Episcopalians embrace Epiphany tradition of ‘chalking the door’ with home blessings
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas, “chalks the door” after worship services on the Sunday closest to Epiphany as part of its annual celebration of the feast day. Photo: Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, via Facebook
[Episcopal News Service] If you see the initials “C + M + B” marked in chalk above the door of a church or home, it could refer to Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, the biblical “three wise men,” whose visit to the baby Jesus is celebrated every Jan. 6 on the Feast of Epiphany.
Or “C + M + B” could be read as a shorthand for the Latin phase “Christus mansionem benedicat,” or “Christ bless this house.”
For any Episcopalians thinking this week of participating in the tradition of “holy graffiti,” there is no need to choose between the two interpretations. “Why not both?” the Rev. Matthew Wright said in a recent social media post about the practice. Wright is rector at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Woodstock, New York, one of many Episcopal churches promoting “chalking the door” this Epiphany.
The full inscription includes the numerals of the current year, so for 2026 that will be “20 + C + M + B + 26.” The Table, an Episcopal church in Indianapolis, Indiana, also offers more detailed instructions that Episcopalians can follow at home for blessing their home and chalking their doors.
“Chalk is used in this tradition because it is an ordinary substance of the earth, ‘dust’ put to holy use,” according to The Table. “It reminds us that we are of the dust of the ground, the most ordinary of substances, and yet are fashioned as holy beings for holy purposes.”
Other Episcopal churches have scheduled Epiphany events this week featuring ceremonial blessings of the chalk that members then will use to mark the church entrance and the doors of their own homes. St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Salisbury, Maryland, held its chalk blessing on Jan. 4. Parishioners then were encouraged, on or around Epiphany, to inscribe the traditional markings atop the entrances to their homes, “symbolizing Christ’s presence and inviting blessings.”
Saint Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colorado, will celebrate Epiphany on Jan. 6 with an Evensong and will be distributing chalk for worshipers to take home. Similar “home chalking kits” will be distributed by the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Dothan, Alabama.
St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Woodstock, New York is one of many Episcopal congregations encouraging members to bless their homes with “holy graffiti.” Photo: St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, via Facebook
Church of the Good Shepherd in Austin, Texas, chalked its door after its Jan. 4 worship services. Blessing the chalk that parishioners take home has become a cherished annual event for the congregation’s families, the Rev. Brin Bon, Good Shepherd’s senior associate for liturgy and formation, told Episcopal News Service.
“The kits that we send home with families are really fun,” she said. They including a Scripture reading and a brief service of blessing taken from the Book of Occasional Services. “It’s a way of marking the beginning of a new year with a blessing.”
Chalking the door is also an Epiphany tradition that marks the transition in the liturgical calendar to the season after Advent and Christmas and before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent.
“Seeing the symbols over our door during the year reminds us that as life goes back to a regular routine after Christmas, our homes and all those who dwell there belong to Christ,” Christ & Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk, Virginia, said in a Facebook post about chalking the door on Epiphany. “They are also reminders of the welcome the Magi gave to Jesus. Who might we welcome into our hearts and homes this coming year?”
Although Epiphany is celebrated by Christian communities worldwide, the holy day’s origins date to the early centuries of the church as a kind of Christian response to pagan commemorations of the winter solstice. “In opposition to pagan festivals, Christians chose this day to celebrate the various manifestations, or ‘epiphanies,’ of Jesus’ divinity,” according to The Episcopal Church’s online description.
“These showings of his divinity included his birth, the coming of the Magi, his baptism, and the Wedding at Cana where he miraculously changed water into wine.”
– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.
