Got chalk? An Epiphany house blessing

Celebrate Epiphany by asking God to bless your house! (Hey, the dismantling of the tree and such can be done anytime...and this is much more fun.)

How to:

Grab a piece of chalk and mark the main door of your house with initials of the traditional names of the Magi — Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar — and the numbers of the new year, connected by crosses, so it looks like something like this:

20 + C + M + B + 06

What makes this very cool is that the initials also stand for the motto: "Christus mansionem benedicat" — or, "May Christ bless this house."

(Couple of reasons to use chalk. One is a no-brainer...it washes off in the rain or snow. But mainly it reminds us of the dust of the earth from which we were made.)

While you're marking your main door, you might say this prayer:

"The wise men followed the star of God's Son Who became man two thousand and six years ago. May Christ bless our home and remain with us thoughout the new year. Amen."