Will You Chalk Your Doors on January 6?

       When the calendar turns to January, families take down their Christmas trees, put away the stockings and decorations, and tuck most Christmas traditions away for another year.  There is, however, one holiday tradtiion left to observe.  

      The Feast of the Epiphany, the event which honors the visit of the three kings to the Christ Child, is celebrated on January 6 or the first Sunday after the first Saturday in January.  Just as the three kings greeted the Christ Child, we can offer a welcoming message by marking our doors.  Catholics use chalk which has been blessed by a priest to write C + M + B + above their front doors, porch steps, or interior parts of  homes.  These letters represent the initials of the three kings, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar.  The same letters stand for the Latin phrase, Christus mansionem benedict, which in English means, "May Christ bless the house".   The crosses betweeen each letter represent Christ's cross. 

      While anyone can use chalk to mark a home, priests often walk throughout their neighborhoods to chalk parishoners' homes and offer blessings. Chalking the door is a tradition that shows Catholics welcome the Christ Child as well as all other visitors into their homes. 

To learn more about religious tradtions, read Catholic Traditions and Treasures: An Illustrated Encyclopedia by Helen Hoffner.  You'll discover the saints who buried St. Joseph medals for help with real estate transactions, the tradition of Kitchen Madonnas, the evolution of nuns' habits and the history behind many other Catholic practices. 

To learn more ways in which Catholics have changed history, read Catholicism Everywhere: From Hail Mary Passes to Cappuccinos: How the Catholic Faith Is Infused in Culture by Helen Hoffner. You will read about the saint who used beer to help save lives, the priest who posited the Big Bang Theory, the origin of the Haiil Mary Pass, and other facts about the contributions of the Catholic Church.

Both books are published by Sophia Institure Press and are available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, the EWTN Religious Catalog, and the Sophia Institure Press website.