House Blessings Jan. 12 - Feb. 22, 2026

Blessing of Homes for Theophany

There are few things more vital to our lives than our homes. In our homes we pray, we work, we talk to others, we order our lives, we work out our marriages, etc. What

more important place to reclaim for the Kingdom of God – or is it better to continue living in a place which is occupied by the enemy. For the most effective working out of our salvation, we must drive the enemy out of our homes, and keep him at bay by our prayers, our righteous life, and the annual sprinkling by Holy Water at Theophany.

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It is tradition to invite your priest to bless your home with holy water following Theophany. Fr. Vjekoslav will do Blessing of Homes during Theophany season. He is available any time, any day from Jan 12 - Feb 22, 2026. If you would like to have your home blessed, please contact Father either by phone or email in order to schedule the visit. Feel free to text or leave a voice mail and Father will get back to you as soon as possible.

The items needed for a house blessing are:

1. Candle (Real wax candle, that has wick and is able to burn, not electric)

2. Large serving bowl for the Holy Water

3. Holy Water (Blessed in the Orthodox Church)

[Optional: Small Censer, Charcoal, Incense]

Why Bless a Home? “The Orthodox Church teaches that we do not have two separate lives–a secular one and a spiritual one–but one human life, and that all of it must be holy. We must not be Christians for just a few hours on Saturday and Sunday, spending the rest of our life godlessly, that is to say, without God. The person who has united

with Christ in the sacrament of baptism cannot be a part-time Christian but must be faithful to Christ everywhere and at all times–in church, at work, at home, in relationships with other Christians, and in those with non-Christians–we must be faithful to Christ in the fullness of our life. The Holy Orthodox Church teaches us that a temple is not only a building in which we worship, but that we are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16); that the Body of Christ is not only that of which we partake at the Divine Liturgy, but that we are the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27). And just as the Gifts of the Eucharist are treated with reverence and kept in sanctified vessels in the altar, so should every Christian’s life be full of reverence and sanctity not only during a church service, but likewise outside the walls of the temple. A Christian’s home must become a small temple, work–labor for the glory of God, and family–a small Church. The Orthodox Church helps her children strive for holiness in their lives and brings sanctification to every Christian home–a small temple. The Church blesses the very foundation of a home in the same way that it blesses the foundation of a church, it blesses a new Christian home in the same way that it blesses a new temple, and yearly, after the blessing of a parish temple with the water of Theophany, the Church brings this holy water into the homes of the faithful. The prayers for the blessing of a temple are different from those for the blessing of a home, because the function of a home is different from that of a temple, but the sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit is one. And just as in the baptism of our Lord all of creation is washed clean and sanctified, every year after the feast of the Baptism of the Lord Christians sanctify themselves and their homes with the water of Theophany. The Church teaches us to sanctify everything: dwellings, places of work, all our pursuits, and the fruits of

our labor. And just as a temple and sacred vessels, once sanctified and set aside for sacred use, can no longer be used for anything profane, in the same way a Christian washed in the baptismal waters, and his home, and all his works can no longer be the dwelling of sin and the works of satan, but only and always–the temple of

the Holy Spirit and the fulfillment of the will of our Heavenly Father. This is why the Church blesses everything that can be found in a Christian home; and if something is not worthy of being blessed, then there should not be a place for it in the home of a Christian.”

by Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov (excerpt)