Catholic House Blessing: Prayers and Room-by-Room Blessing

A house blessing invites Christ into your home and asks God to protect everyone who lives there. Catholics bless a new home when they move in, at Epiphany with chalk, during the Easter season, or whenever they want to renew their family’s dedication to God. A priest or deacon can bless your house, and families can also pray a blessing together. Below is how to ask for a blessing, a complete family house blessing with holy water, short prayers for each room, and traditional prayers for the home.

Having a priest bless your house

Call your parish office and ask for a house blessing. The priest or deacon follows the Church’s Book of Blessings (Order for the Blessing of a New Home, and the annual blessing of homes): a greeting, a short Scripture reading, prayers of intercession, a prayer of blessing, and the sprinkling of the rooms with holy water. It takes about fifteen to thirty minutes. Many families invite the priest to stay for a meal. An offering to the parish is customary but never required.

“Among sacramentals blessings (of persons, meals, objects, and places) come first” (CCC 1671). In many countries, such as Poland and Italy, priests visit every family to bless homes during the Easter or Christmas season.

A family house blessing you can pray yourself

What you need: holy water (from your parish), a crucifix or religious image to place in the home, and a candle if you like. The head of the household or a parent leads.

1. Begin at the front door. All make the Sign of the Cross.

Leader: Peace be to this house and to all who live here.

All: And to all who visit it.

2. Read the Word of God.

Into whatsoever house you enter, first say: Peace be to this house.

Jesus said to him: This day is salvation come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.

But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

3. Pray for the family. This traditional prayer for a Christian family was indulgenced by Pope Leo XIII in 1889 (from With God, 1911):

God of goodness and mercy, we commend to Thy all-powerful protection our home, our family, and all that we possess. Bless us all as Thou didst bless the Holy Family of Nazareth.

O Jesus, our most holy Redeemer, by the love with which Thou didst become man in order to save us, by the mercy through which Thou didst die for us upon the cross, we entreat Thee to bless our home, our family, our household. Preserve us from all evil and from the snares of men; preserve us from lightning and hail and fire, from flood, and from the rage of the elements; preserve us from Thy wrath, from the hatred and the evil designs of our enemies, from plague, famine, and war. Let not one of us die without the holy sacraments. Bless us, that we may bravely confess that faith by which we are sanctified, that we may never falter in our hope, even amid pain and affliction, and that we may ever grow in love for Thee and in charity toward our neighbor. O Jesus, bless us, protect us.

O Mary, Mother of grace and mercy, bless us, protect us against the evil spirit; lead us by the hand through this vale of tears; reconcile us with thy divine Son; commend us to Him, that we may be made worthy of His promises.

St. Joseph, reputed father of Our Saviour, guardian of His most holy Mother, head of the Holy Family, intercede for us, bless and protect our home always.

St. Michael, defend us against all the malice of hell.

St. Gabriel, obtain for us that we may ever seek the holy will of God.

St. Raphael, preserve us from ill health and all danger to life. Holy guardian angels, keep us day and night in the way to salvation.

Holy patrons, pray for us before the throne of God.

Bless this house, Thou, God our Father, Who didst create us; Thou, divine Son, Who didst suffer for us on the cross; Thou, Holy Spirit, Who didst sanctify us in baptism. May God, in His three divine persons, preserve our bodies, purify our souls, direct our hearts, and lead us to life everlasting.

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

4. Bless each room with holy water (see the prayers below), making the sign of the cross and sprinkling a little water.

5. End together with an Our Father, a Hail Mary and this prayer from the Church’s Night Prayer:

Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this habitation, and drive far from it all the snares of the enemy: let Thy holy angels dwell herein, to keep us in peace, and may Thy blessing be always upon us. 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.

Room-by-room blessing prayers

Written for this page. Sprinkle holy water in each room as you pray.

The front door: Lord, bless all who come and go through this door. May everyone who enters find welcome, and may we carry your peace to all we meet.

The living room: Lord, bless this room where we gather. Fill it with laughter, kindness and forgiveness, and make it a place of prayer.

The kitchen and dining room: Lord, bless this kitchen and this table. As we share our meals, let us remember you who give us our daily bread, and the hungry who have none.

The bedrooms: Lord, bless this room and give peaceful rest to all who sleep here. Let your holy angels watch over them by night.

A child’s room: Lord Jesus, you blessed the little children. Bless (name), protect him (her) from all harm, and help him (her) to grow in wisdom and grace.

The home office or study: Lord, bless the work done here. Give wisdom, focus and honesty to all who work and study in this room.

The garden or yard: Lord, Creator of all things, bless this land and all that grows in it. Let it be a place of rest and joy.

A short blessing for the whole house

From the same 1911 prayer book, an indulgenced prayer asking Mary’s blessing:

O 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.

Blessing a new home

Lord God, we thank you for this new home.
As we begin our life here, we dedicate it to you.
Be present at every meal and in every conversation.
Keep us in health and peace, and let this home be a sign of your love
to our family, our neighbors and our friends. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page. Place a crucifix in a prominent place, keep a little holy water by the door, and consider an image of the Sacred Heart or of the Holy Family. If you are selling your old house, see the St. Joseph prayer to sell a house.

The Epiphany chalk blessing

On or near January 6, many families mark the lintel of the front door with blessed chalk: 20 + C + M + B + 27. See the Epiphany house blessing for how to do it.

Frequently asked questions

Can a layperson bless a house?

Yes. Parents and other lay people can lead a family blessing like the one above. The Book of Blessings gives a form of the house blessing for lay ministers. Only a priest or deacon gives the blessing in the Church’s name with the sign of the cross over the home.

How often should a house be blessed?

When you move in, and then as often as you like. Many families renew the blessing every year at Epiphany or during the Easter season.

Does a house blessing protect against evil?

A blessing places your home under God’s protection and reminds you to live as a Christian family. It is not a charm; it bears fruit through faith, prayer and the sacraments. If something serious troubles your home, speak to your parish priest.

More prayers for the home

Texts and sources

Prayer for a Christian family (Leo XIII, 1889) and “O Mary, bless this house” (Pius X, 1905): F. X. Lasance, With God (1911), public domain (Wikisource).
“Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this habitation”: the Church’s traditional prayer at Night Prayer (Compline), as printed in With God (1911).
Scripture: Luke 10:5; Luke 19:9; Josue (Joshua) 24:15, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1671.
The room-by-room prayers and the prayer for a new home were written for this page.