Have You Ever Considered Building a Home Chapel?

Michie

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  • Begin praying as a family and reading from Scripture daily, certainly before meals, but also first thing in the morning or before bed. Find a time that works for your family. Use the liturgy of the Church as a model for prayer, and try to include heartfelt unstructured prayer as well.
  • Pray a Family Rosary (each member leads a decade, and everyone shares intentions).
  • Have a crucifix in a prominent place in the home, and in every bedroom.
  • Make the Sacraments a regular celebration – take the whole family to Confession and Mass!
  • Begin family traditions based on the seasons celebrated in the liturgical calendar.
  • Make your vacation a holy pilgrimage by visiting the shrines and saints of our land and the world.
  • Make worshiping God a priority. Never miss Mass, even while traveling – go to: [URL='http://www.masstimes.org/']www.MassTimes.org
  • to find a church near you!
  • Teach stewardship and charity to your children, through word and example.
  • Demonstrate love for your spouse, your children, your neighbors, and the world. Remind their children that they are loved by God and have been given gifts to serve others.
  • Talk freely about the presence of God in the joys and sorrows of your life.
  • Welcome into your home and support priests, brothers, sisters, deacons, and lay ministers in the Church.
  • Participate in the lay ministries and activities of your parish community.
  • Allow your children to witness you in private prayer. Encourage your children to pray daily on their own, to listen for God’s call, and if heard, to respond.
  • For more ideas on how to build your home as a Domestic Church, go to: www.domestic-church.com or visit The Family Fully Alive, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus.
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Tools for Building a Domestic Church | USCCB
 
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BrAndreyu

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I have a lot of sacred stuff in my room and have a corner set aside on the Eastern wall of my room for Icons along with a little table that functions sort of as an altar where I light my candle and burn my incense (just burned some today and now my room smells like the FSSP church I went to last Sunday!).

We have other icons around the house and a crucifix over the hallway, but that's about as close as I'm going to be able to get to living in a church the way that I wish I could. If I ever hit the lottery, I would build a small chapel or shrine in my backyard after I got done putting in the pool.
 
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BrAndreyu

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IMG_20210730_164747428.jpg


Here's the table I was talking about. The wall of icons hasn't changed much since the last time I shared a photo of them. The box is where I keep the relic of St. Anthony of Padua as well as the little cross I had that was blessed by either St. John Paul II or Benedict XVI (I can't remember) along with some other crosses and medals.
 
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Michie

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View attachment 303458

Here's the table I was talking about. The wall of icons hasn't changed much since the last time I shared a photo of them. The box is where I keep the relic of St. Anthony of Padua as well as the little cross I had that was blessed by either St. John Paul II or Benedict XVI (I can't remember) along with some other crosses and medals.
Very nice! You are doing a great job. :) :thumbsup:
 
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prodromos

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You may have seen our prayer room in another thread. When we were looking at houses, the Real Estate agent was reluctant to show us this house as it was in a really bad state, but my wife and I both saw the potential to use what was the dining room, as a dedicated prayer room.

This is just the Eastern wall :)
261531_f478bdf08f24eb79b17c2e9d627a49ea.jpg
 
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Michie

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That’s just fabulous! :)
You may have seen our prayer room in another thread. When we were looking at houses, the Real Estate agent was reluctant to show us this house as it was in a really bad state, but my wife and I both saw the potential to use what was the dining room, as a dedicated prayer room.

This is just the Eastern wall :)
261531_f478bdf08f24eb79b17c2e9d627a49ea.jpg
 
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Michie

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That's what I wish mine looked like
You know I found a depiction of an icon today but I was not sure what to do with it. If it’s still there, I’ll pick it up and send you the pic.
 
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BrAndreyu

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I'm actually jelly of the red glass candle holder that they have, it's pretty.

I'm currently looking around for one of those as well as blue one to put in front of my statue of Mary. I also need to talk with my probation officer about taking a trip to St. Augustine again so I can go back to the St. Photios shrine and pick up some more icons.
 
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Michie

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I'm actually jelly of the red glass candle holder that they have, it's pretty.

I'm currently looking around for one of those as well as blue one to put in front of my statue of Mary. I also need to talk with my probation officer about taking a trip to St. Augustine again so I can go back to the St. Photios shrine and pick up some more icons.
You know, I’ll keep an eye out for those too. I do not think they would be too hard to find to slip a votive candle into.
 
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BrAndreyu

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Actually yeah I wanna do that. At the very least a prayer corner with a small altar...

You totally should. It doesn't have to be anything complex at all, mine is just semi complex because it got that way over the years. Originally all I had was a Christ the Pantokrator that my cousin (Ukr Grk Catholic Priest) sent me and a small red votive holder. Now I have a dedicated table and a dedicated shelf and I keep my holy water, incense, rosary, and bible on there. I'm always looking to get more stuff for it too.
 
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prodromos

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That's what I wish mine looked like
Its been 20 years in the making. Our first prayer corner was on top of our piano, then when we moved back to Australia, we had a small section of a room with just a few icons on top of a cabinet, but it was always our dream to have a dedicated room. When we looked at this house, the dining room was in the centre of the house, opening into the kitchen, lounge and what we call the family room, and no door way on the Eastern wall. It was perfect.
 
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BrAndreyu

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Its been 20 years in the making

Oh well there you go, that explains the number of icons then. I've only been collecting them for a handful of years and I got a fair amount of mine from my cousin who is a Ukr. Greek Catholic priest and from bazaars at the Greek Orthodox church in the next town over. The smaller ones I have, I got from parish bookstores. I also own like 6 different bible translations, but only one Catholic edition and it's unfortunately in the New Revised Standard Version which is a translation I don't really like as the ones I prefer out of what I have are the New King James and English Standard Versions.

I have some holy water, incense, and candles too. I'm doing my best to carve out a sacred space in my room since I'm the only one in the house that still attends mass, sadly.
 
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BrAndreyu

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I'd live in a chapel if I could. If it were up to me, every room in my house would have an icon corner or an altar, since I cannot actually live in a chapel. I find them to be very comforting places and I sometimes go to the one at my local parish during the day to pray the rosary or read a spiritual book because I feel closer to God when I am there in one of his homes.

Unfortunately they don't do adoration in my area regularly. They are too afraid of the very real possibility of some rando coming in off the street and stealing the sacrament and it's a shame, because there was a point in time when most churches were open to the public during the day but now they only tend to be open immediately before and after a mass is going on, so you can't always just go to the church to pray or to get some peace and quiet during the day.
 
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