What is the need for consecrating an apartment?
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People who are far from the church, to some extent following fashion, consecrate their home only after renovation or even after living in it for several years. Churched people try to consecrate an apartment immediately after purchasing it, thereby asking the Lord for grace.
Blessing a home does not solve family or household problems. We ourselves choose the path in life: with God or without Him. It is necessary to understand that the consecration of a house is a common prayer of the family living in it and the clergyman for people to live holy in this place.
What a layman needs to know for the rite of consecration
The Church has centuries of experience in communicating with God and the language in which any lay person can turn to Him is stored in special prayer books. They are available to anyone. You can select the text of the prayer and find out what you need to know for the rite of consecration in Orthodox literature. Or ask a priest for help.
It is necessary to know how correctly and what else is needed, in addition to prayer, to consecrate things if a lay person performs this rite on his own. When turning to God for help in prayer, our heart must be free from unclean thoughts. Ideally, it is important to obtain the blessing of a priest. But if this is not possible, then pure thoughts are the main necessary condition. We will need: an asper or whisk (a brush for sprinkling with holy water), an icon, a candle, a prayer book and holy water. While reading the text of the prayer, the illuminated item is sprinkled three times with holy water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
There is another important and most significant aspect in the ritual of illuminating things, and in general in the desire to receive the help of Heavenly forces. The principle: I prayed, donated, asked, and God owes me for it is not only false, but also desecrating God. If we think that the Orthodox prayer for the consecration of a thing or a house will itself bring everything we ask for, then this is a delusion. By such actions, a layman will only increase negative energy or, worse, provoke more unpleasant situations. And then he will blame God for this.
Our Heavenly Father is, first of all, our Friend, and we must address Him this way, and not as a magician who fulfills our desires.
Rules and superstitions
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The rite of consecrating a home is a joint prayer of the priest and household members to the Almighty for protection, help, and blessing. When performing the rite, the cleric confirms before the Lord that the people living in this apartment will observe the Laws established by God, participate in church sacraments, attend church services, live righteously, in purity, peace and love.
Some Christians believe that it is impermissible to consecrate an apartment during Lenten days. This is actually a superstition. This rite can be performed on any day, including during Lent.
Another superstition can be heard from believers: a woman should not participate in sacred rites during her period. In fact, this prohibition only applies to the Sacraments of Baptism, Anointing, and Communion. During the ceremony, the owner of the apartment (house) must have her head covered with a scarf; men should not have hats on their heads.
The consecration of housing according to the church rite is carried out once. It is not prohibited from time to time to sprinkle the corners of rooms in an apartment with holy water, making the sign of the cross over them and reading a prayer book. It is recommended to use the prayer to the Holy Cross:
May God rise again, and may His enemies be scattered, and may those who hate Him flee from His presence. Like smoke disappears, let them disappear; As wax melts in the presence of fire, so let demons perish on behalf of those who love God and sign the sign of the cross, and say in joy: Rejoice, Most Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, driving away and the demons have the power upon you of our Lord Jesus Christ, who descended into hell and trampled underfoot the power the devil, and who gave us Your Honest Cross to drive away every adversary. Oh, Most Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord! Help me with the Holy Virgin Mary and with all the saints forever. Amen.
Or briefly:
Protect me, Lord, by the power of Your Honest and Life-giving Cross, and save me from all evil.
Prayer for the consecration of a car - protection from road accidents
Moreover, things store information about their owner. For example, there are a lot of inexplicable stories, tragic road accidents that are associated with the purchase of cars. If the driver makes the sign of the cross over himself, the passengers and the car, and sincerely asks for protection on the road, then this can also be considered a prayer for the consecration of the car.
Of course, it is best to seek help in consecrating such a purchase directly from a priest, but this is not always possible right away. Therefore, you can turn to God in prayer to consecrate the car yourself after making a purchase. And later, be sure to consolidate this ritual with the help of a priest.
Prayer for the blessing of the car
Lord our God, who sits on the Seraphim and is carried on the Cherubim, who adorned man with wisdom, who guides all things for good through Your good providence, send Your blessing upon this chariot and place Your Angel upon it, so that those who ride in it may be guarded and guided by Him in peace and Having completed our journey in prosperity, we sent glory and thanksgiving to You, praising the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Order requirements
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The priest is endowed with the right to perform most of the Sacraments and services, he is a mediator between God and the laity (parishioners), and the Lord invisibly stands between them.
To order church services, including the consecration of an apartment, you need to come to the nearest church and contact the church store staff to make an appointment for the desired day and time. After this, the proposed donation amount should be deposited into the church treasury.
If there is a desire for your house to be consecrated by a certain clergyman, then you must personally agree with him in advance so that the latter coordinates your request with the current schedule of his activities. After all, priests are quite busy people, but we lay people don’t really notice it. Their responsibilities include the daily service of the Divine Liturgy, evening worship, the performance of church sacraments and services: baptism, wedding, funeral service, unction, communion and confession at home (for the infirm), duty around the temple (for consultations of parishioners), service of prayers, akathists , blessing of water and much more.
Money talks - not everything
It is clear that many people think: they say, there is money and everything will happen! Yes, perhaps there will be, and perhaps not, that’s another question... There are plenty of temptations during construction, someone is sure to put a spoke in the wheels, someone did not advise important details when designing and did not take into account important nuances, someone is slowing down deliveries, someone does it, but redoes it... It would seem that the human factor, but no, believe me, we went through all this more than once, it was you who prayed poorly! Where a person prays, unknown paths open up all the time, friends of friends appear, acquaintances of acquaintances - real professionals and reliable people, and although minor temptations cannot be avoided, fundamentally construction proceeds without problems.
Preparation for the rite of consecration
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Before coming to the clergyman’s house, you must perform the following actions:
- the apartment must be clean and tidy;
- you should get rid of unnecessary and useless things that waste space in the house;
- in the Red corner of the main room there should be an iconostasis, a lamp and candles (blessed, purchased in the church);
- it is necessary to place a small table and cover it with a light, clean tablecloth (church items and paraphernalia will be placed on it);
- you should prepare in advance vegetable oil, holy water and stickers with crosses, which the priest will glue crosswise on four sides of the house (it is recommended to check with the workers at the church shop: in some parishes the priest himself brings stickers with crosses to the house, so you may not need to buy them in advance );
- The rite of consecrating a home takes on average 30-40 minutes, but can last up to 1 hour - household members who are not accustomed to long prayers should gain strength and pray with the priest.
If there are books of occult content in the house, amulets, horseshoes over the door, astrological calendars and other similar things, get rid of them immediately.
Your attitude towards what is being done is important
And, of course, it is important to emphasize that when you invite a priest to serve a prayer service, you must understand that you did not invite a mechanic who did his job and left, it is the priest who leads your petition before God, who intercedes and asks, and you At this time, listen to every word spoken in prayer. It’s good when the priest tries to serve clearly and beautifully, so that you also pray, otherwise the prayer, although it will have meaning, of course, is much less than under the circumstances that I am trying to convey to you. It is important to prepare for the prayer service: take time and step back from the bustle, allow yourself and the priest to slowly start and finish the prayer, and I repeat, be an accomplice in the prayer, and not the orderer of it, and God’s Help will be with you!
If you need to bless your car?
As already mentioned, to consecrate a large purchase such as a car or apartment, you must invite a priest from the nearest church and agree with him on the time for this ceremony.
In many families, cars are not so much a luxury item as a necessity. A significant part of human life passes in them, some are associated with professional activities. And therefore, naturally, you want to feel safe.
As for the definition of “consecration,” in relation to a vehicle it has a slightly different meaning than, say, in relation to water, crosses or icons. The term “blessing” would be more appropriate here, because it is the clergyman who, when performing the ritual, invokes it on the car, as well as on the well-being of the roads ahead for the driver and his performance of good deeds.
The consecration of a car has a deep spiritual meaning . A person who wants to perform this ritual on his vehicle must clearly understand that this is not a magical ritual that guarantees safe driving.
By doing this, the owner of the car voluntarily and consciously turns and devotes his thoughts and deeds related to the further use of the car to the Lord God , because from Him he expects blessings and protection.
The effectiveness of this ritual primarily depends on how worthy the person who ordered it is of this grace , how much he believes and sincerely prays and whether he is ready not to use his transport for evil or harm to anyone, not to commit immoral or sinful actions with its help .
In what cases and how to read the prayer correctly?
The church library contains many prayers that can not only cleanse a thing, but also charge it with positive energy. During the process of sanctification, the negative impact will be removed, and the thing will also acquire grace.
Now there is a wide opportunity to purchase church items - crosses, icons, amulet - in regular stores. They must certainly be consecrated in the church, provided that they are maintained in canonical Orthodox form.
Most often, especially when wanting to consecrate a large and expensive purchase, they resort to the help of a priest who will perform a special consecration ceremony. New things that are simpler and of everyday use can be consecrated yourself . This is especially true for children's assortments.
- It is necessary to protect the crib and stroller .
- Clothing can also retain traces of someone else's energetic influence.
- It wouldn’t hurt to do this with toys and books .
You can clean the purchased item yourself at home by carefully laying it out on a clean table. At the same time, the following prayers are read: “To the Heavenly King” - this is an appeal to the Holy Spirit (it is contained in the prayer books - in the morning and evening rules); “May God rise again” - a prayer appeal to the Cross of the Lord (completes the evening rule).
There is also a special prayer, which is called that - for the consecration of every thing :
To the Creator and Creator of the human race, the Giver of spiritual grace, the Giver of eternal salvation, Lord Himself, send Your Holy Spirit with the highest blessing on this thing, as if armed with the power of heavenly intercession, it will help those who want to use it for bodily salvation and intercession and help, oh Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
When reading a prayer, sprinkle the item with holy water three times.
