Skip to main content

Epiphany Monastery Blessing

Epiphany 2023

Morning prayer on the Feast of the Epiphany follows a community procession through the monastery recalling the journey of the three Magi to find the Christ child. We stop in all our common spaces to pray and sing a blessing, beginning with the health care wing and proceeding to the front foyer, the community and dining rooms, and ending in the chapel. At the entrance to each space, we mark the doors with the current year and the inscription CBM: 20+C+B+M+24. The initials stand for the names of the magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. The letters also represent the Latin phrase, Christus mansionem benedicat which means “May Christ bless this home.” The marking remains throughout the year and serves as a reminder that this monastery is a blessed space and that its residents ask God's blessing on all who share it with us.