Home Chapel Update 2025

 

In a large part to Fr. Deacon Robert Klesko's article in the National Catholic Register on our chapel, we thought it was time to do an update on the state of our home chapel.  For some background, here are some past posts as we started this crazy project:

Beginning of the Chapel - 2018

Paschal Candle - 2018

Stations of the Cross - 2019

In which I draw Arches - 2019

First Batch of Stenciling - 2019

Infant of Prague - 2019

Family Altar - 2020

Chapel Tour - 2020

I think it is also worth sharing how we spent Easter 2020.  I don't know that anything was new, but it was so meaningful to feel connected to the larger Church while worshiping in quarantine. 

Journey East

Hannah and I have been aware of Eastern Catholicism for most of our lives.  Long before Hannah and I started dating in 2005, she had already taken a class on Byzantine Spirituality at Benedictine College. Icons have always been a part of prayer corners in every home we have had together, and every classroom I taught in.  While the story is too long for this post, somewhere between conversations with two Ruthenian Deacons, Fr. Dcn. Robert Klesko and Fr. Dcn. John Harden in 2018 and Christmas Eve of 2023 we made the switch from being Roman Catholic while embracing some of the practices of the East, to being Melkite Catholics, embracing some of the practices of the West.  Our chapel reflects that.

While we still use many of the Chalice Veils that we had made years ago, for festive days we use the Byzantine style Aer (Ἀήρ) to cover the chalice from our wedding.

The spot where I set my books while praying the Divine Office has gone from 1 edition of the Four Volume Set of Liturgy of the Hours to 1 Horologion, 12 Menaia, 4 Octoechos, 6 volumes of the Triodion, 3 volumes of the Pentacostarion, 1 Psalter, 2 Euchologia, and 1 outdated Liturgikon.  Hannah bought me a bookshelf to hold them all.

In so many ways, the driving force behind what goes into the chapel is how the kids feel comfortable praying.  For them, lighting a candle when they get to church is what gets them into the mode for prayer.  The design behind our sand candelabrum was "safe and stable"... now if we can start calling it something other than "the sand pit"!

Our Lady, More Spacious than the Heavens

The Icons

Menaion Icons  - One for each month with images of each Saint commemorated on their Feast Day.

April

We moved all the kids' Patron Saint icons lower, and near the benches, so that the littles can kiss them whenever they want.

Angels and Bodiless Powers

This is a better picture of the two kissing icons we put on the baby gate.  As seen in the very first picture above... the baby gate is there to keep some control of the space, but the adjoining living room is where the toddlers spend most of their day, so they run up and kiss Jesus and Mary.

Paintjob

The biggest change is the new paint job.  I spent almost five years debating with myself about the color scheme.  Hannah was patient and told me that whatever I decided would be beautiful.  It was definitely a family afare with all hands on deck.

While it turned out gorgeous, I never want to do a stencil in a corner ever again!

Finally

In the end, whatever space you choose to pray in, the more you use it, the more you make it your own, the more beautiful it will be!

I still think the icon corner in the Girls' room is one of the most beautiful prayer corners I have seen... they did it themselves, and it is a reflection of their prayer life.

Resources

Seraphim Shop: I no longer buy icons from anyone else.  Period.  Jessica has the best prices and is willing to find anything you need.  Most of the gold-gilded icons in the pictures above came from her.

Farrow & Ball: While their paint is expensive, and I tend to take their color shades and get them made in Benjamin Moore paint, I think sticking to a limited palette is really helpful.  All their paint fits on one color card, they are all complementary, and they are all well saturated.  Main walls are "Cook's Blue", Lower Wood Panelling is "Beverly" Green, and the red is "Incanadine".

Royal Design Studio Stencils: With few exceptions, these are the pattern stencils I use, and I like their ancient gold stencil paint.

Family Altar

We have seen a bit of an evolution in the focal point of our Chapel, our family altar.  I would say we are 75% - 80% finished.  I still want to build a gradine, shelf, in the back 

In the beginning, when we started using this room as a chapel, we used the buffet and a fairly simple piece of gold fabric to cover the top.

This was the setup we had when we had friends pass through and we had Mass celebrated in our home.  Father used a Greek corporal, but I always figured we could do better than a buffet.

In late 2019 we acquired an old rectory altar.

Long story short, it came out of St. Beatrice in Southfield, MI.  It was used, in some fashion in the Church as a side altar, but Fr. John Gagala, May his memory be eternal, used it as his rectory altar in his retirement before moving back to Poland. St. Beatrice was merged with several other parishes and the church building became St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.  It is not a "proper altar" and has no relic, stone, or place for such.  We received it through a Deacon serving in Detroit.  He had brought it from Michigan for use by a group of friars but then it became orphaned.  The local Roman Catholic Diocese did not have a use for it... So we have given it a home.  Ok... I guess that was still a long story...

It had doors when we got it.

I removed the handles and the old feet so that I could raise the whole altar.

We raised the altar to be more in line with St. Charles Borromeo’s instructions on ecclesiastical design.  I painted the bottom with a tile design from Augustus Pugin.

We are still debating whether or not we will remove the doors altogether for the two days out of the year that it is completely exposed, or leave it the way it is.

Right around the beginning of Lent, we got an antependium from Altarations along with a mounting cover.

A friend of ours made us two altar linens one that is just the size of the top of the altar and has lace along the long edge, and the other goes all the way to the ground with lace along the edge.

The linen fabric and lace came from Communion Linens, and I can heartily recommend them.

Replating and Repair

One of our great treasures from our wedding is a small pewter chalice that was given to us by the Deacon who prepared us for marriage.  It has seen several home Masses and used by some of the priests who have been close to our family.  It is nothing special, except to us.  It is not even full size.  Along the way, we also acquired a sterling silver paten that was gold plated.  Over the years, the paten wore thin, and we were facing replating or replacement.

We looked at several places to replate/refinish and repair our liturgical vessels and decided on Alviti Creations (www.alviti.com).  We could not be happier with the finished products.  We had the Paten finished silver with a bright gold lining, and had the Chalice gold lined.  The person who recommended the company said that he had dealt with several people who had purchased old used chalices and had them refinished and then gave them to their priest sons, etc.  Doing this they can gift a 1k dollar chalice without spending that kind of money.

Top 10-ish Home Chapel Gifts Guide

'Tis the season, as they say.  While you are thinking about the gifts you are getting and giving this Advent/Christmas Season, I would encourage you all to buy something for your family's pray corner/little oratory/chapel.  While the resource page above has plenty of sources for items and accouterments, below is a curated best-of list for 2019... a top 10, of sorts... 10 ish.

Essentials

 1. If you don't already have a Sick Call Cross, get this one Black Wood St. Benedict Cross.  It is high quality, and every home needs one... period.  Fr. Jerabek has an excellent blog post on them here: Sick Call Crucifix

2. A space for prayer.  If you are struggling to find a place to gather in your home or wondering where to start, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of this book: The Little Oratory

Call to Prayer and Sacramentals

1. If there is one book you read as a family this advent, read "Searching for and Maintaining Peace" by Jacques Philippe

2. I carry two pieces of rope with me, a Rosary and a Chotki.  In my mind, if one lung is getting sluggish, I can breathe with the other one.  If you don't have one or the other, I recommend a ladder Rosary from Benedict's Beads (seen below) and a Chotki from Christ the Bridegroom Monastery.

3. Get some oil blessed.  Blessed Oil for home use is different than what is used in the Sacraments of the Church.  The exorcism prayer over it is quite lovely, and it has many uses.  Blessed Oil can be used to bless yourself or your children, it can be used in cooking, and it can be burned in oil vigil lamps.  We burn ours in vigil lamps, so I have this recommendation, you want to buy real olive oil and not a blend because we want to give the best to our Lord, but you don't want Extra Virgin Olive Oil, because it has more particulates and will clog your wicks.  We have had good luck with Filippo Berio olive oil, but I hear Cosco Olive Oil works great.

4. The Liturgy of the Hours.  Get it, say the black, do the red.

Smells and Bells

1. I'm an advocate for Incense use in the home... If you want to start out, this advent season, I recommend 3 purchases.  Get this censer.  It is inexpensive, it holds heat well, it breathes well, and it has a wooden handle.  Get this incense.  It has a nice lemony scent on the front and a musky finish, best of all it is hypoallergenic.  Finally, get this charcoal.  Three Kings is the brand used in a lot of churches, and the 33mm size is much better for home use.

2.  You NEED bells.  If You buy them from Catholic Liturgicals, they are reasonably priced to the point that you don't mind if your 3-year-old gets a little vigorous ringing the bells for night prayers.  While you are there, get yourself a clackus... you deserve it.

3. We make our own beeswax candles for our specific needs, but if that is not your cup of tea, the place I would recommend would be Saints Mary and Martha Orthodox Monastery.  There are others, to be sure, but I have either found inconsistent products elsewhere, or I just haven't tried some companies.

For the Connoisseur

1.  The Hand Cross (Blessing Cross) used by eastern priests and bishops is equally appropriate in the home to bless your children.  While the icon style ones (above) are pretty, go with an Ethiopian Hand Cross.  They are beautiful, full of meaning, and handmade.  The price is pretty easy too.

2. Icons are always a good choice.  As we are celebrating the incarnation of Jesus, an icon of the Nativity would be very appropriate.  I would like to recommend, this year, that instead of going with the classic Rublev nativity that would take a lot of explaining to Latin friends, that you go with this beautiful icon that keeps with eastern sentiments but doesn't shove St. Joseph away.

3. Everybody loves the hanging vigil lamps, but if you are just starting out, start easy.  Go with a Heavy glass Votive Lamp that you can sit on a shelf or table.  They are inexpensive, easy to manage, and very pretty.  As a plus, they are readily available from a US-based vendor so you don't have to wait 3 months for a shipment from Greece or Russia.  Get the floating wick and use blessed olive oil.