The Traditional Sacramental Home




The Sacramental Home is at the heart of Traditional Roman Rite Catholicism.


(The Sacramental Home, also known as the Domestic Church, is encouraged by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (F.S.S.P.), the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICRSP), & H.E. Raymond Cardinal Burke)






The Sacramental Home is where we bring the heart of the Catholic Church into our traditional Catholic family life. We can create this at any age and whether or not there are children in the home.

 
  The Home Altar is central to the Sacramental Home and many Traditional Catholics enthrone a central image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  There are 12 promises attatched to the Sacred Heart devotion. 






The home altar is also a central place for the burning of blessed candles when there are problems and difficulties we especially wish to bring to the Lord. Other sacramentals are also be visible around the house as a witness to all those who enter the home.



It is important to highlight that chaste single Catholics, and not just Catholics families, can create a sacramental home and live the liturgical year within the home. This is not just about fostering the faith in children, but about fostering the faith in the homes of all Catholics.



Where there are children we see the father and mother being both equal before God in dignity and always treating each other equally in charity, and with the children brought up learning how to know, love, and serve God. 

God created man and woman differently. Within the Sacramental Home it is the father's role to lead his family to the foot of the Cross, whilst it is the mother's role to lead by nurturing the Catholic faith within family life. Both surrender their lives, and die to self, for the spiritual building up of the family, and the Church. After leading their children to Christ, the greatest gift that a husband and wife can give to their children is to love each other.

The true head of the traditional Catholic home is Jesus. The constant awareness of Christ's kingship within the family is central to a week centered on prayer and the holy sacrifice of the Mass.


At the heart of this traditional movement is a genuine love for Christ and His Church, and a desire on the part of traditional Catholics to reclaim authentic Catholic identity. Below are links to well known books, resources, and a series of articles about the Traditional Catholic Sacramental Home…


Cardinal Burke
The Family is a Little Church








Reclaiming the Sacramental Home by placing our traditional Catholic Faith at the Heart of our lives.








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The Sacramental
Home




The Sacramental Home is the first place where young baptised Christians learn about their faith. From the wedlock of Christians there comes the family, in which new citizens of society are born, who by the grace of the Holy Spirit received in baptism are made children of God, thus perpetuating the people of God through the centuries. You may have heard it said that families are the fundamental ‘building block’ of society; similarly, families provide a foundation for the continuation and strength of the Church among the faithful.



The Sacramental Home has a particular role and responsibility in leading souls to heaven: In it parents should, by their word and example, be the first preachers of the faith to their children; they should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each of them. They foster, with special care, these vocations to a sacred state. Within the Sacramental Home, this means that parents are to cultivate a family life that is centered on Christ.









The Return of the Traditional Catholic Home Altar

Altarisimo Domesticus


The traditional Catholic home is the Domestic Church. Two main reasons for this true saying are that parents are primarily responsible for children’s catechesis, and of course, families spend much more time in the home than they do at the parish. The traditional Catholic home altar is also one of the simplest means of evangelising friends and family. The are also 'holy distractions' that act as an oasis during, or at the end of, an hectic day. So, like an increasing number of traditional Catholics, why not bring some of those Catholic sacramentals from Church, that draw souls to God, and incorporate them into your home










 Bringing the Traditional Liturgy into the Sacramental Home

Candlemass & the Blessing of Candles


To rediscover our Catholic identity and culture we often have to look to strong Catholic countries that have never lost the Catholic Faith. In Poland the candles brought from home to be blessed are decorated with symbols and ribbons.


This tradition gives Candlemas its Polish name "Matka Boska Gromniczna,"
or "Mother of God of the Blessed Thunder Candle."

There, the custom is to let a blessed candle burn all night before an icon of Our Lady who, when the world still had forests, was relied upon to keep the wolves away during these cold nights. Now, our "wolves" tend to be of a different sort, but the pious burning of a blessed candle tonight, with powerful prayers offered to Our Lady, still help keep the world at bay.

 


The mystery of today's ceremony has frequently been explained by liturgists, dating from the 7th century. According to Ivo of Chartres, the wax, which is formed from flowers by the bee was always considered as the emblem of virginity, and signifies the pure nature of the body of the Divine Infant, who is diminished not, either by His conception or His birth, and was born through the spotless purity of His Blessed Mother. The same holy bishop would have us see, in the flame of our Candle, a symbol of Jesus who came to enlighten our darkness. St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, asks us to consider three things in the blessed Candle: the wax, the wick, and the flame. The wax, he says, is the Flesh of our Lord; the wick, is His Soul within; the flame, which burns on top, is His divinity.
From: Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB The Liturgical Year



With a return to Catholic tradition in this country, especially in the home, many more will be lighting blessed candles on Candlemas and many other nights as well. This is also a wonderful way to evangelise friends and family in the home. Beyond this you can always ask your priest to bless your candles at anytime.

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