Chalking of the Doors

There is a charming seasonal custom that dates back into the history of the church that is known as “The Chalking of the Door.”  It has its roots in a time before there were any concerns of denominationalism, and so it was simply a practice of “the church.”  Modern-day Catholicism continues this practice, but it also has adherents in other communions as well.

It is, at root, a house blessing.  With chalk (symbolizing a common, ordinary substance and being a material that does no lasting damage to the door) the participants mark a series of symbols on the door.  This year the markings would look something like “20 † C † M † B † 24.”  The numerals are the first and last pairs of numbers that together mark the current year (2024).  The crosses are an invocation of Christian blessing.  The letters C M B indicate two things.  They are the first letters of the traditional names of the Wise Men from the East who visited the Baby Jesus in Matthew 2:1-12 (Caspar, Melchior and Balthazzar).

The letters are also the initials for the phrase Christus mansionem benedicat, which means, “May Christ bless this house.”  These blessings are part of a simple ritual that includes seasonal hymns or carols and a responsive or antiphonal invocation.  The blessing frequently includes reference to the Wise Men visiting the house of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, paying homage and offering gifts.  This accounts for the practice of annually blessing homes on or near the Day of Epiphany.

So, for all of us, in 2024 may Christ bless our houses.

The Wesley Covenant Prayer

This evening (December 31) many churches – though not nearly as many as once was the case – will be holding Watch Night services.  These gatherings mark the end of the calendar year and the beginning of the new.  Such assemblies may spend a little time reflecting on the year past, but their primary concern is what lies ahead.  The new year carries with it a sense of turning the page, of starting with a clean slate and undertaking a fresh, new set of hopes.  The opening of a new planner and the making of resolutions signal an opportunity for doing things a bit differently than has been the case in the past.

The Wesleyan tradition includes a bit of liturgical material known as The Wesleyan Covenant Prayer.  Although John Wesley did not compose this prayer, he adapted it for Methodists and printed it in a pamphlet called Directions for Renewing our Covenant with God in 1780.  In 1784 when Wesley issued The Sunday Service of the Methodists; With Other Occasional Services to be used by the Methodists in North America, he included this prayer as part of A Service for Covenant Renewal.  This service has informally become known as The Wesley Covenant Service.  At the heart of this observance is this prayer:

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

I offer this prayer as a word of hope for the days ahead.

Happy New Year!

January 7

I sometimes come across things that capture my fancy for no particular reason.  For instance, I found out that it was on this date in 1610 that Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa, although he is not able to distinguish the last two until the following day.  I have always had a mild fascination with Galileo.  I have this picture in my study

Galileo and Viviani by Tito Lessi

So, the mention of Galileo caught my eye.  It is remarkable what has happened in astronomy in the last several years.  This is what Galileo saw in 1610:

This is an image of the same bodies captured by Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on the New Horizons spacecraft during its flyby of Jupiter in late February 2007.

My takeaway, aside from the breathtaking nature of the images, is that our understanding is always changing.  It is supreme arrogance to assume that we know all there is to know about anything.  This applies to astronomy, or theology, or life.

I hope to keep my eyes open.

The Wesleyan Covenant Prayer

This evening (December 31) many churches – though not nearly as many as once was the case – will be holding Watch Night services.  These gatherings mark the end of the calendar year and the beginning of the new.  Such assemblies may spend a little time reflecting on the year past, but their primary concern is what lies ahead.  The new year carries with it a sense of turning the page, of starting with a clean slate and undertaking a fresh, new set of hopes.  The opening of a new planner and the making of resolutions signal an opportunity for doing things a bit differently than has been the case in the past.

The Wesleyan tradition includes a bit of liturgical material known as The Wesleyan Covenant Prayer.  Although John Wesley did not compose this prayer, he adapted it for Methodists and printed it in a pamphlet called Directions for Renewing our Covenant with God in 1780.  In 1784 when Wesley issued The Sunday Service of the Methodists; With Other Occasional Services to be used by the Methodists in North America, he included this prayer as part of A Service for Covenant Renewal.  This service has informally become known as The Wesley Covenant Service.  At the heart of this observance is this prayer:

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

I offer this prayer as a word of hope for the days ahead.

Happy New Year!