Hello all!
I'm writing to you from my back porch, with the dog sleeping in his bed, a purple candle burning, and a cold drink. It's a gorgeous day in Austin, Texas. We are in the second week of Lent and I wanted to share what our domestic church looks like, to inspire and pay homage to those who have inspired me. Warning: this post is extremely picture-heavy and I love it.
For more information on what a domestic church is, please visit these great articles. While I will one day write a blog about our domestic church, today is not that day and it really is a lovely idea for families of all kinds:From the USCCBFrom OSV
Our Home Shrine During Lent
Now I hope this does not fall under pride, but I like to think we have a lovely little home shrine and great presence of religious artwork and items considering we are a young newlywed and newly-Catholic couple. It serves not as a point of boastfulness or rubbing in others faces, but as a reminder to us of who we ultimately serve and a place to focus for prayer. During the liturgical seasons, we switch it up accordingly. Without further ado, here we go!
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| A picture of our home shrine as it currently stands. The base fabric is always blue, for Our Lady, but we change out the top fabric based on season. Here we see a lovely shade of repentance violet. The shrine is on a old shelf we got for free from my parents and placed beside the door to the porch and under a lovely window that faces another building. We have a huge stack of books on, beside, and below, so I'm looking into changing it out for a cube bookshelf so we can store supplies we're not using and the tons of books. |
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| These guys are regulars in our shrine. Homemade diptychs I gave to the Mister once with some of his favorite icons, made with picture frames from our local thrift shop, and two smaller icons I believe I got in England at a Russian Orthodox Cathedral. No worries, they are also recognized as saints in Rome. |
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| These two also live in our shrine full-time. Well, above on either side. On the left we have our Act of Consecration to Jesus through Mary, begun on our wedding day and signed on February 2nd, 2017. On the right we have the Act of Contrition which I find especially appropriate to pray during Lent. |
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| We love candles. Here we have six that I picked up from Hobby Lobby, nestled in beds of black sand for an "ashes and sackcloth" theme. These represent the six Sundays of Lent and the associated liturgical color. Three violet, one rose, one more violet, one red for Palm Sunday. I like the image stemming from ancient times that candles represent prayers going to heaven. |
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| Made from burlap I got at Hobby Lobby, it is the "sackcloth" in "ashes and sackcloth." Bet you won't see that trending on HGTV. It says "repent" flanked by two crosses. This is the first time I've hung a banner and I love it. It ties the shrine together visually. I'll continue to hang banners like this that match the season in material and word... now taking suggestions for Ordinary Time's word. |
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| This is another regular in our shrine, with some seasonal changes. We always have the little house (got it from Goodwill and repainted) with fake candles that have prayer intentions written on them, a small image of Our Lady, Pop Francis, St. Theresa the Little Flower, and a Holy Spirit image I received at confirmation. We also have the only palm cross we can find, a rosary holder we received as a wedding present, and an image of La Pieta that is front and center this Lent. |
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| On top is a BREATH-TAKING crucifix, a tiny angel I received for confirmation, and Our Lady of Guadalupe. Note: the Mister made all of these rosaries! I am so lucky. He did not make the prayer rope, however. That was a Christmas gift from me. |
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| This is our lovely mantle, over a fireplace we have never used (yet). I won't go into detail on the different icons and prayer cards featured above, as we've just collected them based on who speaks to us and what we've gotten free. We also have a basket on our home shrine with extras for people to take. |
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| On the left side of our mantle. Typically I'll have fresh or silk flowers out, but being inspired by "ashes and sackcloth" the mason jar is filled with black sand ("ashes") instead. There was a single beeswax candle burning as a prayer for communion with our Orthodox brethren, but that was quite a few hours ago. |
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| In the center of our mantle. We're working on getting a better St. Joseph, but we also have a rustic sign, my first crucifix ever (before I "came out" to my family as Catholic), and one of my favorite images of Our Lady. |
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| And finally, on the right side we have a friendly sign from our wedding and a purple candle. The candles change based on the season. We got this one pretty cheap from our local Catholic goods store. |
That looks like just about everything! We also have some icons, crucifixes, crosses, and holy water fonts scattered about, but those won't change... yet. Look for another post about Holy Week 2017. If I did not mention a store we purchased something at, it was probably our local Catholic goods store, Hobby Lobby, or a gift shop at a parish. I will try to find specifics if you would like.
Do you decorate your house for Lent? In general? I am always looking for ideas from other domestic churches out there!
Blessings,
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