EPIPHANY BLESSING

Epiphany - also known as Three Kings' Day - is a Christian festival, which starts on 6 January. It is a special date in the Christmas story as it's when people celebrate how a star led the Magi - also known as the Three kings or the Wise Men - to visit the baby Jesus after he had been born.  - Wikipedia 


The Epiphany of the Lord


One tradition celebrated by many families:

Using chalk, write "20+C+M+B+22" on the outside of your house or inside above the front main entrance, above or next to an entrance. Details below:

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EPIPHANY BLESSING




20 + C + M + B + 22




The letters C, M, B have two meanings:




• They are the initials of the traditional names of the three magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar.




• They also abbreviate the Latin words:

Christus mansionem benedicat,

“May Christ bless the house.”




• The “+” represent the cross and 2021 is the year.




All make the Sign of the Cross.




Leader: Peace be to this house and to all who dwell here, in the name of the Lord.




All: Thanks be to God.




Reader:

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.




The word of the Lord.




All: Thanks be to God




Using chalk, write on the outside of your house or inside above the front main entrance, above or next to an entrance:




20 + C + M + B + 22




All: Lord God of heaven and earth, you revealed your only begotten Son to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who live here and all who visit. May we be blessed with health, kindness of heart, gentleness and the keeping of your law. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our love for each other may go out to all. We ask this through Christ our Lord.



Amen.

Powerful Prayer for Protection

Dear Heavenly Father, full of grace and love,
I ask your angels to send protection from above.


Please protect my mind, body and spirit from illness and abuse.
Divert ill will and evil intentions from myself and others who wish to do me harm. Keep me safe all my days and extend this protection to all whom I love. Amen


Amen.

Prayer For A New Beginning

Heavenly Father,

I am about to embark on new beginnings as I face an end to this chapter of my life.

So, I ask that You lead and direct me as I go through new challenges.

Father, will You stay close to me so that I do not stray from You. You are my Good Shepherd and I am Your sheep; so help me to keep my eyes fixed on You as I trust You in all things.

Grant me provision for all that I need, in order to start this new journey, through the directing of Your Holy Spirit.

Thank You Father, Amen.

— Psalm 22:11, John 10:11, Hebrews 12:2

PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR

May the Lord make my New Year a happy one...




Not by shielding me from sorrow and pain, but by strengthening me to bear it if it comes.




Not by making my path easy, but by making me sturdy enough to tread any path.




Not by taking hardship from me, but by taking all cowardice and fear from my heart as I meet hardships.




Not by granting me unbroken sunshine, but by keeping my face bright even in the shadows.




Not by making my life always pleasant, but by showing me where men and His cause need me most and by making me zealous to be there and to help...



God, make my year a happy one.




— from Guideposts magazine

Holy Innocents Day

Innocents Day 

HOLY INNOCENTS DAY -DECEMBER 28

The day commemorates the execution of the innocent, male children in Bethlehem as told in Matthew 2:16. Also known as the Feast of the Holy Innocents (and referred to as Childermas), the day refers to King Herod's order found in Matthew's account of the king's reaction to the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy.

Massacre of the Innocents is the incident in the nativity narrative of the Gospel of Matthew (2:16–18) in which Herod the Great, king of Judea, orders the execution of all male children two years old and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem. The Catholic Church regards them as the first Christian martyrs, and their feast – Holy Innocents' Day (or the Feast of the Holy Innocents) – is celebrated on 28 December.

According to the New Testament, Holy Innocents’ Day was the massacre of some 20,000 boys, two years old and below. It was ordered by a furious King Herod more than 2,000 years ago, after he learned that he was tricked by the Three Kings, whom he asked to drop by at his Palace in Bethlehem so he would go with them to visit the newly born child, Jesus Christ. But deep inside Herod was his sinister plot to kill Baby Jesus, whom he considered a rival to his throne. 

In the reading of Matthew 2:16-18, it says: “When Herod realized that the visitors (Three Kings) from the East tricked him, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and neighborhood who were two years old and younger.

Matthew also wrote that the Holy Family fled to Egypt after “an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, ‘Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him. So get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave.”

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the vicinity of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews, whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi.

The slain children were regarded by the early church as the first martyrs, but it is uncertain when the day was first kept as a saint’s day. It may have been celebrated with Epiphany, but by the 5th century it was kept as a separate festival. In Rome it was a day of fasting and mourning.