Prepare to bless your home tomorrow.

Epiphany Inscription Over the Doorway of the Home 20 + C + M + B + 25 The letters have two meanings. They are the initials of the traditional names of the Three Magi: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. They also abbreviate the Latin words “Christus mansionem benedicat.” “May Christ bless the house.” The letters recall the day on which the inscription is made, as well as the purpose of blessing. The crosses represent the protection of the Precious Blood of Christ, whom we invoke, and the holiness of the Three Magi sanctified by their adoration of the Infant Christ. The inscription is made above the front door, so that all who enter and depart this year may enjoy God’s blessing. The month of January still bears the name of the Roman god Janus, the doorkeeper of heaven and protector of the beginning and end of things. This blessing “christens” the ancient Roman observance of the first month. The inscription is made of chalk, a product of clay, which recalls the human nature taken by the Adorable and Eternal Word of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit. To bless your home this Epiphany, read the Prologue of St. John’s Gospel (i.e., the Last Gospel used at Mass), followed by the Our Father, and the Collect of the Epiphany; then write the inscription for this year above your front door with blessed chalk. The lintel of the main door of the house (and other doors if desired) is marked by a senior member of the household (usually the father) in the following way: 20 + C + M + B + 25 Whilst saying the following prayer: The Three Wise Men Caspar C (write the letter) Melchior M and Balthazar B followed the star of God’s Son Who became man Two Thousand 20 and twenty-five. 25 May Christ bless our home ++ (first two crosses) and remain with us through the new year ++ (first two crosses) If others are present, you may continue: Almighty God, incline Thine ear. Bless us and all who are gathered here. Send Thy holy angel who will defend us and fill with grace all who dwell here. R. Amen. The senior member may then proceed to sprinkle the interior of the home with the blessed Epiphany Water. Source: SSPX

Thank you so much for the reminder!  🥰

Holy Epiphany to everyone!

Today in Canada, our Prime Minister announced that he is stepping down as leader. Well! Our prayers seem to be heard. Deo gratias. And now: how 'bout a Catholic KING in Ottawa?

From your lips to God's ears.

From the Matutinum for January 6th:

Homily by Pope St. Gregory the Great.

10th on the Gospels

Dearly beloved brethren, hear ye from the Gospel lesson how, when the King of heaven was born, the king of earth was troubled? The heights of heaven are opened and the depths of earth are stirred. Let us now consider the question, why, when the Redeemer was born, an angel brought the news to the shepherds of Judea, but a star led the wise men of the East to worship Him. It seemeth as if the Jєωs as reasonable creatures received a revelation from a reasonable being, that is, an angel, but the Gentiles without, being as brutes, are roused not by a voice, but by a sign, that is, a star. Hence Paul hath it: a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. 1 Cor. xiv. 22. So the prophesying, that is, of the angel was given to them that believed, and the sign to them that believed not.

Thus also we remark that afterwards the Redeemer was preached among the Gentiles not by Himself, but by His Apostles, even as, when a little Child, He is shown to them, not by the voice of angels, but merely by the vision of a star. When He Himself had begun to speak He was made known to us by speakers, but when He lay silent in the manger, by that silent testimony in heaven. But whether we consider the signs which accompanied His birth or His death, this thing is wonderful, namely, the hardness of heart of the Jєωs, who would not believe in Him either for prophesying or for miracles.

All things which He had made, bore witness that their Maker was come. Let me reckon them after the manner of men. The heavens knew that He was God, and sent a star to shine over where He lay. The sea knew it, and bore Him up when He walked upon it. The earth knew it, and quaked when He died. The sun knew it, and was darkened. The rocks and walls knew it, and rent at the hour of His death. Hell knew it, and gave up the dead that were in it. And yet up to this very hour the hearts of the unbelieving Jєωs will not acknowledge that He to Whom all nature testified is their God, and, being more hardened than the rocks, refuse to be rent by repentance.

You can read (and pray) all the Breviary on this website: https://www.divinumofficium.com/

The Cathedral of Cologne contains the relics of the Three Kings.

The relic I have (third class) states  "This small piece of linen has touched the heads and relics of the Three Kings preserved at the Cathedral of Cologne.  Their protection is invoked against fever, epilepsy, sudden death and accidents in travelling"

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cologne-Cathedral

Yes.  So, various scholars (mostly Catholic ones that don't believe the story was "made up") have made an identification of Gaspar (from Northern India but modern-day Pakistan) ... but no one has figured out Melchior and Baalthasar.  I believe I have identified them.  By identification, I mean, to identify them as actual kings who lived in that era.  AND the Modernists deny that they were Kings, but that they were astrologers or some kind, claiming that the identification of them as Kings was a medieval fabrication.  That's nonsense.  Tertullian, one of the earliest Fathers, refers to them as fere regnes ... basically kings.  I've also accounted for that characterization with those identified, and, yes, they were in fact kings, and not some court astrologers ... well, they were in fact these sub- or vassal- kings (2 of them at any rate), and that lines up precisely with the expression where they're basically/practically/pretty much/tantamount to "kings".  AND Bede's early mention of a dark-skinned one also lines up with the identification.  I just have to put together all the evidence.  There's a bit of speculation there, since the names are not 100% exact, but that's expected when going from one language to the other , that there's going to be a certain amount of transliteration or approximation, sometimes based on the perception of how it sounds, etc. (so, for instance, the Hungarian Laszlo was also Slavic Vladislav, which then became Latin Ladislaus, and the pronunciation of the Hungarian version (Laszlo) is pronounced almost identical to the French pronunciation of "Lancelot" (minus the nasal sound from the n).  So the names are extremely close, match all the later/medieval descriptions (that Modernists later pretended were fabricated), and they lived (i.e. "reigned") right around the time that Our Lord was born and in basically the correct country / nation / part of the world.