Family Altars in the home

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Permalink Reply by Patricia on December 8, 2009 at 3:43pm

As is common in the Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Churches, we have a family altar/icon wall on an east-facing wall in our home...since it is from the east that the Son of God is said to return (which is why Eastern Catholic & Orthodox Churches are constructed so that the priest faces east ["ad orientem"] when celebrating the Divine Liturgy). On our wall we have icons representing the patron Saints of each family member. At the top is an icon of Christ Pantocrator (Christ the Teacher) & under Him is an image of the Blessed Mother as Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Surrounding these are the family icons. Over some of the icons are blessed palms & pussy willows from Palm Sunday. We also have images of the Sacred & Immaculate Heart, & a crucifix. On a shelf attached to the wall below this area we have small religious statues (Infant of Prague), holy water, blessed candles, blessed oil, a small incensor, & a place to keep rosaries & chotkis (prayer ropes used to pray the +Jesus Prayer). Above this area where we gather to pray hangs a small candle in a red glass votive candle holder that is suspended from the ceiling.
I think there are many variations on what you might find on/in a family altar/prayer corner in a Catholic home. Above all, it should be a place of peace where you can come, alone or with loved ones, to offer prayers of adoration, contrition, thanksgiving & supplication to our Lord.

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Permalink Reply by Patricia on December 8, 2009 at 5:17pm

Here's a good description of an icon corner/prayer corner/family altar that I came across:

An icon corner is the family's place of worship, also called the home altar. The concept of the church of the home is an ancient Christian tradition, beginning in the first century. At this time, there were no separate churches, so Christians would gather in private homes to worship.

Icon corners are typically located in the north- or south-east corner of a room, or on an east-facing wall of the house, since East is the traditional direction for Eastern Catholic (& Orthodox) prayer.

Items you might find at the home altar:
* Icon of Christ
* Icon of the Theotokos (Eastern Christian name for the Blessed Mother meaning "God-Bearer")
* Icon of the family's patron saint
* Other icons such as saints of family members & significant liturgical events/feast days
* A crucifix
* A prayer book
* The Holy Bible

* Seasonal items:
Holy water from the Theophany church service
Palms or pussy willows from the Palm Sunday service
Blessed oil from the Holy Unction service on Holy Wednesday
Flowers from special services: Good Friday, etc.
Paschal (Pysanki) egg
Censer with incense and charcoal pellets
Light or candle (vigil lamp)
Seal for Prosphora (bread that the priest uses for the Holy Eucharist during the Divine Liturgy)

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Permalink Reply by Waverley Booth on December 12, 2009 at 10:39pm

We too have an altar in our home. It is not very grand but is used a great deal. The altar is actually on a small table that has 2 shelves under the table-top. I made a cloth for each of the liturgical seasons and the children love to change the cloths for me. The items on the top of the table change with the day and season. I have found that Holy Cards are an inexpensive way to bring images of different saints into the house. I use Holy Card holders to hold the cards upright. The cards change depending on the the feast day. In addition to Holy Cards, I found some inexpensive ($1) plastic figures of different saints. The figures change depending on the saint being remembered.

On the shelves under the table, which are open, I keep a Bible, the Cathechism, and our rosaries on one shelf. On the bottom shelf I keep picture books that go along with the season or feast day. Everything on our altar is accessible to the children and they are encouraged to touch and look at everything on it. My nice figures I keep elsewhere in the house.

I also encourage and allow my kids to hang coloring pages, poems, etc on the wall around the altar. We do a coloring page for many of the liturgical celebrations and they like to display them. They have also been known to write poems and prayers and either attach them to the wall or place them on the altar. For hanging things on the wall, I highly recommend tacky gum, which can be purchased at an office supply store. The tacky gum doesn't remove the paint, is not visible, and does not leave a mark on our wall.

I love all the pictures and ideas here. Thanks for starting this thread!

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Permalink Reply by Amylisa C on December 13, 2009 at 5:25pm

I love seeing the beautiful pictures posted here! Just beautiful.

We don't have a family altar as of yet. I've been praying that my husband won't mind eventually if I put in a garden statue of Mary in front of our house though.

I have a framed picture of Our Lady of Grace on top of a pretty bookcase in our living room, with a myrhh candle beside it. And a large framed picture from the Passion of The Christ, when Jesus is kneeling in the Garden. I love that picture so much. Around the other walls are pictures of our children, and our wedding portrait.

In our bedroom on my dresser I have a statue of Our Lady of Fatima beside a statue of Jesus' Sacred Heart. And on the wall above, a framed painting of Kissing The Face of God, a popular picture you've probably seen...Mary holding baby Jesus.
In our dining room I have one of my most favorite paintings by Greg Olson, of Jesus sitting in a garden with a little girl. She is touching the wound in His hand.

I would love to have more statues. I hope to be able to at some point. I love the things you all have done, thank you for this wonderful thread Violin Mama!

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Permalink Reply by Atara on March 27, 2011 at 1:37pm

Great thread and great ideas!

I need to find somewhere to put our family altar.

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Permalink Reply by Nicole Palm on May 18, 2011 at 2:22am

Thank´s for bringing up this topic! I love all those ideas you have all posted before.

We keep our altar simple: a wooden crucifix we got on our wedding, a picture of Mother Mary and a statue of her, some rosaries and prayer cards for the children. We made those a few weeks ago and the little ones love it : we took pictures of people we pray for and glued them on colorful paper. Every evening our youngest takes them, says a prayer for the person on the photo and brings it to the altar. ...

Of yourse we have a candle we light while praying and our jug  ( I hope it is the right word for it...). We belong to the Schoenstatt movement and it is a tradition there to have one in your home shrine. We put all our prayers, sorrows, sacrifices.. on a piece of paper and put it in the jug in order to give it all to Mary and let her work with it for our benefit and for those who need it most. From time to time we burn the paper and start over again...

Greetings and god bless from a german reader! Nicole.

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