HOUSE, Blessing of the. - The need to have one's dwelling under the protection of the deity has led all peoples to institute special ceremonies for the construction of new houses or for the first entry into them.
Thus the Greeks placed their home under the protection of Ζεύς Ἐρχεῖος; the Romans under that of the Lares or Penates; the Jews in turn knew the blessing of a new house (Deut. 20:5). Jesus recommends to the Apostles that they bless the houses they enter (Mt. 10:12), establishing the formula: pax huic domui... Among the Fathers, St. Athanasius (Epistula ad Marcellinum, 17: PG 27, 29) is the first to recall a special blessing of the home; the Rituale Graecorum (ed. J. Goar, Paris 1647, p. 604 ff.) has a formula for the laying of the first stone, another for the inauguration of the new house, and a third for other blessings. In the Latin Church the Gelasian (III, nos. 72-76; ed. H.-A. Wilson, Oxford 1894, pp. 283-88) contains 4 prayers (no. 72) to be recited by those entering a house (Orationes intrantibus in domo, sive benedictio), other prayers for a Mass to be said in it (a usage quite common in the Middle Ages; cf. Franz, op. cit. in bibl., p. 606), the Orationes per venerates in domo, that is, in favor of visitors, and finally other prayers for the blessing of water likewise to be performed in the home. With the passage of time the Mass in domo nova became a simple blessing.
The Roman Ritual has three formularies for the blessing of homes: one for the day of Epiphany, which is performed not only with holy water but also with incensation; another for Holy Saturday, where there is the custom, with baptismal water, which is taken from the font before the sacred chrism is mixed into it and which in ancient times was sprinkled in their homes, vineyards and fields not by the priest but by the devout people themselves; today these two blessings of the home are reserved to the parish priest (CIC, can. 462, 6th); a third formulary the priest may use anywhere and whenever the need arises.