According to popular belief, only a clergyman can consecrate anything, be it a house or a ship, a person who is in the clergy and serves the Lord. That is, in order to bless the house, a priest is needed.
But is it? Is it really always necessary to invite a clergyman? Is it possible to sprinkle holy water in the corners yourself and read a protective prayer? Such questions arise in the minds of many people who have purchased or built their own homes.
When is it necessary to consecrate?
Thinking about how to sanctify a house, people involuntarily wonder if it should be done. In our country for many decades the church did not participate in human life. Accordingly, the houses were not consecrated, and the children were not baptized, while people lived very well. This is how many newly minted property owners argue, who do not quite understand who to turn to for consecration andbelieving that this process is difficult and troublesome.
Indeed, it is not always necessary to consecrate a house, but only in certain situations. Consecration should be resorted to if in the purchased house:
- crime occurred;
- people lived poorly, went bankrupt, the family broke up or children died;
- there were many seriously ill among the previous owners;
- sinful, godless or satanic deeds were done;
- there were fires, flooding of the basement, regular subsidence of the roof.
Of course, no one will tell the buyers about all this. Therefore, you need to pay attention and listen to your intuition. The main reason for the consecration of the dwelling is a deep conviction of the need for this, an irrational inexplicable desire to sanctify the premises. Such sensations cannot be ignored, and if they arise, they must be consecrated.
When not to consecrate?
Thinking about how to sanctify a house, many also ask questions about under what circumstances this should not be done. There are many superstitions among the people. For example, someone is convinced that it is impossible to perform rituals in fasting. Others are sure that the presence of critical days for a woman who is a family member may be an obstacle to consecration. Still others believe that if one of the family members is not baptized, then the house cannot be consecrated. There are other beliefs.
However, all this is not true. Neither critical days, nor the absence of a cross on the neck of one of the relatives, nor fasts interfere with the ceremony of consecrating the house. As anyone will saypriest, even Great Lent is not an obstacle to the consecration of a dwelling.
The only thing that can prevent the consecration of the acquired house is the ceremony already performed. The dwelling is consecrated only once, subsequently it is only cleansed. Rituals with holy water, church candles and prayers, conducted both by clergy and on their own, are aimed at cleansing the home.
Can I consecrate myself?
Contrary to the widespread belief that it is necessary to invite a priest for this ceremony, the church is not forbidden to conduct it on its own. The answer of the clergy to the question of whether it is possible to consecrate the house themselves will be in the affirmative.
Of course, it is not always possible to conduct the rite of consecration on your own. Moreover, not all. People often confuse the rites of consecration of the dwelling with rituals for its purification. There are no obstacles and conditions for self-purification of domestic premises. But the possibility of consecrating housing on their own still has limitations.
What do you need for an independent ceremony?
How to bless the house yourself? The most important point is the strength of faith and the righteousness of human life. Of course, the one who will perform the ceremony must be baptized.
The first thing to do is to secure the approval of the clergyman, in other words, to receive a blessing from the priest. With the clergyman, you need to discuss the details of the ceremony, decide on the method of its implementation.
Without the blessing of a clergyman, it is impossible to think about how to consecrate a house on your own. Performing a ceremony by a person who has not received a blessing will not have power.
What are the options for the ceremony?
How to consecrate the house yourself? There are two options. In the first version, the ceremony is carried out with the help of church candles. The second uses holy water.
Which of the methods of consecrating the home to use, you need to determine together with the clergyman, during the discussion of the future ritual. You should not neglect the advice of the priest, but in the event that there is an inner conviction that it is necessary to consecrate with water or only with candles, you need to tell about it.
Which ritual is better?
The consecration of the dwelling by the laity with the help of candles is much less popular than with the use of water. This is a very common belief, which consists in the fact that they consecrate with water and cleanse with candles. In fact, for an independent ritual to consecrate living quarters, you can use either one or the other.
The methods have no advantages over each other. But there are some nuances that determine the choice in the case when there is no firm internal preference, or the priest, for some reason, does not recommend a specific method.
In the ceremony with the use of candles, a prayer is read to Nicholas the Wonderworker. A person who is about to consecrate a house with a candle prays to this saint before the ceremony. The ritual itself is recommended to be performed on Thursdays.
During the ceremony with water, a layman turns to the Lord himself. The rite is recommended to be performed on Sunday, after praying to Jesus.
Which prayer to read during the consecration?
The prayer that helps to bless the house is a combination of psalms 90 and 100, between which there is a tacit appeal to the Lord. It is in this way that the clergy sanctify the dwellings. The priests first read Psalm 90. Then they silently turn to the Lord with a request to protect and bless the living quarters, and in the end they read Psalm 100.
However, in how to consecrate the house of a layman, deviations from the accepted order of the ritual are permissible. The prayers that will be read at the consecration should be discussed with the clergyman. Psalms are difficult to read, therefore, when consecrating on their own, they usually read "Our Father" and other prayers.
When buying an old house, is it better to consecrate or clean?
Before you consecrate the purchased house, on your own or by inviting a clergyman, you need to find out if this rite has already been performed. Of course, if the house is new, then there can be no doubt that consecration is not forbidden. But when purchasing an old house, this issue becomes important. This is what any priest of a parishioner who comes to him for approval, support and blessing will ask about.
Church canons strictly forbid re-consecration. It is generally accepted that such an act is blasphemy. After all, since the dwelling has already been consecrated, it means that it is in charge ofLord and under his protection. Re-consecration is nothing more than a manifestation of distrust in the Lord, an expression of doubt in himself.
In the event that the purchased housing had a single owner, it will not be particularly difficult to find out whether the house was consecrated. But if you buy an old dwelling that has changed many generations of owners, for example, a village house built at the beginning of the last century, then it is almost impossible to find out whether it was consecrated. Even if the owners of the house were generations of staunch atheists, political workers or social activists of the local collective farm, one should not miss the possibility that one of the owners could conduct a secret rite of consecration. Therefore, it is better to cleanse such houses from filth and evil, and not to consecrate.
How is the ceremony performed with candles?
There is nothing complicated about how to bless a house with candles. In the church trading shop available in each temple, you need to purchase candles. Three to put before the face of Nicholas the Wonderworker, and three more - for the ceremony.
It is recommended to consecrate the dwelling in this way on Thursday. Before starting the ritual, you should put a candle in front of the image of the Wonderworker and pray to him, asking for blessings and help in the implementation of the plan.
You can pray to the Miracle Worker like this:
Blessed Nicholas the Wonderworker, father. Bless me, a servant of God (proper name) for a great deed. Give me strength and remove doubt. Preserve and increase the firmness of my faith. Give peace to my soul and lightness to my thoughts. Help inthe consecration of my dwelling and the surrender of walls and shelter into the hands of the Lord, under the protection of the Almighty and for His great mercy, amen
The order of actions in the house is as follows:
- a lit candle is held in the right hand;
- go around all rooms clockwise;
- christening every corner, threshold, passageway and wall;
- reciting prayers.
Before you start the ceremony, you should discuss with the priest how many times it will have to be performed. The traditional belief is to perform the ritual three Thursdays in a row. However, if the house is new and devoid of filth, and pious people moved into it, one round with a candle and prayers may be enough.
How is the ritual with water performed?
There is nothing complicated about how to bless a house with holy water. Having secured the blessing of the priest, on Sunday you should come to the service in the temple, pray to the Lord, asking for his help in conducting the ceremony. Also in the church you need to take the holy water necessary for the ritual.
Actions in the dwelling boil down to the following:
- pour water into a large and comfortable dish, for example, a bowl;
- go around the premises clockwise;
- sprinkle water every corner, aisle, jamb, wall;
- fingers should be folded as they do for the sign of the cross;
- read prayers throughout the ceremony.
If there is a Red Corner in the house or planning to equip it, you should start bypassing from it.
What does consecration oblige?
Every human action in this world has its owneffects. Such an important act as the consecration of one's own home is no exception. This act obliges the people who committed it to live in piety and in purity, both moral and everyday. After all, making the consecration of housing, they enthusiastically hand over their house to the Lord. They should take care of him accordingly, that is, as if he were a house belonging to God, into which he can look at any moment.
One cannot sin in such a dwelling. We must not forget about maintaining cleanliness and order. One must not indulge in idleness and blasphemy. In other words, the consecration of housing is not only important from an energy point of view, it also serves as a powerful incentive for people. It is the core that does not allow them to indulge in idle laziness and wallow in dirt, not only spiritual or moral, but also the most ordinary. Indeed, in a house handed over to the Lord, one cannot give up on a layer of dust or unwashed window panes, on a pile of unwashed linen, a dirty stove and left garbage.
Thus, the consecration of the dwelling disciplines a person. It does not allow him to "spread" on the sofa, which means that it is a boon not only for the soul, but also for simple everyday worldly life.
