it at this time of year? We bless holy water at Theophany, the feast of Christ’s baptism, and then take that blessing to all our homes.
Father David Moser writes:
This world, this creation, is in captivity; it is enemy-held territory. The evil one, having enslaved all of creation at the fall, has laid claim to every nook and cranny of this earth. And for a while it looked as though he might be able to hold onto it. But then he reached too far and attempted to enslave the Master of All and to bind Life with the chains of death and his power was broken. But creation is still fallen, it is still contested land in the spiritual battle.
We, as Christians, are engaged in this struggle to reclaim fallen nature for the Kingdom of God. We often talk about this in terms of our own salvation, but the Church, addressing all of creation in a holistic manner, also reaches out and reclaims a bit here and a bit there of creation in general. We do this in order that we might restore the usefulness of creation for working out our own salvation. Hence we bless anything that might help us in our salvation – and by blessing it we reclaim it for the Kingdom of God.
There are few things more vital to our lives than our homes. In our homes we pray, we work, we talk to others, we order our lives, we work out our marriages, etc. What more important place to reclaim for the Kingdom of God – or is it better to continue living in a place which is occupied by the enemy? For the most effective working out of our salvation, we must drive the enemy out of our homes, and keep him at bay by our prayers, our righteous life, and the annual sprinkling by Holy Water at Theophany.
How to prepare for the blessing
Before the priest arrives:
- Open all the doors inside the house.
- Turn on all the lights on, so that he can easily navigate to bless all the rooms.
- Turn off televisions, smartphones, iPads/tablets, video games and stereo systems. Your home blessing should not compete with anything else going on.
- Handle and control pets properly and with consideration.
- Light a lampada or candle in the family icon corner. If there is not an icon corner, set out icons on the dining room table.
After the priest arrives:
- Greet the priest. He should be greeted by all of the family members, each of whom asks the priest’s blessing and reverences his right hand.
- Gather the whole family with the priest at the icon corner (or table) to begin the house blessing.
- Lead the priest through the house.
