Catholic prayer for a new home

The first night in a new home is strange. The rooms echo, the boxes are everywhere, and the place doesn't feel like yours yet. Catholics have always made a house a home the same way: by inviting Christ into it. We pray, we bless it with holy water, we hang a crucifix, and as soon as we can, we ask a priest to come. Here are the traditional Catholic prayers for a new home, word for word and with their sources, along with the Church's house blessing prayers and the saints to ask.

A prayer for a new home: Leo XIII's prayer for the Christian family

This prayer was indulgenced by Pope Leo XIII in 1889 and printed in the 1910 Raccolta (no. 457) as the "Prayer for the Christian Family." It commends the home, the family and everything in it to God, asks the protection of the angels and saints, and closes with a blessing of the house in the name of the Holy Trinity. It is a fitting prayer to say together on your first night:

God of bounty and of mercy, to thy almighty protection we commend our home, our family and all we possess. Bless us all, as Thou didst bless the Holy Family at Nazareth.

O Jesus, our most blessed Saviour, by the love with which Thou didst become man for our salvation, by thy mercy in dying for us on the Cross, bless, we beseech thee, our home, our family and our household; preserve us from every evil and from the snares of men; protect us from lightning and hail, from fire, flood and tempest; preserve us from thy wrath, from the hatred and the evil designs of our enemies, from pestilence, famine and war. Let not any one of us die without the holy Sacraments; grant us thy blessing, that we may bravely confess that faith by which we are sanctified, that we may preserve our hope in sorrow and in affliction, and that we may redouble our love of Thee and our charity towards our neighbour.

O Jesus, bless and protect us.

O Mary, mother of grace and of mercy, bless us, defend us against the evil spirit, lead us by the hand across this vale of tears, reconcile us with thy Son, and commend us to Him that we may be made worthy of his promises. O holy Joseph, reputed father of our Saviour, guardian of his most blessed Mother, head of the Holy Family, intercede for us, and bless and protect our habitation at all times.

St Michael, defend us against all the malice of hell. St Gabriel, make us ever to seek the holy will of God. St Raphael, preserve us from sickness and all danger of death. Ye holy angels, our guardians, keep us day and night in the way of salvation. Ye holy saints, our patrons, pray for us before the throne of God.

Bless this our home, O God the Father, who hast created us; O God the Son, who hast suffered for us on the Cross; O God the Holy Spirit, who hast sanctified us in baptism. May God in his three divine Persons preserve our bodies, purify our souls, guide our hearts and lead us to eternal life.

Glory be to the Father, glory be to the Son, glory be to the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Walk through the house as you pray the last part. "Bless this our home" is a good line to say at the door of each room.

The Church's house blessing prayers

The Roman Ritual, the book of the Church's blessings, has blessings for houses, schools and even the laying of a foundation stone, as the Catholic Encyclopedia notes. These are the old Ritual's prayers for a house, in the English of the 1888 Manual of Prayers. The priest says them when he enters a home to bring the sacraments to the sick, and the same words fill the Church's other house blessings.

"Peace be unto this house"

The priest's first words at the door come from Our Lord's own instruction to His disciples (Luke 10:5): "Into whatsoever house you enter, first say: Peace be to this house."

V. Peace be unto this house. R. And unto all who dwell therein.

"May there enter, O Lord Jesus Christ"

May there enter, O Lord Jesus Christ, into this house, at the entrance of our lowliness, everlasting happiness, heaven-sent prosperity, peaceful gladness, fruitful charity, abiding health: may the devils fear to approach this place, may the angels of peace be present therein, and may all wicked strife depart from this house. Magnify, O Lord, upon us Thy holy name, and bless our ministry: hallow the entrance of our lowliness, Thou who art holy and compassionate, and abidest with the Father and the Holy Ghost world without end. Amen.

A blessing of the dwelling and those who live in it

Let us pray and beseech our Lord Jesus Christ, that blessing He may bless this abode, and all who dwell therein, and give unto them a good angel for their keeper, and make them serve Him, so as to behold wondrous things out of His law. May He ward off from them all adverse powers: may He deliver them from all fear and from all disquiet, and vouchsafe to keep in health them that dwell in this house. Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth God world without end. Amen.

"Hear us, O holy Lord"

This is the prayer every Catholic of a certain age knows from the Asperges, the sprinkling with holy water before Sunday Mass:

Hear us, O Holy Lord, Father Almighty, Everlasting God, and vouchsafe to send Thy holy Angel from heaven, to guard, cherish, protect, visit, and defend all those that dwell in this house. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A family can pray these together before the priest comes, or in a home where no priest can come. Only a priest gives the Church's blessing, but every household can join in the Church's prayer.

How to have your new home blessed

A house blessing is one of the easiest things to ask of a priest, and one of the most loved. Here is how it usually goes:

1. Call your parish office and ask for a house blessing. There's no charge, though many families give a small offering to the parish. If you're new to the parish, this is a good way to register and meet the pastor.
2. Prepare a small table near the front door or in the main room: a crucifix, a lit candle and a bowl of holy water. If you have a family Bible, open it there.
3. Gather the whole household, including the children. They remember these days.
4. Walk with the priest from room to room as he sprinkles holy water and prays. Open the doors to every room, the garage and the basement.
5. Ask him to bless your religious objects too: the crucifix, statues, rosaries, a St. Benedict medal for the door.
6. Offer him a meal or a cup of coffee. Many of the best parish friendships begin at a kitchen table.

Every year at Epiphany, many families renew the blessing by chalking "20+C+M+B+27" over the front door; see our Epiphany house blessing for the custom, its Latin prayer Benedic, Domine and how to do it. In many places the old custom was for the parish priest to bless the homes of the parish in Eastertide with the newly blessed Easter water.

Prayers to keep your new home holy

The house is blessed once, but the home is made holy every day. The Catechism (no. 1657) calls the Christian home "the first school of Christian life," and the next paragraphs call it "the domestic church."

Night prayer for the house

The old Compline, the Church's night prayer, ends by asking God to guard the house through the night. This is the 1888 Manual's translation of Visita, quaesumus, Domine:

Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this habitation, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy: let Thy holy Angels dwell therein to keep us in peace: and may Thy blessing be upon us always. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

It makes a lovely last prayer of the day for a family. More bedtime prayers are on our night prayer page.

"Mary, bless this house"

This short prayer was indulgenced by St. Pius X in 1905 (Raccolta 1910, no. 214). It was given as an act of reparation for blasphemy, and it is a good one to pray as you hang a picture of Our Lady:

Mary, bless this house, where thy name is ever held in benediction. All glory to Mary ever Immaculate, ever Virgin, blessed among women, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, Queen of Paradise.

Signs of faith in a Catholic home

The sacramentals are not charms. They are reminders, blessed by the Church's prayer, that this house belongs to God:

• A crucifix in the main room and in each bedroom.
• A holy water font by the front door or the children's rooms; see holy water.
• An image of the Sacred Heart, and an act of consecration of the family; see our Sacred Heart prayer page.
• A St. Benedict medal over the door, an old custom for protection against evil.
• A place to pray: a shelf or corner with a candle, a statue of Our Lady and a Bible.

The saints to ask for a new home

• St. Joseph, who found shelter in Bethlehem, a home in Egypt and a house in Nazareth for the Holy Family. Many Catholics ask his help in finding a home, and buying or selling one; see the St. Joseph statue custom and our St. Joseph prayer.
• The Holy Family, the model of every Christian home. Our prayer for family gathers their prayers.
• St. Martha, who welcomed Our Lord into her house at Bethany, patron of homemakers and cooks.
• St. Anne and St. Joachim, the grandparents of Jesus, in whose home Mary grew up.
• Our Lady of Loreto, honored at the shrine that, by a traditional account, holds the house of Nazareth itself.
• St. Michael the Archangel and the guardian angels of everyone who will live there.

What Scripture says about the home

Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it. (Psalm 126:1, Douay-Rheims)

When Our Lord invited Himself to the house of Zacheus, the tax collector came down from his tree and "received him with joy." Before He left, Jesus said, "This day is salvation come to this house" (Luke 19:9). Let that be the prayer for every new home: that Christ will come in, and stay.

A new home isn't always a happy move. Sometimes it follows a death, a divorce, a lost job or a move into assisted living. The same prayers fit: "to thy almighty protection we commend our home." For the hard days, see our prayer for protection and browse all our Catholic prayers.